The Birth Of A Grand Strategist By Waqar Riaz

for helping me challenge my thinking... Thank you In order of appearance (left to right) Rik Haslam Group Creative Architect, Rapp, Ian Haworth, Global Creative Director, Rapp, Guy Murphy, Worldwide Planning Director, JWT, Nick Kendall, Group Planning Director, BBH, Adam Arnold, Managing Director, Zag, Jim Carroll, Chairman, BBH, Russell Marsh, Group Digital Strategy Director, Rapp, Amelia Torode, Planning Director, VCCP, Bob Jeffrey, Worldwide chairman and CEO, JWT, Lorna Hawtin, Disruption Director, TBWA, Bruce Sinclair, Course Leader, BNU, Martin Runnacles, Former MD BMW, Dr Reg Winfield, VMC Tutor, BNU, Sarah Tate, Strategist, Mother, Ajaz Ahmed, Chairman, AKQA, Andrew Hovels, Planner, TBWA, Dr Paul Springer, Author of Ads to Icons, Stephen Maccrron< Planning Director, JWT Manchester, Aisha Shafiq – My Wife

“ “ Unless you are prepared to give up something valuable you will never be able to truly change at all, because you will be forever in the control of things 1 you can’t give up. Andy law 1. Peter Fisk, Marketing genius,, 2006, Page 23 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

...the Journey I took My journey into the realm of strategy began with a singular thought: What's Planning all about? I commenced with the next stage a few days later, travelling to the UK, having decided that I'd have a better chance of answering my questions on planning in its place of origin. The reaction on the thought was immediate. It was the result of my years of interaction with the communications industry at JWT (Pakistan) & DDB (Bahrain) as a creative and a planner respectively. From 2006 - 2008 I spent my time in the UK as a layman whilst trying to understand the "whats" and "ifs" of my new audience, whilst consulting MTN South Africa and USAID AED as an Online Brand Planner. At the end of 2008 I had enough ideas and understanding to begin my MA in Creative Planning at Buckinghamshire University to broaden my thinking and My first interaction with the London ad industry was of BBH. It was gain a good understanding of the industry. great! The place taught me how to create great communication stories and how to bring integration into my thinking. Call it Innovation Planning, Engagement Planning or just Planning... It all results in one conclusion - real, simple and relevant solutions. My addiction to advertising then took me to learn and understand the digital thinking of VCCP - and how to create useful and And then came "Mother" into my life offering her love, care and affection innovative communication connections with the audiences. which helped me to understand the fundamentals of creativity and how to inspire creatives; explaining how to challenge Big Ideas with Rich Ideas... and the ways to add magic to a product to turn it into an exciting brand. I think that I should stop here at the moment and not take too long explaining the wonders and magic of disruptive thinking (which I practised at TBWA). Just to let you know, I am currently working at OMINICOM (RAPP) in Strategy & Enablement. This is a newly-born discipline which combines the thinking of Data, Creativity, Technology and Media and encourages 'T' thinking to establish useful connections with the audiences. * * T-Shape Thinking: One area of specialisation with an understanding of multiple disciplines © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

One can’t be practically right if one is conceptually wrong In the times of Twitter phobia, YouTube craze, Farm Ville quest presentation’. Instead what I want to discuss in the next few on Facebook, Blogging adventures, 3D digital environments, chapters are the concepts which direct our actions, as I cannot Mobile purchases, iPhone apps, Flickr effects, Google imagine an action that can be conceptually incorrect and integration, Wiki wonders, Second World possibilities, Podcast practically sustainable. revival, Verizon Twitter and Facebook cable, Sidewiki’s threats, iPlayer’s experience, Digital data systems, Amazon’s This journey is to learn about and understand models and ideas commerce, iTunes distribution and so on... you would expecting that are great enough to trigger our thinking, and may help me to talk digital, as I believe this is the new Mantra nowadays. us to imagine what is possible with what we have. One way or another we all are trying to own digital – as if digital is not a language but a territory. This effort has been exerted in an attempt to understand the grand concepts of planning and how it can help to strengthen Please note that I won’t certainly be talking ‘cool’ as above the future for brands, people and communication companies. because if I were to do that then I would be making you aware of the stuff you already know too much, or you will know too much about by the time you prepare your next ‘trend © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

CHAPTER ONE PLANNING IN GENERAL

THINKING (Charles Darwin) (Einstein) (Aristotle) Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&ei=WTkZS8PvB8-njAem76z7Aw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=einstein&spell=1&start=0accessed on 12-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

O R I G I N A L Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=innocent+smoothies&meta=&aq=1&oq=innocent+&start=0 accessed on 12-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

2, 3 One thing only I know, and that is I know nothing . Socrates 2 Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy, January 1953, Page 6 3 Image courtesy of Google Images, available at http://www.entelechy-magazine.com/images/socrates.gif - searched on 21st October 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Ask an expert to define a planner’s role and the chances are that you will get a very vague answer. At least, this was true in my case. I was fortunate enough to meet some of the gurus of my field. Unfortunately, none of them ever gave a clear definition of what a PLANNING planner was actually supposed to do. Hmm… Well, you can’t define a planner, can you? That’s the best answer I got anyway. However, I strongly believe that there has got to be a definition for the subject – everyone IS else has one for theirs. It’s time to challenge all those no-definitions “definition” of planners, and maybe learn something useful on the way. Let's start this discussion by giving planner a defined role. But, where to begin? PROACTIVE First of all, planners are not just in advertising. In fact, advertising stole planning from the pre-existing services i.e. military, architecture etc. NOT Let’s look into the finest details of the subject and understand what planning does. Planning in any industry or sector, prepares the businesses for forecast potential risk factors REACTIVE and then recommends solutions to counter them whilst developing new areas for them e.g. A new sector, service, category or goal. I think we are getting somewhere defining planners and planning… Do you think I would be wrong to say that… © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Great planning Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=egypt+history&meta=&aq=f&oq=&start=0 accessed on 14-11-2009

Though it was built in around 2630 B.C.E., We can still learn some valuable lessons of planning from the great pyramid of Djoser. 4 Think big, give some space to your mind and put that seven what would appeal to the masses and who could add lasting points communications brief aside for a little while. Once you beauty to clay and sand for generations to come. have done that, try appreciating the science and art of pyramids. Indeed, it was a mind of a planner who thought well about everything and its placement, who exactly knew 4 Yahoo answers - available at http://www.geocities.com/athens/academy/7357/unaslayout_n.gif - searched on 26th October 2009 5 Image courtesy of Google Images, available at http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_year_was_the_first_pyramid_built - searched on 26th October 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

You could ask what architectural planning has in common with communications planning. I would say everything – The job of planning is to design solutions for potential problems and then add sense to them by making them relate to human nature. It’s not all science, but a balance combination of sense and creativity. The architect of the pyramid of Djoser could have made a simple massive hall which would have perfectly served the purpose to the given task i.e. “bury the dead king”. However, the genius thought of turning it into a brand known as... ‘The It was pyramid not just of Djoser.’ the idea which made Djoser different, but the whole experience it offers . Building a rectangular structure is not a very difficult task , but mastering it with the enclosure wall, the great trench, the roofed colonnade entrance, the south court, the south tomb, the step pyramid, the burial chamber, the north chamber, the serdab court and the heb-sed court is something not every rectangular shaped building can have. Adding all those details made it into something which holds value and recognition after all these 6 years. 6 SOURCED FROM WIKIPEDIA, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_Djoser - searched on 26th October 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

7 PLANNING IS A STATE OF MIND NOT MERELY A DISCIPLINE Imhotep (the man who built the pyramid of Djoser), the first architect, engineer, physician in history known by name, didn’t just spend his time understanding and finding out facts on different kinds of burial chambers for the kings all over the world. He may well have done, but one thing for sure is that he didn’t just finish working at that point. The point at which planning is today is not just being creative with what we have, but totally forgetting what we know and making things different from what we already have.7 7 SOURCED FROM WIKIPEDIA, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imhotep - searched on 26th October 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Military planning Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=military+planning&meta=&aq=f&oq=&start=0 accessed on 14-11-2009

Let’s now look at planning from a rather different perspective, let’s now look from the eyes of great military leaders who routinely face situations or problems where they have to decide which actions to take. I hope to learn how usefully they implement planning to grow their collective successes. In a literal sense, military leaders inescapably make all decisions in advance of taking action. Therefore, military planning as discussed here refers to situations where there is sufficient time to 8 employ a decision making process. (EFFECTS BASED MILITARY PLANNING) 8 Source - Paul K. Van Riper, PLANNING FOR AND APPLYING MILITARY FORCE: AN EXAMINATION OF TERMS, March 2006 – Page 2 9 SOURCED FROM GOOGLE IMAGES http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/~cvrl/EBO/ebo_files/image001.gif - searched on 268h October 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

When it comes to discussing strategic planning in the military and its grand concepts there could be no one better than Clausewitz to quote. Prussian military thinker Carl von Clausewitz is widely acknowledged as the most important of the major strategic theorists. Despite the fact that he's been dead for over a century and a half, he remains the most frequently cited, the most controversial, and in many respects the most modern. In his classic ‘On War’, he wrote, “No one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so without first being clear in his mind what he intends to 10 achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” He was the man behind the thinking and theory of concepts such as ends, the means model, and selected terms to support more detailed and explicit planning. That is, he recognized how the methods or ways, and means are employed is important. Thus, the current ends, ways, and means paradigm. In trying to understand where to focus the available means, he created concepts such as centre of gravity and decisive points. (Carl von Clausewitz) 10 Carl Von Clausewitz, On War, Michael Howard and Peter Paret, eds. And trans., Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976, p. 579. © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

(JWT Planning cycle) Several contemporary scholars of strategy broadened the basic Clausewitzian ends-means concept. For example John Collins (a military writer), described ends, ways, and means based on the names Rudyard Kipling provided his “six honest serving men.” Collins set them forth this way: • “What” and “Why” correspond to perceived requirements (ends), • “How, When and Where” indicate optional courses of action (ways), 11 • “Who” concerns available forces and resources (means). If we look at the diagram above which shows the planning cycle Stephen King at JWT created in 1969, then we further realise that the points he touched upon were already in discussion at a much greater level way before his time. 11 John M. Collins, Military Strategy: Principles, Practices, and Historical Perspectives, Washington, DC: Brassey’s, 2002, p. 3.. 12 JWT Planning Cycle – JWT Planning Guide available at http://www.slideshare.net/williamtheliar/jwt-planning-guide accessed on 29th October 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

In its true sense, planning is not a domain like marketing, finance or even physics for that matter – instead, it’s something universal, applicable to all fields and categories (Figure 1). A good lawyer is the one who plans his case effectively, does research thoroughly and then finally has the courage to work his magic in the court room, based on facts and findings. and the story won’t be much different for a military general , a good financial officer or a chief executive of some fortune 500. “Planning is the origin of success ”. MILITARY LAW Figure 1 - Universal Model of Planning © Waqar Riaz © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

CHAPTER TWO BRANDS AND PLANNING

Okay, too much business. Let’s talk some learni The Story of William Lever 14 Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, Page 52 Images scanned from The King of Sunlight, accessed on 14-11-2009

We now know for certain that planning is a fundamental early days then it may help in understanding the real meaning element in making solutions for any given potential problem. of the subject. We have also identified that in the past, people have used planning in many different ways. Now let’s get back on track – back to the subject of communications. Let's try to understand planning from the perspectives of people as great as William Lever and of brands as unique as Lever brothers . If we try to understand how usefully they implemented planning in the Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=sunlight+soap&meta=&aq=0&oq=sunlight+s&start=0 accessed on 15-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Did you know that William Lever, the founder of Lever Brothers (now Unilever) and one of the most successful and wealthy men in history, came from poor beginnings? It's true. He was born on 19 September 1851 in Bolton, a town described seven years earlier as one of the worst in Britain by no less of an authority than Friedrich Engels. William joined his father’s grocery business at the age of sixteen, starting right at the bottom, as an apprentice. He was put in charge of preparing sugar and soap. Both of the products arrived as foot-long, solid bars, which had to be sliced into manageable quantities and individually wrapped in greaseproof paper. You can imagine the tediousness involved in the process. However, William, the ever improver, couldn’t stop thinking that there had to be a better way. Soon William was moved to another department where his talents were put to greater use as he 15 looked after the company’s accounts. Eight year old William (top, sitting on the right) poses with his brother, James Darcy, and their oldest sister, Elizabeth Emma, in 1859. 15 Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, Page 16, 17, 18 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

