Noisy Thinking 25th June: Planners get the research they deserve

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On stage this time we have Wendy Gordon, Kirsty Fuller and John Griffiths  giving their perceptions from the other side of the fence…..

If you’ve ever found yourself sighing about research and researchers – bemoaning a lack of insight, rigour, or quality of findings, perhaps it’s time to take a peek in the mirror. If research ‘goes wrong’ maybe you should question your own input the hypotheses you’re going in with, the way you’ve briefed the project or the prejudices you unwittingly bring to the table.

As clients become increasingly dependent on research to make even the most basic of decisions about strategy and investment it’s incumbent upon Planners to make sure that those decisions are enabled by the highest quality findings and recommendations.

So how do we do it better?  Where are we going wrong – if indeed it is Planners who are going wrong?  Maybe it is the fault of researchers bending to the will of the clients and compromising their integrity in the process?  Maybe there is simply not enough genuine, thoughtful collaboration to ensure we all get the research we want and need?

Clearly it’s time for some Noisy Thinking on the subject.  So come along to Google on the 25th June at 6pm for 6.30pm sharp start.  You can hear from the best research brains on the subject.  Wendy Gordon of Acacia Avenue, Kirsty Fuller of Flamingo and John Griffiths of Spring Research and Planning Above and Beyond will be examining the issues, dishing admonishments and acknowledgements where they are due and between them provoking us all to re-examine how and why we use research and how to do it better.

Noisy Thinking if free for APG members and £25 if you are not a member.  Go to eventbrite to organise your ticket. If you wish to take out membership of the APG and go for free, please contact Alison@apg.org.uk

Noisy Thinking is in association with Flamingo

Early ‘Summer’ at the APG

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Big thanks to everyone who attended and got so much out of Worlds Collide. Feedback was  exceptionally positive and we’re already thinking about how to move the concept on for next year – and do something even more stimulating.

Next on the events calendar is Noisy Thinking on the 25th June – in association with Flamingo.  We’re holding it at Google, starting 6.30pm sharp.  On stage will be research legends Wendy Gordon, John Griffiths and Brett Templeton.  They’ll be giving all they’ve got to the rather contentious theme:  ‘Planners get the research they deserve’

If you have a point of view or a tale to tell or a hard question  put to them, come along and have your say too.  Members free, non-members £25.  Go to eventbrite to book your ticket.

We’re taking bookings for Training Network in the Autumn.  It starts on 4th November.  Details on the training pages of this site. This is incredibly popular with young Planners so it’s as well to get your place sorted early. Contact alison@apg.org.uk to book your place.

We also have a couple of places left on the data and quant skills course: Getting to grips with data in evidence-based world on 10th and 11th July. Again book your place with Alison.

Last night saw the first of series of Networking events for young planners.  Much credit to PHD for lending their cool basement to 40 smart and sociable planners who were launched unwittingly into a series of demanding and only slightly silly planning games leavened by more than one or two beers and poorly disguised levels of competitiveness.  More of these to follow – follow APG on twitter for details @APGLondon.

(There’s another Planning Ramble on the cards – watch this space)

And finally the APG is moving offices next week to a new home in Greenwich, Linear House.  We’ll be sharing the space with photographers, artists, and musicians.   We’ll let you know the details as soon as we’re set up

 

 

 

 

Where were you when Worlds Collided?

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We thought you’d enjoy two perspectives on the day.  So, with a nod to Campaign, we have an account penned by our Chair, Craig, and an excellent summary courtesy of Charlotte Cramer, a more recently minted Planner at JWT

Charlotte’s summary is appended at the bottom this post.  I think you’ll find them both enjoyable and useful

Sarah

From Craig….

Bullets flew past our heads in a Gaza playground, we were attacked with a machete in a Glasgow street, lost our money running a vineyard and had a ‘Portillo moment’.  It was strategy, but not as we had ever known it before.

