Observations from the 2008 AAAA Account Planning Conference.

This issue of Research Matters contains highlights from the 2008 Account Planning Conference, held July 21–23, 2008, in Miami. AAAA Information Specialist Rebecca Samson attended the conference and captured the major points presented by the speakers. Here is her recap of the sessions.
Speaker Highlights

Suzanne Powers, AAAA Account Planning Committee chair and worldwide strategy director at TBWA, opened the conference by announcing that the focus of this year’s conference was the idea of “concept to content and back again,” which she described as a framework for “turning ideas into stuff.”

She posed the question: In a shifting world, what is the business that we’re actually in? Referencing the television program “Mad Men,” Suzanne talked about how in the past we were in the business of interrupting people’s time, shilling products and handing off ideas, like in an assembly line. Back then, consumers were waiting for information about brands. Today, however, things are very different. People aren’t waiting to hear from advertisers. Brands need to earn the right to be welcomed into consumers’ lives.

Suzanne suggested that account planners are in the business of changing behavior and creating belief—making people care and buy into something bigger than them. Brands have to build resonance with consumers.

Suzanne introduced Nancy Hill, AAAA president-CEO, calling her a fantastic partner to planning.

Nancy began by “coming out of the closet” as an account planner (or an aspiring account planner), explaining that planners have taught her more about creativity and inspired thinking than almost anyone else in advertising. When planning first started as a separate department in agencies, account people felt threatened and worried that planners would steal their jobs. They hoped it was a passing fad. Although it took a while to be embraced, eventually agencies recognized that account planners play an indispensable role in the creation of great advertising. Nancy called planners “expert gatherers of information, experience and insights.”

A few points Nancy made about planners:

* They represent what advertising can and should be—now and in the future.
* They have embraced digital platforms more than any others.
* They are “consummate hoarders” who aggregate everything in order to understand the world around them.
* They recognize that this is a business of ideas and ideals. They take ideas to a higher level and aim for ideals.
* Their job is about thinking ahead, moving things forward and embracing change.

Nancy then compared the forward-thinking nature of account planners to the AAAA. By using technologies such as Twitter, Flickr and text messaging at this conference, the Association is also making efforts to move forward.

Tom Carroll, president-CEO, TBWA Worldwide, and chairman, AAAA Board of Directors, gave the audience some advice:

* Planning works best when the client’s CEO/senior management is involved. The greater the involvement of the CEO, the better the creative and business success
* Don’t listen to the critics anymore who predict the death of agencies, account planners, etc. Don’t panic, just keep going.
* There is no “digital army” coming. You are the digital people.
* The agency model isn’t broken. The big opportunities are still at the big agencies.
* Big ideas win; good ads don’t. The digital can come later, but confusion comes when you don’t have a good idea. The Absolut campaign had run out of steam and didn’t resonate anymore. It took two years to find the idea for its new campaign and it was able to fight its way back.
* “That was then and this is now” is the mantra at TBWA and one that planners should take to heart. Reassert yourself and be careful not to become business strategists. That’s what the account people and clients are supposed to do.
* Killer original thinking is what planners do best.
* There is no substitute for being out in the marketplace. Get back out there and talk to people. The good data is not in your office and it’s not online. Don’t get caught in the Web. It leads to bland, unoriginal thinking.
* He’s never seen good execution outlive a good idea. The only thing that will survive is a good, original idea.
* Be a little more brave. The business is only going to get more intense.

An expert in emerging digital technologies, Jeffrey Rayport, strategy expert, author, and former Harvard Business School professor, began his presentation by giving a historical perspective of digital. Since the mid-1990s, there have been three phases for businesses on the Web: First there was just having a Web presence. Next came online publishing and producing for online. We are now in the third phase, in which digital touches every aspect of the communications and media mix.

There are new channels of distribution where consumers are connecting with each other. Consumers are distributing brands’ content and their own content and mashing them together. Brands no longer control the channels; rather, they share them with consumers who are the new gatekeepers.

To give a sense of the digital landscape, Jeffrey provided several statistics:

* Consumers are spending 30 percent of their media consumption time with interactive or digital platforms.
* The Big 4 (Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL) account for 85 percent of all gross ad dollars spent online.
* The top 10 percent of online properties have 99 percent of online ad dollars.

These “Big 4” companies determine how the online space works. They are currently involved in M&A activity to build up their capabilities and create a consolidation of power. They are competing as all-inclusive platforms.

As a result, there have been three fundamental changes/disruptions:

* Search has changed how people access information (online, on mobile devices). The search algorithm has changed ad placement, as well as how consumers search for information.
* Connectivity: people are always connected through broadband and mobile devices. This changes how people communicate.
* Social networks provide a new platform for how people share information with one another. Networks create an online context for the content consumers are creating.

Jeffrey gave a number of proposals for what works in this new arena.

