Please visit Redscout’s Vimeo page t0 watch all of the SPUR episodes.
After last week’s Spur announcement we received interest and reactions from all over the world. Today we’re posting the first full episode.
There is clearly a belief that planning suffers a bit from an identity crisis, tending to be self-referential and consumed by its own purpose and definition. Why is planning’s analytical lens so often turned upon itself? And why does planning often find itself validating its worth?
Perhaps Dan Cherry, managing partner at Anomaly, sums it up best when he wonders if planning is impotent. “If you have a point of view on the ‘plan,’ why wouldn’t you be involved in the doing?”
The more we talk about planning the more we realize that people outside the industry just don’t know what it is (or necessarily care). Planners want to impact real business and creativity more directly. Whether it’s “the output” as Gareth Kay puts it, or working further “upstream,” as Paul Woolmington says.
Is the agency model inherently an obstacle to good ‘planning’? Are the motivations of a planner beyond a tactic or medium? As we continue the series, we’ll continue to explore these questions and offer up new contexts for understanding planners. (The next episode will explore talent and what makes a good planner).
For further information, contact us: spur@redscout.com and redscout.com
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1st <– lol. Don't you hate when commenters do that?
…I'll be back to share. I may actually have to think about what I just watched.
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
don’t advertising people just sound like spoilt aloof children when they talk?
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
“The Smarts” :) Looking forward to seeing more.
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:19 pm
The question that comes to mind after watching episode 1: ‘What do planners outside of the advertising industry feel about agency planners?’ I believe most of us agree that great planners do not think within a particular medium or type of execution; however, they find the best idea and/or insight that can lead to positive change. Planners are culture brokers, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, cool hunters, and more. Planners that can identify with the aforementioned almost never need validation at the office. They are lifelong learners that are living their jobs everyday. With that said, it seems more so that there are agency models that exist which are causing the impotency of planners. Thoughts?
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Agree with Kenji. The problem is not the discipline but instead the way some agency work.
http://www.accidentalthinking.com/2009/11/spur-episode-1-is-planning-impotent.html
November 4th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
This is fantastic! Keep more videos like this coming, please!
November 4th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Planning needs to be more about doing. It needs to be involved in collaborative agile scrums with creatives or technologists to help shape the structure and effectiveness of an response not just had over a brief.
Insight generation seems to be built all too frequently around the barriers to communication but it could be more about potential benefits, utility and cultural opportunities if strategic planning were to spread upstream in the process and get involved in client NPD.
But spreading influence up and downstream should not mean diluting deeper analysis and thought to become a Jack of all trades.
It is important that the deep dive methodology of good strategic planning and insight generation is maintained.
Instead of working alone, perhaps planners could adopt the partnership or team structure used in creative departments to combine different skillsets or areas of expertise (data/financial paired with behavioural & technology insight)?
November 5th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I believe we are at a crucial point of planning development which is hard but necessary. Since blogging has been made simple planners seems to be some of the most frequent bloggers around as a group. The reason? Well it is pretty obvious a lot of planners want more recognition for their work. A collegue of mine compares planners to bass players in a band. With no bass, no groove. But how many famous bass players could you name?
I think it is right that planners need to work differently from now on. Not only focus on strategic theory and brand models. Those things are not so hard really, if you have true insight. We need to get out more, get our hans dirty. Getting interested in humans, groups, status and therefore understand true decisionmaking. Most bloggers miss the target today because they fly too high. They miss the people.
We started an agency for independent account planners in Scandinavia. We believe it to be optimal if agencies can use an appropriate planner for each assignment. And we don’t only take in pure “planners”. We also use mathematics, brand managers and other field experts. Planning is a method and an attitude. A part from that everybody can plan. But obviously you will get better the more you try. There were other reasons for starting an agency too, but this text is al ready too long so I just stop now.
See our site http://www.planner.se
November 9th, 2009 at 11:47 am