William’s Bolton House (Left). William’s open air Port Sunlight bedroom (Right). The company’s account system was a mess – much of this of his modernised system granted the son new respect and 15 was due to the old way of working. However, William saw an increased voice in the company. potential problems that this system could create in the future and that this very system could become a threat to the company’s growth. He put his mind to creating an alternative, more efficient, robust and effective method of book-keeping. Creating the system was one part of what he did and selling the idea to his conservative father was another. William used all his strategic sense and before attempting to sell the idea to his father, he worked on winning the trust of his fellow clerks. Eventually, the success 15 Images and text Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, Page 16, 17, 18 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

By the age of 23 William was married to Elizabeth and had something wonderful, but believe me, there is much more transformed his father’s company. However, he claimed money made in doing something better than ever it was 16 that he hadn't done anything revolutionary. In his 1915 done before than in doing something new – far more.” ‘Secrets of my success’ speech, he mentioned, “There is a general impression that in making money you have to do 16 Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, Page 27, 29, 31 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

He always remembered this self-created golden rule (which we discussed on the previous page) which he kept with him during his 1884 cruise. Even on a leisure tour, Lever was thinking of business ideas, remembering how successful ‘Lever Pure Honey’ was (their own patented product) – which made them loads more money than a normal honey could. I imagine Lever standing on the deck of his ship and asking himself – What’s Next, William? And it was one of those moments when he thought of the killer idea – why not make a branded washing soap? Clearly, there was a need in the market as washing clothes wasn’t as easy as it is now - It was a long, laborious task for women. And William exactly knew how to make the process easier, quicker and more enjoyable. 16 Sunlight was born and Lever Brothers took off. 16 Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, Page 27, 29, 31 Images courtesy of Google Images, available at http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=sunlight+soap&meta=&aq=0&oq=sunlight+s&start=0 accessed on 17-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Do you know what soap is made of? Me neither and frankly Warrington and started to produce his own brand of soap, 17 speaking nor did William Lever . When he founded his the ‘Sunlight Self-Washer’. fortune on it, he claimed to be, “as ignorant of soap-making as baby in arms”. What William was doing was nothing normal. He was actually thinking of manufacturing his own soap and then patenting it with a brand called “Sunlight Self-Washer”. He took his stance against all odds and he began to turn his dream into a reality. He knew his audience would want his product and so he leased a soap works in Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=sunlight+soap&meta=&aq=0&oq=sunlight+s&start=0 accessed on 15-11-2009 17 Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Gone were the days of the foot-long soap bar. Sunlight (William’s biggest Invention) was cut at source and each tablet was wrapped individually in bright, colourful packaging. William was a unique man. There was no part of the business that he wasn’t directly involved, even advertising – especially ‘Advertising’. He specifically told his staff to let children inspect the brightly coloured Sunlight Boxes as they would then insist their parents to buy the product. Things as small as closing the house gate after a sales pitch were part of William’s staff syllabus. He created cookery books, direct marketing material, story books for children and so on. He was the first man to think of railways as a medium for advertising in his age and entered into a £50 contract with London and North-Western Railway company as part of Sunlight’s first advertising campaign. He then personally selected the spots where the ads should be displayed and he even wrote the 17 slogan himself. It read, ‘Sunlight Self-Washer: See how this becomes the house’. 17 Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=sunlight+soap&meta=&aq=0&oq=sunlight+s&start=0 accessed on 15-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

In doing what he did, William actually solved all the audience. Very soon people across the UK loved Sunlight communications problems many companies still struggle and by the end of 1888, just after two years of the product with. launch, they were producing 14,000 tons a week. Sunlight boxes soon started to advertise a common phrase ‘has the 17 He didn’t go to a media house to buy a big ad space; he largest sale of any soap in the world’. didn’t even visit an ad agency for creative inspiration. He simply did what we all forget to do today – he followed the 17 Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=sunlight+soap&meta=&aq=0&oq=sunlight+s&start=0 accessed on 15-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

(Port Sunlight) Lever brothers was now a business generating £50,000 profit a year. This made Lever more conscious of what he was doing, He started to think that he had the same works, the same soap boiler, the same manager and the same staff. The question he asked himself was ‘whose is that money?’ In answering his own question he totally changed the concept of how businesses would run by building a town for his employees and named it as ‘Port Sunlight’. Much of the architectural credit of ‘Port Sunlight’ goes to William Lever as he paid attention to detail with the look and feel of the town and its social values. He introduced the concept of large houses for communities with gardens, he built cafés, gyms, pubs and restaurants within the town, and school for the children of 18 his staff. 18 Text and Images Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

This may not be the right place to highlight William’s every success and achievement. However, by the time Lever died in 1925, the company had evolved from one brand to several, it had 187,000 shareholders, and 85,000 staff ‘living and working in almost every country in the world’. Lever Brothers issued capital was some £57,000 million and 18,000 of his staff were co-partners.18 18 Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=sunlight+soap&meta=&aq=0&oq=sunlight+s&start=0 accessed on 15-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

The key to William Lever’s success was his unique approach to opened. Established there and making money I opened up in things in general. He always tried making sense of the processes William Hesketh Lever London, Scotland and elsewhere, and covered the United and their surroundings. Be it a sales boy selling soap to a lady at Kingdom.” This was the strategy William used for his impressive her doorstep, a retailer taking stock for the local market, the success. mayor of Bolton representing his people, a wholesaler opening his doors to the international market or an employer living in ‘Port He involved planning in every stage of his selling channels. He Sunlight’, William was focused and useful for everyone around used strategic techniques for every single business process he him. went through. Whether it was launching a new system for managing the company accounts, growing a happy door-to- In his 1915, Secrets of my Success speech, William said, “I started door customer base, selling his products by the power of a brand locally and when I got it established there and making money, I called ‘Sunlight’, or leading Lever Brothers successfully from ventured forth to Liverpool and Manchester. Established there challenging times, he never stopped adding creativity to the and making money I ventured as far north as Newcastle and as subject. Maybe Lever wanted us to know something. Maybe he far south as Plymouth with the intervening country more or less was trying to tell us to think rich and instead of creating 19 integrated systems, to become integrated individuals. 19 Adam McQueen, The King of Sunlight, 2004, Images courtesy of Google Images available at ; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=william+lever&meta=&aq=f&oq=&start=0 accessed on 20-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

(Fig 2) PEOPLE (CUSTOMERS/BUYERS) C O M M U N I C A T I O N S William Hesketh Lever MANUFACTURER DISTRIBUTOR RETAILER The times of Lever were simple and focused. Every system was totally integrated. Thanks to Lever’s command everyone was working for the people, without creating unnecessary additions in the process of manufacturing the product to selling it to the end user (Fig 2). The benefits of the services and products were communicated exactly when, where and how people required. The thinking was totally integrated and everyone involved in the process, knew exactly what the business was doing. 20 Fig 2 © Waqar Riaz 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Just five years after the death of William Lever, Lever so they totally misunderstood the William’s secret; it wasn’t brothers became Unilever as a result of an international about owning the audience in different domains, instead merger. Whilst the merger brought benefits for both understanding their life in general and addressing their parties, it also had negative implementations. The biggest different needs by introducing products, services and of all was ‘disintegration’- not so much in the way things useful interactive communications. Nobody understood. It worked, but in the thinking of the business. wasn’t about segmenting people as if they were a species from another planet; rather, considering yourself as part of Then started the war of share, one way or another their community and addressing the needs of your everyone wanted to own the end user. However, in doing community. William Hesketh Lever 1935 – LUX Ad (Ain’t the William Way) 1932 – Sunlight Soap Ad 1932 – LUX Ad 21 Image courtesy of Google Images, available at http://www.adclassix.com/images/35luxsoap.jpg , accessed on 8-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

(Fig 3) William Hesketh Lever However, instead of continuing with integration what we got a strange concept – I wonder where this portal was when was ‘champions of consumers’. I hate that word - William was selling millions of tons of soap without consulting ‘consumers’. Anyway, no matter what you were selling, these consumer-geniuses? these were the guys you had to go through (Fig3). Because apparently they knew everything about the customers. They created a universe which was more like this; The Manufacturer is on planet Zoron, the Customer is on Planet Delta, and these geniuses know the secret portal that the seller (Manufacturer/Retailer/Distributor) can take to get closer to the buyer and eventually make a happy sale. What 22 Fig 3 © Waqar Riaz 2009 Think... © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

CHAPTER THREE COMMUNICATIONS AND PLANNING

“Obviously everybody wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as Sergey being very innovative, very trusted ultimately William Hesketh Lever and ethical making difference in the world.” a and big Brin Peter Fisk, marketing Genius, Inspiration Google, 2004 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

“In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream, and in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.” Michael Jackson William Hesketh Lever Image scanned from the book, Micheal Jackson – Life of a legend, accessed on 8-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

“Somehappen. it to happen, some wish it would happen, others people want it to Some people want make it happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” Michael Jordan Image courtesy of Google Images, available at; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=micheal+jordan&meta=&aq=f&oq=&start=0 accessed on 13-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” William Hesketh Lever Charles Darwin Image courtesy of Google Images, available at; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=charles+darwin&meta=&aq=f&oq=&start=0 accessed on 13-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Ahhhhh.... It has been a long Let’s stay loyal to our subject and intensive journey. Though, and jump straight into the I hope that it was enjoyable PLANNING IS 1960’s. Oh yes, the time when and worth experiencing – we Stephen King and Stanley started from understanding the grand definition of NOT ABOUT Pollitt had their ‘Planning- Wars’. The time, because of planning and how in different which I am able to write and fields and times people have used it. Then we fast ANSWERING you are able to read all this. Let’s discuss those precious forwarded to the times of moments when Planning was ‘Sunlight’ and learnt that WHAT’S sticking its neck out in the planning is not just about William Hesketh Lever Communications industry, ‘by finding the target name’. Let’s make an audience and effectively RIGHT OR attempt to understand all communicating to them, but those intelligent concepts designing the whole business King and Pollitt introduced around people. On our way, WRONG, BUT and if we are lucky enough to we analysed Planning from cover them, then we’ll try to different perspectives and points of views. However, I am WHAT’S understand the current disintegration and the myths glad that there was one thing of specialisation in the common endeavours: in all Sense our and RELEVANT subject. Let’s learn ‘relevant’ and delete the the Creativity. ‘stupid’ (from our memories). © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

‘It’s all in the The mantra brand, every brand, marketer was brand’. singing. I am afraid, but in order to understand King’s and Pollitt’s advertising’. The second possible reason could be too effort we have to go a little back in William Hesketh Lever time – as the much specialisation in the communications discipline. It development of planning department is directly linked with also made it difficult for the brands to decide between the evolution of brands. right and wrong communications partners because everybody was saying the same thing – ‘I am the Before the Fifties or even the Forties, ‘Marketing’ as a consumer-genius you need’. Therefore, brands needed a 23 department had no existence as far as companies were neutral voice within the company (FIG 4, 5). involved. However, when companies started to realise the importance of brands and sensed the increased control of advertising agencies on their businesses, they immediately thought of a counter strategy which was to open a marketing department within their corporations. Thus, the marketing department was born in companies as a ‘second wife, married to the husband (Client) of 23 Henrik Habberstad, The Anatomy of Account Planning, accessed on 10th November 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

(Fig 4) (Fig 5) Research Research ATL ATL Brand MARKETING Brand DEPARTMENT BTL BTL MEDIA MEDIA William Hesketh Lever The example of the birth of marketing department scares me planning as a department is obvious: the disintegration within a lot and forces me to think. The specialisation/disintegration the advertising industry started to take media away from the in the Advertising / Communications business forced clients large advertising agencies and other jobs e.g. production into having a marketing department, so maybe the same and printing. In order to recover from this situation, a common thing could happen to planning. In recent years we have bridge was needed immediately to help integrate the added too much irrelevant material to the subject. There’s systems and make things make sense for everyone i.e. just too much disintegration in planning – We have taken ‘P’ agency and client. ‘L’ ‘A’ ‘N’ ‘N’ ‘I’ ‘N’ ‘G’ out of planning and started to call it whatever we like it to be. And still we complain, why don’t the clients trust us? The other reason that made King and Pollitt introduce © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

