The Home for Planners & Strategists
A Day in the Life of a Planner
Selim Pekin Gungor
18th June 2015
What's your official job title?
Creative Strategist at VICE Media, Berlin
How would you describe to your parents/grand parents what you do?
I help brands reach young people who don’t watch ads anymore.
How would you actually describe what you do?
Working for a publisher with an in built-audience, I’m in the content business rather than the advertising business. I develop tailor made content solutions for brands who are trying to reach younger audiences. With the right insights my team provides relevant and authentic content & experiences to the audience, gets the brand’s message across and grows our editorial business. On the day to day operations I’m equally involved in the planning process as well as the creative process.
Please could you write a sentence or two on what you were doing at the following times today/yesterday?
9am
Cycling into work, checking emails & industry news, creating ToDo lists for the day, First meeting
11am
Meetings, brainstorming sessions and conference calls, research in- between
1pm
Lunch outside or cooking in the kitchen with colleagues
3pm
Writing/researching creative briefs, briefing creatives, tissue with creatives, some brainstorming
5pm
Digging more research, tissue with creatives, more brainstorming
7pm (or whatever time your work day generally ends)
Tissue calls with clients or colleagues from the US (time difference), cycle home
If you left your job right now, what wouldn't happen as a result?
I hope the local gastropub would not go bust.
What's the most interesting thing you've done in the last month?
Develop a strategy on how to make mouthwash not only attractive to millennials, who generally couldn’t care less about long term investments into health, but also make it part of their daily routine. A bit like what the shampoo industry did with conditioners back in the day.
What's the worst thing you've done in the past month?
Having to kill a passion project. Also in terms of most challenging rather than worst thing was trying to find convincing arguments what the actual ROI of storytelling is and why clients should spend more on content rather than media. This can also be sobering experience, depending on the client.
What are you wearing today?
White t-shirt, denim shirt, denim trousers (yes double-denim), white trainers. Pretty much what our management as well as interns wear, we have Flat hierarchies when it comes to dress codes.
What's the one piece of advice you'd give someone trying to get your job?
If there is one stable thing that is vital for any job, it’s change. Stay curious, keep learning and don’t get stuck.
What's the one thing you wish you'd known before you started?
Don't stress yourself. It gets easier after 30.