Strategy is often a misused word, but strategy simply answers the question: how? So in today's world of communications clarity of thought and execution is more important than ever.

In the 90s ago brand strategy used to be the domain of the "full-service" agency, but when agencies became more disintegrated and specialised into creative shops, the ownership [...]

Cool milk on the go.
An innovative product beats innovative advertising, so maybe it's time for advertising planners to explore the domain of product development. 

The market of today requries a balance of fast thinking, cost efficiency and above all creativity. This is where the modern advertising agency can excel compared to brand consultants and design agencies [...]

Change the inside.

Any agency planner who has worked with big companies know one thing: they are built for efficiency, not for dynamic change. This means the biggest obstacle for innovative thinking in marketing and communications are created by themselves. Paradoxically, it has never been more important for a company to differentiate itself. 

The problem is not [...]

Creativity is probably the most important asset to any ad agency. So it would be stupid of one to not dig deeper into an agency’s creative processes and try to improve these. There are of course many aspects of creativity and ways of improving things. One way of looking at creativity is from a behavioural [...]

Information is supposed to be open-source, and that includes all those boxes, pyramids and arrows we use in every day work. That’s why I’ve created Open Planning Ware, a place where you’ll find branding and communication models I’ve been using or come across. There are only a few models uploaded so far, but this is [...]

For agencies that don’t have a Planner, here’s a toolkit consisting of four power questions that I reckon will provide strategic direction to any project. If you’re able to answer the questions and your client is satisfied with your work, congrats – you just completed Planning 101!

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The Swedish Standards Institute, has formed a group of brand consultants, academics plus legal and accounting specialists to join an international project on developing common guidelines for brand valuation.
The goal is to create common guidelines that are open and comparable valuation processes and results. These will make it easier for companies and [...]

I’ve just finished reading The McKinsey Way, an insider’s perspective on how McKinsey & Co, the world’s most respected management consulting firm, manage their engagements (what we call accounts). I’m not going to review the book (you can find that elsewhere) more than saying it’s rather useful for those handling large advertising accounts and brand [...]