The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]


The Advertising Planning School Is Coming Back.
June 29, 2012, 6:12 am
Filed under: Advertising [Planning] School On The Web

So Gareth, Andrew and I co-run the A[P]SOTW … except we’ve not done a great job of running it in 2012, because we’ve literally posted no challenges whatsoever.

That is about to change.

In the next 2 weeks, I’ll be posting a challenge that will focus on an incredibly important part of the planning job: simplification.

This sounds easy, but there’s a major difference between simple and simplistic and while you want to make sure that what you’re saying is easily understood by the people you’re presenting to, you don’t want to make it so basic that it loses all it’s energy, texture, imagination, distinctiveness and inspiration … not to mention, from a commercial point of view, that unique element that makes people want to choose working with you over a competitor.

I’m still formulating how best to do the assignment, but it will involve writing a 10 page presentation OR an 8 minute video presentation [up to you] with the single goal of capturing the judges attention [both commercially and emotionally] with what you have found, what you think you can do with it and where you believe it can go and grow.

Regardless of whether you are a planner, a wannabe planner, a suit, creative or client – I hope it will be something that is useful and enjoyable for all, so if you’re interested in having a go, watch this space.

[PS: If you’re new to all this, just click here and scroll through some of my old assignments – though both Gareth, Andrew and Russell have a bunch of wonderful examples hidden throughout their esteemed blogs]


31 Comments so far
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In what world does10 pages or an 8 minute\ video equate to simplification?

Comment by John

Oh John, there are many Worlds where that equates to simplification. Maybe you’re mistaking it for simple – which, as you know, is another thing altogether.

Comment by Rob

The world of 200 page powerpoint presentations full of irrelevant, unreadable, incomprehensible data, with no point of view and no ideas … it’s a world of pain.

Comment by Ian Gee

And modern day adland. Sadly.

Hello Ian, what the bloody hell are you doing on here, you’re much too classy for this rubbish.

Comment by Rob

youve never seen a fucking client brief or agency response before have you doddsy.

Comment by andy@cynic

Yep.

Comment by Rob

or a fucking tax ruling.

Comment by andy@cynic

Yep again.

Comment by Rob

or divorce settlement.

Comment by andy@cynic

Oh dear.

Comment by Rob

and if this is happening again, why the fuck havent you asked me to be a fucking judge yet. the judge. the sort of fucker that makes simon cowell look like fucking bagpuss?

Comment by andy@cynic

I’m assuming you’re busy. Either changing nappies or errrrrm, probably changing nappies.

Comment by Rob

make the brief on understanding female logic. if any fucker can get that down to 10 pages they should win the fucking nobel.

Comment by andy@cynic

I don’t know John, that dukes of hazard movie condensed everything wrong with hollywood and that took 2 hours.

Comment by DH

any movie with a bird in daisy dukes is not a shit movie, even if its a bird that has taken oprahs crown as the new queen of yoyo dieting. yes thats you jessica simpson. the walking definition of “hot then not.”

“then hot.”

“then not.”

Comment by andy@cynic

any period fucking drama featuring kenneth fucking branagh is where you need to fucking look. or film students who suffer from delusions of kubrick. basically all of the fuckers then.

Comment by andy@cynic

But not if that Dukes of Hazzard film has that bloody Simpson woman in it.
If they ever remake Buck Rogers, they’d better think hard about Wilma Deering, Erin Grey in a shiny jumpsuit is a lot to live up to

Comment by northern

I disagree with John. doing a pitch in 10 slides or 8 minutes is all about applied simplification. It sounds like a great and valuable assignment to me, even if you haven’t actually explained what it will be yet.

Comment by Pete

you know you made a fucked up comment when even mr fucking too nice for shit speaks up against you. and the reason campbell hasnt explained what the fucking assignment is, is because the fucker hasnt worked it out for himself yet.

Comment by andy@cynic

Looking forward to this. I’ll defs have a go!

Comment by Rafik

Everyone is ganging up on Dodds, good.
By the way, I have won a pitch with a single slide -one picture, one quote, but that was very much a one off

Comment by northern

Congratulations – I did that once [http://tinyurl.com/6txpxs6] but given it all went a bit shit, I don’t want to tarnish your well deserved glory.

Comment by Rob

Everybody’s being very literal with my provocation. Peraps I wastoo brief. What I was suggesting in the week when P&G are tallking about one sentence briefs based on business problems was that an exercise in simplification might gain from being more extreme. You can get an awful lot of extraneous waffle into 10 pages or 8 minutes, so why not be more draconian?

Market analysis, competitive analysis, cultural analysis, solution – 4 pages, 2 minutes. That would really keep the focus on simplification .

Comment by John

We took it literally because you said:

“In what world does10 pages or an 8 minute\ video equate to simplification?”

Which all goes to prove that there can never be a standard length of sentence or brief or presentation, it simply has to be the length it takes for the recipient to clearly understand what is being asked/suggested because of it.

Sometimes that’s one page … sometimes it’s 4, 10, 100 … it depends on a whole range of circumstances, but the key is seeing it from what the audience needs to know, not what you want to tell them – which is the classic mistake.

So with all that, why am I saying the APSOTW submissions will have to be either [upto] 10 pages or 8 mins in length? Because adfolk are the worst for over cluttering pitches with unnecessary wank … but rather than go for the briefest of response, I want the briefest of response that sells conveys the whole idea and why that is the idea that’s better than everyone else’s.

Comment by Rob

Red-eye grumpiness?

Comment by John

According to my colleagues, yes.

Comment by Rob

Andy is on fire.
Good to see APSOTW back!

I like the one page pitch NP, very impressive.

Comment by Rob Mortimer (Not a fake Andy)

A clever bastard once beat my team on a train design pitch – he just walked and said “I’ll make you your drivers remember why they fell in love with trains”

Comment by northern

At least you lost to clever … never nice, but better than losing to shit.

Comment by Rob

look at doddsy trying to shake off the blame by throwing it on campbells red eye grumpiness. well fucking done doddsy, with skills like that you should be a member of government or a fucking banker. rhyming slang fully infuckingtended.

Comment by andy@cynic

Or an account director

Comment by northern




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