They’ve trusted me with the planning bit of staff inductions. It wouldn’t be fair to work to share it all, but I start with this clip from Fry and Laurie to illustrate expectations of planners for many…a little odd, a little detached, totally preocuppied with their own clever little models and pet theories.
Thankfully this species of planner is nearly extinct of course, but there’s a little bit of these two in all of us I think.
Films of Kate Moss in sexy lingerie for Agent Provocateur…..and I can’t be bothered to watch them all the way through. Either I’m over the hill or these are really, really bad.
6am.
Leap out of bed.
Sing in the shower.
Hum to myself all the way to work.
First in, on goes Prince full blast.
Tea brewed, smoothie downed, time to start work.
Summer makes getting up a joy. (Prince turned down).
I’ve never been a football fanatic (but don’t wind me up about Leeds United’s stolen 15 points), but it’s hard not to appreciate this year’s Premiership, it’s a doozy. It’s gone right up to the last day of the season, the momentum has moved between teams, you really haven’t been able to predict what will happen.
This is the beauty of sport at its best…despite rigid rules and elegant predictions with stats, endless variation and nuances in form, luck and fate mean every event will be slightly different. I’m sure that’s why football is the maybe the world’s most popular sport – anyone can play it to a decent level of fun, and there’s so much room for variation between every single game. Even hot favourites lose.
Mens’ tennis is a little dull right now, basically, if it’s not clay, you kind of expect Federer to win everything. You can only admire inhuman levels of talent and sheer artistry for so long. Eventually, there’s little point when you already know the result.
As a child of the 70’s/80’s I was obsessed like everyone else with Star Wars, but there’s only so many times you can watch it. I’ll never get the thrill of that pivotal moment when Vader tells Luke he’s his father in the same way again.
Just like I’ll never feel alternately hot and cold at hearing Sign ‘o’ the Times for the very first time. The great thing about sport is that it reinvents itself with every game, with every race.
That’s the beauty of video games of course. Which brings me to brands and the obsession with simple. linear stories. We watch films and TV to because we like to not know what’s coming next, like sport. We watch repeats as long as there’s enough depth to reward a second viewing. Isn’t that how brands should operate? Opinion is divided, but I love the Budweiser work. Feels like a story I want to follow (and makes sense of the American heritage and dedication). Whatever you thought about Cadburys Gorilla, there was a true element of surprise and delight that’s missing from the dire trucks thing.
By the way, they’ve re-issued these tennis shoes.
They’re from Agassi’s daft pink cycle shorts period. And I WANT them. I know I’ll look daft, but when I wore those 15 years ago, I felt like a could do anything. I took the ball earlier, hit the ball harder..all at a time when an impressionable teenager was feeling hemmed in by ‘all white’ rules and stuffy old England attitudes. I WAS him. In my head. It would be nice to feel a little of that thrill again.
This ad captured it all for me. What is sport if it isn’t about being able to dream of the impossible?
The APG Training Network was great exprience a few weeks back. Half of that was learning, half was peering at other agencies and meeting other planners. That said, the coursework was tough.
You put in big groups and if you ask six planners the same question, you’ll get seven answers. It took ages to get anything done. But on the other hand, pairs seems like a good idea. Double acts are not a guarantee of greatness……
But when it works, it really works..
It’s no accident that creatives work this way andI’m increasingly finding that better thinking comes from lots of conversation, bouncing things around and generally shooting the breeze with a trusted partner. More than two becomes a bun fight, but someone to keep you sharp and work things out with is invaluable.
The job is far more complex than it ever was. When planners first emerged there was one commercial TV station, press and posters. Most stuff was mass market and attention was guaranteed. We all know it’s not like that anymore (was it ever really?).
Is these days of timesheets, the amount of man hours is rigorously checked, offocially, you’re on your o your own a fair bit, but if you’re officially allowed a partner, find one anyway. It might be a suit, creative or planner, it doesn’t really matter as long you enjoy each other’s company, respect the other’s opinion and listen as well as talk. Everywhere I’ve worked I’ve found a non-threatening sounding board to talk to, swap thoughts and work things out. You should too. No one is perfect. They can save you from something really dumb, and sometimes show you the wood rather than the trees.
Just in case you wondered, I’m not sulking at the loss of the Beverage Bracket final. Simply no time to post this week. A good clean (ish) fight..and close too. Well played Angus.
Right, tea needs your help. Red wine is winning. I wanted to keep this friendly, but Angus has awoken the Kraken with needless jibes at everyone’s fabvourite little drink.
If you must, read Angus’ post here, but then read the below.
