My answers to W+K planner’s questions

Ieri am gasit la Bogdana pe twitter un anunt de la Weiden+Kennedy care mi s-a parut interesant. Vor sa angajeze un planner pentru Nike si provocarea initial este sa raspunzi la 10 intrebari. Bogdana i-a provocat pe cativa planneri de la noi sa raspunda si au si facut-o pe site-ul ei sau pe blogurile personale. Desi nu sunt un planner, am hotarat sa o fac si eu pentru ca mi se pare interesanta provocarea. So, here goes!

• What’s the biggest myth in our industry? (advertising, that is)

Everybody knows advertising, right? There is a saying in my country that here everybody is an expert on politics, advertising and football. Now that’s a myth! So, according to that I should be an ideal candidate for this job because I already have two of the requested characteristics.
Now, if I were to talk about myths in advertising I’d say that the one I hate the most it that advertising is necessary only when business is slow. Unfortunately this is the biggest mistake a brand manager could do and I see it very often. Advertising should be continuous and coherent throughout the marketing process. A planner should be able to argue and convince any brand manager by his insights that advertising is needed in different forms.

• Define an insight.

I am going with the guys that say that an insight is a feeling of deeper understanding on this one. Understanding of what drives peoples’ behaviour in a certain situation. I also think that an insight is more likely to appear after long periods of using a product or embracing an idea combined with research. Embracing ideas, developing experiences and actually using the product are conducting to deeper understanding. Of course, time is always an issue and a planner doesn’t always have the luxury to embrace an idea or develop serious experiences and this is where qualitative and quantitative research step in to produce a clear and deeper image of that simple reason to believe.

• Define an idea.

Ideas are subjective. Most of the people perceive things differently due to different ways of thinking and education. So there is no universal definition of an idea. It could be an opinion, a judgement, a point of view or even a simple thought. So if you ask me to define an idea my answer would be “it depends!”. In other words if an insight is a feeling of deeper understanding than an idea could be an expression of an insight or even what lies beneath that feeling of understanding.

• What is Planning?

Planning is the connection between the product or brand and people’s daily lives. Judging by that, a planner must understand the right path that a brand can take directly to the consumer’s mind.

• How will W+K be making money in ten years?

If I tell you this how much will you be willing to pay me? Seriously!

• Tell us something interesting.

I actually think that Ray William Johnson could be a great brand ambassador for Nike although he basically just sits in front of a camera and comments on internet viral videos.

• Which piece of work do you wish you’d made, and why?

It’s actually a Romanian TV ad for fois gras. You can see it here but unfortunately there is no translation in English. Although I think it is easy to understand what’s it all about … the little girl is being neglected by a not so attentive father who forgets to wake up in the morning, who is clumsy and doesn’t know how to dress her or fix her hair and on top of that who forgets to pick her up from her ballet lessons on Wednesday. In the end he fixes all his mistakes with a tasty snack. It seems very simple but there is a lot of strategic substrate in that ad. The father is faced with these problems because the Romanian mothers are changing, developing and this is an incredible insight. The crisis or their needs for personal development and professional success makes them work more. The fois gras is just a fast solution for the father and it’s more like a symbol of his way of thinking, trying to “buy” his daughter’s good will. It’s cheap, it’s tasty and it comes from a can. What can be easier than that for a clumsy father? Personally I admire the courage of the guy or girl who came with the idea for the t-shirt the main character is wearing. It’s more than a statement, it’s masculinity all the way!

• What’s your favourite piece of Nike work from anywhere in the world, and why?

It’s Joga Bonito: Cr. Ronaldo vs. Zlatan Ibrahimovici featuring Eric Cantona because it’s not about wining, it’s about playing the game and enjoying it.

• What’s the biggest issue facing football?

Clubs are missing symbols. There are no more emblematic players like Ryan Giggs, Pep Guardiola, Fernando Hierro or Alessandro del Piero which played almost an entire carrier at the same club. There is no loyalty, no attachment. The main drive is money not pleasure of playing the game. Focus is on winning and not on having fun and this is why the game seems to be more like a battle. The question is are we that competitive or are we just enjoying violence and struggle more the technique and finesse. So if the player is an aggressive money driven migrant how can he be a symbol?

• What does Just Do It mean to a kid today?

Dreams are achievable.