tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post2879738380845313895..comments2024-03-26T16:33:07.870-07:00Comments on Round Seventeen: A monkey can do it.Rich Siegelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863451214232651917noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post-11744091220058173612016-04-13T06:58:22.552-07:002016-04-13T06:58:22.552-07:00I totally agree. I think any planner that just rew...I totally agree. I think any planner that just rewords a client brief is borderline useless. I only ask about the value of planners because it seems like every creative blog just shits on them constantly. I want to know, as a planner, where I can add value to them. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post-9062411349640277292016-04-12T21:43:49.266-07:002016-04-12T21:43:49.266-07:00Hello Anonymous. I definitely found value in plann...Hello Anonymous. I definitely found value in planners. Their audience insights could be extremely valuable. But most briefs fell apart at the "singleminded proposition" which was usually triple- or quadruple-minded. And a number of times, I discovered that briefs were in fact written by clients and just re-worded by the planners. Regarding talentless prima donna (shit) creatives, yes... I've known enough to fill a gymnasium. Most of them CD's. In fact, I wrote a blog post about them back in June 2013. Google: "The Bad Creative Director's Playbook" (Sorry Rich for plugging my blog).Jason Busahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14774157817327939497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post-21121613333850592572016-04-12T13:26:17.397-07:002016-04-12T13:26:17.397-07:00So their value comes from being able to reverse en...So their value comes from being able to reverse engineer a strategy? then what's the point? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post-84989615505217307122016-04-12T10:29:38.669-07:002016-04-12T10:29:38.669-07:00An excellent question Anonymous. Surprisingly, I d...An excellent question Anonymous. Surprisingly, I do think they have value. In my old days at Chiat Day the brief/the direction/the work came from Lee Clow. He has this remarkable instinctual ability to know where the work should go and how to answer the clients problems. We would do the work. over and over again. until Lee was happy. then the planners were brought in to backwards engineer the strategy and set up statements. And there were some very good people at that job -- giving evidence to the insight, not uncovering it. I'll grant there are some very shitty creatives out there. I got lucky and worked at places where those people washed out pretty quickly.<br />Rich Siegelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01863451214232651917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post-40702731097305061792016-04-12T10:24:55.232-07:002016-04-12T10:24:55.232-07:00Do you find any value in planners?
I know that a...Do you find any value in planners? <br /><br />I know that a lot of them can be really shitty at their jobs, but I've been around some creatives that I thought weren't worth shit either. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post-39114428917631817662016-04-11T07:59:04.590-07:002016-04-11T07:59:04.590-07:00Great post, Rich. I think most planners are fine o...Great post, Rich. I think most planners are fine on research and information gathering but weak on strategy. I can't remember the last time I didn't read a brief then promptly toss it in the trash. But some of my best friends have been planners so I hate to sound offensive. I just don't think they should be spending 4 weeks to craft a brief and will invariably be ignored. Btw, "Got milk" is a perfect example of insightful research from planners (consumer's fear of milk deprivation) and a brilliant creative idea. Still, at the end of the day, execution is everything. The most brilliant planning in the world is worthless without a compelling execution. Even a multimillion dollar fighter jet is worthless without a great pilot. (I must add that a few planners I've known should have been in the creative department since they frequently offered up great ideas.)Jason Busahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14774157817327939497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post-27107596603961971812016-04-07T08:47:25.188-07:002016-04-07T08:47:25.188-07:00I agree on all counts, Anonymous. I'll be the ...I agree on all counts, Anonymous. I'll be the first to my admit that sometimes my shit stinks (another recurring theme here on R17). And you can call me cranky pants. But the truth is, I can and could do my job better, more efficiently and with greater results if I did not have to answer to Planners, what planners put on paper, and what Planners think they bring to the table. I just can. Hence the floggings will continue.Rich Siegelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01863451214232651917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post-40409158516079282302016-04-07T01:57:11.680-07:002016-04-07T01:57:11.680-07:00I know sometimes planners are annoying, sometimes ...I know sometimes planners are annoying, sometimes they come up with nonsense and sometimes they think creatives are just robots who have to translate their half-baked ideas. But it's the same with creatives, they’re not all perfect either. Sometimes they wine about budget stuff but aren’t the ones telling the client he’ll have to pay double, sometimes they think no one who can’t draw could possibly have a creative mind and sometimes they get offended when they’re told that their work wasn’t quite as brilliant as they thought it was. It’s the way things are, seldom perfect but always human. Everybody tries to do his job and in the end some are more and some are less successful.<br />Anyway, I love your blog but no so much the recurring generalization about how all planners are pretty much idiots. And not because I’m a planner (I’m not) but rather because I don’t think it’s true at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958990354598975042.post-76352415266671366532016-04-06T09:32:50.862-07:002016-04-06T09:32:50.862-07:00Planners got to be a thing because they originally...Planners got to be a thing because they originally came from London. And Americans will accept anything told to them in a British accent--even an accent that makes other Brits cringe. Once the "planner" line-item was accepted by clients, the jobs got filled by people with accents from places like Pensacola and Fullerton.Théohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10173740497043726581noreply@blogger.com