NORTHERN PLANNER

CONFUSED AS YOU ARE

recent posts

about

  • Crying over split milk

    Some of you may be aware of my natural clumsiness.

    Somehow, since moving to TBWA I’ve managed to avoid anything drastic. One spilt mug of tea, walking into a few tables, that’s about it. Lord knows how I did it, but the run has come to an end.

    7.30ish, first pot of tea brewing in the agency kitchen. Once minute, the open milk carton was firmly in my hand, the next, it was one the floor, pumping its contents everywhere- under the fridge, under the dishwasher, everywhere.

    In walks the Chief Finance Officer, followed by the Chief Operating Officer for their morning brews.

    When I do it, I do it in style.

  • Male bickering

    I like getting in really early. I get lots done, it’s quiet and I miss the traffic. But every now and then I’m joined by Ron, Jimmy and Terry. Our building manager and able assistants.

    These boys keep our place together – everything would, quite literally fall apart without them. Besides their official job, they’re a critical part of the fabric of this place. They’ve been here longer than anyone, they’ve got stories to tell, but most of all, they’re funny.

    Listening to them this morning, I realised the secret to really good male comedy – bickering. And that’s because it’s true of all men who have a good friendship. There is constant arguing, hissy fits and wind ups. Not being nice to each other is the glue that keeps male friendships together.

    Morecambe_and_wise2

    Look at Morecambe and Wise, Larry David and Ted Danson, Reeves and Mortimer, Del and Rodney, Mighty Boosh, Peep Show….what makes them all work is the love/hate relationship between them all. It’s funny because it’s true.

  • Hello again

    So I’m back from staying with Mum and Dad with Cornwall. This time I’ll spare you the usual pictures of the beach from their garden and stuff.

    Speaking of the beach though, I never cease to be amazed at the sheer energy of young children. They run EVERYWHERE. Everything is a novelty, it doesn’t matter how many holes sand castles they dig, or ice creams they consume, everyone is the first. Everything is wonderful at that age, their attention is focused on everything, ceaselessly hellbent on every possible experience, all at once if they can. But then you grow up.

    Sand

    Unfortunately for grown ups, we filter out as much as we possibly can. Whatever can be put on autopilot is.That doesn’t just go for driving to work or making the tea, it goes for pretty much everything. Maybe that’s why we’re hellbent on experiencing the unfamiliar, for taking in more novelty…like spending thousands to see places other than where we live, or redecorating a perfectly good bathroom.

    Anyway, good morning.

  • Bye for now

    Holidays for a week. When I get back it’s the return of the Account Planning School of the Web.

    See ya.

  • Free trials, brand ideas and communications ideas

    Now and again people offer me free stuff to trial, in the hope I’ll blog about it. I usually say no because I don’t want to be under pressure to write something, and I’d feel bad about cutting something to ribbons if it wasn’t any good. Also, I’m sort of bemused that anyone would think I have some sort of influence.

    But I did accept trialling Papershow for a few weeks. Basically, you can connect a pen to your computer by USB and turn it into a whiteboard. I thought I might find it useful in workshops to scribble notes, and I did, but the real value was creating powerpoint slides that were a little more interesting. And it worked a treat.

    Like this slide. And in fact, while we’re here, lets talk about this slide a bit.

    Brand

    Nike_2 

    Think about Just Do It – built around self motivation, empowerment and hero worship, this single call to arms, to get off your arse and make things happen has informed twenty years of advertising. I know I’ve got my order of events wrong, but that’s not the point. At some point they needed to crack tennis, re-engage with athletes who thought they’d lost their sporting edge,engage with women etc. The big brand voice enabled them to address their challenges and keep that all important consistent voice.

    I’m not going to have a go at Brand Onions and stuff, it should be self explanatory by now, but look those charts again. See that big arrow in the middle? The thing that holds all those little ideas together?

    It has an intent, a direction, a goal, and endgame. Nike didn’t know what they would have to do in the next twenty years, just like I don’t know what I’ll be doing in my fifties, I bet you don’t know what you’ll be up to in twenty years time either. That’s the thing about plans, they rarely work out.

    Flags

    In the 80’s the US army used to plan everything to death. Every single eventually was planned for, nothing was left to chance. Problem was, they found that every single engagement has one thing in common – nothing went to plan. And the rigidity of orders and planning meant that no one could use their initiative, adapt to the situation and make it work.

    The general even had a saying for it, "No plan survives contact with the enemy". So over a number of years, they adapted their planning, with more emphasis on the end result. Everything is about the intent now, that’s the guide, the thing everyone works to. And being enables to adapt, gets them their.

    I think brands are like that – the vision, manifesto is critical, but it shouldn’t handcuff what you need to do for right now, it should enrich it and hold all those ‘right now’ into a much bigger ‘one day’.

    Hope that makes sense. Just wanted to share. 

