I had the chance to teach a weekend class at Miami Ad School's Account Planning Boot Camp. The topic was "understanding the issue".

1. h e l l o !

3. this weekend we are
going to talk about
many things.

4. with one theme
threading through
everything.

5. the truth.

6. the truth.
the truth.

7. the truth.
the truth.
the truth.

10. it’s a search for the truth
in planning, in this boot
camp, in the ad world, in
the business problem, in
the audience and in each
other.

11. BECAUSE THE TRUTH
IN PLANNING [AND
LIFE?] FEELS RIGHT
AND OPENS UP A
WORLD OF
OPPORTUNITY WORTH
EXPLORING.

13. but first…

16. from classmates to
lifelong friends.

18. by now you have already
gotten a basic
understanding of account
planning.

19. that’s more than most
people will ever get so well
done.

20. let’s take a minute to refresh
and get us all in the same
room.

22. what is
account
planning?

25. strategy in military terms: a
plan of action designed to
achieve a particular goal.
tactic in military terms:
employing available means
to accomplish objective.

26. a [quick] look at the traditional
ad agency departments.

27. so where does
the planner fit
in?

28. anthropologist
support for account
right hand to client
investigator
voice of clarity
researcher
inspiration to creative
investigator
brief writer
voice of consumer

29. there is no such
thing as a
[typical] day in
the life but let’s
imagine.

30. the brief

31. the brief
• qualitative or quantitative research
• getting a client brief
• workshops with product insight team
• competitive analysis
• developing positioning statements
• testing already developed key messages

32. the brief
• getting client and creative to buy-in
• thinking of different ways in
• brainstorming with creative team
• making sure creative is on brief
• tweaking the brief to match the work
• sending inspiration to creative team
• writing set-up story slides for the work
• presenting work to client
• making decisions based on performance

33. Client
briefing
Asking the
right
questions
Exploring
the broad
market/
business
dynamics
Establishing
target
audience
segments and
consumer
purchasing
dynamics
keep this process in mind this
weekend.
Defining the
role of
advertising and
what models of
advertising are
applicable
Carrying out a
competitive
analysis of the
category
Conducting
a thorough
brand audit

35. a look at the
brief.

38. about
the
brief.
ü it’s a source of clarity, inspiration and direction.
ü every planner has their own style.
ü every agency has their own template.
ü some briefs are left open while others are written tightly.
ü creative appreciates thought starters
ü client and account typically approve the brief.
ü a brief doesn’t have to be a piece of paper.
ü some people ignore briefs.
ü others edit them until the end.

39. “this tension between control and freedom is at the heart of
creative briefing. getting it right isn’t easy. however, i
believe that whilst you need to rigidly control and give
clarity about the problem you are asking creativity to fix,
being open-minded and giving people freedom in how
they solve it is the smartest thing any briefer can do.”
- Pete Heskett, art of the brief

41. BACKGROUND
ü what is the objective?
what is the problem (awareness, trial, sales)?
ü what is the real problem (price, cultural irrelevance, unclear product benefit)?
ü what category are we in?
AUDIENCE
ü who are we talking to?
ü what do we know about them demographically or psychologically?
ü are they users or non-users of our brand (retain vs. recruit)
INSIGHT AND STRATEGY
ü after looking through the lens of culture, consumer, brand and category, what is our target insight?
ü using our target insight, what is the plan we want to make for our communications?
REASONS TO BELIEVE
ü what are the brand and product truths that support our strategy?
IDEAL OUTCOME
ü after our target sees our ad, what do we want them to think, do or feel?
MANDATORIES AND CONSIDERATIONS
ü what are we making?
ü what should the creatives keep in mind when developing the work?
TIMING
ü when do we go to market?
BUDGET
ü how much money to we have to play with?

42. few tips.

43. 1. write, re-write and write again.
2. running a napkin with doodles on it to a colleague
is allowed.
3. the words should jump off of a page.
4. the briefing moment does not have to be in a
room.
5. know it’s the first step in the creative process and
not the last step in the strategy process.
6. client and account typically approve the brief

44. possible challenges with client briefs:
• no clear problem [often something like increase
awareness or sales by x%]
• unclear how success is measured [often confusion
between marketing goals and advertising goals]
• many people write them with different intentions
[maybe someone wants to please their boss,
maybe someone wants to win an award]
• sometimes there is no general direction

46. why tone is so important.

