Context, Value & The New Marketing Economy

Helge is a Digital Planner from Norway and he shares a great presentation with us. Not just the content, but escpecially the beauty of the presentation is impressive.

Context, Value & The New Marketing Economy

View more documents from Helge Tennø.

What's Next In Marketing And Advertising (2009)

Paul Isakson of space150 put together this great presentation and it will be really hard to add anything that is missing.

What's Next In Marketing And Advertising (2009)

View more documents from Paul Isakson.

The Future of Planning is tangible.

Check out this SlideShare Presentation by Zeus Jones. A company founded by planners 3 yrs ago that truly understand about creating new experiences, not just advertising. Most of it based on technology ;-)

AAAA Future Of Planning Zj

View more documents from Zeus Jones.

How Advertising needs to change not only the product, but the process.

This presentation by Giles Rhys Jones from Ogilvy gives intersting input on the "agency of the future" as well as the work style that is connected to it. See his SlideShare Presentation here. I am eager to learn more on Tools and how they will shape future agency models. Though I think that smaller agency start-ups or the ones with less "classical history" should be able to implement this way of thinking and working quicker.

Few & Long Or Many & Quick

View more documents from giles rhys jones.

7 Ways to be Interesting.

Image courtesy of MadRussianPhotography

Ogilvy Germany has just published that consumers are now cats, not dogs anymore. True in the sense of conditioning. As it seems cats are as self-directed as the modern consumer is supposed to be today. And still: I want to be talked to as human being if possible. With things, that interest me. "Interesting" seems to be the logical key word. Why should I read or watch anything un-interesting? But what makes stuff - advertising even - interesting?

WHAT IS INTERESTING TODAY?
Some recent campaign examples show what people are interested in. And doesn't have them smoothly turn away cat-style. For a recent event I screened a bunch of hyped and awarded campaigns and (product) ideas to look for commonalities.

What was part of this screening? Of course the much discussed „The best Job in the World“ case. Alltogether campaigns and examples that get praised by planners and creatives alike – and some where receiving the one or other award lately ( e.g. the Jay Chiat Awards , an English APG Award or international Effie.)

The „Prescribe the Nation“ campaign from BBH for example. Building on a completely different media strategy. With "word of mouth" taking a very organic and a lot less predictable and steerable way.

vaseline prescribe the nation CASE STUDY from craig smith on Vimeo.

What are they doing that others are missing? In a sense one of the answers is that they are (or come across as) more than just advertising. A lot more exciting is communication that was not even created as such - but as a product. E.g. bylaurenluke – where communication was actually the basis for the product – the YouTube cosmetics educational videos from a girl named Lauren Luke. Or Nike+, the product platform that achieves a much more intensive brand connection of runner and brand than any campaign could ever achieve.


Image courtesy of S.Stäuber/ Morethanadvertising.


WHAT MAKES THESE EXAMPLES INTERESTING?
There are patterns visible that are truly different to the old dog training methods. They all follow some principle or other - not all at once, but often the exciting stuff builds on one or more of the following. That aim at doing something for and with people. To gain more relevance. Principles, that make things interesting for people. A product, a brand or a business idea. And advertising and communication.



Image: courtesy of dunechaser

1. EXPERIENCE. INSPIRATION. BEING PLAYFUL.
For example the „Routan Babymaker 3000“ by VW. Experience what great baby you can have with the right partner. Actually this is about a minivan - but with a very engaging method. (Unfortunately the campaign was just that - a time based ad campaign. I think they could have left it online much longer...)
The Hornbach-House of Imagination is one of the few German examples, and truly in 3D. Outside of well-worn DIY store communication patterns the visitor can experience a complete house and the artful interpretation of it with all senses. Experiental value is the least I need to create to get people to talk about it - and achieve awareness via Word of Mouth.