On the afternoon of May 13th, Canon Giles Fraser, Karyn McCluskey, Sir John Hegarty and the Rt Hon Michael Portillo collided in the Purcell Room at the South Bank, debating ‘how to win against all the odds’.  Malcolm White helped to prod, provoke and move the debate along.

Canon Giles began, defying expectations by taking us to the Middle East, rather than the Occupy protests outside St Paul’s Cathedral.  When you are under a hail of bullets, how do you make decisions quickly?  How do you know what to do?  His study of ethics illustrated some of the answers:  Should this be consequentialist ethics (where the focus is on the best outcome, no matter how you get there) or de-ontological ethics (where the focus is on following rules, rather than a focus on the outcome).  As it turns out, neither works, as in the heat of battle, it’s almost impossible to predict the outcome of your actions, and it’s impossible to keep consulting the rule book when you’re trying to avoid being shot.  Instead, virtue ethics prevail – the US Army make decisions on the battlefield with the maxim “Marines don’t do that”.  ‘Marines’ defines a set of values that become a shortcut for decision making.  You win against the odds by rehearsing to be the person you want to be.

Karyn McCluskey warned us that she was going to play some disturbing CCTV footage of violence.  We needed to see it to understand what she was dealing with, but even those of us who thought we could take it were shocked and stunned by the casual murder that unfolded in a busy street on a Saturday night.  It was a compelling example of the need, as she said, to change the norms in society around violence.  We are all born violent, we need to be taught not to be violent.  Her crusade against Glasgow gangs and the success she achieved was simply humbling, thankfully leavened with humour to sweeten the pill (“Alex Ferguson resigned – that’s just what we need, another unemployed angry Scotsman out on the streets”).  Her approach was to borrow thinking from another discipline, acting on violence as you would stop a disease epidemic – interrupt transmission, change behaviour and change norms.  It reminded us all to look beyond our worlds for the answers.

After a much needed break, John Hegarty had the tough gig of following Karyn, returning us to the world of advertising, and most specifically pitching.  He advised us not to acquire a vineyard, to be a brand, to serve the best coffee, to create a difference, that opinion is cheap and truth is expensive, that you’re solving the clients’ problems, not yours, to change the rules, to learn from your successes, not your failures, to be unreasonable, to be wary of collaboration and consensus, to think about ‘reputation’ not ‘brand’ and to be absolutely completely obsessed with quality.

And then we all had our Portillo moment.  Michael Portillo was, he said, the member of a very exclusive club – the former future Prime Ministers.  He reflected on how we are all brands, and to an extent trapped in the stories that others create for us, as people build you up, knock you down and then cover your redemption and comeback.  He wondered whether polarisation of views and extreme ideas can actually be good for society as it forces the right debates, as in the 80s’ “a period of history when ideas mattered”.  Winning when the odds are against you is about having a clear direction, showing clear and consistent leadership, knowing what you think about things.  Thatcher of course was the ultimate example of this – a government that knew where it was going and what it was doing, but balanced with vigorous debate about how to achieve those ends.

Four exhilarating points of view, from entirely different worlds, that then took flight in a Q&A that would be impossible to capture here (watch the video, it’s worth it), but ending with Canon Glies questioning the moral premise of advertising overall, and Karyn McCluskey leaping to John Hegarty’s defence of the role of advertising as an engine for aspiration.  When Sir John takes up policing the mean streets of Glasgow, the circle will be complete.

What an afternoon.

Craig Mawdsley:  APG Chair

Here’s what Charlotte had to say about it….

Presentation deck can be found here.

