Shift happens...

Discovered via Talent imitates, genius steals

Baby Corn & Red Wine

Go to 1998 and think about two things - Baby Corn & Wine (any - white or red).
How many of us would have imagined that we would start buying baby corns every time we visited the vegetable wallah?
How many of us would have imagined conservative Marwari and North Indian families would begin putting this as a regular ingredient in their mixed vegetable preparation?
Leave aside baby corn. Think about wine. There is nothing in a bottle of wine that should qualify it as a great idea for a typical Indian drinker –
It does not taste great (pardon me wine aficionados)
It does not hit you like Old Monk & Bagpiper used to and still do
It is not cheap again like the Monk & the Piper

But still almost everyone is Wining & Dining Sula (or Château) & Baby Corn

Did they achieve this feat by using the most celebrated celebrity?
Did they achieve this after understanding how the consumer is so much wanting to have wine & baby corn but no one is giving it?
Did they achieve this by developing the most creative and strategically correct marketing communication campaign?

Perhaps none of the above three comes close to describing the mystery behind this mean feat.
All that baby corn and red wine did was to become content in place of communication. Wine became editorial, there were magazine recipes that made a hero out of the tiny baby corn, national and international chefs dished out the ‘corn & wine logic’, a couple of research reports in the newspapers about how wine was healthy and good for liver & brain & kidney & lungs – basically everything that we have inside us and yes the wine warriors threw parties for those who anyway liked wine and ensured that the rest of the world who had been sleeping when the former were sipping the wine got to see in ‘the news’ morning after.
There you are. Corn & Wine are the new age food & beverage cult.

It is very difficult to make people do something totally new; it is very easy to make people do something totally new.
We pick what we believe!

Thot bubbled #49

This thought bubbled from Roop's nice post on creating equity. My question is this: Is Sony a great marketer or not much more than a great creator of products? Related question: Can a great creator of products not be a great marketer? I tend to believe Sony is better at creating products than marketing them. Yes, Sony is one of the best brands in its marketspace but I think this has less to do with their marketing than with their ability to create superior products. Does that make sense? In fact, I think most Japanese companies aren't that good at marketing. What they're really, bloody good at is creating good-to-great products for less. Hmm...is the ability to create great products not part of the ability to market?

Thot bubbled #48

Why would entertainment suppliers have trouble with people posting clips of their stuff on Youtube? It's not like these clips are eating into their revenue stream. As far as I can see, it's free advertising. Or do they believe the people who watch clips on Youtube will start subscribing to their feed when they realise that they can't see it, grainily, for free on Youtube? The latest case of this foolishness is the ICC demanding that Youtube pull down all clips of the on-going World Cup of Cricket '07. Any thoughts that can help me deconstruct this puzzle?

Creative Director 2.0

You've read or heard about Marketing 2.0, Agency 2.0, PR 2.0 and probably even Brands 2.0. Here's an opportunity to redress the balance by extending the new world's most travelled suffix by introducing it to a corner of the advertising world that's managed to insulate itself from the ebb and flow of changes happening around us.

And I am referring to creative. What's the role of creative in this world of social media and user generated content? What's the role of the Creative Director in this new environment? But most important of all, who is the Creative Director-in-charge when we are awash with brand messages, some from expected sources and most from unexpected sources?

The right question to ask I believe is 'who isn't the Creative Director?' In a world where there are no defining boundaries between media and audiences, creators and users, producers and consumers - and in agencies of 'creative generalists', everyone who comes into contact with a brand message and affects the way it's made or transmitted (from his inbox to those of his friends', for eg.) is a Creative Director.

It's a change you'll not hear about from anyone - especially not from the creative themselves. Because as the reigning high priests of the advertising world they'd like to believe that all offerings to the Gods have to be made through them. But a process of democritisation - a spreading around of authority, power and the keys to the temple - is what's happening everywhere in the world of advertising; and creative are not going to be immune from it.

So what can we - planners, agency-folk, evolved creatives, and plain old consumers of advertising - do to hasten the inevitable? For starters, we can prepare ourselves to carry out the responsibilities we will eventually inherit by practicing the creative director's craft - right here, right now.