William Hesketh Lever Before we advance with our discussion, we must understand Bernbach is a good example to consider. The campaign that the birth of planning in advertising doesn’t, by any was delivered before the times of Planning. Yet it had all the means, mean that advertising before Planning was not ingredients of planning that any brand could ever have. It planned. Good advertising has always been planned and helped the company to develop a philosophy around the campaigns have always been post-rationalized. People like brand and business whilst achieving all the business James Webb Young, Claude Hopkins, Rosser Reeves, David objectives, both in terms of volume and value. Ogilvy and Bill Bernbach were all superb planners. What was new was the existence in an agency of a separate department whose primary responsibility was to plan advertising strategy and evaluate campaigns in 24 accordance with this. The revolutionary Volkswagen ‘Think small’ campaign by Bill 24 Henrik Habberstad, The Anatomy of Account Planning, accessed on 10th November 2009, Page 4 25 Images courtesy of Google Images, available at http://mootee.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/11/1113.jpg, accessed on 10th November 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Officially, the origin of account planning occurred at about the same time (in the mid to late 1960s) in two of the leading British advertising agencies, and was in each case the product of a single, dominant thinker. The agencies were the J Walter Thompson (now JWT) London Office, and the new, very small agency Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP), now BMP DDB, also in London. It is also worth mentioning that the two dominant personalities involved were JWT’s Stephen King and the late Stanley Pollitt of BMP. Apart from a shared emphasis on the consumer, the approach of these two agencies was very different, William Hesketh Lever representing two distinct ideologies. However, both were useful and have had a profound influence on subsequent advertising practice. Inevitably, there has been some dispute about which 26 came first, and which was the better. 26 Henrik Habberstad, The Anatomy of Account Planning, accessed on 10th November 2009, Page 5 24 Images courtesy of Google Images, available at http://mootee.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/11/1113.jpg, accessed on 10th November 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Okay – now briefly, let’s look at the development of account planning in JWT and BMP. William Hesketh Lever The Thompson T Plan (today widely known as ‘The Planning planning and the responsibilities of an Account planner, as Cycle’ and recently strengthened by ‘The New JWT defined by Stephen King, were (FIG 6). Planning Model’ by Guy Murphy, Worldwide Planning Director, JWT) was developed in early/mid 1960s. However, in 1968 the agency realised the potential of The Thompson T Plan working, and thus decided that the approach should be integrated in agency thinking which gave a reason for the birth of a new department (which was later named as Account Planning). The reason for setting up Account © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

FIG 6 – JWT ACCOUNT PLANNING Implications for the Agency Account Planner Responsibilities Set objectives for Plan Integrate Develop Link technical creatives, media buying commission Plan Campaign specialist skills planning and and scheduling, and Media in research its information merchandising and help and plan advertising develop objectives into advertising experiments Objectives and planning sources action research William Hesketh Lever Account planning Evaluate Present work advertising to account and groups and experiments clients 27 Extract from Stephen King’s Internally Circulated Document, 1968 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Ultimately, this system became the reason for a new kind of working and team setup. JWT created an integrated, new, three person team for each of its accounts (fig 7). William Hesketh Lever Guy Murphy, Worldwide Planning Director at JWT, defines JWT theory works as a grand business consultant for the client and planning by quoting Stephen King “strategic imagination on agency, is actually working as a logical connection between the grand scale”. By definition, this sounds impressive and creativity and sales. highly appealing. However, it seems as though this ideology has been somewhat compromised in the formation of this team structure, which has been in practice at JWT since 1968. We suddenly realise that the job of a planner at JWT, who in © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

(Example of JWT Creative Brief) However, this doesn’t mean at all that JWT didn’t benefit by the introduction of this discipline. Of course, there are plenty of campaigns where planning played a very significant and important role and actually made things happen for both the client and the agency. But unfortunately, the influence of planning has never on anything beyond campaigns Nevertheless, I wondered why the role of a planner has always been limited to a communications problem solver? What Stephen King introduced was a business consultant, a grand strategist; someone with the ability to take a holistic view of William Hesketh Lever every single business process and then design solutions around success. Someone who could see all the potential problems and address them before they occurred, rather than simply responding to problems as they occur. As an industry, we are not currently encouraging the kind of thinking that we need – every single brief has a very dominant ‘what’s the problem?’ part. Why are we always addressing problems and why can’t we stop being so negative? I wonder when will we start thinking of brand opportunities instead of brand problems? © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

From 1965, Stanley Pollitt, then at Interpublic Group agency Pritchard Wood & Partners in London, drew similar conclusions to his contemporaries and friends at JWT. His legacy to the advertising industry would be a new agency structure revolving around a set of principles which also attracted the title ‘account planning’. There’s the potential of writing a complete book all Pollitt’s ideas blossomed when, in 1968, he helped set up Boase about the magic of King Massimi Pollitt and established what he called a ‘consumer alliance’, openly adopting the phrase from JWT. The new account and the superiority of JWT, planning department at BMP was quite different from that at the but I guess that’s not the London office of JWT. BMP was a tiny agency with no international point of this primer. So let’s connections at that stage, but it was soon to develop a reputation William Hesketh Leverwork, thanks to the efforts of the young and very for good creative look at the other side of talented John Webster. The aim of BMP was to show that its planning – Pollitt’s way, advertising was both accountable and effective. Martin Boase was which took place at a very once quoted as saying that he did not accept that there had to be a choice between strategically relevant and creatively original small agency, BMP (now advertising. This remains something of a mantra at BMP DDB. DDB). Planners at BMP mainly got involved in the following principles: - Advertising research, and often fieldwork. - Working with creative teams and researching rough creative ideas. - Using consumer research to clarify the issues and enrich the 28 advertising development process. 28 Henrik Habberstad, The Anatomy of Account Planning, accessed on 10th November 2009, Page 7 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

To conclude, BMP and JWT both realised the importance of planning in the advertising process and introduced a new department into their agencies. However, the role played by planners at BMP was more focused on the development of ‘creatives’ while JWT encouraged its planners to look at the bigger picture ‘The Grand Concepts’. To better understand the relationship between planning and communications, let’s study some brand communications. We’ll look at examples where agencies and brands used planning (intentionally or unintentionally) and benefited from it. Image courtesy of Google Images, available at; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=charles+darwin&meta=&aq=f&oq=&start=0 accessed on 13-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

It all started with “1984”, the Big brother voice-over: groundbreaking Super Bowl For today we celebrate the commercial that introduced first glorious anniversary of the Macintosh and is still the information purification directives. talked about two and half decades later. Director Ridley We have created, for the first Scott paid homage to time, in all history, a garden of pure ideology, where each George Orwell’s classic tale worker may bloom secure by creating a vision of a bleak from the pests of conformist world, in which a contradictory and confusion lone heroine rebels against truths. the automatons by throwing Our unification of thought is a hammer. The ad only ran more powerful a weapon than once, but it helped change any fleet or army on Earth. the world of computers, and William Hesketh Lever We are one people. of advertising. With one will. One resolve. One cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death. And we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail. Announcer voice-over: On January 24th Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll notice why 1984 won’t be like “1984”. © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Long the pacesetter in the business machine sector, IBM had become the company for Apple to beat. Before IBM entered the personal computer market in 1982, Apple had more than 40 percent of the sales. By 1983 IBM had gained first place, capturing 36 percent of the market, while Apple's share had fallen to 25 percent. Industry analysts were not sure how Apple's Macintosh would fare against IBM. The Macintosh could not run programs written for IBM personal computers, and most new programs on the market adhered to the standards set by IBM. The Macintosh would be a test of Apple's ability to compete head-on with IBM while remaining true to its own design criteria. The new product would sell only if Apple could convince users that IBM compatibility was not all that 29 important when a big enough company was behind the computer. William Hesketh Lever It first happened a little over two decades ago, on a Sunday afternoon Macintosh, welcomed in January of 1984. no one expected it, which was part of what made it people to a new age of so powerful. As millions of people sat before their television sets, watching a football game and shifting their attention to snacks and computers. conversations when the commercials came on, something round about the third quarter – a kind of tremor. But it was above ground and right on the TV screen, in the form of a woman charging full speed, wielding a hammer and preparing to fly. Once she did that a lot was shattered the way people thought about big business and entrepreneurial brands, the way people thought about computers, and most of all the way people thought about a company named Apple. 30 29 Robert Schnakenberg, Apple Computer, Inc.: 1984 campaign, Encyclopaedia of major marketing campaigns, Volume 1 2000 30 Warren Berger, Disruption Stories, 2004, Page 16 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

William Hesketh Lever Commissioned to provide the advertising strategy for the Macintosh Apple was actually following a time-honoured rule of advertising—grab launch was advertising agency Chiat/Day. The creative team the consumer's attention. The company was aware that whenever a assembled in the ad shop's San Francisco office consisted of executive new product is introduced the first thing its maker must do is make vice president and creative director Lee Clow, vice president and people aware of it and its brand name. The Apple ad did so in a associate creative director Steve Hayden (who wrote the final spot), fashion quite innovative for its time. vice president and associate creative director Brent Thomas (who served as art director), and producer Richard O'Neill. These people Also part of the marketing strategy for the Macintosh was a partnership worked for more than a year—"65-hour weeks, without vacation," with Microsoft, the Richmond, Washington-based personal computer according to account director Paul Conhune—to produce what would software company. On the same day Apple unveiled the computer, become one of the most talked-about spots in the history of Microsoft introduced five new programs for the Mac in ads in the Wall advertising. The spot, entitled "1984," began a six-day ran in January Street Journal. "Apple's new baby has our best features," read the 1984 that concluded with its final airing during ABC's telecast of Super copy. "It's called Macintosh. And it has our brains and a lot of our Bowl XVIII. In foisting the elaborate "1984" on an unsuspecting public, personality." The one-time-only ad was created by Microsoft's ad Image courtesy of Google Images, available at; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=mac+mouse&meta=&aq=f&oq=&start=0 accessed on 13-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

agency, Keye/Donna/Pearlstein (KDP), which worked in tandem with Thirdly, the communication strategy for the new Macintosh, which Chiat/Day on the project. The ads went on to describe the five new insured the presentation of the machine as different as the company programs that Microsoft planned to release for the Macintosh over the representing it and as innovative as the product itself. From the first few months of 1984. selection of media channels to the inspiration of creative theme from controversial novelist George Orwell, it was made sure that nothing As a result of “1984”, early sales of the Macintosh were brisk. Industry looked, sounded or felt like anything people had experienced before. sources estimated that in the first six hours on the product's launch day The most fascinating thing of the story of “1984” is the consistency in the 200,000 consumers visited the country's 1,500 Apple dealers. The dealers overall transaction of Macintosh for the Apple Business i.e. from the reported selling $3.5 million worth of Macs and making of the product to its actual sale. Of course, accepted cash deposits for another $1 million. In the the credit of Macintosh success goes to many minds, first two months of the new computer's availability, however, if I have to select the ‘Grand Strategist’ 31 an additional $8 million in deposits was taken. among those, then that would be, without a doubt, the inventor, the strategist, the thinker, Steve Jobs. Fast forward to 2009, and you can’t name a single thing used in “1984” that didn’t have the rules of Jobs didn’t just think of the product proposition to be planning embedded in it. the machine ‘For the rest of Us’, but also carefully built the brand world around the idea. As a Grand First of all, the product was designed with the user and their needs in Strategist, Steve Jobs made sure that everything went according to the mind. Thanks to Steve Jobs, intensive planning work took place in product idea, his focus was on building a long-term personality for the actually creating and designing the machine. It featured a fast Apple, by delivering consistent, innovative solutions for people in need, processor powered by a Motorola 68,000 chip and had 128,000 than merely executing what technology was offering at that time. characters of memory. No computer jargon was needed to operate the machine. To carry out a particular function, the user simply moved a The point which differentiated Macintosh from the rest of the pointer, or mouse, to a symbol on the screen and pushed a button. The competition was its ability to have a balance combination of logic screen could also be broken up into windows, thus allowing several and creativity. Without a doubt, Steve Jobs realised that it was functions to be handled at the same time. possible to defy convention and put forth a completely original vision, and to create the machine that was designed to adapt to Secondly, the penetration strategy adopted by the product. A smart the user (instead of the other way around). move of including Microsoft as a technology partner, which insured the superiority of the machine, both in its looks and working. 31 Robert Schnakenberg, Apple Computer, Inc.: 1984 campaign, Encyclopaedia of major marketing campaigns, Volume 1 2000 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Peter Fisk, in his book Marketing Genius wrote, ‘the blurring of In Google doing what it does, it truly understands the following; boundaries, of virtual and real worlds, and fusion of previously • Customers: "They only want what they want." unrelated industries, is a daunting challenge but also a • Advertisers: "They want low cost and low risk." fantastic opportunity’. • Media/Publishers: "They need to engage customers and they want to do so at a low cost and with low risk. With a doubt, the modernisation within the technology discipline introduced countless opportunities to the business In a traditional world, for each to get what it wants, someone world. Today, it’s possible for any brand to work with or against has to sacrifice. If a publisher wants to make more money, an any other. It’s no more about finding what the technology has advertiser has to pay more. If an advertiser wants lower risk and done, instead it’s about realising the potential it has for us. It’s still get out in front of customers, the customers may not get an open book, easily accessible to those who have the what they want. dreams, brains, confidence and persistence to benefit from it. However, this is where Google differentiates itself from the rest William Hesketh Leverby coming up with a ‘Grand Solution’, something Very similar to this was the realisation of Larry Page and Sergey of the world, Brin back in 1995, when they created Google in their Stanford which only the brains of Page and Brin could realise. In the University bedroom. What Google did was not a one off magic case of Google, the searcher types in a query; advertisers, in performance, but a simply a case of focusing the business advance, bid on a click because they assume a click around people, and not the other way around. translates to interest; and, with each click, publishers presumably make money. This model of working is something Within five years, Google had started to deal with 100 million all three want i.e. (People, Advertiser, Publisher): Something is internet searches every day, and made Brin and Page multi- exchanged at a price that's market-determined. billionaires in less than a decade. Similar to this is what Steve Jobs did for the Apple brand. For Google their vision is simple, ‘ to be the perfect search engine’ or, ‘one that understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want’. Image courtesy of Google Images, available at; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=google+logo&meta=&aq=f&oq=&start=0 on 28-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