2. USEFULNESS. BE HELFUL. SIMPLIFY LIFE.
Offer something truly useful. As a lot of iphone apps show over and over. Or mint.com as a new way to look at banking and financial services. As the „Twelp Force“ from Best Buy does. Or by just taking up a socially relevant theme, as Häagen-Dazs with „Where my bees at“ shows.


3. GIVE. BE GENEROUS. SHARE.
Give stuff away generously. Not in form of coupons that should get you to buy stuff. But as a present. Free useful iphone Apps for example. Or free downloads like the Coldplay Live Album. Live Streams from concerts etc. are just the same – and also hit on the „Experience“ principle. Moneywise generous is the IDEO idea of „Keep the change“ for Bank of America. Movements such as „Guerilla Gardening“ give the city a greener face where it otherwise would be grey and ugly. Maybe because this is a voluntary movement, and not a brand doing it: a lot can be learned from cultural phenomena on how to create relevance.




4. OPEN. TRANSPARENT. BE REACHABLE. CREATE DIALOGUE.
Transparency and openness are principles of a lot of communication ideas that use social media. Like the BestBuy Twitter employees of the twelp force. The Obama campaign, even though a bit overused example. And as a lot of other brands on Twitter and other channels show. (Zappos, jetblue etc.)

5. TRUE. HONEST. AUTHENTIC. BE REAL.
Tapping the truth with what you communicate. Let real customers talk about your product - like the Fiesta Movement. Or as in Vaseline-Prescribe the nation. This is at least more trustworthy than just glossy campaigns.



6. FOR ME. BE INDIVIDUAL. PERSONAL.
Personal not in the sense of a personalised letter. But in the sense of the „me-conomy“. The feeling that you evoke when it is truly about "you". And also reflecting the potential to share. Products are definetly ahead here: YouTube – Broadcast yourself. Facebook. Flickr. Or Nike+ – where it is all about my personal run. But also products within the printing industry – e.g. Moo.com, who offer personalized business cards with a number of visual creative possibilities. A bit similar is Blurb Books, where everyone becomes their own publisher, making their own book - no matter how limited the edition.

7. COLLABORATION. COMMUNITY. LISTEN-LEARN-IMPROVE.
Cultural phenomena show it: #barcamps, that work completely different compared to the old conference style. Events such as Pecha Kucha, where people meet for speeches on the most unusual themes in a may cities around the globe. Creating and experiencing something as a community, and learning from it becomes more important. Often this principle works in ways of customer-collaboration: getting in touch and experiencing products "Tupperware-style" within a circle of friends - with the one difference that the brand is interested to source these meetings like focus groups and gain feedback on their products as well.
Crowdsourcing is an interesting idea in order to create or improve products and ideas - and advertising as well. Lego has been doing that for a while - with designbyme. Unilever has just done it for Peperami in the UK. The German Bild campaign is another recent example (also showing the creative limitations). The list of crowdsourcer is long: dell ideastorm, mystarbucks idea, German coffee corporation Tchibo having something similar. A bunch of crowdsourcing ideas - corporate and beyond - can be found here. No wonder this idea is also the basis for ex-CPB man John Winsor and his latest project: a whole agency based on the idea of crowdsourcing.



What other examples can you think of? And: are there principles missing in order to make interesting products, brands and communication?

As I was writing this I asked myself: does this always need a technical platform, are these principles strongly bound to the online world? Or is this just due to our changed media behaviour? Or that all (communicative) innovations are seemingly technical?

Looking forward to your comments and ideas on this!

Was weckt unser Interesse? 7 Wege, Relevanz zu schaffen.

Image courtesy of MadRussianPhotography

Neulich hab ich gelesen, das Konsumenten jetzt Katzen und nicht mehr wie bisher, Hunde sind. Aha. Hunde also. Es ging wohl um die sinkenden Möglichkeiten der Konditionierung. Und wie wir alle wissen lassen: Katzen sind schwerer zu konditionieren als Hunde. Und machen, was ihnen passt. Da gibt es wohl Übereinstimmungen. Trotzdem: ich möchte persönlich als Mensch angesprochen werden. Und mit Dingen, die mich interessieren.
Das „Interesting“ das Schlüsselwort ist, erscheint logisch. Warum soll ich etwas uninteressantes lesen oder betrachten? Aber was genau macht Dinge, auch Werbung, eigentlich interessant?

