NORTHERN PLANNER

Being from the North of England, where we like what we say and say what we bloody like, you could say that common sense runs in my veins.

And being on the outside of things certainly does give you the luxury to look at the industry twitter twatter with an 'emperor's new clothers' perspective. It can be frustrating not to be in the thick of it of course, but there really isn't much that changes about the job, just the tools that change from time to time and the culture at large we operate in.

With this in mind, let's look at the excitement over 'brand response' that's doing the rounds.

A sat in all agency, for a client you would have heard of, where the media agency described 'brand response' to the hushed room as if they'd just discovered time travel.

It was little like the scene in the IT crowd where they con Jen into showing a box – 'the internet'-  in an all staff meeting as a special treat, and got exasperated when no one laughed at her fuck wittedness. They looked at the black box in awestruck, religious solemnity.

Data that shows us 'brand response' is nearly as effective in the long term as 'pure brand advertising', and builds a sales spike nearly as big as pure tactical stuff, is really useful. 

But 'twas always thus.

All this talk of 'brand' v 'response' as the latest thing to save us all seems a bit, well planners and folk talking to themselves.

All advertising is about response, it's just that what that response needs to be will vary depending on business objectives.

'Brand' tends to mean freedom to not bother talking about the product, which allows all sorts of self indulgent stuff that doesn't shift units in the long or short term.

Just as direct response, or promotions lalways risk create the illusion if sales effect amongst people who would have bought anyway.

I remember a bloke from Honda saying they never used the word brand, sometimes it's more 'image up' sometimes it's more 'product up' but there is always a real story about what the company makes or how it makes it.

Simple.

Even simpler, to quote David Abbot, decades ago. 'Tell the truth about the product in a way that cannot be missed'.

Every generation thinks it's thought of everything new under the sun. It's rarely so.