this Russian guy had a lucky escape last year when the brakes failed on a parked bus and it accelerated down a hill towards him (story & film @ The Telegraph) For a Planner, I’m probably a bit too organised. Which means I occasionally get lumbered covering client meetings for absent account directors or sorting travel logistics. … Continue reading File as if you’re about to get run over by a bus
Category: Account Planning
The twelve month marketing plan vs. real agency life
Over the last few years, I’ve worked on several campaigns where the objectives and/or the budgets shifted substantially between the insight and planning process and execution. In some cases, we were communicating to a different audience, or with a different message, or with a quarter of the original budget. How can you build anticipating that … Continue reading The twelve month marketing plan vs. real agency life
Choices, choices
by garlandcannon on flickr, CC applies This job, this career, this industry – it’s all about making choices: choose to stay where you are and see what happens, or go for an interview when the recruiter phones choose to live in the sticks, with fresh air, affordable accommodation and family nearby or upsticks to London … Continue reading Choices, choices
What makes a great Account Planner?
In the February issue of Admap (thanks to the APG for sending me a copy), Jon Steel writes about how great planning is not about being a member of the coolerati, an expert on Japanese animation, a fan of post-modernism or being smarter than everyone else. He says that ‘great planning is about creating an … Continue reading What makes a great Account Planner?
10 things I wish I’d been told when I started agency life
1. It is NEVER OK to be bullied in the workplace 2. Going to the pub after work is not compulsory 3. Manage and protect your workload to allow time for the inevitable crisis that will need dealing with 4. Learn how to tell which battles are worth fighting 5. If you don’t like certain … Continue reading 10 things I wish I’d been told when I started agency life
a day in the (reality checked) life
You know those ‘day in the life; and ’24 hours with’ pieces that turn up in trade mags and the business section of the newspaper? They make working in AdLand sound very glamorous, but I’m afraid the life of this Planner is rather more mundane… 8.40 Arrive at work. Go to kitchen. Coffee pot is empty. Decide … Continue reading a day in the (reality checked) life
Time waits for no agency (or planner)
We were clearing out a cupboard at work last month and found some photos from when the business was just getting started over 20 years ago. A few faces from the photos are still with the agency today and they told me about the days when desks were for writing not typing on, when efficient … Continue reading Time waits for no agency (or planner)
more charts and graphs to back us up
Heather’s annual Planner Survey 2009 is up and running. Planners should head over here to take part and click here to sign up to receive the results (students, recruiters and so on also all welcome to receive the results). Page one of Heather’s 2007 survey looked like this:
You sometimes don’t know what you’re digging for until you find it
In pursuit of Insight, I’ve tried an awful lot of ways of trawling through desk research. I’ve enjoyed access to experienced desk researchers who come back with 100 pages on everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-air-fresheners and work experience students who think Lexis Nexis is a kind of car. I’ve also done my fair share of my own desk research … Continue reading You sometimes don’t know what you’re digging for until you find it
Is research helping us find the right answer – or just one that isn’t wrong?
With the economy making everyone increasingly risk averse, it seems to me that Jon Steel's adage about clients using research not as a navigational tool but to protect themselves and their career from a fiery end is becoming increasingly apt. With limited research budgets and risk averse clients it can be very tempting to use … Continue reading Is research helping us find the right answer – or just one that isn’t wrong?