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Planning beyond advertising, by Imogen Baker, planner at brand development agency Ergo "So you spend your time advising companies that their packaging should be magnolia not cream." This is a typical response to me telling people that I am a planner in a brand development agency. The reaction is pretty much the same whether the conversation is with my mother or a marketer. Indeed that comment actually came from a planner at an advertising agency. This is perhaps not surprising; after all, as the inventor of planning, advertising agencies have traditionally seen themselves as the authorities on the subject. But things are changing! Advertising undoubtedly has a strong case for its claimed superiority. Planning emerged as a discipline in the 1960s in response to a desire by agencies to give more strategic advice to their client. By the 1970s it had become an integrated part of the advertising development process, long before most other marketing disciplines had even considered it as part of their offer. It was at this point that the advertising agencies established their hold on clients becoming the guardians of their brands and the top dogs in the marketing hierarchy. However, as marketing has become more sophisticated, clients increasingly look outside advertising to find dedicated brand development expertise that is not media specific. Thus brand development agencies have come into their own. So why does planning in brand development give such great job satisfaction? Grappling with major strategic issues and seeing them through the creative stages from the earliest stages of brand conception right through to maturity sets this job apart. A typical current project illustrates this perfectly; it involves helping the client establish - and own - a totally new sector, akin to vitamins. The project finds me responsible for identifying the right consumer, defining the market and delivering the brand that shapes that opportunity. Then I brief the creatives to bring that opportunity to life - through name creation, positioning concepts and packaging design. Thankfully, this is not the headache I know some of my advertising friends experience. Our creatives are fully integrated into the process and, as such, the atmosphere is more consultation than confrontation. My role is not finished there. Being in on the birth means it's now my job to nurture the child as it steps out into the big, bad world. In the case of this project, this involves selecting the media and agencies - including an advertising agency - that will promote the healthy development of the brand. This requires a fine balance of leadership and diplomacy; it is crucial for the advertising agency to have sufficient ownership of the project themselves to deliver the goods. If this all sounds rather desk-bound, nothing could be further from the truth; the last year has seen us hot footing between USA, China, Algeria, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, France and the Middle East for our clients. But the real joy of this project is my relationship with my client; having direct access to the main decision-maker undoubtedly makes my life easier; my agency's on-going relationship with the client over the last 6 years or so means proceedings are easy-going and genuinely supportive, more like working with a friend. Despite these advantages, advertising is still widely regarded as the most important part of the media mix and, as such, planning in that environment is an attractive career option. However, as brand development agencies increasingly become the guardians of brand and clients appreciate the advantages of dedicated expertise and media independence, the balance is shifting. Who knows, in a few years perhaps even those planners at advertising agencies will really understand what we do. (c) Account Planning Group 1995-2002
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