The Hangover That Landed Us A Major Client

Summary

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Embracing Marketing Mistakes: "The Hangover That Landed Us A Major Client"

Podcast: Embracing Marketing Mistakes
Hosts: Chris Norton & Will Ockenden (Prohibition PR)
Date: June 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into one of the more notorious “f*ck-ups” in Prohibition PR’s 17-year history: winning a major client despite a disastrously hungover pitch. Chris and Will—true to their irreverent, no-BS approach—unpack how celebration, overindulgence, and pure autopilot led to surprisingly positive business outcomes. Their candid storytelling unearths powerful lessons about over-preparation, authenticity, and the hidden upside of career blunders.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Night Before: Celebration Gone Too Far

• The core story begins with the team celebrating a major industry award, the "Best Creative Agency"—well-deserved, but the festivities escalated fast.

• Drinks flowed: beer, white wine, red wine, then finally whiskey—"because it’s celebrating." The revelry led to a level of intoxication that, in hindsight, would have consequences.

  Quote:

  “...don't drink on a school night, even if it's an award."
  — [00:44] B

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2. The Morning After: The Forgotten Pitch

• Despite being "completely forgetting" the 9am pitch, the protagonist (B) has no option but to proceed—he’s the only representative from his agency (Tall) and the pitch is already written and scheduled.

• He describes arriving on “autopilot,” unable to recall anything about the actual presentation.

  Quotes:

  “I can't remember the pitch at all. I remember going in the room but I can't remember actually pitching the pitch.”
  — [01:45] B
  “I dread to think [what] I smell like, like pure yeast in the room.”
  — [01:55] B

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3. The Aftermath: Did Anyone Notice?

• There’s anxiety over potential embarrassment in front of the client (a well-known bread company) and the partner agency whose office was used for the pitch.

• Relief comes when the partner agency’s owner claims he “didn’t have a clue” about the hangover.

• The shocker: the agency won the pitch, beating three other contenders.

  Quote:

  “We found out a week later, we won. ... I have no idea what I promised.”
  — [02:53] B

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4. Key Learnings & Reflections

• Over-preparing vs. Authenticity: The experience leads to a realization that rigid, over-scripted pitches limit natural communication and adaptability.

• Embracing Relaxed Confidence: Since the “hangover win,” there's been a notable shift toward maintaining a relaxed—but informed—approach during pitches, enabling genuine engagement rather than box-ticking delivery.

• Don’t Book Pitches the Day After Awards: A practical, if comical, calendar tip!

  Quotes:

  “I used to write really, really over-prepare for pitching... and I just don’t do that anymore.”
  — [04:00] B
  “If I can win it drunk, then surely I can win it sober... chill out a little bit, you know?”
  — [04:40] B

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5. Team Banter & Additional Takeaways

• The hosts joke about recreating the scenario for future wins and rib each other about poor calendar management.

• Practical suggestion: Speak to Will Ockenden for diary management tips.

  Quote:

  “If you need to plan your diary better, you need to speak to Will Ockenden because he’s brilliant at planning his diary.”
  — [03:32] A

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Winning the Pitch Unintentionally:

  “I have no idea what I promised. Which gets to the learning bit in a second.”
  — [02:58] B

• On Over-Preparation:

  “You’re not as natural. ... if there’s a question or you have to pivot within the pitch scenario, you can’t because you’re already rigid and you throw yourself off.”
  — [04:07] B

• Reframing the Mistake:

  “But what I’ve learned from it, is like: chill out a little bit, you know, just have a little bit more of a relaxed sort of way of presenting your knowledge and skills and experience.”
  — [04:42] B

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Important Timestamps

• [00:10] Story setup & context: Major awards night, excessive celebration
• [01:30] Realization of forgotten pitch, arriving on autopilot
• [01:55] Reflection on potential embarrassment (“pure yeast” smell)
• [02:32] Relief after learning the partner agency noticed nothing
• [02:56] Shock at winning the pitch, uncertainty about promises made
• [04:00] Shift from over-preparation to natural pitching
• [04:40] Big-picture lesson: embrace a more chilled, authentic approach

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Summary & Takeaways

This episode exemplifies the raw honesty that defines Embracing Marketing Mistakes. Through candid storytelling and self-deprecating humor, the hosts illuminate:

• The unpredictable nature of success in marketing—sometimes even your worst day can land major business.
• The value in relaxing and trusting your expertise, rather than adhering to rigid scripts.
• The importance of self-awareness: recognize your limits, both in festivities and in preparation.

Above all, listeners are reminded that the most mortifying mistakes can become your greatest teachers—and, sometimes, your most memorable stories.

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Transcript

[A]

So this is my favorite bit. So yeah, you had an A P, you had a pitch situation where you might have been slightly intoxicated, is that correct?

[B]

Absolutely intoxicated, yeah. So when he said like, tell me about some mistakes you made in business. I've got lots, you know, we were 17 years in, in tall and I had a business before that, five, six years. So there's lots of mistakes made. But I think, look, I think you learn off your mistakes and you pick yourself up and hopefully there's positives that come out of that, but we'll talk about this one. So I think there's a couple of things I've learned from this and if I'm spreading any advice is don't drink on a school night, even if it's an award. So we were out celebrating an award. This was a fair few years ago. This is going back so far 10 years ago it was Best Creative Agency award.

