Toronto agency Zulu Alpha Kilo recently aligned themselves with other agencies who are putting their foot down. For the past five years, they have said no to spec work and have already seen the progress and growth within their company.

Speculative creative work is when advertising agencies or the like are required to compete for their ideas to be chosen by their client. There is nothing out of place with a little competition at work, and as a client, it’s helpful to be able to see what ideas are out there. There’s just one problem: spec work is expected to be done for free.

At Zulu Alpha Kilo, they’ve curbed the typical workflow process of asking their staff to come up with a bounty full of pitches that will probably never be used, all the while wasting current clients money to create proposals to gain new business. Now, the team is given time to build personal and professional relationships with brands who in turn are presented with ideas directly. Making sure everyone’s time, and money, has been used efficiently..

The agency made this video for Strategy magazine’s Agency of the Year event last night. Watch as a potential client approaches different professionals to ask if they will provide their services for free before he decides to accept their proposal.