The media business has always shaped how advertising has evolved. The two businesses are intertwined like no others - they feed each other, they support each other and they innovate together.
Today, there are a lot more media channels than ever and they’re becoming a lot more accessible.
As internet speeds get faster and the portability of media increases, our appetite for information and entertainment will grow. ‘Linear’ media is fast giving way to ‘liquid’ media - the idea that consumers will migrate seamlessly from setting to setting. It’s also becoming more common for people of all ages to consume multiple media simultaneously – TV, internet, magazine and mobile at once.
So what?
The notion of ‘mass media’ has evolved. As we consume more media, existing media channels are fragmenting and new channels are being introduced – this means less viewer time per channel. The explosion of new video and content available across internet and mobile platforms will continue to divide audiences into even smaller and smaller segments.
The challenge is keeping informed with the number of these new media channels, to enable us to define their role and application for our clients in the context of communications. To do this, we need to broaden our skill set and start developing our own opinions about how these channels can work for both our clients and for communications in general.
The rise of the "super planner" is now. A "super planner" is anyone who embodies a curiosity and a passion to develop and extend their skill set beyond what their job specification instructs them to do.
They have a different mindset and attitude than others where they:
- Aspire to become the master of their own craft at minimum (mastering what is in their job spec)
- Commit to developing an informed opinion about communications (and defending this opinion)
- Aim to become a communications ‘all-rounder.’
These "super planners" don’t need to have a detailed knowledge about how everything works, but I believe that following four key skills can help anyone become one:
1. Be strategic:
Strategy is one of the most overused and misused words in our business. I’ve read strategies that were basically a list of objectives, tactics and initiatives. Personally, I prefer Michael Porter’s definition of what a strategy should be:
- Create a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities. Identify a unique space for the brand to occupy and own. A super planner doesn’t just plan a campaign that delivers against the objectives, but also develops a differentiated campaign that will deliver a (sustainable) competitive advantage.
- Strategy requires you to make trade-offs. Super planners must choose not what to do. It sounds obvious, but no client ever has the budget to do everything, so being strategic requires making choices, such as determining where to allocate the resources that will deliver a greater return. I always have a bit of a laugh when I read a case study or recommendation that says something like “surrounding the consumer with 360° communications” because it invokes throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks.
- Strategy involves creating fit among your activities. Super planners’ best work happens when media ideas, initiatives and tactics combine into a bigger and more complete communications platform. This is important in a marketplace with so many new media channels. Having a multi-channel knowledge means super planners are able to craft clever integrated communications that deliver consistent messages to the end consumer.
2. Multi-channel understanding:
Super planners need to have a working knowledge of how the different channels work, but not necessarily develop a deep, sophisticated knowledge of every media channel. Being able to clearly articulate the role of each channel (including new channels) on a communications plan is a minimum requirement for super planners, especially with integrated campaigns. I’m still not sure why, but digital is one channel that is often treated separately to all the others and I believe that super planners need to be proficient in this channel.
3. Digital proficiency is the cost of entry:
Adding digital expertise to your skill set (especially those who do not work in digital teams) should become a priority, especially for the aspiring super planner. While I’m not professing everyone needs to be fully proficient with how MediaMind works or with analytic algorithms, I do believe that everyone should at least aspire to developing a basic understanding of digital.
Given the importance of understanding digital in the communications mix, I have tried to outline a couple ways to develop a working knowledge of digital. I believe a super planner should be able to do these five things:
1. Articulate the role of digital and a budget rationale within the overall communications plan.
2. Be aware of digital activity taking place in your clients’ category.
3. Be up-to-date on the latest digital metrics and trends, especially the application to a clients’ display, search, video, mobile and social media plan.
4. Be aware of new and emerging technology (remember, the media business has always shaped how advertising has evolved).
5. Be able to brief and inspire great digital work.
4. Collaboration Qualities:
If you agree with the areas that I have just discussed, I hope you’ll support the case that planners should aspire to become a super planner. It is rare to find all of these skills in one person which is why I believe that one of the most important qualities of any super planner is the ability to collaborate and work openly and closely with those people who have these specialist skills, whether inside your agency or outside.
I’ve got a lot to learn before I’m close to becoming a super planner, but these are four things that I am aspiring to learn in order to become a better planner.
Andrew Da Silva
MediaCom Client Communications Planning Manager and Ngen Chairman
THE ADNEWS NGEN BLOG: Rise of the super planner
13 September 2012