And what's the creative director's craft? In another context, legendary Hollywood director Sidney Lumet quotes that a director's only job is to make decisions. And so it is with advertising too - there may be better ideators, writers, art directors, filmmakers, web designers around him/her, but it is the creative director who decides what makes the cut and what doesn't.

Not too difficult a skill to practice and cultivate, isn't it? Which is why I'm introducing this new weekly feature called 'Creative Director 2.0' Each Thursday, I will post a creative piece here and will pose you a simple question (via a poll) - thumbs up or thumbs down? There will be reasons, enhancements, questions about brand tone etc and rants you will want to share - and please do leave comments and incite a debate - but the essential question to you is : 'You are the Creative Director calling the shots. Would you let this ad go through?'

I want to start with a commercial that has evoked some pretty sharp response - it's been on air for some time now and you would have seen it. For those who haven't, here it is:



And here's the ballot box:

Voting closes early morning (IST) of next Thursday, 5th April 2007, when it will be time to announce the winner of this week and exercise our opinion over the fate of another piece of creative :)

Thot bubbled #47

Is execution the new idea? I saw 300 and the only thing about it that wowed me was the way it looked. Which brings me to another related thought. What is more important in advertising: looking good or saying something substantial? Put simply, are looks more important than substance? Caveat: dig deep before you answer this one. (Incidentally, research has conclusively proved that good looking people are more successful in life.) Aside from that, I also watched The Namesake a day after and even though the latter is a much better and a more nuanced tale well told, I can bet my last petro-dollar on 300 turning out to be a bigger grosser. Why?

Self-help Tsunami

When I got to know that a westerner was surprised to see the titles in an Indian bookstore I was curious. He was surprised by store’s extensive focus on business and non-fiction books. This is in sharp contrast to what a typical western bookstore is selling.
If Crossword is a good sample then I must confess that his observation was precise. The Indian book reader seems to be on a self-help & non-fiction spree.
A quick look at the sections and the titles being promoted reveals that we are reading a whole lot of business books. Be it finance, marketing, HR or operations; books on HOW TO sell, crack that job interview, grow faster, get that corner office, SPEAK ENGLISH and a lot more, the list is endless.

While most of the ‘non-textbooks’ have traditionally been bought for leisure reading, we have a new crop of readers who started reading books (other than text books) much later in life, They have not been brought up on the Famous Five, Hardy Boys, Enid Blyton etc as kids and have not read Ayn Rand, Sydney Sheldon etc. as youth or young adults. They started much later (late 20s or early 30s) and their decision to read books was a result of realization that if they have to get ahead in their profession/occupation – they need to know more than what their qualification (Engineer or CA or anything else) taught them. Thus began the journey of adopting a new habit – reading books that help.
You’d find these 20/30 something in suburban trains/buses, immersed in Shiv Khera’s You can win or Covey’s 7 habits or The 8th habit, while clutching the overhead handles as the laptop bag hangs from their shoulder over the crumpled blue shirt. I also see them in the long and winding boarding queues at airport terminals.
These are, as some consumer behaviour books and demo/psychographic surveys call, ‘the aspirers’.

Equally interesting is the attitude of these aspirers towards the reading habits of their children. Instead of focusing only on the textbooks (like they once themselves did) these parents want their children to read fiction. Why? Because they believe that a lot of English early in life, be it in the form of reading, talking, at school, or with a teacher, or interaction with a more well-traveled and proficient uncle/aunt has therapeutic properties. It prepares you for the world outside the classroom and the world beyond Indian shores.

I do not know why but I can’t help thinking about China’s one child policy in this context. Out there it was a Govt. regulation not have more than one child, in India, it seems, parents have self-imposed the ‘Must Learn English Language’ policy on their kids.