FIG 9 – Google Search Model of Working PUBLISHER ADVERTISER DIGITAL/ONLINE RESOURCES OF THE USER RECEIVING RELEVANT CONTENT GOOGLE WORLD In reality, Google’s (search) model of working is extremely In whatever Google does, it’s always the ‘searcher’ who is given simple (FIG 9). Google as a brand understands the value of utmost priority. Whether it’s an advertiser using Google William Hesketh Lever keeping the audience ‘on your side’. In all its operations whatAdWords to promote its products and services on the web with Google sells ultimately is, ‘You’. You, ‘the audience’ that every targeted advertising, or a website manager taking advantage brand and publisher is looking for and Google makes it sure that of the Google AdSense programme to deliver ads relevant to everybody gets what they really want. In simple words, Google the content of his website, the whole Google system works is the web’s library: archival, organized and oriented around around customer democracy. Google search rankings are research. determined by the most popular sites amongst global internet users, assisted by those sites that encourage more open Now you must be thinking, what on earth this all has to do with networking, linking one to another. Communications Planning? But if you look deeper, you will find Google as the champion of planning. As planners we stand for It’s no accident that Google’s New York office has more ‘champions of people’, we celebrate the fact that it’s the end humans than servers. This conviction in the power of people is user whose voice is heard and listened, at all levels in designing also truly reflected in how Google creates awareness for its a business proposition. brand. Until recently, no one had experienced a traditional piece of advertising from Google. © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

In terms of its value, Google stands at number one in the world, William Hesketh Lever – tell it to an advertising agency and they will ridiculous, I know above Coca Cola, Microsoft and many others who spend think you are crazy, and would like to stay as far from you as millions of advertising dollars in creating their brand value. But possible. for Google, the case is different. Anyone who uses Google products automatically becomes its advocate. And if my But then try asking Google, and they might tell you how memory serves me correctly, then it wasn’t very different when successfully they did it when they thought of promoting Gmail. Google revolutionised the e-mail world with the launch of The month was August, the date was 28th and the year was Gmail. 2007. This was the day when Google broadcasted their Behind the Scenes video on YouTube, which to date has received Okay, so how do you launch a global communications 5,634,302 views – not really a bad reach for an advertising piece campaign for a global brand, that caters to all cultures and that lasts for two minutes and nineteen seconds. The video was markets, whilst using the power of single idea and then created by Gmail lovers from all around the world based on a broadcast it to millions of people – with just one condition , that simple communications idea, ‘Help us imagine how an email you don’t have any advertising budget? It sounds message travels around the world’. The execution platform was Image courtesy of Google Images, available at; http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=1&q=top+10+brands&meta=&aq=f&oq=&start=0 on 28-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

even simpler, ‘Take a look at the collaborative video we started, and then film what happens next. We'll rotate a selection of the clips we receive on this page, and add the best ones to the video. The final video will be featured on the Gmail homepage and seen by users worldwide’. And there it was – all the world out with their video cameras and letter ‘M’. Hats off to the thinking of Gmail Labs. If we look at this activity from an advertising effectiveness point of view, then we come across some amazing results. Thousands of blogs across the world wide web, started to talk about Gmail’s clever stunt – it them successfully, then I wonder what need for an advertising/media reached a worldwide audience of millions, and represented the partner will they have in the future? multicultural, global outlook of the brand in its communications. All this at apparently zero media, production and advertising budget. So, what was actually that thing which made people so interested in doing what they did for Gmail? In my opinion a good product is a It is indeed a very innovative case study, but also a bit scary at the ‘product’ of focused thinking. Thinking, that is planned and actually William Hesketh Lever same time. If advertisers are able to produce such effective brings benefit to the people, is more effective for any business, than communications on their own and then have the ability to execute selling people dreams and hopes, without a tangible benefit. Google doesn’t sell dreams – it simply brings utility to all of us. And that’s why we believe that whatever it does, it’s doing for our benefit. The product ‘Gmail’ has been bombarded with utility, whilst using a very commercially viable model – which again satisfies the three point criteria that we discussed for Google Search earlier i.e. • Customers: They only want what they want. • Advertisers: They want low cost and low risk. • Media/Publishers: They need to engage customers and they want to do so at a low cost and with low risk. The advertising within emails is targeted and focused, and there won’t be any advertising displayed that is not relevant to the email text. Image accessed through taking screenshot of personal email account – accessed on 22-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Google doesn’t say how many Gmail users there are, but comScore Communications, on the other hand, is the end result of brand thinking, estimates unique monthly visitors. According to the latest stats, the and there’s no way on earth that can make that end result relevant to 32 number of people visiting Gmail grew 43 percent in 2008 to 29.6 million. what people are looking for, unless the business isn’t designed to work in the way that people think. As Planners, it’s important for us to understand that we are moving William Hesketh Lever away from an era of monitoring to an age of engagement. If we don’t I will discuss this point in detail in the later chapters. Nevertheless, the realise this and start showing it in what we do, then soon brands might challenge for the future brand planners is not fixing the creative brief. not have any need for us as we now know that some brands are Rather, it’s thinking of ways to increase the utility of a brand. This opens actually very good in planning total solutions for their businesses. a whole new paradigm for all of us because when we as brand partners start thinking neutrally towards brands then the situations will Without a doubt, every planner must indulge in learning how to analyse also demand to enhance our knowledge beyond traditional data about brands, the ways to use research usefully and how to bring approaches of working relationships. From supply-chain issues to retail human insight into the communications process. However, if one stops innovation, from financial strategies to product innovation, we must here, then everyone’s in trouble, because as a Grand Strategist, our job prepare ourselves to deal with everything and anything. As strategists, is not to just create useful digital strategies, guide the creatives and we should only have one objective – to make successful brands by agency in developing television commercials, or introduce a cool way integrating our thinking across all processes, markets and channels of to communicate over the mobile; most importantly it is to guide the business. total brand experience that an audience gets from a company. 32 TechCrucnh, available at; http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/14/gmail-grew-43-percent-last-year-aol-mail-and-hotmail-need-to-start-worrying/, accessed on 20-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

CHAPTER FOUR A PLANNING CASE & OTHERS

Everybody is different, and that’s what keeps us all competitive William Hesketh Lever fact, we need old things more– things which have sustained towards each other. It’s due to this difference, that we are able to evolution whilst enhancing utility, usability and value. For example, prove things right or wrong, better or worse. Similarly, different laptops are big and net books are handy. They both belong to the groups and agencies have different points of view on different computer family. 2G is good, but 3G iPhones are perfect. Once topics. In the case of planning, this manifests itself in different again, they share the same family (Apple). ways. There are thousands of examples of brands and products out there, We studied the concepts of planning and its models.Now it’s time which are successful – not because they keep doing new things, for some great planning stories. Tales about the use of planning but because they never stop evolving their thinking. amongst various communication agencies. The idea for the next few pages is simple, ‘integrate what’s disconnected’. The next few pages will help us understand how planning in advertising is considered in JWT (in detail) and in some other Kevin Roberts, Worldwide CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi once said, ‘You advertising agencies (briefly). We will then examine the definition only get something new when you do something different’. So that they apply to it, and how they implement it. true, almost. The thing is we don’t always need new. In 33 Image available at http://ohheyandreeuh.tumblr.com, accessed on 20th November 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

William Hesketh Lever At JWT, Planning is not just limited to analysing focus groups, It will contain a mixture of news, comment and opinion from me writing creative briefs or studying research reports. They often try about JWT Planning’. to jump out from their traditional boundaries, to explore the benefits that Planning as a subject can offer. At JWT, Planning has truly evolved with a global outlook in mind which seems an appropriate step for a giant like JWT to take. In 2007, when Guy Murphy, joined JWT as a Worldwide Planning Stephen King’s ideas on planning are still very much alive. The Director, planning at JWT went through a huge change. In focus on theory and knowledge sharing is extremely critical at JWT principle, for the first time in industry, JWT introduced a central for the grooming of its planners. With these thoughts in mind, JWT approach to planning, with the launch of JWT planning blog. The further launched the Stephen King Library, which is an online blog serves as a central point for all planning communications, portal for all the best practices, brand books, planning case which then helps planners to think at a much broader level. studies, planning models, pitch presentations, planning theories According to Guy Murphy, the purpose of the blog is, ‘to provide and much more from accross the JWT world. a greater sense of community and learning amongst our Planners. © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

In recent chapters we have touched upon the area regarding the ARE WE GETTING THERE? Does the advertising achieve its team structure at JWT with Account Planner in mind i.e. Account objectives and is the result effective? If an area test, which area 34 Director, Account Planner and Creative Head. We have also did it better? discussed that how carefully JWT’s Planning thinking is web around ‘T’ Plan or Planning cycle, which helps JWT to materialises its In theory, the areas, Stephen King explained for the development thinking around five key Questions. In explaining the role each of planning thoughts, seems to be very effective, and we will question plays, Stephen King, writes in one of his essays, ‘one way further explain it why? to provide disciplines and controls for our advertising planning is to establish a regular sequence of work and thought’. In principle, The point which excites me about this process is that its not a JWT Planning revolves around five thoughts, which form the basis method, but a series of questions, which allows you to think for any further planning action; beyond limitations. The other interesting element is the combination of logic and imagination – every question WHERE ARE WE? Where does our brand stand now (compared to encourages the person on task, to think both logically; using data competitors) in the market and in people’s minds? If a new brand, research etc. and also to think creatively; imagining the possible William Hesketh Lever can have, to offer something new, interesting where do the competitors or substitutes stand? Where have we myths the brand come from? In what direction are we going? and rewarding. WHY ARE WE THERE? What factors have contributed to our The approach is more like the one used by the philosophers, brand’s strengths and weaknesses? scientists and mathematicians. Have you ever questioned how Einstein came up with E=MC 2 . I am certain that it was definitely WHERE COULD WE BE? Realistically, what could be the position of not a magical predetermined step-by-step logical method which our brand in the future? Is it a new position or maintaining our he used to came up with that, as if this were to be true, then present position? certainly he won’t be needing all the time he used, or someone else would have done it, using that same step-by-step method. HOW COULD WE GET THERE? What changes to what elements in the marketing mix could achieve it? What role and objectives for In my opinion, most scientists, mathematicians, architects and advertising? What campaigns could achieve the advertising physicians, have certain feelings in advance about how things objectives? work, or how they should work. That’s the area where they use 34 Steohen King, JWT Planning Guide, 1974, page 18 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

creativity. However, they always tend to, when presenting the results of creativity, to neaten what actually happened and to suggest that it has been a sensible, logical, step-by-step process – because that seems a more responsible and professional way of working. In analysing the key questions coined by Stephen King, the chart below (FIG 8) clearly shows the benefits this combination of creativity and logic brings to the advertising process. FIG 8 – Benefits of the Planning Cycle Planning Cycle William Hesketh Lever A True Marketing Mix Continuous (Medium Free) Cycle Clear Roles for Feedback Research Disciplined Creatively Free Comprehensive Feedback © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

