NORTHERN PLANNER

Off to London Monday/Tuesday. Until then.

I found this in my desk this week:

Almost two years to the day since we flew to the Maldives for our honeymoon I find one of the hotel tea bags – brought back just because they seemed to taste so nice. Couldn’t resist brewing it up – still very, very good.

This connection of events seemed a trifle spooky, and during this chilly week it’s made me not a little whistful for this:

To find out how much blogging I can do before I forget I have a real job, I’ve quietly been writing a ton of stuff on my agency blog, which is work- kind of. I’m finding it a really useful way to go deep into a brand and find out what its voice feels like. It’s also proving useful for getting the tone and manner into creative brains in a non-threatening way.

I’ve had a really fruitful experience as one half of a planning/creative team with Stu, although he keeps apologising for jumping to execution, which is actually the point (although I’m worried he’ll tell you it’s a cunning way for Andrew to interfere with the creative process). Next time there is a chance to play around awhile, I wonder how useful it would be to write a secret blog for the brand and use that as the bedrock of the creative brief – or even write it together?

When I started blogging I wasn’t sure what I was doing it for,apart from some vague idea that someone should speak up for planning ‘Up North’.  One thing I never expected was to meet new people in the flesh. I never imagined it may lead to working relationships.

Nevertheless, James Boardwell, a veteran from Northern Planning nights, has gone freelance and he’s coming in today to talk about working together on some digital stuff. Thanks to blogging, we already know we get on, which is half the battle. I’ll get go nick his expertise on the tinterweb, he’ll get to tap into my vast knowledge of…. er…… tea.

I’m off to London Town for a course next Monday and Tuesday (6th and 7th). Unfortunately it’s not a Friday so no Russell Davies coffee morning, but if anyone wants to meet up after work on Monday, or breakfast -ish on Tuesday give me a shout (Carol? Scamp?).

Thanks to Famous Rob and Michael Pollit I’m doing a bit more digging before going with Sky Broadband. I’m tensing up already as I contemplate the automated phone setups and call centres. So I’ll call NTL first because I read last week that they’ve spent millions and training staff and improving customer service. There’s such an opportunity for companies who remember how to treat people on a one to one basis, especially online or on the phone. If your customers are becoming your media, better make them happy eh?

I really liked a positioning for a cable/broadband company I’ve seen in press a few times. It was all about going the extra mile, which is a bit generic, but expressing it as ‘If you can you should’ makes it brilliant for me. I thought it was Cable and Wireless. So far so good.

But when I went on the web to look at Cable and Wireless’ site, the connection wasn’t there. So I looked at NTL and Telewest to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake. Nothing there either. And to be honest, it was hard to tell them apart anyway. Only Telewest had some art direction that was consistent accross ads and online.

The broadband market, and I’m looking at the moment, is so competitive that Sky are willing to give it away for free, but there seems little differentiation amongst the biggest players? What’s up with that? One has a great positioning but I can’t find it online – did I imagine it or is their marketing that disjointed?

Looks like I’ll be going with Sky – I’ve already got the digital. No one else seems to be able to give me anything to trust at the point of purchase.

You finish work,it’s one of those perfect car journeys with no hold ups, every traffic light is on your side. You’re two minutes away from the swimming pool, already you’re thinking about diving in and forgetting the day.

You turn the corner and it’s gridlock. You sit there for another half hour and seethe silently.