In this future full of aspirer households, I am curious about the future of light/leisure reading & regional and the National languages. We just might be moving to a non-Hindi urban India in another 10-15 years where the preferred mode of interpersonal communication becomes English and reading, among aspirers, becomes predominantly non-fiction.
For every trend there could easily be a niche counter trend and I won’t be surprised to see mushrooming of training institutes that promise to groom children or grandchildren of these aspirers in the ‘innocence and originality of our mother tongue’ be it Hindi or our native language.

Also, these hyper-ambitious adults might look at different leisure activities (viz. going out, doing something) in their free time, instead of staying home & reading fiction.

Again there could be a niche counter trend to this that could, well, be about staying home or going to a reading lounge (not library), where you meet like-minded people, discuss and debate ideas, concepts from what they are reading or thinking..
Hyper-speculative I’d say but very likely.

Thats accountability!

Google is experimenting with a new proposition for advertisers: if you don’t get results, you don’t pay.
The company said on Tuesday that it would expand a test of a system that allows advertisers to pay only when an ad spurs a consumer to take an action, be it purchasing a product, subscribing to a newsletter or signing up to receive a quote from a mortgage broker or car dealer.
The vast majority of advertisers now pay Google when a user clicks on ads that are displayed alongside its search results or on other Web sites, while some are billed based on how many people view the ads.

“We’re optimistic that it will be something that will be very compelling for advertisers,” said Susan Wojcicki, vice president of product management at Google. Ms. Wojcicki said the system would also give participating Web publishers a wider choice of ad types for their sites.

Thot bubbled #46

Ok, now does this mean we're going to be working less or working more? I thought technology was supposed to give us more free time. I guess that's just another canard conjured up by advertising people like us to sell technology. Anyway, any answers?

What archetype are you?

Well, I just completed reading this book. Carol S Pearson is a renowned author and Director of the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership and a Professor of Leadership Studies in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland College Parkanother.

Her previous work "Awakening the Heroes Within," was also an interesting read. She spoke in great details about the classical archetypes of human behaviour and how brands seems to follow a similar trait.

The use of archetypes as part of brand strategy is nothing new. A truly effective tool. Archetype makes sense in our country where the rate of Idol worship is high. Brand archetype actually allows us to create strong brand characters. Since advertising is the new form of entertainment, in-depth characterisation and storytelling becomes important.

Creators of great brands have intuited this simple truth. Madonna has always been the outrageous rebel. Jack Nicholson has always been the bad boy outlaw, while Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks is always perceived as the wide eyed innocent. All successful brands have a strong character. The archetype like those in classic mythology drives the brand’s behaviour, character, tone etc in the marketplace.

There are twelve archetypes at work with possible brands that fits the bill:

• The Caregiver - Johnson & Johnson, Saffola
  
• The Lover - Victoria's Secret, Moods
  
• The Creator - Apple, Fabmall
  
• The Hero - Nike, Nokia
  
• The Outlaw - Thumbs Up, Kingfisher
  
• The Magician - Disney, Yash Raj Films
  
• The Ruler - Microsoft, ITC Cigarettes
  
• The Jester - 7Up, Mentos
  
• The Explorer - Royal Enfield, Cafe Coffee Day
  
• The Casual Guy - Proline, Timex
  
• The Innocent - Bata, Dove
  
• The Sage - P&G, The Hindu
  

Santosh Desai in a recent article mentioned how characters in our advertising and communication have become so predictable and cliched. We had our own share of memorable, distinct and easily recognizable brand characters in Lalitaji, Lola Kutty, Sunil Babu's neighbour, Gattu, Amul Girl just to name a few. But those were good old days.

This book provides interesting insights about how important it is to understand the archetype of your brand. Probably understanding and using a brand archetype can give us a headstart in the story telling process.

So what archetype would you be?

Thotblurb of the month

Inspired by Russell Davies' 'Post of the Month' competition, I am planning to put together a 'Thotblurb of the Month' competition every month for stuff posted on Thotblurb.

All the rules remain the same - except only posts from Thotblurb are allowed. Anyone can nominate the posts including the writer himself/herself - any number of nominations are allowed/welcome. I will write out a nominations open post at the end of every month where you can leave your nomination as a comment or you can mail it to me.