WAS IST HEUTE INTERESSANT?
Viele aktuelle Kampagnen-Beispiele zeigen, was Menschen interessiert. Und sie nicht katzenhaft drüber hinweg gehen lässt. Für ein Podium zur „Zukunft der Werbung“ hab ich neulich auf einen ganzen Haufen dieser gehypten und prämierten Kampagnen geschaut, um nach Gemeinsamkeiten zu suchen. Was machen die, was anderen vielleicht fehlt?

Was war dabei in der Betrachtung? Natürlich der allseits gerühmte „The best Job in the World“ Case. Insgesamt Dinge, die unter Plannern und Kreativen weit oben rangieren – und dafür auch schon Strategie-Awards bekommen haben ( z.B. bei den Jay Chiat Awards , den englischen APG Awards oder den internationalen Effies.)

Die „Prescribe the Nation“ Kampagne von BBH zum Beispiel. Sie baut auf eine komplett neue Mediastrategie auf. Und mit „Word of mouth“ beschreitet sie einen sehr „organischen“ und nur begrenzt steuerbaren Weg.

vaseline prescribe the nation CASE STUDY from craig smith on Vimeo.

Viel spannender ist Kommunikation, die gar nicht als solche konzipiert wurde – sondern als Produkt. Wie z.B. bylaurenluke – wo die Kommunikation eher Initialzündung für das Produkt war – nämlich die YouTube Schminktipps, die Lauren Luke gibt. Oder Nike+, die Produktplattform, die zu einer deutlich intensiveren Markenbindung von Läufer und Marke führt, als jede Kampagne allein das könnte.

Image courtesy of S.Stäuber/ Morethanadvertising.


WAS MACHT DIESE BEISPIELE SO INTERESSANT?
Es lässt sich dabei einiges erkennen, was anders gestrickt ist, als die alten Hundemechaniken. Sie alle folgen bestimmten Prinzipien - nicht alle auf einen Schlag, aber die meisten spannenden Sachen bauen zumindest auf einen der folgenden Punkte auf. Die darauf abzielen, etwas für und mit Menschen zu machen. Und so mehr Relevanz schaffen. Prinzipien, die Dinge interessant macht für Menschen. Ein Produkt, eine Marke oder eine Business Idee. Und Werbung und Kommunikation.


Image: courtesy of dunechaser

1. ERLEBNIS. INSPIRATION. SPIELERISCH SEIN.
Z.B. der „Routan Babymaker 3000“ von VW. Super Erlebnis, was für Babies man alles zaubern kann mit dem richtigen Partner. Eigentlich geht’s aber um den Minivan – der sich damit sympathisch in Szene setzt. (Leider läuft die Kampagne nicht mehr....)
Das Hornbach-Haus ist eins der wenigen deutschen Beispiele, dafür gleich in 3D. Hier kann ich etwas Ungewöhnliches in 3D sehen und mit allen Sinnen erleben.
Erlebniswert ist das mindeste, um Menschen dazu zu bringen, darüber zu reden – und über WOM mehr Aufmerksamkeit zu erzeugen.

2. NUTZEN. HILFREICH SEIN. DAS LEBEN EINFACHER MACHEN.
Etwas wirklich Nützliches zu bieten. Wie viele iphone Apps es immer wieder zeigen. Oder mint.com als neuartiges Banking-Angebot. Wie es z.B. die „Twelp Force“ von Best Buy macht. Eine Option, mit dem Elektronikhändler meines Vertrauens in direkten Austausch zu treten.
Dazu gehört auch, sich einem relevanten Thema anzunehmen: z.B. wie Häagen-Dazs es mit „Where my bees at“ zeigt.


