The difference between a good planner and a great planner
Last week, I saw a great presentation from Dean Sciole, the Head of Strategy for Saatchi & Saatchi China. He talked about advertising development and mentioned that sometimes all it takes is one conversation with a person to spark the insight and idea for an entire campaign. Good planners know how to have lots of different conversations with people to develop a ‘consumer insight’, but it takes a great planner to identify the one conversation that ties together the team’s thinking and provides a platform for creative communications.
UNICEF China gave Saatchi & Saatchi a brief to increase awareness and financial support for their programs, which helped provide education and support for children growing in poor, rural areas of the country. This was a tough ask – especially considering that the support needed to come from affluent families in Tier 1 cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou, where the one child policy meant that every dollar earnt was spent on each family’s Little Prince/Princess. When Dean would talk to affluent urban parents, he realised that they saw little reason in giving money away to another child when they could invest properly in their own. Urban parents simply didn’t see the ‘value’ in helping someone else’s child. Dejected, Dean and a creative director went in search of a different view by talking to the rural poor. It was here that Dean made the connection. He spoke with a rural Chinese mother who said she would donate money immediately. She reasoned that the people she relied on – her doctor, the police – were, in effect, someone else’s child. Suddenly, the brief became clear. This wasn’t about a handout or malnourished children. It was a simple story: help someone else’s child, for some day, they may just help you. Dean and his CD worked up a script overnight, the ad was shot and the resulting campaign became one of the most successful drives in UNICEF China’s history.
I’ve had the privilege to learn and work with some great planners. And one of the things I’ve learnt is that their ability doesn’t lie in how well they tell the story, but instead in how they listen for a story.
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