Category: The day job
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Once upon a time, after days of banging my head against a brick wall on a client brief, I got that curious sense of elation, relief and pure nuclear exhilaration when I hit on an idea. It was simply beautiful and beautifully simple. It was a game changer. Everyone agreed. My boss, the suits, even…
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There's a great scene, in the quiz night episode of Phoenix Nights, when Brian Potter's team show him their plan to cheat their way to quiz victory. They reveal one of them has written all sorts answers on their forearm, concealed beneath their shirt sleave. "Do you know the questions?", he asks. "No", the respond,…
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More email based advice. Just a reminder, this is what I think, not everyone. Hi Andrew, Sorry to bombard you with questions. I feel that 'strategy's is not embraced within the client organization at all. Strategy is about retrofitting the execution as opposed to guiding the creative. While I know real life doesn't happen in…
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More email advice stuff. About these folks: Hi Andrew, How are you? One of the things I'm really struggling with at my current workplace is shaping my role. My role is a newly created role. I feel the client is execution focused and there is an enormous opportunity for strategic thinking to guide the brand.…
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…and here's the second chunk of vaguely useful advice. Four basic questions. Whatever the agency, the 'specialism', the client. the category or territory. Hi Andrew, I came across your previous post and the way you found your voice as a planner is inspirational. It brought tears to my eyes. It gave me a lot of courage…
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It amazes me 4 or so people who read this blog bother. I get even more incredulous that after reading it, some actually ask for advice. Please remember, I'm just a tea drinking swimmer who works in one of the most god-forsaken planning outposts in the world. Not even my little boy listens to anything…
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If you're not from the UK, it's unlikely you will understand the significance of working outside London. Especially if you're a planner. It's not like many other countries where good agencies and talent are spread around. In the UK, most of the good jobs and the talented people are concentrated in its capital city. Now,…
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I get the train from Leeds to Kings Cross a lot. Sometimes, the conductors don’t even bother to check my ticket, that’s how often I’m on an East Coast train. So maybe I notice stuff a little more than the average rail passenger, but then again maybe not. In any case, one thing I don’t…
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More years ago than I now care to share with you, I went on a creative briefing course chaired by Saint Russell Davies. It was really a two day,"How to go about strategy" bootcamp, although bootcamp is a little misleading, because it was fun and inspirational. The biggest eye opener was when we discussed the…
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I was reading this post about working with suits, (for no other reason than the fact I needed a reminder myself), and wandered into the comments, where I re-read something about presentations. "I would only expand them by saying that in presentations a planner should be funny, witty and interesting but a bit understating, not…
NORTHERN PLANNER 