NORTHERN PLANNER

Okay. As mentioned, we're running  a little late with this.

You can read 7 of the entries here on my Scribd

And there's one more here

 

Below is the the first part of the feedback. Please feel free to add your own comments. Open source etc.

APSotW Feedback from Andreea.

For me the winner would be Thomas Wagner, Geert in second place and SC on 3^rd.

• Thomas and Geert had similar ideas, except Geert went into a bit too much idealistic detail. The Ivy Man is an ideal. The two countries where Ivy has the strongest following are England and Japan. In Japan, Ivy style is revered with a kind of polite affection coupled with tremendous respect for its original source: college campuses. In the UK, Ivy was always a kind of secret society for the sussed few, not something for the mass readership of men’s fashion magazines (the publication of “The Ivy Look” is disingenuous: you can’t be both elite and mass-market). It’s also about a love/hate relationship with the US. The idea of a man being more than an empty shell was good, but the Ivy revival feels like the manifestation of a collective daydream.
• Because it was meant to be an international campaign, I felt the idea of the KoS comedy club would be complicated to implement and adapt on a local level – every country has a different culture, therefore a different type of humour. In my mind, the role of humour is not to make other people laugh as much as it is to make others know who is in charge. This could be a good thing for men, but at the end of the day we’re talking about selling razors.  To me, the only reason men groom is for the opposite sex (history & every man I asked said that unless prompted, he wouldn’t bother with shaving, if left to his own devices). 

 

1. 1.       Matt Nixon’s entry (APSOTW-2[1])

• I had to go back to the last slide to find the name – I’d say with stuff like this, don’t be afraid of putting your name first thinking you’re being presumptuous. You’re not. When presenting to strangers you introduce yourself first, right?
• Good intro in terms of other consumer brands that are doing well (e.g. Bic limited by the simplicity of its product) and what’s working for them, although a bit superficial in terms of analysis.
• Nice touch with putting in quotes from colleagues; shows some effort to go out in the world and talk about it, even if it’s just people nearby. All men have to shave.
• Shaving as mischief; mischief as removing signs of growing up – good to isolate the cultural strategy down to one word;
• It feels like there isn’t much thought about men vs. women in today’s world. Women already see men as immature when it comes to a lot of things, so saying that shaving is going to make them preserve this modern immaturity is counter-productive to me. The idea needs more work to be turned on its head though with a bit more thinking.

1. 2.       Zeljko

• King of Shaves celebrates the occasional shave as one more form of fuelling the creative freedom
• Very succinct presentation – stems from the fact that if women can do what they want with their hair, then so should men. To me that sounds like something out of wishful thinking, rather than something men need (more narrow and focused in terms of their identity in relationship to the world).
• You’d always struggle to balance expressing this ‘creative freedom’ with selling more products and short-term marketing objectives that arise (e.g. the classic shampoo problem and making people wash more often so you sell more product).
• The reason why most men don’t shave is because it’s comfortable not to (as observed). However, wallowing in this comfort does not a man make. Men derive more pleasure from the fruits of their labour than women – perhaps there’s a way to do that to shaving and the ritual of shaving in the morning?

1. 3.       Justin Thor Hoyer

• Australian only presentation?
• Good observation about how shaving itself isn’t discussed much – but just the end result, be it good or bad.
• Good idea about focusing on scrubs and moisturisers which protect sensitive skin – would need to focus on how to address the problem of men with irritable skin much in the way condoms have addressed size. There are no “small” condoms – they start with “medium”, “large” and “extra-large”.
• The presentation, however, does not focus on the cultural strategy side of things. It can’t be judged as such.

1. 4.       Carolin Dahlman

• At first I wasn’t certain about all the buzzwords and the 4 categories of men but it made sense when it became obvious that shaving brands usually target 2 archetypes.
• A nice look into a modern man’s worries – something not many have done;
• Hair is a barrier between a good guy and his dream – also something I find culturally relevant. His dream isn’t to be a sports star like the “Gillette” man
• A nice little nugget – that “the queen usually makes the king”. However, getting women to talk about how hairy and disgusting men with hair are feels like ridicule and is in stark contrast with the “men just want someone nice to spend their lives with” idea! This could be a part of the campaign, but I’m not sure it would work as the campaign itself.

1. 5.       SC

• Starts off really, really well and is probably the first one to follow the signposts in the briefing.
• Gives a good cultural context – that nowadays some of the so-called “nerds” are turning into success stories. That and the fact that men have about as many products as women, yet no signposts on how to use them, where, when, how often etc.
• “Anxious Achievers” – perhaps it might be an exaggeration to say that they are probably university educated. Likely to be, but considering an international audience and different university fees, this is less likely to hold true.
• Good observation about the ritual of shaving forcing them to look into the mirror and accepting their skin condition for what it is;
• I like the idea of the comedy club – men judged by other men alone, and not by women. Gives them something of their own, without feeling like they are worthless. Something to win (within reach) and something they can be good at. Something every man could try, whether he’s a suit, cook or works in the local chippy.
• “Shaving kings make their mates laugh, not jealous” – what a good observation; like in sports, good players make the entire team look good, not just themselves.
• It feels a bit unfinished but then a lot of the brand’s voice will stem from creative work and execution.

1. 6.       Geert Jan Baltus

• Like the observation about traditional shaving brands as showing man’s domination over nature – a very American ideology (imperialistic almost, the civilised vs. the savage)
• The new type of man knows he can make it, he just has to work harder – good, it says that King of Shaves needs to appeal to that ideology
• The Ivy man reeks of idealistic/romanticised view of what it used to represent but it makes the point that a respectable man is an educated man, rather than an athlete with primary instincts.
• Needs more focus on what the idea really is: “intrinsic motivation to make something of his life”
• I think this world of the “Monocle man” is actually closer to how King of Shaves sees itself now (participating in the National Grooming Awards, showcasing in stylist magazines, championing traditional barber shop shaves)
• Interesting idea to put men of different ages who don’t know each other together; it would  be a way of revisiting male camaraderie. The summer school is also interesting, but feels a bit too niche for the average guy.
• The ideology feels right – attack the “empty shells” of Gillette/Wilkinsons advertising
• “Find common ground and apply old rules to new times” – good
• A big caveat is that you have to find a way of avoiding the “young fogey” look that a lot of people are against;
• It feels very cosmopolitan and idealistic but stripped down it could be very relevant to a younger, growing audience.

1. 7.       Thomas Wagner

• It feels on the same line as the previous one but more stripped down. There’s not as much detail but the writing is good and gets to the point quickly.
• I think this is my overall favourite
• "good things men did in the past are still valid and relevant today and will be tomorrow” – good
• “just enough is more” – good
• “there are no shortcuts to being a good man” –good
• Letting men have a beard – embrace the culture because it’ll have to go at some point;