3. GEBEN. GROSSZÜGIG SEIN. TEILEN.
Freizügig etwas geben. Nicht in Form von Coupons, die zum Kauf anreizen. Sondern als Geschenk. Kostenlose sinnvolle iphone Apps zum Beispiel. Oder die kostenlosen Downloads des Coldplay Live Albums. Live Streams von Konzerten etc. gehören genau so dazu – und erfüllen dazu die Kriterien der „Erlebnis“-Kategorie. Monetär großzügig ist die von IDEO entwickelte „Keep the change“ Idee für Bank of America. Bewegungen wie „Guerilla Gardening“ geben der Stadt ein grünes Gesicht, wo es sonst grau und hässlich wäre. Auch, wenn hier eine freie Bewegung, und kein Markenabsender ist: von kulturellen Phänomenen lässt sich einiges lernen in Bezug auf relevantes Handeln.



4. OFFEN. TRANSPARENT. ERREICHBAR SEIN. DIALOG SCHAFFEN.
Transparenz und Offenheit spiegelt sich in vielen Kommunikationsmaßnahmen, die social media einsetzen. Wie die BestBuy Twitter Mitarbeiter der twelp force. Die Obama-Kampagne, als recht abgenutztes Beispiel, ist das prominenteste. Wie zahlreiche andere Marken es auf Twitter und anderen Kanälen erfolgreich beweisen (Zappos, jetblue etc.)

5. ECHT. EHRLICH. AUTHENTISCH. WAHR.
Eine Wahrheit zu treffen, mit dem, was kommuniziert wird. Echte Kunden sprechen lassen über ein Produkt – wie beim Fiesta-Movement. Oder in der Vaseline-Prescribe the nation-Kampagne. Das erscheint zumindest glaubwürdiger als Hochglanzanzeigen.



6. FÜR MICH.INDIVIDUELL. PERSÖNLICH.
Persönlich nicht im Sinne eines personalisierten Mailings. Sondern im Sinne der „me-conomy“. Das Gefühl, das es um mich geht. Dabei gleichzeitig an die Möglichkeiten, (sich mit) zu teilen, denken. Auch hier sind Produkte oft schon weiter als die Kommunikation: YouTube – Broadcast yourself. Facebook. Flickr. Oder Nike+ – da geht es um mich und mein persölichen Lauf. Aber auch Produkte im Printbereich – wie z.B. Moo.com, die personalisierte Business Karten mit einer vielzahl von Gestaltungsmögichkeiten anbieten. Ähnlich ist Blurb Books, wo jeder sein eigner Verleger wird, sein persönliches Buch machen kann.

7. KOLLABORATION. GEMEINSCHAFTLICH. ZUHÖREN, LERNEN, VERBESSERN.
Kulturelle Phänomene zeigen es: #barcamps, die ganz anders als herkömmliche Konferenzen aufgebaut sind. Veranstaltungen wie pecha kucha, bei denen in vielen Städten Menschen zu den ungewöhnlichsten Themen sprechen. Gemeinschaftlich etwas zu schaffen, zu erleben und dabei zu lernen wird immer wichtiger. In Deutschland klingt das Ganze schnell irgendwie muffig - ist aber im Prinzip genau die Idee der Kunden-Kollaboration: HessNatur Home Parties - auf denen Kunden nach dem Tupperware-Prinzip die Marke und die Produkte vorstellen, mit Freunden ausprobieren und bewerten - und so auch Feedback über die Produkte an das Unternehmen geben sollen. Crowdsourcing zu nutzen, scheint ein attraktiver Gedanke: um Produkte zu schaffen, zu verbessern oder einfach nur Kampagnen zu entwickeln. Lego macht das schon eine ganze Weile - z.B. mit designbyme. Unilever hat es grad mit Peperami in England gemacht. Die Bild-Kampagne ist ein aktuelles Beispiel (das allerdings auch deutlich die kreativen Limits zeigt). Die Liste der Crowdsourcer ist unglaublich lang: dell ideastorm, mystarbucks idea, auch Tchibo hat was ähnliches. Eine ganze Sammlung von Crowdsourcing-Ideas - Corporate und auch darüber hinaus - findet sich hier.



