8 Points on the Future of Planning – Jon Steel

In 2011 I posted a talk of Jon Steel of WPP, talking about what he values most in advertising account planning.

I had such a fantastic response to the post, that I decided to see if I could find any more of Jon Steel and his talks out there. I came across this talk in which Jon spoke at a WPP event to celebrate Planning at 40.

Jon Steel: Planning at 40: Solving the wrong problems from JWT on Vimeo.

Where possible I’ve tried to summarise the relevant points made by Jon Steel, but I would urge people to watch the talk and make up their own minds.

1. Planning /Planners cannot be truly effective when working in isolation. Rather the best work comes from integrating and working with other disciplines.
2. The true test of planning is not in new business but in existing business. Are the right strategic decisions being made by the client?
3. In the absence of talented creatives, planning will never make up for solid creative ideas based on sound thinking
4. Discipline, research and hard work are still the cornerstone of planning as a practice
5. Planning is not about creativity. It is about grounded creativity
6. The best work comes from the tension between creatives and planning practices to challenge the work of the other
7. Doing the right thing has given way to doing something because in general clients tenure in charge have been shorten to a couple of years. As a result it’s very hard to embed a long-term strategy for clients.
8. Planning works best when it’s setting a client’s goals, whether it is communications, branding, or tackling an underlying business problem.