We all (including non-contributors to Thotblurb) vote on it and decide the 'Thotblurb of the Month.' The winner will be enshrined in a sidepanel created just for these outstanding posts.

What do you all say?

Planner Survey 2007

From Fallon Planning Blog:

"Heather LeFevre at Martin Agency conducts an informal survey that is designed to let us all see what planners at different agencies think about their jobs, understand what drives salaries, and hopefully learn more about how our discipline is changing.

192 people participated last year.

Please only take the survey if you are working as a planner (freelance and those who work outside the US are welcome), and your answers stay anonymous."

To take the survey, click here.

To receive the results by email, click here.

Thot bubbled #45

People often say what Planners do is very theoretical and far-removed from ground realities. In fact, people often say theory is all crap and best kept aside. I think the reason reality is so different from theory is precisely that. If you pay enough attention to theory and find the right ways to apply it and create a more optimum reality, theory will not be confined to just theory. Theory is only theory because we're encouraged by lazy people to forget it when dealing with reality. Theoretically speaking, I may be wrong about this. How about a reality check?

Eco is Luxe

Environment consciousness is at best a luxury in a developing country like India.

We might shrug this off by calling it a shortsighted view but there is truth in what I just said. It is a luxury because
·We have a country where we need to reach food for living to a LARGE number of people and we can’t depend on flimsy paper bags to carry it, we need poly-film to help us reach it intact and reach it cost effectively.

·We have billions who need to be kept warm thus we need to burn fossil fuel & firewood

·We have millions who want to celebrate their festivals with all the fanfare and we can’t ban all the firecrackers

·We have innumerable thirsty throats that need clean and bottled water and we can’t deny it for there is a dip in the water table

We are a country that has an over-grown population & an over-developed democracy but an under-developed economy and stilted governance & public administration. This disequilibrium is that is at the root of many of the challenges that we are facing as a nation and an ecosystem!

Like the ecosystem maintains a dynamic equilibrium with itself so is needed an equilibrium between Democracy, Economy and Ecology. Today, none of these is in harmony with the other.

The challenge is not limited to a developing nation like India. Even developed nations are facing it though in different ways. Let’s talk about the much talked about Organic Wave. Why is there a backlash to Organic food with questions being raised as to what is the real organic?
Is milk and meat from cattle that roams and feeds on ‘live’ grass (that is not grown with pesticides) and comes back to the cattle-shed in the evening to be milked, more organic than the cattle that does not have to leave the shed and feeds on similar pesticide free grass which is pre cut? Perhaps yes perhaps we do not know.
A more fundamental question to ask is that why can’t we afford to send the cow out in the fields? The answer usually would be “we do not have the luxury of time to do that because demand waits for no one” (not even till cows come home!). And what does this overbearing demand represent? This demand represents the large population that needs to have their morning cup of milk every day regularly and in good quantities. The large population (a species called humans) has grown ‘inorganically’ and has an inorganic agenda for survival, but it wants to live healthy – organically. It is perhaps a huge paradox of our times because a species that ‘lives’ inorganically (medicines/ vaccines/ surgeries/ implants/ augmentations etc.) cannot realistically have a ‘lifestyle’ that is organic (food etc.).

When these challenges are rampant in developed nations (US) with small population base (density 31/sqkm) how can we be surprised to see the adverse impact of this rampant population growth and the subsequent degradation of environment in over populated (density 329/sq km) & under developed countries like India.

Challenges facing a developing country go far and wide beyond over-population. We have problems to address as as rampant migration, lack of education and sometimes-even lack of regulations . Together all of them pose a much bigger challenge than what brands can realistically handle.

Eco friendliness is a luxury that brands in developing countries cannot afford, not at least in the short term!

The way to approach this challenge is to not just look at the responsibilities of brands and marketers but to look at what role does government have to play in solving these fundamental challenges.

