In support of my “next gen planning” angle, I’d like to note a couple of trends caught in the 2009 Planner Survey:
- planning is continuing to diversify as a discipline within more categories than just “full-service agencies”
- the position of “digital planner” rises in importance but appears to be difficult to differentiate completely from the “full-service agency” planner
- as more and more budgets get shifted from TV and print to online, digital planners need to be prepared to talk brand strategy and not just technology
- a handful of people start to identify themselves as connections planners or context planners
- there begins to be a bit of tension surrounding the separation of digital, connections, or context planning from planning as a general way of thinking, as can be seen in the quotes below:
“I’m not one, but I consider digital in every strategy I work on. I
no longer see the point of uniquely ‘digital’ planners.”
“I am a connections planner or what my agency calls a “context”
planner. We do everything that an account planner does
(consumer understanding, insight development, applied strategic
thinking, ideation, facilitation, etc.) but focused on the
development of great connections/media strategies and ideas as
opposed to creative campaigns and ideas.”
Thanks to Heather LeFevre for putting this together. I look forward to 2010!