* Target the core: Brands are driven by the passionate few—those who are actively engaged. The numerous celebrity gossip sites (Gawker, TMZ, Defamer) appeal to the 2 percent who are very passionate about them. Catering to the rabid core has paid off for Toyota Scion, which identified a specific persona of a “tuner” as someone who enjoys customizing his or her car.
* Activate the community: To reach the potential of a rabidly dedicated community, marketers must ensure that membership has rewards. The four dimensions around which affiliations form are location, identity, interest and condition.
* Work the Web: Let the outside in and let the inside out. Put the networked aspect of the Web to work for consumers. Adopt open-source thinking. YouTube was acquired by Google for nearly $2 billion when there were 172 other video sites online. YouTube was the only one getting 100 million views because it created a widget—the video player—that was a useful utility for third-party distributors.
* Design for the occasion: Tailor each interaction to its form factor. Customize online content interface for consumption, contexts and occasions. Media brands, such as DailyCandy.com, can be optimized for a single occasion or use.
* Integrate the experience: ESPN made Monday Night Football a five-day experience by leveraging existing assets, such as pre-game analysis, fan forums and post-game wrap up coverage across multiple channels, including ESPN HD, ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile.

Digital is no longer a technology or a media challenge. It’s a platform that has become a new foundation for interaction between consumers and brands.

In his capacity as Pedigree brand manager, John Anton, marketing director, Mars Petcare, began his presentation with a few statistics: 40 percent of Americans own dogs, 65 percent of pet owners include their dogs in family photos, and 16 percent throw their dogs birthday parties. He presented a case study of how Pedigree was able to tap into the emotional bond people have with their dogs.

As John explained, Pedigree was competing in a low-interest category. The company wanted to “disrupt” the category and get people to think about dog food in a new way. Pedigree realized that consumers would be happy if they were a dog-loving company so the company took on the position “everything we do is for the love of dogs.” The company started an internal campaign by offering pet insurance as an employee benefit, allowing staff members to put photographs of their dogs on their business cards, bring their dogs on sales calls and take their dogs to work. An internal document was issued declaring “at Pedigree dogs come first. We live, love, and celebrate all things canine.” By becoming an openly dog-centric company, employees became more excited to come to work.

The focus of their new position was their adoption drive. Their consumer campaign highlighted the problem of dogs needing homes. Pedigree sponsored the Westminster Kennel Club and ran these ads during that event. They opened a pop-up store in Times Square, for two weeks during the show, where people could adopt dogs, buy merchandise, contribute and learn more about the cause. The pop-up store had 50,000 visitors and the average person stayed for 15 minutes. All of the dogs were adopted.

Previously, Pedigree’s Web site had been used simply as a distribution channel for coupons and product information. Now, through the dog adoption program, Pedigree gave consumers a way to participate. Consumers could upload pictures of their dogs to be used in a photo mosaic. For every photo uploaded, Pedigree donated $1 to the Pedigree Adoption Drive. So far 48,000 people have participated.

Pedigree was able to raise awareness of an issue, encourage participation and build advocacy. Sales increased double digits along with a reappraisal of their brand.

David Hackworthy, founding partner, The Red Brick Road, spoke about getting at big ideas fast. Sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to spend on getting there. First of all, a big idea takes a position; it doesn’t just have a positioning. Start by looking for the brand to take a position, have a point of view and build a set of cultural ideals. Let the brand behave around that position.

In getting at the idea fast, take a bipolar approach. First go into panic mode, and then follow that by relax mode.

* Panic mode: “No pressure, no diamonds”—start by brainstorming, getting down all the ideas that come into your head.

Relax mode: “Shakespeare’s 7 plots”—there are really only seven basic plots: authenticity, performance, passion, challenge, empowerment, liberation, possibility. Find which one works for your brand.

* Panic mode: “Grab a model”—see if one of the models, such as the brand stretch diagram, can help you arrive at an idea.

Relax mode: The 36 degree solution—instead of 360 degrees. Find the best channel to do your job in. A single channel can be good to execute the idea. You don’t have to do everything at once in every medium.

* Panic mode: Trendy thinking—look at all the popular trends around you now and see if any of them applies to your brand.

Relax mode: Taglines—get the creative dept to do some work for you. Write some taglines and see if any ideas come out of them.

* Panic mode: Obiter Dictum—There’s always some important nugget lying around to use. Find an angle that can make it different and use that somehow (e.g., discovering that coffee grows best at a high altitude and using that in the message).

Relax mode: Book it, Wiki it, Tag it—access what consumers are talking about online in blogs, chatrooms, etc.

* Panic mode: Fake it ’til you make it—make fake ads that resemble those in the category. Hopefully the client won’t want those and you can begin to offer your ideas.

Relax mode: Research the researchers—use other people to help come up with ideas.

Hopefully these tools and techniques will help avoid spending six weeks to come up with an idea.

According to Rob Norman, global CEO, GroupM, the 21st century marketing challenge is the distribution and manufacture of content. The past was easy. Clients produced lots of stuff (mass production) and sold it at big retailers and they used mass media to advertise it. The job was straightforward. Now, however, there’s personalization, speed, fragmentation and interaction. Addressability has changed the future of broadcasting. People used to respond passively and content was consumed on devices. Now we are interacting with the device. We have gone from a “channel of me” to a “channel of us,” where we are self-organizing, interconnected and collaborative.’

