WHAT IS PLANNING AND WHY

DO WE BOTHER?

Kate Waters, Blue Rubicon

What is planning?

Any systematic approach to planning advertising has to do more than simply provide

controls and disciplines. It must actively stimulate imagination and creativity too.

Stephen King, JWT Planning Guide, 1974

We need a process that enhances an agency’s ability to produce outstanding creative

solutions for our brands that will be effective in the marketplace. It is the planner’s solutions for our brands that will be effective in the marketplace. It is the planner’s

job to guide or facilitate this process via the astute application of knowledge.

Planners are in a unique position because they (should) have a detailed

understanding of the audience and the market context through research expertise

AND an appreciation of how this can be applied to their client’s business. Plannersmust provide the crucial bridge between the two worlds in order to get customers to engage profitably with the brand.

Merry Baskin, APG 2007

But there are now many types of

planning…

Creative Brand Comms Marketing Data Business

Ad agencies

e.g. BBH

Brand

consultancies

e.g. Interbrand

Media/ comms

planning

e.g. Naked,

Carat

Clients &

consultancies

e.g. OSM

Direct, CRM

e.g. EHS

Consultancies,

e.g. McKinsey

WHAT DO WE DO?

Understand how and why people

make decisions/ act

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Years

I couldn't live without my

freezer

Frozen food is as good as

fresh food

Understand how and why people

make decisions/ act

The insight:

Getting people talking is the

The campaign:

Getting people talking is the

single most useful thing

communication can do to

encourage safer sex

Root work in the commercial

world

Redefine problems in a more

meaningful way

� Not enough R&M smokers are

quitting

� R&M smokers want to quit, try to quit � R&M smokers want to quit, try to quit

but are less successful at it

� Tackle ‘cold turkey’ to persuade them

to use support

� Cross sell other NHS services

Give brands a point of view that

helps creatives gets them noticed

“Honda has been selling cars in the UK for

29 years. Not many knew. Or cared. Even

Honda owners felt compelled to justify

their choice, with 'I drive a Honda

because ' instead of the proudly simpler 'I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwRCBHhyrAA

because ' instead of the proudly simpler 'I

drive a Honda'. They were buying them

for the perfectly rational reason that the

cars are excellent. Trouble is, 'rational' is

in the same neighbourhood as 'sensible',

which is only a few doors away from 'dull'.

Although Jeremy Clarkson might disagree,

it's hard to buy a bad car these days, so

emotional pull really matters. On that

score, Hondas were a bit low-fat vanilla”

Identify how communication

needs to work to be effective

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYOsWWKHZVw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozCKWDOk9c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef3gofQcOKk&feature=related

Salience?

Persuasion?

Direct response?

Emotion?

Low involvement?

Creative briefs are the key tool we use

Objectives

Role for Communication

Target audience

Insight

Proposition

Tone of voice

Support

When could a planner be useful?

� When you need help defining the problem

� When you want to know what the world is thinking

� When you need to turn business objectives into a creative strategy

� Moderating/ guiding thinking� Moderating/ guiding thinking

� Providing rationale & support for a point of view

� To deconstruct and rationalise creative work

� When you need a devil’s advocate

Stuff to explore if you want to

know more

� A Masterclass in Brand Planning, Stephen King

� Truth, Lies and Advertising, Jon Steel

� APG Creative Strategy Awards Books

� www.apg.org.uk

� Planning blogs, e.g. AdLiterate (Richard Huntingdon), Russell Davies

QUESTIONS?