Planning Begins at 40: Crowd Source My Speech?

[John Grant]

In July i am going to speak at an event hosted at JWT in London (along with Jeremy Bullmore, Jon Steel and others) celebrating 40 years of planning and looking ahead too.

I'm not sure I have anything new to say on the matter that I have been banging on about for some years. So... My idea is that instead of presenting my views I get 40 fellow planners from diverse backgrounds to help me put it together. I would open a blog and for the next 3 months we'd just talk about the brief (ie taking this as an opportunity just like any other for a piece of communication to have some sort of effect). We'd then write the presentation together, pick interesing visuals or creative ways to bring it to life, and finally write a speech which I would simply ead out on behalf of the team.

All of which depends on if this grabs 40 of you. I'm going to crosspost this on .ning plus the facebook planning groups and give it 1 week. If 40 people say they are interested then we have a project. (If not I'll have to think of something else!) Do say if you'd like to take part (first come first served) & add comments & ideas

:J

[grahamfurlong]

count me in, if there is still room

[John Grant]

Both very welcome, I think we are up to around 35

Do come and join the discussion :J

planningbeginsat40.blogspot.com

[Govind Pandey]

Hello Interesting exercise.Would love to be part of this unless you are already full up. I work with McCann in Mumbai. Govind

[Mie Demin]

Great. I am about to go off on a surfing trip now; will join the discussion upon my return, mid April.
Mie Demin, Strategic Creativity Advocate at Ogilvy (in Brussels)

[Anjali Ramachandran]

I'd like to jump in too. I've worked with Nike and am looking to move into planning, but hey, I have good thoughts!
http://one-size-fits-one.blogspot.com

[Katie Dreke]

I'd love to participate -- do you have room for one more?
Katie

[mark rapley]

Hi John, I would like to add something to this, Cheers ( although I'm not a planner, so maybe I'd better not! )
A good friend of mine runs a business which constantly produces very creative work which is also very successful. He simply has no idea what planners do that might make the work he does any better. Which reminded me that when, 30 odd years ago, I worked at Saatchi and Saatchi, we did very creative advertising which was very successful without any planners at all.Most of the advertising I am subject to as a citizen is banal at best. And the really great stuff strikes me as pure creative genius around a generic and obvious proposition ( Honda, Sony Colour TV,or Cadbury Gorilla - this last the planners apparently rejected as off strategy ) Most of the stuff I did latterly at BMP I did on my own with John Webster or the client gave us the proposition. ( Walkers 'Irresistibility' given by the client, or Compaq was just the client brief.) I do wonder what planners do if 'By their fruits shall ye know them' Mark Rapley in contentious mood!

[John Grant]

the only flaw in that argument mark is that you were always more of a planner than the planners from what I remember, plus webbo was a strategic/pop psychological genius

[DanielaL]

Yup, here's one more for you :)

[Andrea N]

Oh, wish I could contribute something to this :(

[denzil meyers]

hey john, my question is around what is unique (if anything) about the Planner role in an agency? my answer is that its not so much in what we say (ideas, strategies, "representing the consumer, etc.), but rather in how we listen to various stakeholders' perspectives (consumer, market, client, agency departments) and help them find a common language around the business challenge, strategy/ideas, and even selling creative work.

so what's unique & valuable about Planning to me is that we have the widest exposure to stakeholder voices, and have an opportunity to provide leadership in finding common ground amongst the cacophony.

this is much more interesting to me than thinking I'm always supposed to be the smartest person in the room.

[Laia]

Hi
I don't know if it's too late, but if it's possible, I will love to participate!
I can bring the southern hemisphere atmosphere
Laia