FIG 9 – Planning Cycle – Process Explained In order to better understand the five Let’s investigate the thoughts he had in commandments, it’s worth further exploring Planning Cycle mind for this process – the thoughts which the king’s questions. This time, we will look at removed the barriers between creativity each question from the eyes of Stephen. and logic and opened a new era of advertising. Where are we? Background: Information as a Comparative Map: Against the background, Answering the Questions: the questions have to be context in which to look at check how the brand stands; in relation to considered in relation to key competitors, whether hard brand’s competitive situation selected competitors and substitutes information is available or not Market Size & Nature: How big? Growing how fast? The Competition: Who really is the competition? Has it Research: The nature of contribution of research is Containing how many brands? What sort of changed? Is it major brands, private label, substitutes, dictated by the questions themselves. For instance; manufacturers? How profitable? Rate of technological social change, apathy? Who are the key competitors Change/ External Issues (e.g. Legal, consumerist)? for the purpose of this analysis? Buying Patterns: Who buys the product type? How Company Position: What are companies strengths in Market Size and nature: Shop Audit, consumer panel, often? What sort of buying decision (compulsive V. production/Services, Finance, R & D, Marketing? published statistics, company reports. Impulsive V. Routine)? Who influences buying? How and Weaknesses? Policies, hopes fears, aspirations? where bought? Constrictions (e.g. For individual brands in a multi-brand company)? Company style, personality? How do all these compare with key competitors? Using Patterns: Who uses the product type? How? For Buying Patterns: Consumer panels, ad hoc surveys, what purposes? How often? Relationship between observation research buyer and user (e.g. Giver/receiver, server/eater)? Brand’s Market Position: Sales? Share? Distribution, type and level? Prices, pricing policy? Number of range variants, line extensions? Regional variations? Using Patterns: what are buyers’ / users’ needs wants, Using patterns: ad hoc surveys, consumer diaries desires in product type? What motivates them to buy / use? What makes them discriminate between brands? Marketing activities: Breakdown of marketing What sort of language do they use about the product expenditure? Sales force, size, character, methods? type? What are the substitutes for the product type? Advertising expenditure, media mix, creative content? What system of behaviour does the product type fit into Packaging structure, style, naming policy and practice? Motivations: Large scale attitude research, plus small (e.g. Washing powders into a clothes cleaning system)? Direct V. Indirect contribution of advertising? Promotions, scale qualitative research expenditure and type? How do our activities differ from key competitors? Buyers’ / Users’ responses: Product: What does the product do? What is it made of? What services it offers? Laboratory analysis v. Sensual: product tests (blind and named) Competitors? Rational: Structured attitude research Emotional: large and small scale attitude and motivation research, brand Buyers/Users:: who buys, uses, knows about our brand? personality research How do they differ from buyers / users of other brands? How often, how, where, under whose influence do they buy our brand differently from other brands? Buyers’ / Users’ responses: How do people respond to our brand? Sensually – what do they notice about our brand, when buying, using, serving? Rationally – what do they beleive about our brand, its purpose, performance, contents? Emotionally – what do they feel towards our brand, its style and personality? How do all these responses differ from responses of competitive brands?

FIG 9 – Planning Cycle – Process Explained Planning Cycle Why are we there? Influencers: Which of the factors – either Answering the questions: There are two ways of under the business’s control or not – have tackling the questions on the left and analysing the led to our brand’s and competitor’s most important factors affecting the brand’s current positions? Which are the most important position. factors? How have they inter-related? How has the balance between them changed over time? Examination of trend data: -What factors appear to have moved parallel with success and failure? - did our increase in market share coincide with the Possible causes: change in our brand’s formulation or price? -Products / services: formulation or - Is there a relationship between share of advertising performance and share of market? -Packaging / design: structure, sizes, style -Does the belief in one particular attribute of the - naming: type, style brand seem to go up and down in line with brand -Advertising: amount, media mix, content share? -Distribution and display: amount, type, style -What seem to have been the results over time of - Pricing specific marketing experiments? - Promotions: amount, type, style - word of mouth: retailers or consumers Internal analysis of current data: -Maker’s / providers policies or reputation: real, assumed, influence of other brands -What specific beliefs about our brand do the most - history: past reputation (e.g. Orientation as committed users or the most generally favourable me-too brand) people have which the other do not? -Competitors: activity or inactivity - Do people who buy it at less price buy less - attitudes: gap between reputation and frequently than those who buy it at cut price? reality - Are our current sales related to distribution levels? -Other associations: times, places, - What do people think are the most important surroundings, accomplishments factors that affect their buying? - Any combination of the above

FIG 9 – Planning Cycle – Process Explained Planning Cycle Where could we be? This stage requires the first important act of Role of Research: imagination. It starts with all the facts and the analysis of causes. It ends with a first statement of a proposed Research is used in two entirely different ways at this strategy for the brand and a new or modified brand stage. positioning. But it’s not a deductive process. The strategy does not spring logically and inevitably form the data. No analysis will directly reveal opportunities. Research as Stimulus: Key questions: Any reasonable rich and detailed audience/customer/buyer/user research (such as the The basic question is: where could the brand be in quantitative research used up to this point) can be a relation to its key competitors in the future? In exactly means of setting up a train of thought. It is mainly a those terms that were analysed at the Where are matter of the frame of mind with which one we? Stage. The word “could” implies not only Where approaches it – ideally with openness, curiosity and would it be desirable and profitable to be? But also optimism. where is it realistic to expect to be? And when? This gives birth to three main terms in which the answer should be found: Research as hypothetico-deductive process:: Position in Market: This process evaluates the hypothesis of the brand strategy against the research already done. Is there Where could our brand be in the market? Market anything in the previous research – buying patterns, leader? Second brand? What share? In a different brand loyalties, product experience, for instance – sector? Opening up a new sector? More profitable? which invalidates the hypothesis? If, say, all the Less reliant on price cuts and promotions? previous research shows that no brand in the market has ever had more than 10% of its users as solus users, then a brand strategy based on getting 60% of our Buyers / Users: could it get existing users to use more? brand’s users to use no other is very unlikely to be How much more? New users into the product field? valid. How many? Hold onto existing users? Draw people away from specific brands? Regain former users? Get people to use for a new purpose? Could people be attracted who are currently unaware of or indifferent to the brand? Which people? Responses: where could the brand be repositioned in relation to competitors? What difference in the responses to the brand could we get? What might people notice in the brand different from now? What new beliefs might the hold about it? What new feelings might they have towards it?

FIG 9 – Planning Cycle – Process Explained Planning Cycle How could we get there? This stage involves the main part of the creative work in an agency and most of the detailed planning. It is a continuous process of development, learning and 2. Deciding the role of advertising 3. Developing campaigns: 4. Feedback adjustment. It gradually takes rough ideas to finished and the creative strategy: The end product of this stage is Throughout this process of form. There are four main elements in it. advertisements and media plans; creative development there is Direct Role: in the new this is where specific campaigns continual modification, based on circumstances, at what stage in begin to emerge. common sense, judgement and the thinking about/ choosing/ research. In principal there are 1. Assessment of the means of achieving the deciding/ buying/ using spectrum two sorts of feedback; objectives: the basic question at this stage asks what is advertising intended to have a - Modifying the objectives, if changes are needed in the various stimuli under the Creative: it’s the true creative direct effect? And how important process of starting with a defined necessary. business’s control in order to get the proposed new is this effect in relation to the - Aiming to invalidate the latest responses from the proposed target group? challenge: developing theories, indirect effect? ideas, hypothesis; taking them to experimental work against the The changes could be in: objectives Product – formulation, size, added features or experiment form; judging them Indirect Role: which responses to against known data; trying to The attempt to invalidate comes services the brand from which people from both judgement and from Design – Structure, size or style invalidate then by testing; should be changed in what way modifying the ideas, and on research. Price by advertising in order to Distribution and display – methods, type, style, through the cycle again. contribute to the total brand amount strategy. Advertising – expenditure, media, creative treatment Promotions – expenditure, type, style Media: The media selection Judgement: this mainly comes (inter-media) decision is in fact from; part of the whole campaign planning process, and is affected - Account group as a whole. by three main factors; - People outside the project group, who still have - Creative/Media relationships knowledge of the brand and - Coverage its objectives; most valuably, - Cost, size, length v. frequency review boards. Research: this is also used in mainly two ways; - To stimulate ideas, particularly through creative people taking part in or observing group discussions among members of the target group. - To cast doubt on or invalidate an advertising idea.

FIG 9 – Planning Cycle – Process Explained Planning Cycle Are we getting there? The final stage in planning is really an extension of the 1. Pre-Exposure: 1. Post-Exposure: feedback process, which provides new information for the cycle to begin all over again. In trying to answer “Are we getting there?” before the After the campaign is exposed to public, what we campaign appears, what we would ideally like is to need is data directly comparable to that used in As campaigns are taken to a finished stage, with measure accurately whether it will succeed in answering the first question – Where are we? That is, a detailed material produced and media schedules achieving the objectives we have set for it. new comparative map of the position of all brands in built, there is a review of whether the advertising is Unfortunately, there are several reasons why this will the market and in people’s minds helping to achieve the brand’s objectives, before it never be possible. appears. What we can do instead, is expose members of the Research Questions: Then over a longer period, there is measurement of target group (in inevitably artificial circumstances) to how the marketing mix as a whole is performing, in advertisements, and make the best judgements that -Have the people that we specified changed their the market place. we can of the way in which they respond to them. responses to the brand as we hoped they would? - If they have, has this resulted in the changes in behaviour aimed at in the marketing plan? - If the responses have changed but the behaviour has not, are our brand and advertising strategies wrong? Research Questions: - If the responses have not changed, is it because the objectives were too ambitious? - As a result of seeing these advertisements, did the - Or is it because the advertising is ineffective? target group notice what we wanted them to notice - Have we allowed long enough? about the brand? -If the advertising seems to have worked, precisely how - Do they now believe what we wanted them to has it worked? believe? - What is the model of the process in the market? - Do they feel towards the brand what we wanted them - How does it relate to the role we set for advertising? to feel?

I think that it would be wise for me to stop here for the purpose of To me, the most interesting bit of the new planning model is its highlighting some of the critical roles of a Grand Strategist. linking with the creative development process. As it uses the Stephen King has already clearly explained and established the ‘scorecard’ system to validate its ideas. The scorecard system was important the role of a planner, and how it should be considered. launched in 2005, to help create better creative output, by judging the initial creative work against a series of statements Stephen King thinking across the JWT network is something which ranging from one to ten. The system was developed in hasn’t truly been implemented. However, the focus of JWT on accordance with JWT’s ‘Time is the New Currency’ philosophy planning and the value that it has given to subject since 1969 and positions JWT as agency which creates ideas that people remains unchanged . want to spend time with. As time passes, it brings new challenges and evolution in approaches. This occurred at JWT earlier this year when its London office launched the new JWT Planning Model. Keeping in mind the importance of Global ideas, channel opportunities and local implementations. In principle, the new JWT Planning Model is a simplified version of King’s thinking. However, at the same time, the model emphasises a lot on the importance of creative thinking in strategic processes. The aim of the model is to bring back JWT’s leadership positioning in brand building. Guy Murphy puts it, ‘We must regain our leadership position in brand thinking and brand building’. The highlights of the model are its focus on big thinking, ideas that can inspire execution in many channels and provide coherence to all the communications and markets, brand ideas versus campaign ideas, and stimulus versus Response. Image courtesy of Google Images, available at; http://www.google.co.uk/imghp?hl= on 28-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Despite of JWT’s efforts to make planning central to how they approach their business, sadly, it’s still very much fragmented. There are countless tools, methods and approaches used by JWT planners across the world – there are more than 30 different formats just for their creative brief only. We can still see JWT struggling with planning and its grand implementations. In explaining how JWT goes about its planning, Guy Murphy adds; ‘No clear or consistent answer to that at the moment. Answers vary by country, office, and account. Worst case, we go about our Planning in the way our specific Client goes about their Planning. Some will remember Thompson Way and Thompson Total Branding. Truly excellent systems of Planning for but now sporadically used. So we have a fragmented and splintered answer’. Despite the fact that how many tools, methods, approaches JWT uses for its planning worldwide (Fig 10), one thing is still very much there, and that is its determination and passion for giving the true meaning to planning, as defined by King. I believe the ‘New JWT Planning Model’ will bring the missing integration into the thinking. However, it’s a different story, whether the value of share price, financial pressures or senior level management lets it do that or not. Discoveries William Hesketh Lever JWT Planning Idea Card James Webb Young – 5 step process FIG 10 – Planning at JWT © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Of course, being one of the pioneers of Account Planning, JWT has a strong and long association with planning. However, at the same time, it doesn’t necessarily means that this is the only way of how planners work, across the industry. Every agency has developed a slightly different definition of planning to those of Stephen King and Stanley Pollitt. For example, though at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Planners work in a similar fashion to those at JWT. However, for BBH the skill set a planner should have is apparently more like this: FIG 11 – Planners at BBH BBH BBH Planner William Hesketh Lever Knowledge: Relationship Research: Drive: Strategic vision: Understanding the management: Appreciating the Continually leading Appreciating the layout of the market, a Generating confidence in pros and cons of the debate central attributes, brand’s (and its colleagues and keeping research as a tool definitions and competitors’) position the account team behaviour of client within it and the state motivated. brands, helping the of distribution and account team trade relations. The understand them and Creative vision: account team must be Communication: aiding the formation of Improving the likelihood of producing high- made aware of any Conveying ideas clearly, brand strategy. quality advertising by focusing the account information which constructing reasoned and team’s thinking so that it is relevant and could improve well-supported arguments useful to the creatives. Planners must be performance. and listening to others. creative catalysts. 36 Figure 11, The Anatomy of Account Planning, Henrik Habberstad, Page 29 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Another interesting element of Planning at BBH, is its integration into the complete agency system. For example, the UK chairman of BHH, Jim Carroll, is from planning background. Planning involved at the management level, clearly shows that how important, planners are considered across BBH network. The point which inspires me about Planning at BBH, is the definition it enjoys. For BBH, planning at a senior level, actually contributes in the development of the agency structure. And it’s due to planning and its grand implementations, that BBH has managed to develop such a strong independent communications network (FIG 12). Despite of the agreement fact, BBH is also investing in opening specialised fields of planning, and the recent efforts include Engagement Planning, Innovation Planning. For example, in order to reach effective solutions in innovation planning, BBH uses ‘Brand Compass (Fig 13)’. FIG 13 – Brand Compass FIG 12 – BBH Grand Structure William Hesketh Lever BBH AGENCY BBH RETAIL ZAG INNOVATION ENGAGEMENT Brand PLANNING PLANNING Idea BBH SECOND LEAP MUSIC BBH LABS LIFE 37 Figure 12, WAQAR RIAZ presentation to Jim Carroll, Chairman BBH UK, March 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