APG Worlds Collide was proudly sponsored by ITV and the Guardian

Judges and Shortlisting judges for 2013 Awards

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APG Creative Strategy Awards 2013 in association with Google – Judges

Adam Morgan – Chair Of Judges
Andy Nairn
Craig Mawdsley
Sue Unerman – Mediacom
Guy Murphy – JWT
Sarah Speake – Google
Mark Lund – Now
TIim hunt – The Guardian
Fern Miller – LBi
Kate Stanners – Saatchi and Saatchi
Greg Nugent – 2012

Andy Nairn – Chair Of Shortlisting Judges
Alastair Green – Mindshare
Brian McCarter – Ogilvy
Conor McNicholas – Redwood
Alice Huntley – RKCR/Y&R
Dan Cook – ITV
Lucy Jameson – Grey
Paul Colman – Weiden and Kennedy
Zoe Lazarus – DLKW Lowe
Kirsty Sadler – BBH
Omaid  Hiwaizi – Sapient Nitro
 

Rules of the 2013 APG Creative Strategy Awards in association with Google

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Who can enter?

You are welcome to enter the APG Awards regardless of what type of agency you work in: we recognise that great strategic thinking, and the outstanding work it leads to, takes place not just in ad agencies. So we would like to encourage papers from all areas of business communications, such as media agencies, digital agencies, direct marketing, promotional agencies, PR, etc.

Entries from outside the UK are especially welcome. In 2011 a paper from Columbia was joint winner of the Grand Prix

Key dates

21st January – launch meeting
February – How To Win evening
21st March 12 noon – deadline for entries
late June – announcement of shortlist
5th and 6th September – presentations to judges
September – publication of synopses of shortlisted papers in The Guardian newspaper
10th October 2013 – Awards event

The Stephen King Strategy Agency Of The Year

Each award qualifies for points, and the agency with the most points will be the Stephen King Strategy Agency Of The Year. A Gold will win 7 points; a Silver, 3 points; Bronze, 2 points; Special Award, 1 point; and the Grand Prix, 9 points (i.e. 2 points in addition to 7 for Gold).

Special Awards

  • Best presentation to judges
  • Best Real time Planning (sponsored by Google)
  • Most progressive thinking (sponsored by The Guardian)
  • Best brief or input
  • Best channel strategy
  • Best multi-market planning
  • Best use of research
  • Best-written paper

Sponsors

Google UK is the title sponsor of the 2013 APG Creative Strategy Awards and we are discussing with others the sponsorship of Special Awards. If you are interested in sponsoring these high-profile Awards please contact Sarah Newman sarah.newman@apg.org.uk or Craig Mawdsley mawdsleyc@amvbbdo.com

The Rules of Entry

The entry form will be available to download shortly.

1. Entrants must be members of the APG. If there is more than one author at least one must be an APG member. (For authors from outside the UK, this rule does not apply.)

2. The APG member(s) must be the presenter(s) to the final jury if the paper is shortlisted.

3. Your paper must be in written form and must not exceed 2,000 words. State the word-count.

4. You must provide a summary of the paper, maximum 200 words, and this must be included in your paper immediately following the title page.

5. The creative work must have appeared in market between 16th May 2011 and 21st March 2013.

6. Your entry must be signed off by the senior management of all the companies involved in the submission and by your client. You must submit these approvals with your entry, using the entry form.

7. Someone who has left an agency may write a paper under their own name on behalf of that agency, subject to agency and client approval.

8. An agency may submit a paper if the client has since left the agency, provided they have approval and sign-off from that client.

9. Where a person who worked on the strategy is no longer with the agency, then the paper may still be submitted by the agency providing that there is no misleading information about the origin of the ideas.

10. An agency may enter jointly with another agency and such collaboration is welcomed.

11. All entries will be submitted online and details of this will be provided shortly.

12. All papers must be written in English and suitable translations of the work must be provided to allow English-speakers to judge the entry.

13. Each entry must be accompanied by a completed entry form and payment of the appropriate fee.

14. The entry fee is £650 per paper. VAT at 20% . A VAT receipt will be issued. Fees must be paid in pounds sterling using the online payment system provided.  There will be a discount for entries paid by credit card on-line of 5%.  If you have to withdraw your paper once it has been uploaded the fee will be non-refundable.