Was fallen euch noch für Beispiele ein? Und: fehlen noch Prinzipien, um Produkte, Marken, Kommunikation innovativ und interessant zu machen? Und ich hab mich in der Recherche gefragt: braucht "sowas" immer eine technische Platform, sind diese Prinzipien wirklich so stark an die Online-Welt gekoppelt? Liegt das einfach daran, das sich unser Medienverhalten so stark geändert hat? Oder einfach daran, das alle (kommunikativen) Innovationen heute scheinbar technikbasiert sind? Ich freu mich auf eine spannende Diskussion, Kommentare und Input!

We don't predict the future, we help to shape it.

Image: Yuma

“The possibilities for this industry are limitless if we stop focusing on making ads—and bring big, bold, game-changing business ideas to our clients.”

Jeff Graham, Account Director Crispin Porter + Bogusky

Agencies are under a lot of pressure. Changed media behaviour – happening in more complex ways on more channels. Small target groups in social networks. Brands in the search of interaction and dialogue instead of monotonous monologue.

Most agencies offer "360 degree comms" – knowing how complicated it is to get the relevant message to the right audience. Some go a step further - positioning themselves not merely as a „painter, but an interior designer (sorry - this is in German) that takes on a much broader view on the brand and its offering. And coming up with solutions that not neccessarily are within communications.

Earlier this year we saw a broad public discussion within German agency management. Some took a clear position - and either would love to fall back on their core compentencies within the field of advertising - such as Ogilvy-Manager Strerath. Or they are thinking into the future - and plan to offer „creative business consultancy“ such as creative head of DDB Germany, Amir Kassaei.

There might be good reasons for both positions. As well as a market. Because it is quite uncertain to predict a complete move away from classical advertising. Too many people still sit in front of their TV at night and seem to enjoy passive entertainment - instead of endless brand conversations online. But the landscape is changing - not from today until tomorrow. But step by step. And with a speed that agencies do not seem to keep up with in "real time".



Bob Garfield, provocative AdAge writer, offers a true „Chaos Scenario“ for the media landscape and explains that this will be the death of agencies as we know them. But someone needs to produce and publish communication content as Jeff Goodby describes nicely in his Garfield book review.

No matter if it is about evolving the current agency model or the big leap towards a "creative business consultancy" - both can only be an answer to current client needs.

Needs that agencies do not seem to fulfill sufficiently. At least not, if you look at the 2008 Sapient Survey, offering a marketers „top 10 wish list“ to agencies. Next to the digitial knowledge and actual usage of it, the main factor is „consumer knowledge“ and strategy. Aspects that agencies today do not seem to reflect and integrate enough in their work:

„Agencies that understand consumer behaviour: 67% deemed this as an important/ very important aspect of their agencies expertise. ....Demonstrate strategic thinking. 77% of marketers ranked strategy/ brain trust capabilities at the top of thier agency wish list.“

Sapient Survey Sept. 2008, with 200 US CMWs and senior marketing profs

Forrester research points out similar factors (also readable within the blog of Forrster analyst Peter Kim) and cited one marketing executive, describing his agency not quite as the business partner that they obiously aim to be:

„(todays agencies are) a necessary evil, rather than
a strategic partner to grow his business...“

Forrester points to the main reason that will drive change within the agency business: a growing mistrust in marketing messages. And still according to Forrester, the agency model is not dead:

„I don't think agencies are going away ...
they’re going to be the ones that help marketers to
communities of mutual interest.“

According to them media and creative agencies will still be build arround the mass modell: either producing or distributing messages. And even though digital agencies are more up to date technically, having build their business around interaction, they lack the branding skills of classical agencies.

