LEGO nails it.
December 8, 2014 1 Comment
It’s from last Christmas but I could watch it every year (especially this year though).
How to become a planner – Part VII
November 4, 2014 2 Comments
The Account Planning Group had a really great piece on what planning is and how to get into it. Here are some of the highlights:
Thinking like a planner
Here are some ideas from top planners in the industry about how you should approach planning.
“Get curious”
If you’re considering becoming a planner, curiosity should be something that comes naturally to you anyway. If not, then start getting out of your comfort zone and looking at life from a different angle, through taking courses you’d never thought of taking, to taking a different route to school, to spending a morning just watching people on the street. There is no linear progression into planning. It comes from an interest in many different facets of life. From an openness to see things from multiple perspectives. And from an ability to make connections between seemingly disparate things. So up your life curiosity. – Simin Radmanesh
“Whole Brain Thinking”
Make sure you have evidence and experience in right brain conceptual thinking and left brain analytical thinking. Logical: maths, logic puzzles, business case studies. Conceptual: painting, creative writing, going on ‘adventures’. – Simin Radmanesh
“Embrace your nerdy side”
We want people we work with – and planners in particular – to be interesting and interested in the world – we’re looking for people with sparky, inquisitive minds. Don’t be afraid of strategically exposing your slightly nerdy side – planners need to be able to get interested in the detailed minutiae of the most apparently ‘boring’ products and services. If you spin it right, that dark past as a dedicated teenage trainspotter may work in your favour… – Mathew Palmer
“Unhealthy interests”
Be interested in brands and how they work. I think I only ever got a job because I was able to develop an unhealthy interest in stock cubes and chocolate biscuit countlines and what people had to say about them. These things are not to be looked down on, they’re to be celebrated and explored – John Shaw
Simple is almost always better.
July 27, 2014 Leave a comment
Here is Stephen King’s (the planner, not the writer) “planning cycle.”
It doesn’t end with a proof or conclusion. The cycle begins again over and over (until you lose the account).
No jargon. No acronyms. Real, simple, questions that require some data, some analysis, some critical thinking, and most importantly the formulation of hypotheses.
And in that simplicity lies its brilliance.
Stop it already.
July 17, 2014 Leave a comment
Enough with this stock photo. It’s been done to death. We all get it. You’re creative. You think outside the box. You’re refreshing.
Really, you’re just a(nother) cliche!
The planner’s reading list
July 1, 2014 4 Comments
In the spirit of “borrowing” from other people smarter than me, here’s a solid planning reading list from Andrew Hovell. I’ve read a bunch of these and they are all fantastic. I’ll be working my way through several more this summer.
Read, in this order:Truth Lies and Advertising By John SteeleA masterclass in brand planning a collection of Stephen King EssaysEating the Big Fish by Adam MorganThe Book of Gossage by Howard GossagePerfect Pitch by John SteeleTesting to Destruction – a Paper you can get on the APG website for freeThose are the big ones, that sort of stand the test of time.Then:How Brands Grow by Byron SharpBrand Immortality by the IPAThe long and short of it – an IPA paper by Peter Field and Les BinetThere are the ones with the most up to date data on how advertising and stuff really work and are essential – but it’s essential to form your own opinion too.Then:Cultural Strategy by Douglas HoltTransformations by Grant McCrakenThe stuff you can’t bottle King AdsVery current, more about how to do imaginative work and great cultural insight.And ongoing, blogs:Don’t bother with my rubbishRead Canalside View by Martin Weigel, go to the start and work throughRead Russell Davies’ archive before around 2008Read Rob Campbell’s wordpress blogRead Ad ContrarianScamp (for a creative point of view)
And for my on becoming a planner, I recommend:
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How to Become A Planner — Part VI
June 10, 2014 4 Comments
My posts on how to become a planner are pretty much the only things on this blog that get any traffic. Maybe it’s because this field is so damn hard to get into. Maybe because I am an awesome writer. Maybe because the internet is just a bunch of spam bots. Who knows?
What I do know is that a year ago, BBH lost an amazing planner, mentor, and overall an amazing human being (from what I’ve read). His name was Griffin Farley. And to keep his legacy alive, they created the Griffin Farley Search for Beautiful Minds program. Its “a weekend boot-camp open to individuals looking to get their break into strategy and a platform for them to showcase their thinking to the industry while taking a step toward finding a job.” Read more of this post
I hate bottled water but…
May 12, 2014 Leave a comment
This is so awesome. Well done Honda.
You still have the issue of the bottle but the product, the story, the execution, are all fantastic.
All you have to do now is bring the FCX Clarity to the US. And help us build a network of hydrogen filling stations.
Honda FCX Clarity (Photo credit: Daniel Reversat)
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The Iron Price or the Blood Price?
May 5, 2014 Leave a comment
A pop-up shop for The Walking Dead where you pay for your purchases – with your blood. So awesome.
We’d love to think that people will donate blood out of the goodness of their heart, but often times it takes something else. Sometimes it’s public shaming. Or a local/national tragedy. Sometimes it’s money. Whatever it takes, it’s a good thing.
Via PSFK
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