Planning is not about numbers

A planner acquaintance who's setting up a freelance-shop asked me whether I think it's a good idea to use metrics as PR tool. 

Principally, I do think that measurement is important. But the planning profession cannot be associated with numbers, because numbers are passive and boring. Planning is the opposite of that. So, while I think it's a good idea to make the planning profession more visible, I do think it's important to give a full picture of what the planner role entails - especially in Sweden where planning isn't fully established as the third agency discpline.

This is my perspective of what account planning is:

Although metrics are relevant in areas such as effectiveness, research and media analysis, planning from a bigger picture is about making it easier to create communications that are both strategically effective and creatively inspiring. That must be the basic association of what planners do.

Comments

[Alfred Malmros]

Wish someone had just printed that out and given it to me 2 years ago. Thanks!

[Leon]

Things seem to have worked out anyway for you. :)

[Thomas]

Excellent graph! Neatly sums up the different concepts.

There's also some discussion about the difference between strategic planning and creative/engagement planning in Stephen King's "A Master Class in Brand Planning".

So do planners at jvm actually engage in all three pillars of planning? Or is there an emphasis on any of them?

[Leon]

Jung von Matt in Germany, which has a central planning department in Hamburg, does all three types of planning with specialists in all areas.
Jung von Matt in Stockholm where I work, I would say we are 80% creative planning and 20% strategic planning. Officially, we are setting up EP, but it's really a matter of resources. We are the only agency outside the German-speaking countries and still a startup (since 2006), so our resources are limited. But the ambition is of course to do everything by the book, and that includes planning.

[Thomas]

Thanks for the insight. Coming from Austria I knew about how they manage it in German-speaking Europe but was interested in how it is set up in Stockholm.