Archive for September, 2007
Whispering not shouting
I’ve been to watch a demonstration by ‘horse whisperer’ Monty Roberts. Since very few of you will be planning to load a reluctant horse into a horse box or cure its phobia of plastic bags, I’ll spare you the details.
But Monty’s general philosophy of encouraging horses to want to be near you and trust you (rather than forcing them to comply) has interesting parallels with Planning.
What we’re all trying to do is encourage consumers to want to get involved with brands and businesses, to trust brands and to communicate with them. And maybe ‘shouting’ at them with TV ads and 48 sheets isn’t always the best way to do that.
Pap Bingo
Our office is in the studenty bit of Leeds. Those of you who keep an eye on the UK news might be aware that the lovely Chelsy Davy (girlfriend of Prince Harry) has come up here to study for a year.
Our new favourite lunchtime game? Spot the paparazzi. Extra points for anyone who clocks a news crew.
when market research met social networking
One of my lovely colleagues in the Research team at work introduced me to Facebook Polls the other day.
Having the ability to canvass the opinions of 100 Facebook users for just $26 (complete 
with online results charts) and to turn it around in just 24 hours is A Good Thing. Being able to ask Prison Break fans whether they followed the series from Channel 5 to Sky or Leeds residents what they think about the development of the Headrow shopping centre for this kind of money is amazing.
But:
- you can only filter your audience by age OR gender OR location OR keyword
- obviously, the audience is exclusively facebook users so you aren’t getting a representative sample of the UK population
- you’ve no idea how robust the results are as ‘Facebook will not verify the statistical significance of response data’.
These are all A Bad Thing.
On balance, its going to be a usefull tool for last minute pitching and proving a point generally and its going to be interesting to see how other online brands respond – how about online polling on google based on search terms, using GeoTargeting and invoiced on a pay-per-click basis?
(facebook polls image by Dave & Bry)
Generalist or Specialist? Whose responsibility?
I was having a chat with someone with decades more agency experience behind them than me yesterday about integrated agencies and their evolving role.
His take was that the problem was that an integrated model required Specialist account managers (DM, Advertising, PR etc.) but Generalist account directors who could advise their clients across multiple disciplines/specialisms/channels. The snag being how do you advance specialist account managers to become generalist account directors?
Account managers are inevitably focused on getting the day-to-day stuff out of the door and keeping the client happy – but is it also their responsibility to develop themselves into Creative Generalists with a wider view of communications, design and the world in general? Or does that responsibility sit within the Planning discipline? Or should Planning be responsible for this staff development need?
Thoughts welcome on this one – I’ve certainly not got the answer…
Integration – your time has come (again)
I honestly think that big integrated agencies are coming round again (this obviously has absolutely nothing do with the fact that I work for one).
Client’s budgets and the size of their in-house teams are being squeezed and increasingly they’re asking my lot to become an extension of the marketing team - even to the extent of managing their relationships with other agency suppliers.
As the communications landscape becomes more complex and more fragmented, clients face a choice to:
- either employ upwards of a dozen agencies and manage those relationships, ensuring strategic and creative consistency
- or appoint a lead agency, give them the bulk of the work and have them ‘police’ the rest of the roster
For clients who want to go home before midnight, the second option seems increasingly the way to go.
It means that integrated agencies will really have to ensure that their offering is all about not only being integrated and an authority on the changing comms environment, but also as a circus ringmaster.
No small feat.
Exactly what is ‘a fair days work’?
In an effort to clear my desk following a hectic week I was one of the last out of the office on Friday night – but that is quite unusual for me.
There are always going to be the workaholics who are the first ones to arrive in the morning and the last to get kicked out by the cleaners at night. But I think that’s a flawed strategy.
What happens when there really is a crisis? Or a last minute pitch? If you’re working every hour possible, there isn’t any room for manoeuvre.
I’m not saying we should all work 9-5.30 with a full lunch break – and this industry that wouldn’t be seen as pulling your weight – just that we should get the important stuff done, do as much of the ‘nice to do’ as possible and go home in time to have a life outside the office. Spending at least some of our weekday evenings at dance class, taking the dog for a long walk, mowing the lawn or seeing the latest release at the movies makes us more interesting, productive and sane.
Then, if something really does kick off, you’ve got the time, enthusiasm and energy to attack it.
Listen up people, or you’ll end up like Amalah.
Packed? I need a pack-horse.
Just got back from another 300 mile, three bag, car, taxi ‘n’ train round-trip to see one of my more conveniently located clients. It was a first meeting between a new client, my agency and their media agency to try and pull together two lots of consumer insight (mine and the media guy’s) into one cohesive strategy.
I ended up scribbling a few charts in my notebook in an effort to simplify our joint thinking, but they didn’t look that fab on A5 lined paper and it would have been a bit dramatic to leap up and start attacking a flip chart with technicolour felt-tips or to whip out the laptop. Which means I’m going to have to add a small layout pad and marker pen to the pile of stuff I drag round the country with me.
I think I need a bag like Hermione’s with an undetectable extension charm on it (Harry Potter book 7). If she can get a tent, an oil painting and the contents of three people’s wardrobes in an evening bag, I’m sure I could get a few lever arch files, the laptop, mobile, satnav, digital camera, cables, notebook, filofax, calculator and the rest of my handbag in something smaller and lighter than the QE2. Either that, or I need a pack-horse.
toolbox – the gift that keeps on giving
One of the most valuable gifts I’ve ever been given at work was from the retiring planning guru, who bequeathed me a powerpoint document containing every chart he’d ever used.
I don’t think I realised at the time just how useful it would turn out to be, both for those ‘how do I show this insight in a different way’ moments and for when inspiration fails completely.
I’ve spent some time adding to the ‘Toolbox’, (the paper version of which now fills a lever arch file) and now the combined paper & digital edition includes:
- every interesting chart or graph I’ve seen used in other people’s presentations recently
- inspiring articles on the future of planning, research methodologies, the role of brands, trends in new media etc.
- really good awards entries and case studies
- a scrapbook of great creative and imagery I admire
My toolbox has become so valuable that I’ve made an extra copy to keep at home in case of fire, flood or an Act of God destroying the office.
What would you put in your toolbox?
Please look after this brand
So Paddington is the new spokesbear for Marmite. Genius.
update: you can now view the ad on youtube
Don’t just think Pink #2
A new report from Saatchi & Saatchi (perhaps following up on Trendwatching’s female fever report) reveals that women feel ‘patronised’ and ‘offended’ by the abundance of pink technology products aimed at women and that only 9% of those questioned felt it was important that gadgets look feminine.
But how does that explain why Woolworths say this phone (the Samsung S400i in Plum) 
was its best selling handset last Christmas, shifting nearly 30,000 of them. And yes, it comes with its own lip gloss.
Woolies apparently also sold 12 times as many pink Playstation 2s as black models.
I think the answer lies in not seeing the entire female population of Britain as one homogenous audience. Yes, some women do love pink sparkly gadgets, while others place sleek, stylish looks and usability higher up their priority list.
Manufacturers and retailers need to cater for both of these groups – and all the rest too, from the techno-joy gadget chicks to the had-to-ask-my-husband-how-to-switch-my-phone-on contingent.
It’s a case of horses of courses again – and you’d be amazed at the amount of pink sparkly stuff some very embarrassed horses are currently trotting round wearing…
