NORTHERN PLANNER

I guess few middle class skinny latte drinking planner folk will lament the demise of News of the World and I guess, from an ethics point of view they might have a point, but that's not really for me to say.

I will regret its loss for slightly more mundane reasons.

The News of the World knew its audience and what they were interested in. There was no pretense in being something it wasn't, it had an incredible instinct to know what its buyers were interested in and deliver it.I will miss a direct line into the real beating heart of UK plc, which was invaluable for my job.

Evidence of mistaking what people care about for what you care about is the way broadsheets went Tonto over phone hacking into the lives of the rich and famous, but the public didn't really care that much. When the hacking became about normal people like them, well, you know what happened. That's a problem many politicians, media folk and ad folk have, they just can't relate to real people and what they are really bothered about. There's a lesson in there too somewhere.

 I wonder if certain planners could learn something from an organisation that really took the time to deliver content people really wanted, rather than what would impress their peers. 'twas always thus, but now you can't afford to start with what people care about and work back. What interests THEM, not a small community based around West London,Maddison Avenue or whatever agency hub you might work in. That doesn't mean yo shouldn't seek to change their minds of course, but it needs to be about something they're bothered about in the first place.