I’ve been lucky enough to have spent some time with the good folks at Kindred recently, among other things helping their newer members of staff get to grips with the core planning skills of understanding markets, getting the right objectives, briefing and effective communications strategy. Aside from the usual fear that they might see me as a bit disco vicar (does everyone think this ?) I was also worried that the bedrocks of the planning discipline I’d worked with over the years would be seen as out of date in the digital age.
Fundamentally though that fear was misplaced, and I’m pleased to report that the principles that have served us so well are still very much alive and well. If anything, they seem to have gained added impetus in an era where a quick Google search is often seen as all the market orientation we need.
I was heartened too by how those at the outset of their planning careers were not just able to see the value of its core principles, but were able to build on them to suit their own particular needs and specialisms.
My time with the Kindred planners led me to conclude that things in planning are not always rosy, but are certainly on the right path. I’d look to change the following:
Market orientation and understanding is in short supply. Understanding the nature of the brand, the category, the consumer, the competition and routes to market is often skipped over in an attempt to get in to idea generation from the outset. At its worst, there’s comfort from not knowing, in the sense that you can then never be wrong. This is a mistake.
Objectives are often confused with deliverables. The outstanding IPA research in this area unequivocally shows that campaigns with hard business objectives at their core are more than four times more likely to deliver significant commercial outcomes than those that just set soft commercial measures, yet “we need an ad that looks a bit like this” is all to often used as an objective in itself.
Briefing starts with what you want people to do, not what you want to say. In the words of Martin Wiegel, the best strategy thinks backwards. And yet most briefing still seems to start and end with a mess of half hearted slogans and half baked ideas. Yet further evidence of the ‘tactification’ Mark Ritson loves to talk about.
Discipline specific strategists have got a lot to add to the overall comms plan, but often lack the confidence to speak up when it matters most. They’re more confident in making a case for their own channel, but not how it knits together with others to form the bigger picture. With IPA data again saying that multiple media is the most effective way of achieving powerful communication outcomes, knowing the roles of each is increasingly vital.
And finally, there’s always more to learn. About consumers, about strategy, and about the hopes and dreams of planners just starting out on their journey.