For brands and marketers a more realistic target would be to create perceptions of eco-friendliness for themselves based on their activities, no matter how micro they are, and hope that this also leads to a larger set of people becoming conscious of their responsibilities towards environment in one way or the other.
No wonder we have public and private initiatives like the DTC Bus service in Delhi, which is the largest CNG, bus service network in the world. There are brands like Allen Solly and many others that promote only recycled paper bags. We even have hospitality chains like Ecotel Hotels that have been certified as completely environment friendly. British Petroleum has launched Oorja - a smoke free chulha for rural markets in India. The chulha burns the fuel optimally and reduces the smoke dramatically.

It is interesting to note that while eco conscious brands, products and marketing seems to connote luxury at the top-end, which in turn triggers adoption; at the bottom-end eco friendliness has to stand for efficiency and value to attract trials and adoption.
Though all of these might look like small steps but they are all in the right direction.

The long march to eco responsibility has just begun and we have a long way to go. The good news is that we at least know the direction we need to take.

The Long Tail of Brand Communication

Over the last year, WIRED editor-in-chief Chris Anderson's Long Tail theory (and book) have been widely discussed, debated and acclaimed. In fact, the Long Tail is now considered as one of the most influential economic and business ideas in recent times.

For the past few months I have been busy at work extending the first principles of the Long Tail thinking into brand-building and brand communication. After much thinking, writing and chiselling, I finally managed to ship out a paper on the subject a few days ago.

In its short time since it was formulated, the Long Tail theory has found application in every possible field, but this (as far as I know) is the first application of the idea to brand-building. And this is what Chris Anderson himself had to say about the paper.

I would love to hear your views and comments.

Log in Your Measurements, and the Clothes May Fit

CUSTOMERS bought $9.6 billion worth of apparel online in the United States last year, according to Forrester Research, the Internet consulting firm. But not one of those customers tried anything on first.
That is one reason that online purchases represent a paltry 5 percent of overall apparel sales. Customers return 30 percent of the clothes they buy online, industry executives say.
So why not have a Web site where users can provide their basic body dimensions and style preferences, then see all the available clothing that would fit well and suit their taste? (It is an idea so obvious that one wonders why it isn’t an established part of online shopping already: merchandise returns would drop, customers might well be happier and the Web site would earn a commission for every sale.)
That is the approach of a new Internet company, myShape.com, which has recorded the measurements of about 20,000 women in a five-month trial period that ended Sunday. The women shopped from personalized clothing collections matched to their style and fit preferences and body dimensions.

DABBA WALAS OR MBA WALAS

today morning I was watching a program on tv about Mumbai Dabbawalas. Their penchant for accuracy and customer service. Much has talked about and written about them. They are a case of reverse take on MNCs like HSBC claiming to be the world's local bank. Here is a home grown institution that is showing way to world about logistics, cusotmer management and six sigma etc....stressing that local insights can work on a global platform.

Another example that comes to my mind is our good old laloo, who turned a white elephant of indian railways into a proud,profit making jumbo and is taking classes for management students.

as Gandhiji said India does (also) lives in its villages: my reading -the true potential of our country is just not the big minds of corporate world, it can be the home grown talent without managment degrees...be it laloo or the dabbawallas

The cusp runneth empty

A research agency is doing research and is perceived to be credible; but their insights & recommended ideas are usually bordering obviousness and general knowledge! Research agencies have always had the credentials but sometimes they miss ideas and insights.

A creative person is developing ideas but many a times his ideas are set aside under the pretext that they are ‘wild’, ‘super niche’ or too ‘edgy’ and not based on real consumer insightCreatives have the ideas but sometimes they are seen missing the insights

A planner is trying to turn the obviousness of the research agencies findings into insights, ideas & executable consumer knowledge.Planners are supposed to have both (at least the insights) but they do not have research agency credentials to stake a claim to consumer knowledge

Given this from the above three, Research Agencies are best placed to own insights because they have the consumer credentials and the research processes. What they need now are some people who can think creatively and generate ideas as well - people who are at the cusp of ‘logic-analysis’ on one side and ‘magic-creativity’ on the other. There is a huge opportunity in deploying resources to own this cusp of creativity and analysis.

With these people in, the last three slides (before the thank you slide) in research presentations would start looking much more actionable that they ever did in the past.

