APG Training Network

Week 1 ~ What is planning? ~ 30th January 2008
Who - Bridget Angear, Joint Head of Planning, AMV.BBDO
Where - AMV.BBDO, 151 Marylebone Road, London NW1 
Welcome and introduction.  An inspirational overview of creative planning. This will be followed by the briefing for your coursework project.

Week 2 ~ The changing value of brands ~ 6th February 2008
Who - Malcolm White, Founder, krow
Where - Hall and Partners, 82 Charing Cross Road, London WC1
What are brands? Why do people have such strong relationships with them? What is the role of the planner in building and maintaining brands? How can we better understand them? How can we place a value on brands? What is the future for brands? The changing role of brands in people's lives & examples of brands that have changed people's lives.

Week 3 ~ Creative briefs and creative briefing ~ 13th February 2007 
Who - Tom Morton, Managing Partner Planning, TBWA London
Where - TBWA London, 76-80 Whitfield Street, London W1T 4EZ
How do you translate your strategy into an inspiring creative brief? What makes a great brief? How – and by whom – is the brief written in your agency? What makes a great briefing? What do creative people look for from a brief?  What goes on in the creatives’ minds when reading the brief / listening to the briefing? What do they hear? What do they edit out? What should you tell them / edit out?

Week 4 ~ Developing a great strategy ~ 20th February 2008
Who - Vanella Jackson, CEO, Hall & Partners
Where - Hall and Partners, 82 Charing Cross Road, London WC1
What is a strategy? What are the essential components of a brand strategy? (eg what is the difference between a brand essence, brand vision and a brand positioning?) What tools are available to help you? How, from this, can you develop a distinctive and competitive communications strategy? How can you tell a good strategy from a bad one?

Week 5 ~ The role of the planner in creative development ~ 27th February 2008
Who - Rebecca Munds, Joint Head of Planning, CHI
Where - CHI, 7-9 Rathbone Street, London W1T 1LY
How can the planner help develop the creative work? What research methodologies are most valuable for refining and exploring ideas? What stimulus material should you use to best express creative ideas? The misuse of research: why does it happen and how can the planner defend creative work against it?  How do planners help during creative development? Fodder, inspiration, guidance…recognising and supporting a great idea…recognising and helping to develop a gem of an idea…

Week 7 ~ Evaluating advertising effectiveness ~ 12th March 2008
Who - Alice Schaffer, Board Planner, Euro RSCG
Where - Hall and Partners, 82 Charing Cross Road, London WC1
What kind of measurable effects does advertising have? What methodologies are available to track it? How can you track other forms of communication (e.g. direct response campaigns)? How do you take that learning and use it to make the campaign stronger in future?

Week 8 ~ Teams present project work and closing session ~ 19th March 2008 
Who - Session tutors and others will form panels to critique trainees’ presentations.
Where - CHI, 7-9 Rathbone Street, London W1T 1LY
A number of judging panels will be formed to critique the trainees’ presentations. All delegates together again for more inspiring words of wisdom, followed by drinks and chat with the course tutors.

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This APG eight-week course will give you an overview of and insight into the key aspects of account planning.   Each week you will attend a different agency, where you'll have a presentation from a different tutor, the tutors being drawn from amongst the top planners in the industry.  There is coursework -- working in small project teams you will, over the first seven weeks, develop a strategy for a leading brand which at the final session you'll present to a jury made up of the tutors, clients and other senior people.

Starts 30th January 2008, finishes 19th March 2008 (eight Wednesday evenings).  Each session will be from 6.00pm to about 7.45pm.  Price 390.00pounds+vat to cover all eight sessions.  APG membership is not obligatory for this course although of course you are welcome to join if you wish. Click here for the membership page.

Ideal for junior planners, for those aspiring to be planners, and for those coming into planning from other disciplines; this is a legendary course developed and refined over many years.

Reserve places now -- email steve@apg.org.uk stating whether firm or provisional booking and if possible give name, job title and email address of each delegate.