Category: The day job
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A few years ago I attended the APG Planning Network. It was a great experience where I went to different agencies to hear different points of view on various bits of the job. Every talk was by a celebrated planning director, but I got a lot out of being around other inexperienced planners on our…
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You can't move for storytelling in the corridors of communications agencies. We don't make ads, we don't market at folk, we tell stories. This is nothing new. I give you exhibit A……. Exhibit B, a little vignette… But it's fair to say that 'storytelling' has become a little more complex of late. Linear…
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I bloody love Haruki Murukami. To the point when I usually get his new book as soon as it is published. Forget paperbacks, I want it now. Over a number of years, he's built up quite a following for largely writing variations on the same them. A lonely man with unrealised ambitions, who cooks a…
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I feel very lucky to be a planner/strategist or whatever you fancy calling it these days. I find it continually interesting and challenging and have come across some lovely, talented people. But there are some things about the job that drive me up the wall. Tiny next to upsides of the job – anyone doing…
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It's no secret that I'm not too fond of brainstorms. They are mostly a waste of time. Unless you want to get buy in from members of an external or external team by making feel part of the idea creation. But that, of course, takes very careful meeting design and a masterclass in moderation. There's…
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So I got the news about Ian Thorpe coming out with zero interest. Really? Does it really matter (apart of course from the fact he had to keep it quiet, now that certainly does matter)? But some of the footage made me extremely whistful for the pool. Because I don't go swimming that much any…
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I did read David Meerman Scott's Newsjacking, I admit it. Maybe because I just love anyone who has Meerman in their name, imagine sounding like a mythical half man/half fish everytime you introduce yourself. Anyway, I did like the collection of case studies of tactical ads and ideas. But let's be clear, Newsjacking is not…
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I get really uncomfortable if soneone introduces a planner as 'the brains'. Especially if I'm that planner. First because of the obvious, I'm not very clever, I just read more and then pass off other people's brilliance as my own. Second, I get all nervous about the pressure to say something remotely interesting and intelligent,…
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1. The silky skills of the best suits mean they can deliver negative feedback or outright criticism and make you feel like you just won the lottery. A common trick is taken straight from marriage guidance counselling – deliver five complements in relation to one piece of negative feedback. 2. If someone delivers some great…
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1. The training scenario. You know, where new employees are schooled in the world of excellent service and unparalled dedication. 2. The manifesto -once the springboard for 1984 and Crazy ones, now the lazy method for laying out a brand purpose. I'm talking to you TBWA/Chiat Day. 3. The…
NORTHERN PLANNER 