For TBWA, Planning is all about creating stories, challenging the norms result can be... Disruption’. and triggering positive “disruptions” for the brands. Warren Berger, in his book, Disruption Stories says, ‘The story of a brand should never In further explaining how disruption occurs, Berger writes, ‘Disruption become stale or static. It should not dwell only on heritage and history does not result from mere slogans, nor from anything that doesn’t and it should not repeat itself. Unfortunately, brand advertising is often resonate as true. We found that what was required was harder and used in a limited manner – to reinforce the status quo. But the reality is more complex: it involved helping a client to unearth and rediscover that every brand is in transition, or should be. As the world changes, the essence of their own company and brand, the deep, hidden 38 and as markets change, and companies change, so, too must a truths that make it unique’. brand and its “story” must evolve. From time to time, the very essence and meaning of a brand must be re-examined, in the context of a I can’t help myself from appreciating TBWA for not keeping all this changing world. Everything must be questioned, all assumptions ‘Disruptive’ philosophy close to their chests. In fact, if you are smart challenged. After which, the brand’s story must be told – with new enough, you can find the information on Disruption, the tools TBWA twists and unexpected turns. If the story is big enough, important uses to master it, and a lot more, by simply Googling the right words. enough, groundbreaking, relevant and powerful enough, then the 38 Disruption Stories, Warren Berger, 2004, Disruption Introduction © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

CONNECTIONS ZONE For example, ‘Connections Zone’ is one tool through which disruption disciplines: public relations, direct marketing, advertising, action can be achieved. It also gives birth to ‘Connections Planning’ a term marketing (events and promotions), design and original content. coined by TBWA. According to TBWA, ‘connections planning determines the most relevant, cost-effective and advantageous In essence, Connections Planning is the combination of scientific points of contact between clients and their existing or potential calculation, creative deduction, and technological expertise to arrive customers; then arrives at the best possible mix, use, and order of at the best possible mix, use, and construction of connections to connections to change consumer behaviour to achieve the agreed achieve the client’s business objectives across all target audiences. business objectives, through the use of results-based, multidisciplinary planning’. To achieve the desired disruptions, by establishing useful connections, TBWA practices several methods i.e. Connections Wheel, Brand Audit In defining connections planning, TBWA puts it as, ‘a new discipline, Wheel, Brand Audit Clock, Customer Relationship Migration Matrix, designed to inspire, amplify and leverage total communication Connections Scenario and Persuasion Sequence. ideas’. For example, Connections Wheel is used as a symbol of connections In a broader sense, Connections Planning informs the selection, use planning theory. It represents all connections that communicate a 39 and construction for clients’ communications across all marketing brand’s reputation, relationship or identity to the consumer. 39 Connection Wheel, Image available at; http://brandpalace.typepad.com; accessed on 25-11-09 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

I guess, we can spend ages in discussing planning definitions and In its true essence, whatever we have discussed about planning from different methods, in use at various advertising agencies. However, I the point of views of various agencies, are the fundamental standards believe, that would be getting off the track, so, let’s rewind... and go of planning. Without a doubt, planning should deliver engagement, back to what we were discussing in the earlier pages. Let’s open our connections, values, research, creativity, innovation , disruption and a eyes and ears to the philosophy of King and Pollitt, who (despite of lot more. their differences in the approaches they took) realised the William Hesketh Leverday we are trying to come up with a new form of importance of planning in communications design. However, in However, every recent years, we as an industry, totally split their thinking and the planning. I fear a lot about the future of planning. It’s time for us to stop meanings of their efforts. We imagined, as if, it was a cool thing to thinking of planning, as merely a selling tool, which sounds cool in pitch introduce something new back in 1960’s, and started to put our presentations, and take it as a subject which can bring us a whole new efforts on creating new forms of planning, rather than understanding world of opportunities across all communication disciplines. what King and Pollitt were trying to communicate. It’s time for us to look at planning from the eyes of Clausewitz, In recent chapters we have discussed, how successful planning was Imoteph, William Lever and Steve Jobs. And that is; designing business for other industries (i.e. Pyramid of Djoser, World War II, lever Brothers processes around the value of planning and not inserting parts of ‘Unilever’ 1880s – 1920s ) and how it helped them in gaining a planning within individual business disciplines. Planning in its true form, competitive advantage. However, Unfortunately, today we are must answer all the business challenges and therefore create a repeating the same mistakes, which were part of communications sustainable connection between people, organisations, markets and curriculum back in 1930s – we are not taking planning as seriously as channels. Unfortunately, this is not what’s happening today and Figure we should. It’s time that we stop confusing our clients with a new 14 clearly shows how unkindly we have disabled the subject to work name for Planning everyday, and stick to the original ‘Planning’. ineffectively. Images sourced from the earlier part of the dissertation © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

I will end this chapter with a classic example of disintegration by Stephen king and leave the rest for you to imagine. In his essay ‘What is a Brand?’ King wrote; ‘Sharpening up on planning methods is going to be necessary too in improving a going brand or developing a new one. It can be like the sad parable of the man rich enough to have an entirely custom-made car. He decided that nothing but the best would do, so he went to the best people regardless of expense. He himself was very keen on spending up the M6, so he went to Jaguar for the engine. He knew his wife would found parking a bit of problem, so Fiat seemed the best people to go for the chassis. William Hesketh Lever And he felt that Volvo could deal best with accommodating his three children, two retrievers, au pair girl and beagle in the back; so they did the bodywork. The curious thing was that when the car was assembled, it never seemed to work very well. And when in the end he decided to sell it, he had quite a lot of trouble of finding a buyer at all’. Image courtesy and story of Stephen King, available inside the chapter What is a Brand - 1971? © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

THE POINT IS... ‘Planning’ is a universal subject (by nature). It works best when its value is delivered at the heart of a business and its outcomes are not treated individually for different business scenarios. © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

CHAPTER FIVE IDENTIFYING THE OPPORTUNITY

“ If you have managed to get someone’s attention you can’t afford to waste it. “ Simon Andrews And believe you me, I am certainly not planning to lose opportunities are ordinary changes / modifications / yours (if I still have it). Before we move forward, I want to improvements to things and concepts we already have. admit something – a realisation on my part, or a success of However, sometimes the next big thing is the result of a our collaborative effort; change, that is so small in scale and implementation that we tend not to believe it, except those who have the From researching through all these great inspiration stories brains and the desire to keep challenging the world with and the working style of extraordinary people, I think I am ‘simple logic’ like Lever, Jobs, King and Serge. beginning to learn something new. For example, when I mapped out the content chart for this primer, I categorised The reason for taking you through this chapter is extremely this chapter as “Identification of the Problem”. However, critical, as it is here that we will make an attempt to having travelled on this research journey, I realised it’s not understand the opportunity that the current situation of worth looking at the world with evil eyes. Instead, it’s worth communications offers us for the subject, ‘Planning’. exploring potential for opportunity in everything. For now, I know for certain that every situation (good or bad) brings a world of exciting opportunities with it. Usually these 40 Quote: Simon Andrews, Branded Utility Essay, Published on WARC, accessed on 25-11-09 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

“ “ When I lose the sense of motivation and the sense of to prove something as a basketball player, it’s time for me to move away from the basketball. Michael Jordan 41 Image courtesy of Google Images; available at; http://shoeminx.com/nike-air-jordans-turn-23-is-his-airness-finally-ready-for-some-hang-time accessed on 26-11-09 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

So, let’s move away from planning for a little while and focus on agencies convince the clients that they will generate the marketing / advertising in general and maybe it will help us to maximum return on their investment. They try inspiring them with understand the underlying opportunity. great personas of the audience or a piece of research. Sometimes they try shaking up the boardroom with an inspiring Niall Fitzgerald, Unilever Co-Chairman, once said, ‘if somebody creative idea. Beneath this façade, however, most of them are asked me rather than one of my distinguished predecessors, which selling either an expensive media plan, a super-big retainer fee, half of my advertising was wasted, I would probably say 90 per or an extraordinarily overcharged hourly rates. The story doesn’t cent of my advertising was wasted but I don’t know which 90 end here – big ideas are sold with extremely complex creative percent. Our marketing advertising and marketing support budget executions to increase production budgets. And of course, as is over £4billion. It is by far the biggest of costs in this business’. 42 all advertising agencies know very well, there is a lot more money in producing a television commercial than making an And that is so true, as most advertising agencies would have their iPhone app or launching a video on YouTube. clients believe when selling them their creative and unique ideas. They make them believe, one way or another, that it is their What all marketers need to understand, and it’s extremely expensive magic bullet they need, which can spur renewed important that they should is that advertising is not an art, it’s just demand, whilst generating incremental sales. Otherwise, how on a business like many others. More important than that, is the shift earth could all these agencies have made so much money? For in people’s attitudes. Today, people demand utility and example, it was recorded in 2008 that the value of AMV BBDO usefulness over anything else. They want creativity in the London was £386.1 Million, McCann Erikson London £287.1 Million, product and not how the product is been advertised. We are M&C Saatchi London £262.8 Million, BBH London £259.4 Million and now moving from an age of entertainment to an age of JWT London £256.8 Million. And these figures are only for London – engagement and usefulness. you can imagine what would it be like for New York or the 43 advertising world at large. We have analysed in the recent chapters that products can be advertised with extreme success without the use of expensive Without a doubt, marketing is increasingly adding more cost than marketing campaigns, if the focus is on adding creativity to the value to producers and users alike. At every pitch, the marketing product and its design. Gmail, YouTube, Google Search are just 42 Alan Mitchell, Right Side up, Chapter 4, Page 41, 2002 43 Campaign, available at; http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/785296/Top-10-ad-agencies-2008 accessed on 26-11-09 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

a few examples. The point for the brands to realise is critical, away from thinking of attractive communications. In my very people no longer want to perceive the product creatively; they own personal opinion, the job of a communication partner are more interested in knowing what they can do with it. This is should be to increase brand value, not by testing one creative the age of information and no one can control the audience, advertising idea after another, but by analysing the client’s Brand v. Agency Value Value FIG 15 – My Imagination of the big London agencies FIG 16 – Brand Value V. Agency value just by sharing creative stories. In marketing, we are moving business and the challenges it faces beyond marketing. This away from the age of entertainment to an age of could even be an issue of staff training. But why would engagement, productivity, sharing and utility. agencies do that when they don’t see their economy beyond media or creative earnings? In Fig 16, Of course, all the blame for this declining brand value can’t go to the advertising dinosaurs, but at the same time, it is important to understand that advertising has hardly moved 44 FIG 15 – Image available at http://dinosauria.tripod.com/Allosaurus.html accessed on 26-11-09 45 FIG 16 – Data Sources Milward Brown Optimar 2007, top 100 Brands © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

