NORTHERN PLANNER

Let's be clear, having an insight about how your audience is behaving, what they need,what's really bothering them is priceless. But you won't get that from the statements of the obvious masquerading as 'trends' many will try and feed you.

For example. You can't move right now for sparkling reports telling you people feel a bit helpless, are cutting back and want brands they can trust. Well buy me a dress and call me Judy! You don't say. That's not insight, that's not a 'trend' that's common sense isn't it?

The danger in slaveishly following trends that anyone can buy in, or what it simply happening right now, is that not only will someone else be doing exactly the same, you're in danger of simply replaying back someone's life to them, rather than surprising or delighting them.

My other problem is that a trend, or an insight isn't really one unless it's a true revelation. But even that isn't enough – it has to be relevant to what you need to be doing and it has to be useful. I think a big part of a planner's task is t turn an insight, should there be one, into something that will inspire creatives into producing effective great work. For example, it wasn't enough for Pot Noodle to focus on the way post grads don't quite want to grow up yet, they pushed it to the fact they have understandable, guilt cravings. It wasn't enough for Nike to know that women feel left out of the version of sport that's about stadiums, they pushed it to the level of celebrating the sport lots of women love that never get's recognised – dance.

So there you are. The challenge for me is ignoring the stuff everyone knows and getting some great insight of your own. That means primary research, but also mean simply going out and talking to the people you claim to know everything about.