There are seven macro trends in this post-broadcast age:

1. Media will be more addressable
2. Media will be more portable across time, device and place
3. Media will be more searchable
4. Media will be more social and massively distributed
5. Media will be more interactive
6. Media will become part of the transaction chain as well as the communication chain
7. Media will be everywhere.

From a media point of view, there has been an enormous amount of change where agencies are valued more than in the past. Value is being transferred from the content owners (media) to clients. There are three types of media now: paid, earned and owned. Content must be pushed into each of these. Agencies are now becoming a major data management center, a significant part of distribution change, and a valued partner in content creation.

This is part of the agency’s evolution and changing place in the value chain. Where advertising used to be a reach and frequency business, agencies are now involved more in the issue of engagement and how things affect corporate reputation. What are people saying about brands online and how can a brand’s marketing influence the conversation? Agencies are now in the transaction part of the chain, acting as a communication and distribution channel.

The 20th century was known for relentless supply-side optimization. There was less of everything—people, energy, time, out-of-stock items. The 21st century will feature relentless demand-side optimization with more of everything, including channels, networks, devices and behaviors.

Because of empowerment and fragmentation, we need to create a far greater variety in creative and delivery methods.

In a session titled “The Business of Beauty,” Karim Rashid, founder and designer, Karim Rashid, Inc., discussed the role of design in consumers’ lives. It’s become a public subject essential to daily life. His agenda when designing products is about making a strong connection with humanity. He strives to get people emotionally engaged, feel alive, and to have a heightened physical experience. He aims to create a world that’s elevated by design.

A few of Karim’s thoughts on design:

* Archetypes sit and stay the same until someone makes a change. It just takes one brand to do that.
* Risk is the only thing to do to stay alive.
* You can’t think regionally and locally anymore. You must think globally.
* Real design develops a program or agenda. It follows a certain set of criteria and makes sense because it’s logical.
* The role of a designer is to look at the world completely objectively all the time.

As the person responsible for recent popular online viral videos, Ben Relles, founder of barelypolitical.com and creator of Obama Girl, talked about how ideas can start online and then become much bigger. To get a lot of attention online, he considers what people are talking about now. His methods for a hit:

* Follow the conversation—what people are talking about
* Jump into the conversation—react quickly
* Enable people to share your idea

Figure out the macro trends and try to respond. Marketers can be included in the conversation and then try to encourage participation. Brands and agencies can apply this advice to their own situations. They need to be on top of what people are talking and thinking about now. Then they must jump on that quickly and become part of the conversation. The best way to get people to pay attention is to talk about something they are already talking about.

Alex Castellanos, founding partner of National Media, Inc., is one of the Republican party’s media consultants and strategists. Alex compared products to political candidates. Are brands selling a product or creating a cause? Just as candidates must create a cause that gives voters a purpose greater than themselves, products also have to stand for something. Consumers want to know, “Where are you taking me and can I trust you to take me there?”—something Alex referred to as the “law of the car keys.”

When consumers choose a product they are making a statement about themselves. They aren’t just buying a marketer’s product, they’re voting for the brand. Brands are like candidates: “people need to know who you are, what you believe in and what you stand for.” This is especially important in this new age of renewal of selfish altruism where consumers feel that “it serves me by serving the collective good.”

Breakout Recaps

“Message From the Future”
Domenico Vitale, chief strategy officer, Lowe Worldwide, and Mark Earls, founder, Herd Consulting

In this breakout session, Domenico and Mark predicted what skills will be important and what issues will surface in the next few years:

* Emotions rule. We do things based on how we feel so advertising needs to make people feel something real, rather than make them think.
* Creating common ground. We’ve been taught that the business we’re in is persuasion. But, instead of changing people’s minds we really should create common ground and embrace participation. We need to create value in order for people to want to participate.
* Don’t be surprised by change. The world changes fast. Change is a given. Embrace it, use it, and cherish it.
* Little things versus mighty leaps. We’re always looking for the big ideas. Instead, think and do small. That’s where greatness lies.
* Be prepared to wear many hats. Planners’ jobs aren’t about being accountable for one thing. Think openly.
* Let’s learn to make things. Being an intellectual doesn’t fly. Become part of creation and culture.
* Learn to fail. The faster we fail, the faster we learn.

“Planning Possibilities: Craft and Content in the Digital Age”
George Scribner, senior vice president, account planning, Digitas, and Elmar Weber, vice president, planning director, Digitas

In this digital age, planners need to change the models for reaching consumers:

* From messages to value. Instead of just saying something, make sure you do it. How does what you do create value for the consumer?
* From interruption to integration. Make sure your message is relevant to consumers’ lives and that you’re not just selling something.
* From audiences to participants. Get people to share the brand. Create an experience that’s “contextual to where they are.”
* From channels to platforms. Media channels enable one-way communications but platforms use technology that is multi-dimensional.

The new creative brief should address the following:

* What we’re going to do, not say
* A point of view, not a unique selling proposition
* What value we are going to provide
* How we are going to integrate into consumers’ real and digital lives.

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