So what does a changed agency profile outside of pure communication development mean?

A new market and new fields of work call for competencies.
Away from being a pure communication service that develops campaigns according to client briefings. But thinks outside this box. And will be asked to do so. But: what actually can agencies offer as such a service? Which kind of consulting service? Will agencies define pricing- and distribution strategies? And compete with the McKinseys out there?
This can be doubted - as their future field of work needs to be somehow connected to the agencies core competencies. Consulting can only be done in a field where they can provide true knowledge. That would be the brand and the context in which brands exist today. Being more than purely about customer needs and wishes - but about the cultural context in which brands exist.

„Our focus should be not on emerging technologies but on
emerging cultural practices“
Henry Jenkins, Professor of comparative Media, MIT.
Author of Convergence culture: When Old and New Media Collide

So it is not (merely) about a thorough integration of technological competencies -as most agencies already have that. But about a better understanding of culture. And thus human behaviour. The classical field of work for planners.

Changed markets need new structures.
Agencies today are in most cases still having a traditional structure (at least here in Germany). On the one hand there is the account people, on the other the creatives. Add a few service departments, such as producers, media know how and a bit of planning. The agency management is in most cases a team of creative and account. Will management be able to build a new positioning for the needs of the future with this current "two-pillar-structure"? In general it can be expected that the changed communication and media landscape will need a change in agency structure as well.

The view of Forrester on agencies also reveals that they seem to be simply structured wrong in order to take up the challenges of tomorrow - and the need to change from „Message Making“ towards an establishment of „Community connections“. What Forrester describes as the „Connected Agency“ does not just know specific communities, but is an active member in these groups. Away from push-messages towards „voluntary engagement, and ongoing conversations (that) would replace time-based campaigns.“ Meaning agencies will need to be able technically, to connect. But also to know and use these communities, analyze and use their communication habits and motifs. Not just the plain reachability and proximity to people will have growing relevance - but also a true usage of this.

The step towards a broader service has already been made by some agencies. The question is still if the focus will be on the development of communication solutions in the future. Or if they should not approach business issues on a broader scale, not purely thinking in communication as potential solutions.

The planning department within many agencies today is already doing much more than pure campaign planning. Planners are partners for marketing divisions and are often briefed on broad questions across a variety of brand issues. Developing brand models, positionings or any other intellectual service connected to the often rather theoretical part of brand management, but also coming up with product innovation ideas - a planner can often provide a great additional perspective through his outside view and his insights on consumers and culture. And planners even take over whole projects around brand issues, not only efficiently structuring and managing them, but leading the team towards a solution that is not merely driven through an advertising perspective.

Looking at the number of planners that we have in Germany today (apprx. 300 according to the apg member list – and maybe there are another 50-100 that are not organized anywhere) – and compare this size of planning departments with the size of creative departments or account personel one question comes to mind: who will actually drive the re-positioning of advertising agencies in order to deliver "creative business consultancy"? The annual planner survey by international DDB planner Heather LeFevre gives some interesting information.

Planning today is not a leading discipline: within planners from full service agencies planning was only mentioned as "Leading Discipline" by 14% .
Quelle: Planning Survey 2009 von Heather LeFevre

Planning departments only seem to make up about 5% of agency employees (missing actual numbers, but the Planner Survey shows that many departments currently only have 10 or less planners) and in many cases they neither lack work nor are they under risk to be laid off. So will this be done by copy writers, art directors and account people on their own?

We only have a future with an investment into the future.
Planners today not only work in classical agencies. The discipline has already grown out of traditional agencies - and is on its way into the DNA of other agency formats and disciplines. With a move towards planning and strategy as a way of thinking within the overall agency business there is at least a move towards one of the above mentioned client wishes.