15. If your paper is shortlisted, you will be expected to present your case to the judges on 5th or 6th September – either in person in London, or by Google Hangout if you are unable to attend in person.

16. For winning papers, presentation of the Award trophy will be to the principal author. Co-authors and contributing thinkers will be credited and will have the option of purchasing further trophies.

17. World copyright of each entry will pass to the APG and it is the responsibility of the author(s) to ensure that the approvals supplied under Rule 6 are adequate for this purpose.

18. Shortlisted papers will be published in the book “APG Creative Strategy Awards Volume 11″, and online.

19. Amendments and additions to these rules, if any, will be published on this APG website.

More about the general principles of the 2013 APG Creative Strategy Awards in association with Google can be seen here

APG Creative Strategy Awards 2013 in Association with Google: Shortlist

So here it is: the APG shortlist for 2013.  25 papers, from 16 companies, and 8 countries outside the UK, from China to Puerto Rico.  Whittled down from 131 entries (the second-highest in APG Awards history) by a jury consisting of planning’s finest brains.  Covering everything from TV programming for the BBC to Health and Safety information at Siemens (yes, really).

But what does the shortlist say about the state of planning these days?  Well, the good news is that the best papers are absolutely excellent. 

As ever, there are some big, brave ideas – like BA’s request to the British public, not to fly abroad during the Olympics or Band Aid’s attempt to reposition itself in the market for “distraction”.

But there are also some radical shifts in targeting – like Sprite’s decision in the United Arab Emirates, to focus on poor Asian immigrants rather than the native population. 

Then there are some fascinating examples of behavioural economics – like RKCR’s “Fire kills” campaign or O&M’s work for the London Borough of Greenwich. 

As you’d expect, social ideas feature heavily (like the papers for Dove, Benadryl, Refuge and Dorito’s) as do content-driven approaches (like Polident’s ingenious use of TV programming in Malaysia).

But perhaps most encouraging of all, there are papers – like W+K’s for the Kaiser Chiefs and Publicis’ for the De Paul charity – where planning’s contribution went to the very heart of the business model and in doing so stretched the sense of what an agency can do.

Of course, the flipside of all this diversity is that it’s arguably harder than ever to agree what “great planning” is these days.  So there were some very powerful papers that just missed the cut – and some heated debate about some of the ones that snuck in.

Maybe that’s an inevitable consequence of the world in which we now operate, and perhaps it will be a recurring challenge for APG juries going forwards.  But in the meantime, a heartfelt thanks to all of this year’s entrants for forcing us to think about our discipline afresh– and to the judges for making some extremely difficult decisions.  Then congratulations and good luck to the shortlistees, as they prepare to battle it out in the next round

Andy Nairn – Chair of Shortlisters

APG Creative Strategy Awards 2013 in association with Google:  Shortlisted papers

Air New Zealand – Host Sydney, Australia
Banco Popular – JWT Puerto Rica
Band-Aid – JWT New York
BBC Africa – BBC Media Centre
British Airways – BBH
Cancer Reseach UK Brand – AMV BBDO
Changing Faces – Adam and Eve DDB
Department for Communities & Local Government – Fire Safety – RKCR/Y&R
Depaul – Publicis
Doritos Social – AMV BBDO
Dove Social – Ogilvy & Mather
Exit – Grabarz & Partner, Germany
Hellmann’s – Ogilvy & Mather
Johnson & Johnson, Benadryl – JWT London
Kaiser Chiefs – Wieden & Kennedy
Paddy Power – Crispin Porter & Bogusky
Polident – Grey Asia Pacific
Refuge – BBH
Royal Borough of Greenwich – Ogilvy & Mather
Siemens Wind Power – M&C Saatchi
Sprite – Memac Ogilvy & Mather, UAE
St John Ambulance – BBH
Vodafone – JWT Cairo
Womens Aid – WCRS
Wrigley’s Extra – BBDO China