47. another truth: sometimes advertising
isn’t the solution.

49. let’s practice.
why?
the battery is dead.
why?
the alternator is not functioning.
why?
the alternator belt has broken.
why?
the alternator was well beyond its useful service life and not
replaced.
why?
the vehicle was not maintained according to the
recommended service schedule.

50. how to go about finding the real problem.
ask many, many questions.
rephrase the problem.
challenge the assumptions that come in.
fill your brain with goodness.
you’ll have the chance to ask clients about their creative brief
and to ask consumers about their hopes, dreams and fears.
example: when an executive asked employees to brainstorm
ways to increase productivity, he got blank stares. but when
he rephrased his request as ways to make their job easier, he
couldn’t keep up with the load of suggestions.
remove bias, come up with different ways of looking at the
category and provided problem. example, if you’re working
on a restaurant brand, don’t assume they have a clear menu.
this is a great time to fill your mind with as much information
about the current category, competition, audience, historical
advertising and product.

55. Google
White papers
Focus groups
Surveys
Brand trackers
In person interviews

56. issues can be anywhere.

57. Product
Brand
Communications
Audience
Category

58. Product
an issue with the way the
object works, doesn’t work or
is priced and like can’t count
on advertising to change it

59. Brand
there is a perception of the
brand that is weighing it
down that can likely be
solved with advertising

60. Communications
a problem with customer service,
an advertising touch point along
the customer journey, or
something in media that is
hurting the brand that can likely
be helped with advertising.

61. Audience
there’s a thought or behavior
with the intended audience that’s
between he/she and the brand
or the current audience is the
wrong audience, and can likely
be solved with advertising.

62. Category
the competition is doing
something better, your brand is in
the wrong category, and can likely
be helped with advertising.

63. the key to uncovering
insights was given to you
at a very young age.

64. category culture
consumer company

65. c a t e g o r y
what category are we in?
what is the pricing and features of the different products?
who else is in our category?
what category could we be in?
can we re-define the category?

66. c o n s u m e r
what is the current behavior of our consumer?
how do we want to change their behavior?
what words do we want our consumer to use when telling
their friend about us?
what are their conflicts, passions and goals?
who are they influenced by?

71. time to build
our own

72. c o m p a n y
what are the functional and emotional benefits?
what is your client’s goal?
what is their boss’s goal?
what is the company’s goal for this advertising campaign?
what is the company’s goal for the next five years?

74. 1. Pick a brand or product
2. Label the end points
3. Fill it in

75. Let’s do three together.

77. c u l t u r e
what is happening in the world right now?
can the product tie to a movement?
is the brand going with a cultural trend or against it?
is there a specific group of people that we can focus on?
example: if it’s known that many new yorkers are waking up
earlier than ever before, how can a brand or product fit into
the 7am time slot?

80. PURCHASE FUNNEL METRICS
awareness, purchase intent, consideration, loyalty
BRAND ATTRIBUTES
personality descriptors, product attributes,
customer satisfaction
THE CREATIVE
brand archeology, current campaigns, social
media audit

82. congratulations! you just
opened your own advertising
agency and you landed your
first client without having to
ever meet them. you have an
initial meeting to learn about
their business. what do you ask
them?

84. your turn.
four teams. one per
section.

85. pretend these are your brands. what
does a successful headline in the
wall street journal look like?

90. now let’s get to an
in-class
assignment in
prep for the big
weekly one.

92. your client is peet’s coffee.
the owner is planning on closing all stores on the west coast unless
each store increases its yearly revenue by 15%.
your assignment is to:
1. identify the problem/s [product, brand, communications,
audience, category] and articulate it back in an inspiring way
2. with the problem in mind, conduct and then present your
research plan on how you got to your problem
3. write a creative brief for your [imagine] creative team that they
would use to come up with a campaign
4 [bonus]: put a few creative ideas on paper

93. it’s arguably the best job in the world
five learned lessons from
being a planner.
the skills are transferable
planners aren’t needed to make work but are there to make the work better
inspiration fades. stay with it and get out there
planners don’t need the answers but need to know how to get them later

94. a good place to start.

95. it’s time to say
goodbye.
and hello to the best
three months of your
darn life.

98. The CEO found $50 million dollars in
his pocket.
he has 6 months to turn the brand
around and has agreed to use all of the
found money for a marketing
campaign.
what would you recommend?
best strategy and creative wins.