Posts Tagged ‘big idea’
Why do we need strategists*, anyway?
By Rob Meyerson, RiechesBaird
* While differences surely exist from agency to agency, “strategist” and “planner” will be used interchangeably throughout this post. The author’s opinion is that the responsibilities implied by these titles involve considerable overlap, but this too is open for debate.
Has anyone else noticed that strategists and account planners are getting a bad rap lately? To see what I mean, check out the show Trust Me, and you’ll see that planners are consistently portrayed as vacuous time-wasters who do little more than provide eye-roll-inducing creative briefs. For a little insight into the source of the show’s point of view, look no further than a recent blog post by Bob Hoffman, The Ad Contrarian, entitled “I’m Tired Of Strategists,” and a second by Simon Veksner, on his blog Scamp, about “Nightmare Propositions.” These two posts popped up almost simultaneously, and underscore doubts—at least among the industry’s “creatives”—as to the importance of strategists and planners. (more…)
Has brand positioning been repositioned?
By Rob Meyerson, RiechesBaird
Before Al Ries and Jack Trout wrote their seminal book “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind,” David Ogilvy—one of the true Mad Men—set the stage for their thesis, stating “It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product.” Ogilvy’s “big idea”—one that reflects the qualities of the brand and differentiates it from competitors—is Ries and Trout’s “position.” A quick glance at the websites and whitepapers of today’s leading branding firms suggests that elements of this definition remain intact. They speak of “relevant differentiation in the marketplace” (Landor) and ensuring that customers “can tell the brand apart from others” (Interbrand’s Brandchannel.com). Some experience in the world of branding firms and a look at the work posted on their sites, however, reveal that definitions and deliverables don’t always align.