You're a big-time marketing agency going in to pitch a brand for a new interactive campaign. You already have a long list of huge clients, and each one of them glowingly speaks your name as if you invented the iPhone, sliced bread and rubber bands all on your lunch hour. You're the top dog and everybody knows it. But the brand said, "No."

Your campaign has it all: SEO, social network integration, internet video, rich media, point-roll, pre-roll, post-roll, mid-roll, French rolls (…), user-generated content, widgets, blogs, media buying and RSS advertising. The whole campaign swoops together like a marketing symphony; its climax and dénouement a clear ROI, and unprecedented exposure for the company. Yet they said, "No."

You have a string of brilliant campaigns on your credit list, and you're using the top technology in the field. You had an extensive and impressive presentation, you covered all the options and services available, and all your top talent was in the room to pitch. And they said, "Thanks, but no thanks."

So what just happened?

When brands say no to seemingly qualified agencies, you can pretty much guarantee something went wrong. You might not even notice what, but the client did. And for a major brand that wants to work very closely with its interactive agency, those little details can be killer.

What follows are a few tales of agency woe -- the odd, the strange, the obvious. Many brand reps were wary of sharing their agency horror stories, lest they hurt anyone's delicate feelings, but rest assured, everyone had their stories. And if your agency does any of the following… well, that's just embarrassing.