Northern Planner

More planning craft coming soon

You may have noticed that posting has been going down around here for awhile. There simply isn't enough time to force everything into. So it's probably a bit daft commiting to more planning craft posts, but that's what I'm going to do.

It seems that one or two people found them fairly useful, and to be honest, I reckon there's isn't enough proper, basic craft around the planning corner of the internet, or day I say, the industry in general.

So.....

I'm not going to commit to a timetable or anything, but a start could be:

Handling Clients

Segmentation - how to find your audience

Any other suggestions?

The danger of process and models

Since I'm freeing my reading up for more fiction, it feels like the right time to pick up on something I've noticed from the trade press and leave be for awhile. That's models, theories of how brands work or 'how we should develop work now'.

Now if you've read one or two books on planning and brands, you'll know what I'll mean. Most gleefully pelt shiny, fresh new Damascus discoveries at us like the shiniest, freshest thing since bread came sliced. Mostly, they're thinly disguised new business tools, or re-packaged observations on basic craft, or trends that have become mainstream. They, and you, know who they are. But one or two rise above this and are genuinely useful. Truth Lies and Advertising and Eating the Big Fish are the best ones for me, but Herd and The Brand Innovation Manifesto work for me too. What they tend to have in common is a toolkit to frame your thinking, rather than how to think in the first place.

Overall, there seems to be an agreed evolution of how brands have worked in recent history:

1. The unique selling proposition for a time when products were genuinely different to each other.
2. Consumer insights - magnifying an observatio about a target audience's relationship with the category/brand/service/product.
3. Disruption - as attention got harder to earn, brands began to wilfully break the rules to stand out.
4. The age of brand insights. Ignore consumer insight, don't disrupt for the sake of it, as consumers demand authenticity, make a truth about the brand/company/product service as interesting as possible. Target conversations rather than groups.
5. And I would argue that we're moving into the age of the stunt (Sony, Drench, Bud, Gorilla), where being interesting matters more than being salient (and maybe salience doesn't matter at all!!

Most books and papers seems to argue for one of these ways of thinking about brands and, therefore, ways of developing strategy. But the problem is, life is just too messy. Sometimes it's right to dial up the brand culture, sometimes you've got a genuine USP and shoulf just get out of the way, sometimes the brand is so big, it just needs to steer to keep it salient or interesting.

But to be honest, good ideas tend to be a pivotal observation that observes all of the above (with a possible exception of USP). You can't decide the best thing to do without understanding something about your audience, the brand and the competitive context...and I'd add something about the consumer culture around the competitive context.

When you know what the right thing to do right now is, you can decide what element of your brand toolkit to dial up. That's how it works for me.

I'm not saying that you won't have found your voice after 7 years or so. You'll have an act, a way of doing things.....but in the end, be very nervous of models and proprietry process. Ideas tend to emerge, mostly over time, mostly out of meeting rooms.

More made up books please

I read some really good fiction books last week, which were the first in ages. And it was such a relief.

Don't get me wrong, for the last six months I've read some really interesting, sometimes inspiring non-fiction books, but sometimes you need to just enjoy a really good story, or something that makes you FEEL.

Not to mention being able to switch off and enter another world.

The Steep Approach to Gabardale by Iain Banks is one those good stories, while Miranda July's No One Belongs Here More Than You is a collection of short stories about moments that change everything - sometimes moving, sometimes profound, it's definately something that wakes up the emotions. The website's pretty good too.

Note to self - more fiction in future. I think I'll put together a reading list, there's tons I've missed.

Just a quick note to wish all those lucky to go to Interesting 2008 a wonderful day tomorrow. I would have got in for free after speaking last year too, and as Northener, it pains me to pass up anything free...but Mum's staying, so I'll just have to watch the videos.

Gemma's speaking this year, would have liked to have seen that.

Fresh start

Someone very dear to me has one of those rare opportunities to make a completely fresh start career wise. Quite literally, what do I want to do? The choice is mine.

In this case, the choice is archaology (said individual is sick of every thinking they're the first to make the Indiana Jones connection).