However, it doesn’t mean at all that advertising has always awards to establish and argue the effective side of been ineffective. I guess that’s not the point here either. The advertising. Every year, the IPA issues case studies of the best point is that advertising has been working as the sales window brands and how advertising agencies turned their fortune at the train station, selling expensive tickets to the people at around. It all looks very nice – so long as we don’t use our the counter and not encouraging them to book over the mind. Did you know that Thinkbox UK TV advertising body is phone or online to save costs. Though giving the same service the main sponsor of IPA Effectiveness awards? If we delve in a much more basic manner way would mean one paying deeper, the face of evil reveals that in 2008 seven IPA much lower price, it would be in a much nicer way otherwise. Effectiveness awards winners (including the Gold Winner) were those who used TV as their main medium of advertising. If we look deep into this marketing regime we find even more In total 80 per cent of all submissions used TV as the main concealed evils. The whole system has been designed in a medium. Or put it like this, 80 per cent of the advertising way to support the mighty. For example, in order to prove to agencies that participated in the 2008 IPA Effectiveness the clients and marketing industry at large that advertising Awards encouraged their clients to spend on TV, the most actually produces effectiveness, the industry created an expensive medium of advertising. To prove the clients that official body by the name of IPA. IPA introduced effectiveness they are doing the right thing, IPA awarded them with the so- called most prestigious award in advertising.46 46 Laura James, The four key media trends from the 2008 IPA Effectiveness Awards, WARC Online 47 Images courtesy of Google Images available at http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLL_enGB353GB353&um=1&ei=upIOS-bMNsnp- QbcjLyrCA&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=ipa+effectiveness+awards+logo&spell=1&start=0 & http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLL_enGB353GB353&um=1&sa=1&q=UK+TV+Thinkbox+logo&aq=f&oq=&start=0 ; accessed on 26-11-09 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

This system is just perfect for everyone; the jury judging the to create awareness? Please don’t imagine that I am trying to awards, the body sponsoring the awards, the agency getting establish TV as a medium that is not useful anymore. However, the award and the marketing director approving the the point I am trying to make is that the new shift in the campaign as it makes them all happy and prosperous on behaviours of people necessitate new ways for brands to individual level. Except the brand, that pays them all (directly engage people. For example in the 18th Century, the wealthiest or indirectly). After a couple of years, the brand realises, it of all men bought the best of all horse breeds for travelling. was not just the magic bullet of TV that brought them this However, in the 21st Century, the same man would probably newfound prosperity, as there has to be a reason for its buy the best car and keep the horse for his stable. The reason declining sales problem five years later, in another IPA case for this 21st Century man buying the best of all cars in 21st study, when it was using the same channels and an even Century is not that the horse is not useful for him anymore. bigger ad spend on communications. Perhaps all that TV did Instead it symbolises that the horse is more effective for use in was just to create awareness. Now I would ask, that in the country lanes and fields, and the car for travelling within city. age of Web 2.0 when people spend more time in front of online consoles and building online communities than Unfortunately, in advertising we are still using the same formulas, anything else, is it worth spending millions of pounds on TV, just practices and techniques which are too old to be effective. 48 Images courtesy of Google Images available at http://akumono.deviantart.com/art/Rolce-Royce-Phantom-Drophead-81009885 & http://www.nakasendoway.com/178thtra.xhtml accessed on 26-11-09 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Are agencies interested in having a relationship with brands and people or just sex? Apparently, most o f the times the answer seems to be the and companies actually working for them. latter, and it all makes sense for the agencies. It’s quick, pleasurable, and without any long-term commitment or It’s quite funny, when brands and agencies start to responsibilities. On the other hand, having a relationship communicate as though the customer is a baby who will means something, as relationships demand going through listen to them no matter what they say. Times have tough times to get to the good times . They seek changed, people have changed and it’s important for our understanding and love – relationships are connections attitudes as marketers to change too. It’s not enough to beyond reason. communicate pleasing statements to the people unless we don’t mean them. Because, you know what? People know Without a doubt, agencies are realising the shift of control to about mass manipulation. the people. However, instead of actually understanding this new state-of-mind of the people, brands and agencies have Recently, I have been observing some rather depressing started to use it as another selling technique. Unfortunately, advertising examples. Every other brand holding the ply they don’t understand that the customer has all grown up – card showing ‘you (customer) are the king’. they know how unkindly communications have betrayed and ripped them off in the past. They can actually spot the For example, the new campaign by Yahoo, focusing on the difference between advertising slogans ‘positioned on you’ fact ‘You’. The $100 Million campaign as described by © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is something like this, ‘What we want wants to be a tremendous asset to all of you,” she said. “The to do is show (people) what the new Yahoo is about so they ‘You’ is also you.” come (to the site) all the time’. All this powered by the unique advertising bullets expressed in the form of images Now hang on for a second and let’s focus on what this $100 and taglines “It’s time to get personal” and “The new Yahoo Million campaign is actually trying to communicate. To my lets you do it your way every day.” “The Internet is under understanding, all it is doing is pretty straightforward, ‘pleasing new management. Yours,” “Now the Internet has a the audience’, by making statements which communicate personality. Yours.” The television film heaves with images of Yahoo as a company designed around people. But hey, do dancers, Dalmatians, soccer and kids blowing bubbles, and you actually need to say that to people if you are working for highlights Yahoo’s array of services and customization them? Advertising agencies and brands, please try to 49 options. understand, if you are working for the people, they will know it. You won’t need to tell them by wasting millions of dollars. In further explaining the campaign’s philosophy Carol Bartz Learn something from Google - they do useful things for adds, ‘Yahoo is an asset to our users out there, and Yahoo people, rather than just saying so all the time. Google doesn’t 49 The Wall Street Journal Blogs, available at http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/09/22/yahoo-debuts-its-you-marketing-campaign accessed on 30-11-2009 50 Images courtesy of Google Images, available at ; http://trak.in/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/YahooYouCampaignAd.jpg accessed on 30-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

waste all its money on telling people that it’s useful for them. before the opinion of a few people on a product or service Instead, it focuses on improving its product and when has now become the sharing between thousands of people. people use it, they automatically know the difference. This Today, it’s practically impossible for brands to win people’s simple focus on work and not emotional lies is what makes hearts, without bringing utility into their products and a Google the world’s number one brand in terms of its value. change beyond just advertising. Yes, there was a time, when it was possible for companies to How great would that be if Yahoo’s communication partner create perceptions about brands which actually were not had used that $100 Million dollars to think, create and included in the offering. But this is a different age. People communicate what people find useful, rather than telling can now cross check the utility of the products and services them how they should feel about the brand? with the Whole Wide World. The communication between user groups have immensely increased, and what was 51 Images courtesy of Google Images, available at ; http://images.ientrymail.com/webpronews/article_pics/you-and-yahoo.jpg accessed on 30-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Of course, the ‘prosumer’ challenge faced by brands today Jim Carroll, Chairman of BBH London carefully explains the demands a change of thinking from client’s as well as from hardships of past, ‘I think we knew fundamentally that most the agency’s side. It is fundamental for all the brands to events were precipitated by complex systemic pressures and change the way they plan and execute their processes. This relationships. But our limited power to disentangle the many makes the job of a Planner more interesting and even more elements in one system reduced us to characterising most challenging, as the planner of the future has to be an expert strategic problems in rather monochrome ways’. thinker of every link between the Brand, Audience and the Agency. Russell Marsh, Group Digital Strategy Director at All of these insights leads us to a point of understanding that Rapp London while explaining the role of a planner of the change in our environments, necessitates a change in our tomorrow says, ‘The planners of the future now have too thinking as well. However, it’s not necessary that the change many options to plan all of the possibilities and so now have has to be a product of something entirely new or a set of new to find ways to use data and probability to map the future – crazy proprietary tools. The change mentioned here refers to The future is going to look more like the stock market with bringing capabilities in one’s thinking which are more automated systems and traders predicting market changes appropriate to the situation in hand. In my journey of the based on data rather than a paper plan based on 6 month world one thing has emerged quite clearly. That is that old insights’. On the other hand Lorna Hawtin, ‘Disruption everything is a by-product of something else – there’s nothing Director’ at TBWA, while discussing the future of advertising new in this world. Therefore, success comes to those who agency business models replied, ‘I think planners have a evolve their thinking not by status, but by need. Sometimes, in 52 massive role to play in creation of value’. order to bring about change we simply have to go back to something pre-existing, as is the case in fashion. Nick Kendall, 52 Images cortesy of Google Images available at http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLL_enGB353GB353&um=1&sa=1&q=russell+marsh+rapp&aq=f&oq=&start=0 accessed on 2-12-2009 53 Discussions and interviews with Lorna Hawtin and Russell Marsh – August 2009 and November 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

FIG 17 – Changing role of advertising agencies A BI RM TV CB A D P&P Etc. Past Present Group Planning Director, BBH, in a reply to how we should us to think beyond client briefing and sit at the end of the tackle brand planning and communications in the future advertising funnel and instead of creating solutions that suit said, ‘So... we have to reverse the process’. Thirty minutes desired advertising choices. Our job is now to create ideas after that discussion, an email popped up in my inbox, big enough to engage the audience (employees, vendors, 54 containing ‘Soap Wars’ from ‘The King of Sunlight’. partners, users, buyers, management) against any business challenge. This modified role of advertising demands In understanding this wave of change, it’s fundamental that extraordinary people who can think logically and implement we also consider the changing role of advertising agencies. creatively, whilst considering and strengthening the growth There was a time when the role of advertising agency was to for the agency’s and the client’s businesses. Figure 17, take the client's brief through the available communication above, presents Jim Carroll’s view of the changing role of choices within the advertising funnel. However, this has advertising (as he sketched it) and further strengthens the 55 changed in recent years. The situation now demands from argument. 54 Interviews with Jim Carroll and Nick Kendall, BBH, March 2009 55 Jim Carroll’s view on the changing role of advertising – interview March 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

“ “ If you can dream it, you can do it. 56 Peter Fisk, Marketing Genius, Page 257, 2004 57 Image courtesy of Google images available ; http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tEZc1tH3HdU/SduLV__YReI/AAAAAAAAABQ/YkYShN5H3a4/s400/walt-disney-logo.jpg accessed on 1-12-2004 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Richard Branson is the epitome of an entrepreneur, thinker, financial, ‘I never get the accountants in before I start a planner, best known for the Virgin brand that he founded business. It’s done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that and still leads. Born in 1950, he has never lost his love of they are taking the Mickey out of the customer’. adventure and innovation, his curiosity of what might be, and his passion to make new things happen. He first reached notoriety with Virgin Records, a record label that started out with the unusual Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield While other leaders might care most about finances and and then introduced bands like the Sex Pistols and Culture governance, Branson focuses on the customer, a walking Club to the world. Known for his wacky exploits used to incarnation of his brand, working with people across his promote his businesses, Branson is keen on playful many businesses to engender the same entrepreneurial spirit antagonisms, exemplified by his ‘mine is bigger than yours’ and brand values that have served him so well. slogans that marked the arrival of Virgin Atlantic’s new Airbus A340-600 planes. His passion is for the customers, much more than the 58 Images courtesy of Google Images, available at ; http://www.virginlifecare.co.za/assets/images/AboutVirginLogo.jpgaccessed on 30-11-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

On a Virgin America flight, a passenger Tweeted about not receiving a meal they had ordered. Virgin America saw this Tweet and called the cockpit to have a flight attendant bring the meal. 60 59 Image courtesy of Google Images, http://www.therefinishingtouch.com/blog/uploaded_images/Virgin-Atlantic-Plane_March-16-732829.jpg accessed on 30-11-2009 60 Story available at http://brandtwist.com/?p=982 accessed on 1-12-2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

He is famed for his heroic failures as well as successes, Baywatch and Only Fools and Horses. He was also the star of having made several unsuccessful attempts to fly in a hot air a reality television show called The Rebel Billionaire where balloon around the world. ‘Virgin Atlantic Flyer’ was the first sixteen contestants were tested for their entrepreneurship and 59 hot air balloon ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and was their sense of adventure. the largest ever flown. Such escapades almost cost him his life on more than one occasion. Yet the PR value was immeasurable. He became Sir Richard Branson when he was knighted by the Queen in 1999 for his business prowess and contribution to UK society. Meanwhile, he has guest starred, playing himself, on several television shows, including Friends, 61 Images courtesy of Google Images, available at ; http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLL_enGB353GB353&um=1&sa=1&q=Virgin+brands+logo&aq=f&oq=&start=0 accessed on 30-11-2009 62 Peter Fisk, marketing Genius, Page 400 – 401, 2004 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

