Planners: The Jedi of Advertising

I've always held a firm belief that account planning cannot be taught in a textbook, but if someone were to author that textbook, it would probably be Mark Lewis, the Group Brand Strategy Director at SF-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Mark visited the University of Oregon last week to inject a bit of knowledge about strategy and planning to the ad program. He opened himself up to a gamut of questions about the craft — from working with creatives to pitching bold business ideas to clients  — all of which he responded to with insightful answers.

The following points were takeaways that any planner or strategist can benefit from:

1. The briefing is more important than the brief. When it comes to writing a creative brief, there is little in the way of parameters. While there are a few key items that need to be included in every brief — the problem, the audience and the insight for creatives to use as a springboard — it's the last one that opens the door for possibilities; how do we educate and inspire through insight via the brief? It may be presented in writing form or take an entirely new approach altogether. Mark Lewis compared this to a script and a play; the script is damn important but nothing is more important than the play. He referred back to the day he briefed his team about Kingston Charcoal. His mission was to evoke the feelings of the backyard BBQ experience in his creatives. Instead of trying to do this with pen and paper, he threw some meat on the grill, cracked a few cold ones and at the end of the day told them that this was the environment and feeling they needed to recreate in their communications. Backyard brief...doesn't sound too bad does it?



2. Gone are the days of baton-passing, in are the days of synergy. The creative process used to be a series of handoffs up the agency hierarchy with little to no collaboration between departments. It was basically a track meet; once your leg was finished you just sat back and watched the rest of your team finish it up. Today's setting is much different, it requires collaboration between all facets of the agency. When asked about the planner's involvement throughout the creative process, Lewis responded that "you aren't doing your job as a planner if you aren't providing your creative team with a nugget of information everyday." Jeff Goodby related the planners role to that of a "fishing guide." To be successful, a planner must not only appreciate the creative process, but also open to being a part of it. 



3. Just because we are in advertising, doesn't mean advertising is always the answer. The new agency model has to think bigger than advertising. An agency is exposed to a slew of research, data, consumer insight and marketing best practices. With all of this equipped, agencies should set out to solve business issues without being afraid to approach the client with new strategy. As Mark put it, we shouldn't "unmarry marketing tactics and business decisions," together they can achieve a lot. 

In three years of the ad program at the UO, I felt Mark's visit was one of the more insightful looks into planning and strategy I have experienced. It's agencies like GSP, and programs like the University of Oregon, that are helping to change the perception of what advertising is.