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This the part of the site where we upload, and encourage you to send and share lots of interesting stuff about planning and strategy.

12 Interview Tips for wannabe Planners

Feb 25, 2016
8 min

12 Interview Tips for wannabe Planners

First the bad news: getting into advertising is tough. Getting into Planning is tougher still. Not because it’s rocket science, but simply because the Planning department is smaller than account management or creative department; there are fewer jobs up for grabs. Adding to that, it takes a lot of time, money and affection to train a Planner from scratch – many agencies lack at least one of these three. Instead, they prefer people to first spend a year or two in account manag

Feb 23, 2016
2 min

Mark Bell on 'What is a Brand Nowadays?'

I’m sorry to open by being boring or indeed obvious, but a brand nowadays is no different from when Bass registered the red triangle 130 years ago as trademark. Ian Edwards mentioned in his well written 2007 piece ‘I believe in the Darwinian Evolution of Brands’ that: "The need to identify with and to know your status within a social group is something that is fundamental to human nature." I believe and I’m sure many scientists will support me, that over the coming centuries

Feb 17, 2016
2 min

Dom Boyd on 'What is a Brand Nowadays?'

"Strategists need to act as brand entrepreneurs that approach their client brands as ‘software’ that is constantly evolving and updating, creating an operating system that’s fast, fluid and informed." The subject of brands has a history of fascinating and confusing people in equal measure. So perhaps it was no surprise that the APG’s Noisy Thinking on the subject was sold out weeks beforehand. With just 10 minutes to present our case, the format certainly lent itself to simpl

Advice to my younger self

Feb 16, 2016
3 min

Advice to my younger self

I have some bite-size snacks of advice to serve up as appetisers to my younger self, which I won’t mind him taking or leaving, before I bring out a one-dish, main course of ‘shut up and listen’ advice that he must swallow whole before he’s allowed to leave the table; 1. Work in a small agency Fewer layers and silos afford greater access to client challenges, granting you more opportunities to think for yourself, express your opinions and gain a deeper respect for the people w

I like it when we all watch the same thing

Feb 15, 2016
3 min

I like it when we all watch the same thing

It’s increasingly a “look at that” world and this clearly provides an opportunity for brands to be the “that”. We risk overstating this of course and assuming people are interested in every brand but the rewards of getting it right and providing serendipity for people (I think of serendipity as disruption’s slightly nicer cousin) are very real. I love the concept of Noisy Thinking so I thought I’d take the concept literally by thinking aloud for my 10 minutes. No slides, just

Feb 12, 2016
4 min

The first text in the IPA Diploma is Stephen King's "What is a Brand?"

It offers a salutary warning to anyone trying to think about the question that is the agenda for APG's first Noisy Thinking event of the year - 'What is a Brand nowadays?' "Usually when we discuss such difficult and controversial topics we rush in and start to argue about techniques. So often we try and solve problems without working out the theory of the thing first" Most usefully tonight, written as it was nearly 50 years ago in 1971, Stephen's seminal piece offers a good c

A new year, a new-look APG

Feb 9, 2016
2 min

A new year, a new-look APG

Hello, As new Chair of the APG, I'm filled with genuine excitement. First, because the APG is in rude health. This is in no small part thanks to out-going Chair Tracey Follows whose ideas, energy & vision have given the APG new vim & vigour - our community grew, we developed a new identity and digital presence and had our most successful awards ever. As founder of AnyDayNow, she is also a wonderful entrepreneurial role model to us all. So thank you Tracey - yours are both big

‘Future. Now’. A new agenda for a new age

Feb 8, 2016
1 min

‘Future. Now’. A new agenda for a new age

Hello As new chair of the APG I’m filled with a sense of excitement both in terms of what the APG has already achieved and the opportunity ahead. For there’s never been a more exciting time to be in this industry Or a better time to be a strategist. The future is here, living in every new business model, app & social interface Grasping us and our clients by the hand And asking – demanding - us to innovate, faster Our unique skills means we’re uniquely qualified to do that Thr