  • Go North

    This Guardian article speaks up for my beloved North. Naturally I agree with their sentiments wholeheartedly. Read and enjoy.

    North

  • Fitting in, templates and getting a planning job

    100_1841

    Someone was kind enough to ask my thoughts on what to say if you want your first planning job and, in the the interview, you’re asked about process, insights coming from anywhere and proprietary tools. I thought I’d share my answers (I’ve added some bits in since my initial reply).

    "My view on templates is that if the agency has one, use it, it’s easier for you in the long run. Plus, models and templates have a place – they frame your thinking. Like the Disruption model my agency works with – thinking the conventions and how you might break is a useful place to start, but isn’t much good without insight into the audience, or knowing what the objective should be. The trick is to make sure you have a good idea, not just one that fits the box.

    Try and still think about the usual stuff – brand, audience, market, culture, objective, and I mean think hard. Write things down, do manifestos, mind mapping, all that. When something good eventually comes, if it doesn’t fit your ‘model’ post rationalise it to hell to fit. If something is really good, it should be able to take everything you throw at it.

    As for getting consumer insight, it’s true that ideas come at anytime. That said, you can’t beat going out amongst the people you’re targeting and hopefully talking to some of them in the context of your subject matter. Talk to footballers before a match, talk to women about make-up when they’re getting ready. Talk to gamers while they’re playing. If you haven’t got time, read what they read, watch what they watch. Look at some of their videos on Youtube. Read their blogs, Facebook groups etc.

    When it comes to the interview, find out as much as you can about how the agency works, and tailor your ‘approach’ to that. Be yourself, but no one wants a loose cannon. People want someone who can both fit in and add to what they already have. Think about your planning heroes – how you might nick their best stuff and leave the bits you don’t like.

    You simply can’t avoid rigour and process, but my view is that you should never do anything for the sake of it though, approach everything with the idea of learning something new, generating ideas.

    It’s true that ideas come from anywhere, but they won’t unless you’ve done the work and banged your head against a brick wall first.

    Hope this helps."

  • The dangers of the internet and slack blogging

    I was talking to someone the other day about the brilliance of the Internet.

    If any agency professional was really, really honest, they’d tell you that they never know 100% how well something will work. With the Internet, you can try lots of stuff without a big enough, see what works and then ramp it up. Testing in real time.

    100_0969

    But there’s a danger. Just because you’re in ‘test phase’ that doesn’t excuse slackness. When things can be shared and gather pace at a frightening rate, you have to be sure you’ve accounted for things going wrong as much as you can. When it’s out there, it is very hard to recall. A bit like the email you reply to instead of forwarding I guess.

    That goes for bloggers too. You don’t know which posts will take off and which ones will be ignored, and it’s often surprising. That doesn’t excuse not putting yourself in the shoes of the reader and making sure it doesn’t needlessly offend anyone, or can be taken the wrong way. I think I wrote one of those posts today.

    It was supposed to be about the highs and lows of working with people who have different skills and different ways of working, but it seems like it came across as having a pop at creatives. It wasn’t supposed to, without them, my agency would fall down, just like it would without suits, production or accounts. I just wanted to point out that maybe we should celebrate ALL departments a bit more and try to hold each other to the same standards.

    But that’s the web for you, when you make mistakes you make them in public. So the post has been deleted. You live and learn.

  • Bossy Britain?

    I’m sitting on a train en-route to London. Last time I mananged to swing first class, and demonstrated that I was anything but by trying to pay for the free tea, and after realising everything was gratis, troughed free sandwiches and made myself ever so slightly jittery after over-dosing on the caffeine in all the free tea and coffee I availed myself off. Anyway…………

    It’s standard class today, which is fine. But then I hear the latest snippet of ”helpful information’ from the tannoy. "Please be careful when alighting from the train, as the heavy rain has made it slippery". Do I really need to be told this?

    I’ll be merrily navigating the Tube in a bit, with the constant reminders to mind the gap, and the at some point, they’ve decided to inform you what station you’ll be approaching and what station you’ve just left, despite the perfectly brilliant Tupe map and line map that adorns each train.

    Whenever we drive, they’ve taken it upon themselves to tell us to slow down, despite the fact we all know the speed limit, to take a break when we’re tired, to think don’t phone.

    How did this happen? When did we become a nation that needed it’s little hand held wherever it went? How did we agree to be pelted with useless intruction? To be bossed and cajoled wherever we went?

    Of course, having reached the venerable age of 34, you may be justified in accusing me of descending into grumpy old man territory, but this really does feel like a cultural phenomon the right brand could get its teeth into. 

  • Am I an idiot?

    Someone from Brazil emailed me recently wanted a head up on planning and stuff. I deleted it by mistake (are you sure you want to take anything I say seriously?). Do get in touch, and sorry if I appeared rude, I’m just an idiot.