e/spyer

We have changed place, we are not anymore together with the creative team, they have sent us to the account floor. Since that happened, I was thinking about the role of planning within the agency.

Nothing against the account team, I believe their role is essential and very important.

Today I heard a very funny discussion planning versus account of who should do the briefing. (debate has taken at least half an hour.)

In search of more information I found a fantastic blog: The Royal Society of Account Planning.

They have created an image that attempts to illustrate the operation of an ad agency:

I wish it were that simple.

They also created two interesting examples of how is a strategic planner:

Here is an explanation of the points:

1. Understanding the client context

Before you tell them something new you have to connect to what they already know. What you say must be relevant to the client. A deep understanding of the client’s mindset, the key issues they are facing, and their personalities and internal dynamics allows you to establish the essential starting point for all logical arguments. Before this point can evolve you must first acknowledge it. Only then can you begin to shift it with compelling rationales.

2. Passion, curiosity, diligence, resourcefulness

The key personality traits for a planner. Passion and curiosity gives us an insatiable thirst for new data, new perspectives, and new concept connections. Diligence gives us the stamina to uncover cryptic insights and to thoroughly vet our work. And, resourcefulness lets us surmount tasks that at first glance seemed impossible.

3. Deconstruction, synthesis, vision, clarity

Many times in research, respondents will use different words that ladder up to one central idea, a concept that encompasses a variety of sub-concepts. A key role for the planner is to interpret the denotative and connotative meanings of these words and use them to clearly identify that overarching idea. This allows a planner to visualize conceptual space like a map and begin to draw new boundaries of meaning, using the right words to define a brand correctly.

4. Logic, persuasion and presentation skills

The ability to speak rationally, persuasively and with the style and flair of a performer is a skill that transcends planning. It is a necessary skill for the successful communication of all ideas, and even more essential for those in the idea business.

5. Deep understanding of universal human and branding truths

A key part of the deconstruction process that allows you to interpret data within the broader context of universal human truths and insights. A planner should tap many sources including: human motivational theory, hierarchy of needs, the ingredients that define culture, archetype theory, and a variety of other theories from anthropology, psychology, neurology, etc.

6. Strategic documents (positioning, creative, brief…)

Strategic documents fine tune and structure the planning process so that it becomes actionable and can inspire the rest of the agency. Without the focus, clarity, and vision of these documents great ideas will be misunderstood and misguided. A planner must learn how to write documents that can really inspire a creative explosion.

7. Insightful consumer, brand, and competitive research

A core source of a planner’s power is the ability to fully grasp the consumer, brand, and competitive landscape; to find the gaps in that understanding; and to design research that will effectively bridge those gaps. Planners can then continually draw on this resource to structure premises for sound logical arguments.

8. Knowledge of research methodologies and branding processes

Research is only as good as the methodology that supports it. A planner must have a full grasp of the various research methodologies and their strengths and weaknesses. They should have a firm grasp of branding processes so that they can guide clients and the paths of their research.

9. Strong relationship with a creative, account team and client

A great planner can’t be great if they don’t have the support of their team. A rogue planner will continuously have their efforts undermined and subverted. It’s very important for a planner to develop strong working relationships that will partner up to make the strategic vision come to life.

Ufa, Thank God! Glad I found this site. Today my head was upside down.

I think I need to refresh my thoughts about planning role with more experiences.

Bacio

This year Cannes was supposed to be a dog, and its name is Tura. It was subscribed in all campaigns as Creative Advisor by Chacho – Creative Director of Leo Lisbon. If you surf Tura’s website (http://www.turathedog.com) you’ll see everything that the dog has earned at the biggest advertising award and in many other competitions.

Was it a satire about the competition?

Where Leo won awards, there was the dog, wearing the right badge and everything. Nice idea!

I have never been very eager to advertising awards because I knew that most were ghosts. That is, almost everything we see was never approved by the client, and not even inserted in real media.

But this year, Dm9 creative – Murilo Melo did an interesting speech that was propagated by Flavio Proença, and that changed my idea about the award: “imagine that Cannes is our fashion week, and we are creating campaigns that normally do not leave to the street but are trends for future seasons. ”

I agreed with his thought. But what I think is the coolest this year were the ones that really happened, especially the campaigns for Burger King:

Freakout:

Virgins:

And also, the best job in the world campaign:

And of course the Tura’s campaigns:

Red Cross:

Efêmero Museum:

What I am most upset is that I know that the results in the vast majority of cases going to Cannes are increased or invented.

But it has one, I consider the best of all times, and that the numbers do not lie. A campaign that was pure strategy, marketing / communication / positioning: The Barack Obama political campaign.

It is worth reading a little more on the subject at AdAge. Also see this interview with Kotler:

This year, DDB has invited the Obama’s campaign strategist, David Plouffe, to speech at the Cannes Festival. And also took the award for second best global network of advertising.

DM9DDB celebrates the title of Agency of the Year! It was a job made on the basis of fashion week, which meant that the creative team had to think outside the box for a year for this award. And brought the agency back to the top of the advertising world.

Even with all this talk on Cannes, an award that is truly relevant to both agencies and to the client is the Effie Awards and I am happy to know that this award begins to be important in Brazil.

In addition, of course, the most non-sense and fun Brazilian advertising award: o desenlions.

The virus, like the swine flu, is something that appears suddenly and is now worldwide. According to Wikipedia, a virus is basically protein particle that can infect living organisms.

Today to make a viral is a trend. The client asks for a viral, the creative makes a viral. Do you think an agency is able to make a viral?

This is a talk of hours in my lunchtime: with friends of the agency and outside the agency. Whenever I see or hear someone talking about making a viral it makes me listen carefully. I think the viral is not just doing it, but rather a consequence. Nothing is born viral, but it becomes viral.

Every week I receive a new report (very inspiring!) made by Paula Rizzo (paularizzo.com) for DM9. A few weeks ago I saw a campaign of Rayban:

While I was watching this video it made me directly associate with one of the first interesting “viral” I saw on the internet:

And then to this Lego film:

These three videos were and are a hit on the internet and there many other similar.
Are we creating a formula to make a viral?

If so, this formula must end. Because when I watche Rayban’s film, I remembered the other two, and because it didn’t bring anything new or relevant to spread, I was not an active transmitter of this “virus”, in short, had no spreadability.

(if anyone remembers any more videos like those, please comment)

I see the current communication as the Black Swan Theory, or the unexpected is the key to understanding the world, explained for me at a lunch by my brothers Juca (naozero.com.br) and Pablo Spyer.

But I see many people offering viral as a normal media. Inside media strategy we see TV, Radio, Newspapers and Viral. That makes me a little concerned because they are thinking viral as a media and not as a consequence.

I went look for more information and found Henry Jenkins (http://henryjenkins.org/), one of the masters of new media, creator of the term transmídia, published on his blog a research done by the Convergence Culture Consortium called “If it doesn’t spread it is dead”, it’s worth see the video on the link. It explains the concept of convergence, not only technological convergence, but the social convergence.

“Today we live in a world where every story, image, sound, idea, brand will be present on all platforms of media.”

And Henry Jenkins goes beyond; he has written a post containing more than 80 pages, explaining the concept of spreadability. Reserve a time to read.