Photo courtesy of gridrunner

Advertising agencies work together with clients (this is smart!). And clients sometimes find it hard to say straightforward whatever they want to say about the presentation they had just witnessed. Either because they do not want to hurt the feelings of the teams who worked on the project or just because they are very “politically correct”, clients have developed specific feedback language that camouflages what they actually want to say. For account planners working in advertising agencies it’s usually very useful to decrypt what’s behind the feedback. But sometimes it takes years of experience to be able to do this accurately. This is why, a couple of months ago, I thought it would be helpful to start developing a small scale “dictionary” (or something similar) that would help translate client feed-back. Thus, I’ve put some down some of the clichéd answers that clients give after presentations and what I think they actually mean. Inspiration came from real client meetings, from stories we’ve all heard and from some other similar “dictionary” attempts. I’m sure you’ll recognize some of your clients in some of these lines. And I’m sure you know a lot more.

Client says:
“Consumers must be able to focus on the product benefit”
Client means:
We need to have a product demo in the TVC.

Client says:
“The TVC you presented is not competitive enough”
Client means:
We need to see a side by side demo in the story.

Client says:
“We need uplifting humour in our executions”
Client means:
I know a good joke. Can we squeeze it in?

Client says:
“Of course we like humour! But we’d rather opt for a type of humour that’s more positive”
Client means:
We beg you not to come back with weird jokes again, you psychos.

Client says:
“We have a great new exciting project for you”
Client means:
A 10-second functional tag brief is about to arrive.

Client says:
“The brand is your reliable soul sister and trustworthy friend”
Client means:
We have no clue about the brand’s personality.

Client says:
“We’d like more emotion into it”
Client means:
Don’t forget about the product.

Client says:
“We’ll meet together and work as a team”
Client means:
Guys from the trade department insist on coming into the meetings.

Client says:
“We have to see what consumers will say about this.”
Client means:
We don’t think it will work.

Client says:
“The pre-testing research results are excellent”
Client means:
We have our balls covered. We can now air the TVC.

Client says:
“The pre-testing research results are bad”
Client means:
The agency messed up everything again.

Client says:
“There’s too much drama on the brand personality”
Client means:
We want the product to fit into the story

Client says:
“However…” (when said right after showing enchantment for the agency work)
Client means:
Forget about what I just said, here is how things really are …

Client says:
“We urgently need to invest more in 360 executions”
Client means:
We are really in a hurry with some POSMs. Do you think we can make it?

Client says:
“You’re on the right track, but we need to make some improvements”
Client means:
You are not on the brief, go back and read the damn fucking thing this time.

Client says:
“We are not quite there yet”
Client means:
You do not have what I requested. Let me repeat what I want.

Client says:
“We’d like you to be creative this time”
Client means:
Don’t over-exaggerate again, please.

Client says:
“We really love what you did”
Client means:
Finally, we got you to make the packaging visible.

I’m tagging anyone who can contribute.

As you may already have found out from Razvan or Stefan, Leo Burnett invited Chris Forrest in Romania for a training session. As I was invited to participate in the 2nd training day (thanks Razvan!), for planners, I thought I might share some of the learnings.

One of the most useful things that I got out of the training was the beggar exercise that Razvan described here. It's an excellent and inspiring way of showing that:

1) behind any message there's an assumed model of how it will work. Making the model explicit enables you to choose the criteria for measuring success;
2) you must acknowledge the process of creating the strategy and always be aware of the fact that you might be: brand centric, consumer centric, media centric etc.
3) there's no right place to start to process of creating a strategy, you just have to know where you started from;

This is what I got out of it. My beggar message was "I only need one RON". It made me quite rich. :)

Moreover, I also enjoyed the little chat we've had about semiotics. Altough there are a lot of Romanian professionals who study semiotics, as far as I'm aware, nobody seems to be using its advantages. I was curious to know how popular is semiotics within the UK advertising & research industry and also if it's somehow useful. I fancy working with a semiotician.

Se discuta asta.