How perfectly wonderful and terrifying all at once. What what you choose to do? What will make you truly happy? Are you curious about how good you would be at something totally diferent? Are you lucky enough to be one of the best at what you do, but given the chance, do you think you would be average at something else but love it more?

I have my own coffee shop dream - a little restaurant in St Ives with my best loved recipes. I know a few planning blog type people would come, but even if it was a heroic failure, it might be nice to find out. I'm not the best cook in the world, but my food tastes of love.

I was great at swimming, but merely good at tennis. I would have given anything for that to be other way around. Forget being Federer, just to play tennis all day and get paid would be great.

And then there's the nagging, suspected idea that there's a university politics department, or a think tank somewhere missing an international relations specialist (I loved this bit as a a student but I was a coward - knowing a little bit about how the world really works scared me to death).

Come to think of it, I've sort of done it in my own little way. It was only the move from suit to planner, but it was still a leap of faith back then, a pretty safe one I grant you. That's sort of worked out.

One of the very best planners I know told me that the first few years of his career was a waste of time until he made the leap. Wrong agencies, wrong job (suit), wrong industry before that. Now I don't entirely agree with that. The journey is sort of the point, makes you appreciate it when you get there.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I think I mean that life is full of possibility, sometimes it's better to remain curious, sometimes chances need to be grasped. And sometimes you just don't know how lucky you are. But the fantasy of starting again is a sweet, bitter secret we all carry.

Better than nature

PSFK pointed this out, but I can't find their post. You may have noticed that I have a passing interest in swimming.

Swimming is as primal, simple sport. It's just your body in different medium. As such, technology has never really been able to help - apart from shaving hair off to reduce friction.

But recently, world records are falling all over the place. Recieved wisdom is that it's hard to beat nature - but they have made all over body suits that are better than skin - you glide though the water with minumum resistance.

In a way I think it's sad, just like purists who mourn the passing of the old wooden tennis rackets, or soul surfers with their old wooden boards. There's something noble about just you, your body and what you can push it to do. I know it's a level playing field, but it just takes some of the romance out of it for me.

That said,I used to shave all my hair off, so maybe that's a smidgin of hypocrisy. Not to mention, grow back on your chest itched like a bastard.

Stephen Pinker and propositions

So I finally got around to reading Stephen Pinker's the stuff of thought. Which is every bit as interesting as I'd hoped. Far too much to recount here, you'll just have to read it, but there was one bit that struck me about wordplay and proposition writing.

There's a little bit that talks about polysemy and its role in humour. Polysemy is where a word had more than one meaning, which you can deduce from its context within other words and sentence construction. Like red has a variety of meanings - red-hot, red-hair, red-alert for example. Red hair is ginger, red-hot is a particular expression of heat that is very hot, but not as searing as white hot (thought red hot coals are orange).

These words are brilliant for wordplay and dry humour -like Mae West's, " Marriage is an institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet". Flipping the meaning of 'institution' get the effect.

Or WC Field's answer to, " It must be hard to lose a relative". The answer was, "Nearly impossible". Changing the meaning of 'lose'.

So what's my point? Well, I get nervous of propositions in briefs that try to be headlines. But you do need to make them interesting. They need a hook, some tension. I think that this kind of polysemous wordplay is a great trick to make them sing out without falling into the trap of writing a headline.

I've often got out of being stuck by using liberating not for example. This usually works by looking at what great about something, and dramatising what it ISN'T rather than what it is. So Lynx is NOT dirty. This works through the more than one meaning of 'dirty'.

Then there's the trick of forcing a word into sentence it shouldn't really live in, using metaphor. It forces the reader to give it more attention than it should normally warrant, paints a picture in the mind. Make information emotional, not just fact. Like Tom Lebvers' " Soon we'll be sliding down the razorblade of life". Which makes 'life is hard' more graphic, you can almost feel it...which brings me to maybe my favourite proposition - polaroid is not a camera, it's social lubrication (by the way they get to this by giving wedding guests free cameras and seeing what they did them...doubt it would have come from groups!). It allows you some traction, friction or whatever metaphor you like, in a sentence.