First off, Angus reckons tea drinkers do some fey thing with there little finger like this…
Have you ever seen anyone do this? I don’t know the circles that Angus lives in, but this seems like a red herring. And anyway, all that lame stuff when waiters pour a little into your glass for you to try – as if anyone is going to send it back. Not to mention the objectionable sniffing..
And those ridiculous descriptions ….. "Wonderful notes of toasted plum followed buy a long finish edges with a faint taste of sauted tarmac. I love red, but totally reject all that fey bollocks.
And as for those bogus claims that red wine is better for you than tea. Let’s be clear, red wine can be good for if you only have one glass a day. ONE GLASS – what sort of horrific self denial is that? One smidgin of a taste and that’s yer lot guvnor. PULEEAAASE!!!
When it comes to the bare facts, wine gets you drunk, which gets you into all sorts of bother; from thinking you can dance to telling your boss how much you fancy them. And it knackers your liver.
Tea on the other hand can be drunk pretty much like water. And it contains theanine. Theanine both relaxes you and keeps you alert. Now red wine drunk sensibly can be relaxing, but alert? I think not.
And finally, wine is loaded with calories. 119 calories per glass. That’s about 15 minutes on the treadmill per glass. That’s two slices of toast. So bottle is like eating a loaf of bread. That’s right, red wine makes you fat, bloated and slovenly. Tea keeps you thin, makes you alert AND relaxes you.
Tea wins, so show red wine the door. And vote tea.
I think you should vote for tea in the final of the beverage bracket. Every cup is little dash of simple joy in your day. We don’t appreciate many, but sometime tea gently taps you on the shoulder and reminds us..
I did a bike ride to a local butchers and back this weekend (garlic and Guinness sausages if you must know).
It’s a ride past fields, woods and every country cliche you can imagine. Since it’s over and hills it’s bloody hard too.
I stopped when I got back to our village to pick up a Saturday Guardian and finally pedalled up the drive to put my meaty prize in the fridge. After swiftly changing into comfy sweats, and stowing my meaty prize in the fridge I put the kettle on.
The legs are burning, quivering every time they’re asked to move, but it’s a delicious feeling, hot, cold, heaven, hell all at once. The satisfaction of managing that hard ride makes the molten lead in every fibre a painful joy.
Then the boiling water is poured over the tea bags, in a warmed pot and it’s the five minute wait for brewing. It’s tempting to pour too early, or give it a good stir to speed it up, but the tannins will ruin it.
And then finally it’s ready. The tea goes into the mug, over the milk, slightly warmed by a little drop from two minutes ago, waiting for it.
I taste it and it’s one of those cups that is just perfect. Every cup is good, but sometimes the fates make one or two absolutely sublime. You never know when…….
But you know what? Nothing tastes quite like tea after a good workout. It’s even better than the first cup in the morning that brings the world into some kind of focus.
I sit on the sofa and begin going through the paper, Mrs Northern can be heard pottering upstairs, the cat pads in and jumps onto my lap, happily purring as she settles into a furry little ball. Good cuppa this.
Simple pleasures are often the best, tea is one of them. That’s why you should vote for it over red wine. Do it here.
I’ve always liked the story if how Andre Agassi learned to play tennis. Basically, his Dad made him hit the ball as hard as he could; Mike Agassi reasoned that eventually his son would learn to get the ball in.
He did of course, few players have ever hit the ball so hard and so accurately…his power just blew opponents away. Now for the forced link to planning…..
I used to work as a suit in place where the head of planning was brighter than a brain pie. His thinking was intimidatingly elegant, his briefs Wittgenstein-esque. In fact, his briefs were so beautifully constructed that no one could work from them, most people couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. Most of his thinking was elegantly wasted.
There’s too much of this about. Great strategy that’s impossible to work from, and it’s not just brand consultacies that are guilty – although how the hell can people so divorced from execution get away with the unusable stuff they spew out?
Anyway, all you need is a really well thought out objective and a good observation. It can be an insight, a user truth, a brand insight – whatever suits the objective. But it needs to be interesting, it needs to be engaging, not just right.
In your thought processes don’t look for what’s 100% correct at first, look for what’s 100% interesting. In other words, learn to hit the ball really hard first.
When it’s something you really want to talk about, craft it, post rationalise it, make it work, make it go in.
Write things down, write a manifesto, write a film script, whatever works for you, but make it intuitive. Once it’s good, craft it. If it refuses to be crafted, start over.
Like most things in life, the more artfully something is carefully put together, the more likely it is to fall down. Find a great solid foundation and then make it work.
NORTHERN PLANNER 