Stefan vorbea intr-unul dintre post-urile sale despre amplasamentul foarte bun al unor ad-uri pentru o clinica care promite sa ajute in tratamentul hemoroizilor. Ei bine, la Timisoara eu am intalnit o situatie foarte amuzanta legata de un ad pentru ceva similar. Gandind ca oamenii stau in masina pe scaune (deci probabil devin receptivi la beneficiul oferit de un tratament impotriva hemoroizilor), cineva a amplasat deasupra unui drum din Timisoara un banner. Toate bune pana aici. Numai ca nimeni nu a remarcat ca banner-ul a fost plasat fix langa o gradinita. Nu am putut sa ma abtin sa nu ma gandesc la ce norocosi sunt copilasii optimisti si dragalasi de acolo care nu au invatat inca sa citeasca. Altfel, cine stie ce imagine si-ar fi facut despre viitor.

L-am insotit pe Laurentiu Semeniuc (23) la Timisoara la StudentFest 2007, unde a fost invitat sa tina o conferinta in cadrul sectiunii dedicata publicitatii. Dat fiind contextul, am moderat impreuna workshop-ul ce a urmat conferintei. Conferinta a fost dedicata „Publicitatii 2.0”, adica efectului pe care il au fenomenele numite generic Web 2.0 si diverselor abordari pe care le-ar putea avea agentiile sau marketerii pentru a crea publicitate mai eficienta si mai frumoasa in contextul dat. Workshop-ul a inceput cu un case study Prigat, a continuat cu un exercitiu de gandire si s-a incheiat intr-o sesiune de Q&A. Atat eu, cat si Laurentiu am fost placut surprinsi sa vedem entuziasmul cu care multi dintre cei prezenti la workshop au participat la discutie, ridicand probleme, punand intrebari, sugerand solutii, criticand etc. Dincolo de entuziasm am remarcat pertinenta unor intrebari venite de la studenti care nu avusesera inca un contact direct cu advertising-ul. La final, am ramas cu o senzatie foarte placuta si cu certitudinea ca ii vom vedea pe multi dintre cei prezenti in cativa ani lucrand in departamente de marketing sau in agentii si facand treaba buna.

source: inlove.kz

gasit pe Roportal.

Se stie ca o agentie de publicitate poate lucra si fara un departament separat de strategie. Putem vedea asta atat la numeroase agentii locale, cat si la numeroase agentii din strainatate. Nimic mai adevarat. Fara sa aiba departament de strategie (sau strateg dedicat exclusiv strategiei), aceste agentii dezvolta strategii de comunicare impreuna cu clienti foarte mari si, uneori, o fac foarte bine. Cu toate astea, am constatat un fapt: cine a lucrat macar o data un strategic planner (bun), nu mai poate lucra fara. Am realizat asta vorbind cu brand manageri care au trecut de la agentii care aveau planning la agentii care nu aveau si cu creativi care au lucrat in agentii cu planning si apoi au ajuns in agentii fara departamente de planning sau fara "om" de strategie. Cred ca acesti oameni pot sa spuna foarte multe despre cat de bine este sa ai langa tine un departament (sau un om de strategie). Sau cel putin pot vorbi despre cum e sa iti lipseasca unul.

"Era mult mai misto la Elefterie ..." . Paste Fericit! :)

De la intalnire la intalnire, plannerii incearca sa convinga clienti sau colegi de agentie asupra a diverse lucruri. Fie ca noua pozitionare are mari sanse sa dea roade, fie ca ultima reclama a fost foarte bine inteleasa de target, fie ca nu e nevoie sa fie comunicate beneficiile rationale ale produsului, fie ca o abordare creativa e mai buna decat alta, fie ca decizia de cumparare in categorie este de un anumit fel etc. Insa de multe ori, clientii sau colegii tin foarte mult la propriile idei. Ce trebuie sa faca plannerul in acest caz? Sa apeleze la surse credibile pentru a-si sustine ipotezele. Research-uri, campannii anterioare care au folosit abordarea respectiva si au functionat, alti oameni care adera la propria parere etc. Ce facem cand se epuizeaza sursele? In ultima instanta, apelam la surse neasteptate si dobandim confirmari la nivel astral. Se poate!

Read all about it here!