I'll be looking for polysemy and metaphor in my propositions. I think it's a good way of finding hooks, unless you're one of those natural proposition writers. If so, count your blessings.

Hello, I'm back off hols

Here's some happy Tzatziki. Only holiday snap. Promise.

Off for a week

Going to Greece for a little holiday. See you in a week.

Looking back to look forward

I loved history as child, and as grown up I still do since knowing where you came from can tell you a lot about who you are. So Andrew Marr's a History of Modern Britain is a delight.

He writes beautifully, which is a timely reminder that good information is made so much better if it's delivered in an inspirational way, but it's so much more than that.

Most history, and in fact, most news and current affairs tends to focus on politics and big, macro stories. But that's the tip of the iceberg. There's the rhythm of everyday life, the conversations, the hopes, the fears, the language. You only get a good sense of that from poetry, books and (last century anyway, films, radio and TV). What this book does really well is get down to that level and think about what real life was life for real people.

This is something planning folk should think about more. Big grand strategy is all well and good but what's the grammar and rhythm of everyday life? I can assure you that the texture of the everyday for the Fashionista girl I'm beginning to know as well as myself is at once very similar and incredibly different to my own. The trick is to know how and why.

On another note, the people from the 40's 50's and 60's seemed totally alien to me, until I realise they are still with me now. They're called Grandma and Mum and Dad. Not sure what this means, but it seems very important. I suppose it puts credit crunches and oil prices into perspective. I should ask about stuff like this more, what it was like they won't be around forever. That'sa big part of growing up for me, seeing your parents as people rather than just 'parents'.

Impossible planning

In Paul Watzlwick's The Situation is hopeless but not serious he opens with a little story about the Austrians.

A once great Empire, the sheer diversity meant that agreeing on the common sensical was virtually impossible and absurdity permeated every facet of life. 'Simple problemswere impossible and impossible problems acheievable by default'. 'Austria loses every battle but the hopeless ones'. Sounds like planning to me, trying to do impossibly clever stuff just because that's what planners are supposed to do.

We've all been guilty of it, inexplicable inability to do something perfectly good and right because it's too simple. I suspect that many have ignored a flash of inspiration that came too early in the process.."Hold on, I haven't thought enough about thism surely there must be more?"

Yes, very often we cannot resist the urge to muddy things with added layers of complication just because we want to be shinier, harder, looks like genius. I'm not sure last week's Campaign helped when they argued that some of their percieved best work recently looks like it's had no planning - like Drench, Sony Balls or the Gorilla. Simple ideas (truths?) executed very well.

What I dislike about this observation is that 'planning' needs to shine out of the work, it needs to look really, really, really clever. On the most frustrating things about my job is that very few people see how much you've left out. But that's the job.

That doesn't mean reducing stuff down to something dumb, or bullet hard advertising propositions, but it does mean compressing lots of good stuff into a rich, simple idea. But that's the job. Leave your ego at the door and get on with it.

Ten songs on the Ipod to make me cycle faster

1. Shut up and let me go - Ting Tings
2. Hit - Sugarcubes
3. Harrowdown Hill - Thom York
4. Summertime- The Sugarcubes
5. Running Away - Polyphonic Spree
6. Bizarre love triangle - New Order
7. Teenage kicks - Undertones
8. Come Together - Primal Scream
9. Golden Years - Prince
10. Rasberry Beret (12 inch) - Prince

Real people, real insight

When you developing strategy it's very easy to do the right thing. You know, do masses of groups, prove your point with a quant study and develop an lovely, elegant strategy that makes total sense. Who knows, there may be shining insight. It will probably track well too.

But you're probably missing as trick. I'm often amazed at how how few marketing people actually go out and talk to the people who use their product or service while they're actually using it. They never see what the true relationship actually is - they won't say much that matches your brand onion, but they will tell you exactly what your company really means to them. Stuff that doesn't come out in groups because it's too intuitive.

Rich stuff tends to tumble out. Not just how best to promote what you're selling, but NPD, product development, real meaty business stuff.