New links on the sidepanel #4

1. Thotblurber Talk : This first one is not one link but an entirely new sidepanel entry with an automated feed. I have aggregated all the XML feeds from all our blogs and stuck it up as a sidepanel titled 'What Thotblurbers are posting on their respective blogs'. All posts we enter at our respective blogs will show up as links in one convenient location. Clicking on the post title will take you to the respective blog, of course. The feed is currently stuck on a couple of my posts (not by design) and on Jayanth's entries. It will scroll down as people post new things.

2. The 51 Best Magazines Ever : I love magazines in all forms and sizes (some more than others, of course.) Which is why I was thrilled to find this shortlist by Good Magazine. This selection points not just to the cream of the crop - but also highlights when they were the cream of the crop. Discovered via Yahoo Picks!
Filed under : 'Ten'tative links

3. Changing World - India Rising : Produced by BBC and Public Radio International, 'The Changing World is a weekly series of audio documentaries that explore multiple aspects of a single global issue. Last week's issues focussed on India and the changes taking place here. The two episodes provide an interesting viewpoint on India and offer interesting sound bites for presentations.
Filed under : 'Ten'tative links (I have additionally filed the 'Changing World' home link under Planner Resources)

4. Case Study Addict : Leland Maschmeyer writes one of the better planning blogs around - it's full of insight, new angles and most interesting of all (to me, at least) , scientific analogies. Leland has recently kickstarted another blog assembling together in one place what he calls the ad man's crack - case studies. It is a collective blog and if you would like to add or submit your own case studies, you can write to him. More details here.
Filed under : Planner Resources

5. The Cluetrain Manifesto : This isn't a new link but I just wanted to highlight it. In 1998 four Silicon Valley thinkers got together to write a declaration (and subsequently a book) that I still think is absolutely essential reading for all marketers, advertisers and especially planners. The manifesto created waves and much discussion - the website that started it all is now enshrined as a 'Read only' landmark on the net.
Filed under : Planner Reading

Another one on 'Convergence' (from an article in The Guardian)

Today's mobiles already allow you to tell the time, arrange your appointments diary, watch filma, play games, and take pictures of your blocked sink that you can send as jpegs to your plumber, who will text you back a ludicrous estimate, which you can check by using your phone's calculator function.

I like the chosen example...'blocked sink' and plumber's 'ludicrous estimate'...trippy, I'd say!

Air Conditioning of the Internet age

Read this interesting analogy in the NYT.

WI-FI service is quickly becoming the air-conditioning of the Internet age, enticing customers into restaurants and other public spaces in the same way that cold “advertising air” deliberately blasted out the open doors of air-conditioned theaters in the early 20th century to help sell tickets.

One more thotblurber

Jayanth Govindraj heads strategic planning at Y&R in Abu Dhabhi. An engineer who started his career in Philips before crossing over into advertising, Jayanth has worked at JWT and Y&R in India. His domain expertise is in Telecom; he has over 10 years of experience with brands like BPL and Airtel. He considers knowledge management and sharing essential to planning - a point of view that should make him feel at home here at Thotblurb.

Friday Coffee - The Bangalore Chapter

The revolution that's sweeping the world reached Bangalore last Friday. Roop and I met for our first Friday Coffee evenings (not mornings, unlike the way the British do it :) at the ever-welcoming Koshy's (a pre-independence coffee joint that goes by several names including Parade Cafe and Fish & Chips.)

Put two thot blurbers together and what else will they speak about? The conversation centred around Thotblurb, the direction it is taking, and the things we need to do to keep the momentum going. We had a few interesting ideas - but for more on those, you have to watch this space.

The much expected game of chess didn't happen - but with Ubermanian in town this week, I am expecting a three way contest to take place.

(Picture courtesy : Roy Sinai at Flickr)

Sex don't sell anymore

In the latest issue of The Economist, I found this article very interesting. A challenge to the old adage, “Sex Sells,” Ellie Parker and Adrian Furnham of University College London carried an experiment which explains sexually enticing commercials don’t help people remember it.