What is your role as a planner, strategist, creative planner, digital strategist or innovation planner? Indeed, what is the role of Imagination with that of implementation? THE POINT IS... 1. What’s the essence of your role? Clarify the added value of the Planner, accountabilities and how personally adds value to collective performance 3. How can you inspire people 4. How can you connect best ideas 5. How can you best support your 2. What are your goals and metrics? with your vision? together? client, agency and the audience? Make time to set transparent Thinkers inspire; individuals Add value by connecting ideas Engage and enable people, taking goals and metrics for the benefit follow... Inspire your team , from across business disciplines, on a coaching more than directing of yourself and team, as much as audience and the business with and other business functions role, building capabilities and your audience your personal vision confidence 6. How can you champion great thinking? Be the champion of great ideas and thinking in your team, business, and market. Build respect and reputation by delivering on your promises © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Planning is beyond supporting creative sales – it must encourage growth in the total business environment. Inspired. I feel like thinking planning now, which agencies I remember reading in the chapter two , ‘planning has no usually find pretty interesting for selling their creative stuff. limits’. I also remember studying the lives and businesses of They consider it as a ‘thing’ to shut their client up, and make great planners or Grand Strategists i.e. Lever, Jobs, Branson, them sell their ideas easily and consistently. Unfortunately, King, Pollitt, Serge, Imoteph, Clausewitz. of course the this attitude of agencies has put limitations on the role of following were very obvious in all that; planning – and the sad part is, that even our expectations - They never restricted their thinking. from it are limited. Jon steel, Planning Director for WPP, in - They never confused their thoughts between left and right one of his papers published on WARC mentioned, ‘“So what sides of their brains. exactly do you do?” I recently asked the same question of - Their thinking was totally integrated with their actions and the planning director of one of America's most famous imaginations. creative agencies. (I knew the agency's founder had a deep, unflinching loathing of account planning and I believe that unless we integrate our thinking into our research.) He told me it was his job to “look cool, be smart, agency’s and client’s ‘total business’, it’s hard for us to see and hang out with the creative department”’. How sad planning that can last for decades and centuries which can 49 would it be for people like lever to imagine that. actually bring value for everyone. 63 Jon Steel, Jon Steel on planning – The last of the handloom weavers, Published on WARC in November 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

It is important for brands as well as agencies to consider individuals (Grand Strategists) – who can think solutions and planning as a central point for all of their business activities. create experiences with an unbiased approach to the Instead of having dozens of communications partners – given challenge. strategic planning must come from a single point, whether the brand is facing an issue in ATL, BTL, product For us as planners, the journey to our ‘Grand Strategist’ is an penetration, packaging, production, retailing, digital or ongoing and continuous process. It is vital that we never whatever. It is also very important to differentiate the role of stop challenging what has never been challenged before. Grand Strategist from that of a Management Consultant. We have to become more effective by understanding all The management consultants only show the directions, but the different touch points between any business and its Grand Strategists must excel themselves to set directions audience whilst developing specialisation in determining and implement and execute solutions. and identifying the opportunities for all. Figure 18 illustrates the area of opportunities for a Grand Strategist. For brands and agencies in order to reach from point A to point B of their business lifecycle, they need integrated People Brand Grand Strategist Agency Business / World in general FIG 18 – Opportunities for a Grand Strategist © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

The challenging role of the Grand Strategist defined and limited, for example, account (discussed on the previous page) demands a management has to favour managing and new working structure within advertising growing agency’s business and maintaining New agencies. The old model of creative teams, relationships , creative teams to execute the account management and planning cycle is best thinking based on the brief they receive too old to cope with the needs of modern and Planning to bring the audience and times. brand into the advertising subject to make communications more effective and The current way of working within advertising agencies is not very different from that of King challenges relevant. This way of working only focuses on one side of a client business, ‘Marketing’. It and Pollitt purposed back in 60s. Few agencies doesn’t support value input in the brand’s such as Mother have tried to evolve the overall business environment. advertising model and they have eliminated account handling from their advertising demand Brands and agencies, in order to truly benefit process. from Planning need to consider it as the starting point for all of their business However, where it is important that the thinking of brands is single minded and not modified movements. This approach puts planners at the top of the thinking process with a pool of divided between dozens of communication solution resources available to them use partners, it’s also inevitably necessary for the when, where and how the businesses need solutions origin of that thinking to be single minded. The them. Figures 19 and 20 explain the reason for introducing this new model of difference between the current and working is obvious. The traditional structure of purposed method of working structures. advertising doesn’t allow the freedom a Grand Strategist should have. Roles are © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

FIG 20 – Purposed Model of Working Supply Product/ TV, Press, Digital, chain service Radio Experience solutions social, Innovation Mobile Pricing Strategies Third Business party solutions relations Any other Retail Retail relevant strategies comms solutions Brand Grand Agency Strategist A fusion of business, logic and creativity Access Solutions Support Pool Traditional Digital Media Production Research Interactive Etc. Key benefits: - Financially sensible - long-term and sustainable - Rewarding for everyone Fig 20 – Developed with the help and input of Nick Kendall, Group Planning Director, BBH and Stephen Maccrron, Planning Director, JWT Manchester, meeting took place at the JWT Manchester & BBH London offices in March and August 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

When I presented the concept of ‘Grand Strategist’ to the Planning Director of one of London’s big agencies (that recently got famous for putting animals in cute costumes), she questioned, ‘And where will you find these super humans?’. Without a doubt the question was very interesting. I spent weeks upon weeks searching for the answer with no results, until I met Stephen, Planning Director for JWT Manchester. He made a very simple point but resolved a very complex problem. In his opinion the best way to make sense of the ‘Grand Strategist’ thinking was to imagine the role of an Architect. Once he said that, it all started to 61 make sense. An Architect has no technical skills in sewerage control, electrical wiring, fixtures and fittings, making of pillars and other things that are needed in the construction of any building. Nevertheless, it’s impossible for labourers, electricians, engineers to do anything without the instructions from Architect. What an Architect needs in order to be the master in his subject is the knowledge of everything that connects with his subject whilst having a being able to specialise in designing architecture. Similarly, the job of a ‘Grand Strategist’ is to design solutions whilst using the resource pool for the execution of the recommended strategies. 64 Images courtesy of Google Images; available at http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLL_enGB353GB353&um=1&q=blueprint+of+a+building&sa=N&start=18&ndsp=18 accessed on 3-12-2009 65 Stephen Maccrron, Planning Director, JWT Manchester, meeting took place at the JWT Manchester office in August 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

If brands and agencies don’t change the way they think, then it would be like the tale of five people, who all were the perfect drivers on planet earth. One fine day, they received an invitation to a motoring exhibition. They all decided to use one car to reach the destination. However, once they made themselves comfortable inside the vehicle, they all wanted to show off their knowledge of driving. After a long and heated debate about who should drive the car, they all decided to split the driving between them. So it was decided; The senior of them all the second to the the third to the took the steering senior controlled senior took charge wheel, the accelerator, of the brake pedals, the fourth to the senior and the fifth to was made responsible the senior started for keeping eyes on to control the the road, indicators. Sadly, it took them ages to get to where they wanted to and the worst of all they never made to their destination, as none of them could understand what the other was shouting. Finally, on a turning sharp and steep they all ended up driving down from a cliff thousands of feet high – and that’s how they all disappeared with a ‘CAR’ strong and magnificent. It wasn’t their driving skills that got them killed and the car destroyed. Instead, it was the car designed to driven by one person. They lacked a single mind, able to take responsibility for all the procedures and techniques to drive the vehicle from Point A to Point B. © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

With this example, I will end this chapter and paper here. However, it doesn’t mean that I am also ending the discussion we started and the areas we highlighted before starting our journey. Consider this abrupt end an academic limitation which I have to respect. Nevertheless, there are three more episodes still waiting to be explored. We still have to explain what makes a ‘Grand Strategist’ so important for everyone, by sharing one person; one brand world model. We also have to analyse the job areas, responsibilities and the necessary training methods one would need to apply Grand Thinking. Last but not least we yet have to investigate the world of a ‘Grand Strategist’ and the monetary, competitive and utility benefits it can offer to the brands, agencies and the audience. Good luck with our thinking and stay in touch! © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

THE POINTS ARE... We are witnessing a breathtaking evolution of new forms of challenges. More than witnessing, we are facilitating them. All of this is unfolding so quickly that we do not have time to pause and reflect on what is happening. Instead of having integrated systems, it’s time we have integrated people who can seize opportunities for all of us, whilst thinking deeply, broadly, creatively and logically. © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Account of Sources: Reading / Text The King of Sunlight – Adam Macqueen, Corgi Books; New edition (2 May 2005) A Master class in Brand Planning – The Timeless work of Stephen King , Judie Lanon, John Wiley & Sons (26 Oct 2007) The Invention of Air – Steven Johnson, Penguin (29 Oct 2009) No Logo - Naomi Klein, Flamingo; New Ed edition (15 Jan 2001) Ads to Icons – Paul Springer, Kogan Page; 2nd Edition (3 Aug 2009) The Anatomy of Account Planning – Henrik Habberstad , White paper, 2004 Politt on Planning – Stanley Politt, Paul Fledwick , NTC Publications (29 Feb 2000) Hitting the sweet spot – Lisa Fortini, Copy Workshop (April 1992) Lovemarks – Kevin Roberts, Powerhouse Cultural Entertainment Books; Revised edition (2 Feb 2006) Right Side Up – Alan Mitchell, HarperCollins Business (20 Feb 2001) Action Research – Peter Reason and Hillary Bradbury, Sage Publications Ltd; Concise ed edition (13 Dec 2005) Truth, Lies and Advertising – John Steel, John Wiley & Sons (16 Mar 1998) Operational research – T.A. Burley and G. Sullivan, Palgrave Macmillan (15 Aug 1986) The Advertising Budget – Simon Broadbent, NTC Publications (May 1989) The visual display of Quantitative Information – Edward R. Tufte, Graphics Press USA; 2nd edition (31 Jan 2001) Marketing Genius, Peter Fisk, Capstone (24 Feb 2006) Michael Jackson -Life of a legend, Michael Heatley, Headline (17 Jul 2009) A Guide to Creating Great Ads, Luke Sullivan, John Wiley & Sons; 2nd Edition (15 April 2003) The Lovemarks Effect, Kevin Roberts, Powerhouse Cultural Entertainment Books; illustrated edition (8 Mar 2006) Creative Advertising, Mario Pricken, Thames & Hudson; Revised edition (26 May 2008) The Story of Philosophy, Will Durant, Simon & Schuster; Revised edition (20 Jan 1999) The Online Advertising Playbook, Joe Plummer, Steve Rappaport, Taddy Hall, Robert Barocci, John Wiley & Sons (18 May 2007) © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Account of Sources: Interviews / discussions Guy Murphy – Worldwide Planning Director, JWT Nick Kendall – Bartle Bogle Hegarty - Director Strategy BBH Group Martin Runnacles – Former Marketing Director BMW and now Managing Director Ultegra Consulting Jim Carroll – Chairman, Bartle Bogle Hegarty Stephen Maccron – Planning Director, JWT Manchester Amelia Torode – Director Planning, VCCP Rik Haslam – Group Creative Architect, RAPP Ian Haworth – Global Creative Director, RAPP Russell Marsh – Group Digital Strategy Director, RAPP Lorna Hawtin – Disruption Director, TBWA Andrew Hovells – Planner, TBWA Sarah Tate – Strategist, Mother London © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Account of Sources: Webography Russell Davies Blog - http://russelldavies.typepad.com/ The Account Planning Group - http://www.apg.org.uk/ Google – www.google.com Amelia Torode Blog - http://ameliatorode.typepad.com/ Planning Sphere - http://plannersphere.pbwiki.com/ IPA - http://www.ipa.co.uk/ Fallon Trend Point Blog - http://fallontrendpoint.blogspot.com/ Planning Blog - http://www.planningblog.com/ Account Planning Net - http://www.accountplanning.net Another Planning Blog - http://www.simon-law.com/ Gareth Kay Brand New Blog - http://garethkay.typepad.com/ Adliterate Blog - http://www.adliterate.com/ The Staufenberger Repository - http://staufenberger.typepad.com/ WARC – http://www.warc.com Contagious Magazine – www.contagiousmagazine.com Premier Mintel – www. Premier.mintel.com What the trend? – www. Whatthetrend.com BBH Labs – www.bbh-labs.com RAPP Blog – www.livinginadigitalworld.com Twitter – www. Twitter.com Google – www.google.com Slideshare – www.slideshare.com Admap – www.admapmagazine.com Punk Planning - http://www.charlesfrith.com © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

Account of Sources: Industry Presentations - Workshops BBH London – February 2009 AKQA London – March 2009 EHS Brann London – March 2009 M & C Saatchi London - April 2009 Mother London – August 2009 AMV BBDO – August 2009 Rapp London – August 2009 London 2012 Olympics – March 2009 © All Rights Reserved Waqar Riaz

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The Birth Of A Grand Strategist By Waqar Riaz

by Waqar Riaz

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