Agencies that today offer a great environment for planners can mostly be found within the English speaking world. What also seems to be apparent within these agencies that they have an outstanding level of creativity in their work. Creativity and planning do not seem to collide, but compliment each other.


Planners are passionate about their work –the survey shows that the number of those that more or less love their job is continiously high (more than 80%).

But they are wanted and they have high expectations - the job needs to be fun and offer the chance to develop and shape agency content. If this is not the case, planners move on. About 38% are actively thinking about a job change - and about a third has actually made the move within the last 12 months. In search for a new challenge planners do not seem to be looking for long - the actual crisis in the agency job market does not seem to hit this discipline as hard as others.


Smart agencies will therefore invest into their needs of tomorrow. Educate planners. Create a job environment that motivates to stay and shape the future. With a perspective that is content driven - and beyond. Not every planner wants to lead, but most want to co-create and shape the business offering of their agency.

There will not be the one agency model for the future.
The agency world will be as complex as the target groups. A number of different formats will offer creative and strategic services and consultancy. Agencies will consistently change with the market, new offers are added. Who will make the offer will not be in focus. But the quality of the work. This needs to be at the same time strategic and creative, and move beyond the field of communication, in order to truly be "creative business consultancy".

And there are examples today on how and by whom this can be done.

Well positioned agencies have integrated planning as their "third pillar" - and are prepared to offer a true positioning as "creative business consultants". The international agencies that where named in the planner survey seem not only to be places where planners enjoy to work - but where it has an integrated role - and their current work in the market shows that they are capable to do stuff outside of the classical ad routines. Some agencies go a step further - building up indepentent strategic consultancies, such as the German Strategy Group by Scholz & Friends.

Internationally there are more examples - that not only position themselves as communication services with planning or are evolving the traditional agency model into the future. But concepts build from scratch with new structures and offerings, that are more open in their approach, mainly looking for solutions. Planning seems to be a logical interated part such as "digital" . Examples are Space150 in the USA with brilliant planner mind Paul Isakson as Head of Strategy. Or Zeus Jones - with the founders having a background in planning, making strategy an integrated part of their work and defining themselves mainly via brand activities ("actions speak louder than words") and apart from that display an extremly high degree of technological competencies. Or Anomaly, that position themselves as Business Development Partner ("blurring the borders between providing traditional marketing services and working as a business development partner.")

In Germany we currently see mainly strategy consultants, with a focus on the strategic, less on the creative side. Such as &Equity. Diffferent. Musiol Munziger Sasserath. Sturm und Drang. And some more. There is room for more offers that show a true networking between creativity, technology and planning - defining solutions, not merely campaigns.

Even if the future will not be called advertising – planning will be part of it.
In the end it is all about commuicating with people. About brands and products. Even if we will not call it advertising anymore.
Quote courtesy of Paul Isaksons Blog

Planners will need to understand cultural context and human behaviour and put this knowledge to work in order to create resonance.

„In a shifting world, what is the business that we are actually in?.....account planners are in the business of changing behavior and creating belief – making people care and buy into something bigger than them. Brands have to build resonance with consumers“.
Suzanne Powers, Global Strategy Director der TBWA und Teil des US-amerikanischen
4A Account Planning Committee auf der 2008er Account Planning Conference

4A president Nancy Hill underlined this in the aspects that she highlights about planners:

• they respresent what advertising can and should be – now and in the future
• they have embraced digital platforms more than any others
• they are „consumate hoarders“ who aggregate everything in order to understand the world around them
• they recognize that this is a business of ideas and ideals. They take ideas to a higher level and aim for ideals.
• their job is about thinking ahead, moving things forward and embracing change.

That is why planning will help shape the future of agencies. As creative business consultants in search for product- and brand ideas. Or just to come up with communication solutions that are relevant for people and truly reach them. I ad agencies. PR- media or online agencies. Or how ever the agency model of the future will be called.


(as I am not a native speaker this translation might have some weird language constructions. Pls forgive me for that - and I hope the content is still clear...)