They carried their experiment on 60 young adults and exposed them to a series of telly episodes which had both titillating materials and no such eroticism. During the commercial break the respondents were exposed to series of advertisements which again had both sexual implicit content and the ones without. It was found that men were most likely to remember sexual advertisements whereas women were more likely to remember non-sexual advertisement.

Now I don’t know how much of it holds good for us Indians but one thing is for sure ‘Sexing Up’ ads won’t work in the long run. Though we created Kamasutra, we don’t like too much of explicit ‘Kama’ on screen. The recent spate of Bollywood item numbers seem to have a dominating effect on every Idiot Box channel and it doesn’t go well when it comes to family viewing. Often slap-stick humour doesn’t work either.

We Indians are evolving. We are in a period of realism. Building aspiration through fantasy is no more the rule of the game. We are moving from being a value seeker to an experience seeker. Selling erotic dreams might not be an effective route anymore, especially with product categories like body care/hair care, fashion etc. Smart lines like, “Are you game?” “Get naughty” may not do the trick anymore.

Well, this is what I feel, what do you think?

Children as Consultants

I was reading the other day in an article on how children are the most creative and can come up with totally new solutions to a problem. Infact there have been tests conducted where different groups of people with different qualifications ( MBA's, Psyschologists etc ) are grouped with children and a problem or a puzzle is posed to them. Surprisingly the answers given by the children were found to be creative and also fresh. Is it because they have not been exposed to the loud theories, the complex business models, the jargons, the acronyms we pride ourselves with ?

That set me thinking and I asked myself. Does that provide us ( advertising agencies, consultancies, corporates ) an opportunity to work with children and look at bringing in some fresh and innovative thinking. Its not necessary that we restrict ourselves to children's products but look at some gripping problem the brand or the organisation faces. Long ago Candico had a team of chidren on board to work on product development.I am not sure wheter they still have. But that made for a good start. I am looking at taking it to the next level. The tough part is to present the problem I guess will lie in breaking the problem down to total simplicity and in a language the children will understand. Probably breaking it down into a simple story or an analogy to get it through them and allow the fresh solutions to emerge

Any takers ?......................

One horse, many races..

You are a planner?

“So a planner makes presentations? “
“No, a planner is consumer’s spokesperson in any discussion about the brand.”
“Isn’t planner the category expert?”
“Actually planner is a client working in the agency.”
“Planner is a bridge between the creative emotions and business thoughts”
“Planner is there to engage the clients intellectually..”
“Boss, planner is just a sophisticated digital library”
“Think about it - planner is the new creative.”
“Planner is a lot of analysis and no action or direction..”
“Hello, planner is all about’ the direction’ dost..!”
“Planner is about the logic of that great ad which is actually beyond any logical explanation..”
“Planner is the agony aunt/uncle..”
“Planner is all ‘gyaan’ and nothing beyond..”

This is my ‘A’ list but I am sure there are many other roles that a planner is seen playing.. Are some of these better than others?
May be.
Is there just one definite role for a planner?
No.
Is there something that a planner ‘has to has to’ do?
Yes. Know the past, present & future of the user and his world.

Thanks to my discussion with young Rithika, I once again was reminded of all the myriad roles that a planner plays. But this does not mean that any one of these is a lesser role. All of them have their own significance at different points in time.

With some clients a planner needs to be more creative and adventurous while with others a planner needs to be rational and measured.

With some creatives we need to discuss the brief while with others we need to co create the work.

With some account management friends we need to write the presentation while with others we just need to discuss the direction.

With some global clients we need to be the face of our country’s creatives while with others we only need to lead the thinking.

A planner needs to be childish enough to think innocently and matured enough to be figuring the right direction.
At any point a planner must bring freshness to the table. No matter where the table is – in a client’s boardroom or a smoke filled room echoing with creative thoughts at 2 am in the morning!ong>

Jon Steel

I am not sure if anyone of you got to hear this lovely presentation of Jon Steel to APG in London. Here's a link in the site www.accountplanning.net which has got some clips on the presentation. Its really very interesting

Anbuchezhian