It's that time! It's Planners Survey time!

Heather LeFevre's 6th annual Planner Survey is out.

This survey is sent out to planners throughout the world (last year we had 1,217 responses) and we are hopping to reach 2,000 this year!  

This survey has grown over the years and become very important in the community, as it helps paint a picture of the planning panorama.  

Ever wondered... 
- Am I getting paid fairly? 
- Who are the important movers and shakers of the industry? 
- What are the trends moving the profession? 
- How often are others folks changing jobs and why? 
- How can I break into Planning?  

The survey will help you understand these issues and much much more... So spread the word planners: email, post, blog and tweet away.  

You can take the survey here: http://bit.ly/chSKNE  
And sign up to receive the results here: http://bit.ly/drxz0O  
Last years results: http://bit.ly/mntdG


Also thanks to Heather for letting me be part of the Survey Team and play, it's real exciting!

Planning-ness Vol. II

I have been meaning to write at least a quick recap note about the very cool and memorable experiences that I got to enjoy on day two of Planning-ness. They deserve it just as much as the experiences of day one.

Here are the highlights:

Planning deities, Jason Oke and Gareth Kay, shared their simple yet visionary point of view on Connections Planning. According to them the problem with this discipline is that, currently, it is not focused on brands or people, but on solving an AGENCY problem: the disconnect with media departments and agencies. Looking forward the key for the prosperity of Connections Planning (and this could apply to modern Advertising at large) is "to apply the New Media lens (interactive, interaction) on Advertising, and not the other way around, the Advertising lens (interruption, pushing message) onto New Media". Their presentation is here.

Flamingo, a very cool international research company, conducted a hands-on workshop on Commercial Semiotics. Through immersive, insightful and plain fun exercises we analyzed commercial advertising messages. We also uncovered Apple as the Mother ship of the Future.

Garry Tan (Posterous) shared his grasp on design and revealed how UI is a conversation and how people treat computers like people. As a consequence, in addition to design aspects, tech companies must pay attention to the human factor and human connections. He pointed out WUFOO—an Internet application that helps build online forms—who replies all customers' inquiries within minutes.

And last but not least Adrian Ho and Rob White from Zeus Jones brought the whole group together to brainstorm on how to take the leap from traditional to modern branding. We all picked our brains and came up with new and more effective marketing/planning tools to build better brands. The brilliant collective outcome can be found here. "Failure Awards," "ARG," "Act Now Think Later," and "Role Playing" are a few examples that demonstrate an interest on dynamic processes.

All of this exhaustingly stretched the limits of my perceptions and gave me a lot to think and to apply from now on.

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Similar to Heather LeFevre's Planner Survey this year Cristina Sanchez Blanco from Navarra University, together with APG Spain, have come up with a report painting the strategic planning landscape in Spain. The 76 page report can be found here (en Español).

Strategic Planning is a relatively new discipline in Spain and so this study outlines basics: 1. Planner Demographics, 2. Daily work of the account planner and 3. Relationship with other agents in the communication process. This is one of the first studies covering this matter in Spain and helps define their current state of strategic planning.

YOUNG GUNS

31% of the respondents of the survey were under 30 years of age (that is 20 out of a total sample of 62, a surprisingly high number).

A very high percentage have postgraduate studies in business, marketing or even strategic planning. This study did not provide data on salary, however from Heather's survey we know that salaries in Spain are extremely low, so how are young planners paying off their school debt?

37% have under 3 years of experience. This seems odd, from my personal Spanish network I know how extremely rare junior positions are. Some places even require previous service in account. All this makes me wonder about 37%.


OVERWORKED CREATIVE PLANNERS

22% percent work in places with only one planner and 62.9% are taking care of 5 or more accounts. Woah. This may be a sign that Spanish agencies are somewhat understaffed however we need to remember that this field is still developing. So, how can we help more people get their foot in the door?

When describing every day duties, planners indicated they are highly involved in the "creative Jump" (even more so than in "qualitative research"). Creativity seems to prevail over strategy in Spain.

There is an increasing number of planners in media agencies—Could it be the emergence of Connections Planning? This is supported by planners "looking for consumer in new technologies" and the use of Internet forums and social networks as MAIN research tools.

ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

On a brighter note planners are great collaborators with account, creative and even clients. In contrast there is competition/ animosity towards media and research companies. Collaboration expands between agencies, with 45.2% of respondents stating that they have collaborated with another agency in their same group "very often".

Planners work very close with advertisers, who increasingly value and seek the role of planning. However, planners (79%) have indicated that their clients are looking for short term results (compared to a whopping 3% who is looking for long term ones).

Channel-wise planners are most involved in digital campaigns.


SUMMING UP
Strategic planning is a new discipline but is growing strong. Spanish planners, while lacking experience, have a great deal of vision and are writing the rules as they go. Advertisers seeking short term results still value creativity the most. In this time where Advertising is reinventing itself Spanish planners need to be advocates of the discipline —both internally and externally— and educate about the importance of consumer insights in dictating solid strategic work.

Learnings from Planning-ness

Planning-ness, the 2 day event organized by Mark Lewis (of DDB) to fill the gap and disappointment left by the cancellation of this year's AAAA's Account Planning conference, is over. And it was a huge success. The theme was "Get excited and make things", we had amazing speakers, great energy and most importantly just plain FUN!

Below are some of the themes that resonated with me the most:

DAY 1

Grant McCracken's notion of Corporation Respiration: breathing culture in and out.

David Brown on making documentaries: the key is the story and its compelling characters, casting will be critical and spending time with the actors will dramatically improve results.

Mary Jane Stevenson and Emily Duncan from "Organizing for America" presented narrative as an organization tool in grassroots movements and storytelling as the most powerful weapon in creating connections and engaging all kinds of audiences.

Ken Eklund, creator of many ARG including "World without Oil", on the importance of the state of play, experimentation and collaboration.

I was very thankful for the opportunity to volunteer at the event and very glad to see the Academy of Art University getting involved in this kind of events. This was all thanks to Cameron Maddux, faculty and director of Account Planning, who is promoting the importance of ART in advertising, business and schools.
RIGHT: At the Barrel House photo from Cameron.