[A]

All right, Big one though.

[B]

It was a big one.

[C]

Worthy of celebrating.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. And we won it. And then you know, you've, you've been drinking a couple of beers and you've had a white wine with your dinner and then someone bring some red wine and you wouldn't drink like this. Normally you're driving different drinks and then you drive, oh, I'll have a whiskey. Because it's celebrating. The next thing you're very, very drunk and you can't remember. The taxi on this was me on a normal Thursday night, completely forgetting. At 9am the next morning I had a pitch. So it's not like I can call up another creative director in my business and owner because it was already written.

[D]

Right?

[B]

It was already done. It was booked in and ready to go. Yeah, right. Already written. Yeah, it was.

[A]

So you, at least you had it written.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You weren't having to work.

[B]

That was the great bit. Whether that helped me at all in the morning was a completely different scenario. Now, thankfully it was a local pitch. I won't say whether I drove or not, but it's just a. Probably on autopilot getting there and I can't remember the pitch at all. I remember going in the room but I can't remember actually pitching the pitch.

[C]

Barging into the room.

[B]

Yeah, just slamming back and I dread to think loud because the client were there. It was a well known bread company and I just think, oh God, what almost I smell like, like pure yeast like in the room.

[C]

That's a bit like severance, isn't it? If you've got no memory of what

[A]

happens in the room.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

So, yeah. So awful. So then come Monday, you're thinking, oh my God, I better contact the agency we were dual pitching with because we're using their, their officers. I was in. It was, you know, this is guy from tal, he's the digital expert here and he's gonna. You can imagine.

[A]

Were you on your own from Tall?

[B]

Yeah, I was on.

[A]

So you, you were in other agencies domain and then you were, you were

[B]

wheeled out of the scene standing up for Tall's brand and representing Tall half cut. Now the good news talking to the other ANC earner is he didn't have a clue. He said, oh, you really. No, I didn't, I didn't get that at all. I was like, wow. We found out a week later, we won. We won the pitch. So we were against three other incident. We won the pitch.

[C]

But you've got no idea what you promised.

[B]

I have no idea what I promised. Which gets to the learning bit in a second. But yeah. So I think that the lesson learned there is, I think for me and I drink on a school night and if it's awards, take it easy and try not to book anything out the next 24 hours afterwards.

[A]

I think that's. I think you've been harsh on yourself there, mate. Cause like if we're going out, we wouldn't get absolutely, you know, thunderbolted on a Thursday night. But if we've won an award for best, you know, we've won best PR agency a few times. If that happens. I remember going Sambuka's on. Literally, it's the one time where, you know, you've got to celebrate and the fact that you forgot. I mean, what I would say there is the lesson there is plan your diary better. If you need to plan your diary better, you need to speak to Will Ockington because he's brilliant at planning his diary.

[C]

Maybe that model works perfectly. Have you tried it again?

[B]

I was just gonna say. Well, tried to recreate it. I think the lesson learned from it was because I think prior to that. Cause I didn't read the notes. I didn't read the pitch. I think I just pitched. No, that was the thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

Folded straight in.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. So I think the lesson I learned from it was I used to write really, really over. Prepare for pitching. I used to like, you know, for the cues and the notes. And I used to get myself so wound up thinking I've got to deliver everything in a certain way, in a certain. And I just don't do that anymore. I don't prepare in the. Obviously I need to understand why it is I'm pitching and I do my research, but I don't prepare the actual. The pitch order or. Because what I've. What I found is actually you're not as natural. You're not being able to like pull from your experience and your knowledge in the right way because you've already formatted it. So if, if there's a question or you have to pivot within the, within the, the pitch scenario, you can't because you're already rigid and you throw yourself off. Does that make sense? So I think what I, what I found out after that was if I can win it drunk, then surely I can win it so. And just. But what I've learned from it, it's like chill out a little bit, you know, just have a, like a little bit more of a relaxed sort of way of presenting your knowledge and skills and experience.

[D]

Thanks for listening to Embracing Marketing Mistakes. You've reached the end of the podcast. Hooray. What can you possibly do to help Chris and will the providers of this show? Well, what you can help us by doing is, is just please give us some feedback. Positive, negative, constructive. Well, hopefully not negative, but if you could give us a review somewhere, five star review, preferably wherever you get your podcast, it will really help for people to find the show because there's loads of other people out there that we'd love to hear about it. And the guests that come on here, we want to give them as much visibility as possible. So yeah, I want to just thank you personally for listening to the show. I really appreciate it because it's a bit weird. We record it in Leeds and wherever you are around the world, from Peru to Italy, Estonia to Russia to Africa, we. I want to thank all of you for listening, really appreciate it. So yeah, if you, if you like the show, please, please give us a review because it means a lot. So thanks a lot and enjoy the rest of your week. See you next week.