One of the best NPD guys I ever worked with worked for a handtools brand and used to look at how professionals modified their tools - and simply made it. No one else bothered and they continually remained one step ahead of the competition. 

Just because

The Withnail and I washing up scene is simply genius. With a much underated line - "Leave it until the morning". "This is the morning".

Throw away the recipe book

I haven't done much recipe posting for awhile, it seemed like folks might be getting a little bored. I think I might perservere nonetheless, but even so, this post is anti-recipe.

I did a fair bit of cooking this weekend, we had family over and personal pride forbids just coasting. I want people to enjoy it - cooking is an expression of love for me, I want people to taste how much effort has gone into it.

But nothing I cooked came out of a recipe book. Everything was hybrid of things I've tried, liked and then tinkered with. That's when it gets fun, creating your own signature dishes. Trying stuff, failing, learning and trying again. That's proper cooking.

Getting creative. not accepting that there's only one way of doing things. It takes time to develop the instincts required to experiment - and you have to learn the basic craft skills first. Reminds me of the day job come to think of it.

The seven ways to tell a story

In the Observer's Book of Books they outline Christopher Booker's Seven basic plots found in storytelling. Interesting way of thinking about the theme to a creative brief, the story behind your presentation or even the brand narrative if you believe in such things.

In a world where being interesting is just as essential as being salient, I think think this is good way to frame stimulating thinking.

They are:

Overcome a monster

Rags to Riches

A quest

Voyage and return 

Comedy - usually a nightmarish comedy of errors

Tragedy

Rebirth

Honda is very much about quest to me, so is the famous Tesco work with Dudley Moore. I guess much of the VW Golf work has a tragedy worked in, espescially the Great Pretender. Much of challenger brand thinking is about overcoming a big bullying enemy this is one of my favourite Irn Bru ads that neatly destabilised Coke and co etc, etc.

Good and bad continued

Leeds in the playoff final.

This is just good, no bad.

Good and bad

Good:

It's Friday and the capricious British Weather is considering serving up some sun this weekend.

I've converted Lara at work to Lapsang Souchong  - truly a connoisseur's tea.

Indiana Jones comes out next week.

Less than four weeks 'till I go on holiday to Kefalonia.

One of those mornings when you feel overflowing with enthusiasm, ready to crash through the to-do list.

Being 34 means you know what you like and don't care what anybody thinks.

Mrs Northern, always.

Bad

The to-do list requires A3 rather than A4 paper.

Worrying that Indiana Jones might be a disappointment.

Worrying about the media buying on our beautiful ghd campaign.

Didn't go swimming this morning.

Nearly four weeks seems like forever.

I might be falling for a pair of overpriced retro tennis shoes that only I will like. The downside of not caring what others think.

I'll never be a 15 year old brave enough to wear pink cycle shorts again (oh, that's actually good)

Well played Paul

Congratulations to Paul who's joining my place. After a work placement trial thing he's being kept on full time. You can read about his exploits here.

He gets extra points for being creative about media.

Something one or two of us are thinking about right now.

The end is not as fun as the start

I remember the first time I saw some work I had been involved in running; a press ad for a Beazer Homes. Yes, we all have to start somewhere, but I got a real thrill at seeing it in a real newspaper. That thrill has never totally gone away. Seeing ghd outdoor driving home yesterday was really nice.

But it's the journey that matters. Like finishing a really good book,  there's always a sense of loss when you finish a project, even when there's been hideous moments, fall outs, stresses and stuff, I think it's the hard work getting is where the fun is.

The stress when everything's a mess, you can't think straight anf your head will explode makes that sudden moment of clarity so sweet.

The 3am finish before a pitch makes the moment you know it's going well in the meeting so much better.

It's not as easy game to be in, you never know what's hiding around the corner to crash into your carefully laid plans. But that's what makes it so special.

It also means that if you're in it because you think it's cool, you won't last. But if you truly care about your work, and THE work, you can't help but enjoy it.

It's feeling quite stressful at the moment. A million things are swirling around, I'm not quite sure what the end will be, the connections are not there yet. And that my friends, is what planning such a truly brilliant job.