Planners Vs Creatives, Round 2

Who makes better planners, planners or creative people? That was the debate at IPA a few weeks ago, where planner David Golding and creative David Trott slugged it out. The verdict? “Planning + Creative = Good. Planning > Creative = Bad”. Read a wonderfully written post by Rory Sutherland on the Campaign Magazine blog.

Marketing in a recession. Another pov.

A few weeks ago we carried David Notolli’s piece on what brands can do in a recession. Here’s a more, in-depth view from research agency Millward Brown.
The Conclusion. During recessions, consumers and marketers alike must make the best of a bad situation. Not every brand will cut spending, but many of those that do will [...]

The Evolving Planner

Modernista’s uber planner Gareth Kay has some interesting advice for planners. They need to understand experience and interaction design. He cues his readers to some wonderful resources. Most usefully this presentation by David Armano, VP Experience Planning at Critical Mass.

Brain Juice. Now That’s A Competitive Advantage!

“20 to 25% of the queries we see today, we have never seen before”. Udi Manber Google’s VP of Engineering at the Supernova conference last year. When you think about it, it’s quite a statistic. Despite the fact that we search randomly using short phrases each unique in some way. One thing is clear, that [...]

Planning. A Brief History

Uber planner John Grant has posted his “hazy personal recollection” of planning. How it started in 1968, at both JWT and BMP. Read more.

Luxury Myths

Luxury Institute, yes there is a Luxury Institute. An independent and objective research institution that focuses solely on the top 10 percent of America’s wealthy. Now they have a report that debunks many myths that people may have about the rich. The Brand Strategy Blog has a compilation on the top 10 myths about luxury. [...]

Lost Touch. How Unilever Lost The Laundry Wars.

A few weeks ago, Unilever began exploring the sale of its long-struggling $1.1 billion North American laundry business as part of a plan to give up underperforming brands. This AdAge story tells us that the rot had set in almost a decade ago. Despite being one of the world’s most consumer focused companies, Unilever had [...]

Getting Ready For The 18 To 24s

James Van Dyke at Javelin strategy has an interesting post that looks at the emerging banking customer in the US. Generation Ys. Two points stand out here. That in terms of money that will have at their disposal, most analysts are underestimating their potential. Now this could be true even in emerging countries like India. [...]

The Prefect Brief

The Prefect Brief from a smarty-pants planner, Russell Davies.

Talent. Grow Your Own.

Any knowledge business will attest – competition for top talent has never been as fierce as it is now. Thinking creatively, which was once the domain of artists and a narrow group of people working in the movie, music and advertising business, has now moved mainstream. Books like The Rise of the Creative Class and [...]