'Some think we're just a clever agency that does stunts'

Paul Payne Managing director, PHD Asia-Pacific

Isn't communications planning just a fancy term for what agencies have always done?

That's open to debate. Is it mutton dressed as lamb? A fad or the future? I think it's a new discipline and a new way of approaching client problems. Yes, it incorporates something agencies have always done, but it casts it in a wider context. At the heart of it, you still need a cracking idea that can live through a variety of channels — not just a tactical stunt that gets giggles.

Would communications planning agencies exist if media unbundling had never happened?

There'd have been an even greater need for them. With the old silo mentality in ad agencies, with advertising as the lead discipline, the industry would have been in a state where it became totally out of touch with consumer behaviour. The traditional 'fire, ready, aim' method would have left clients crying out for a fresh approach.

Why do clients in Asia need comms planning agencies?

Advertisers in Asia are facing the same issues they face the world over. They need cohesive agency partnerships to help them solve the problems that keep them up at night. The market has evolved and consumers are changing, and clients need to recognise that there is a different and better way of solving their problems.

Are we to expect a rash of Naked and PHD copycats in Asia, like in the UK?

While we're pioneering the comms game, we're not looking to be put up on a pedestal. We don't have a monopoly on good thinking. It can only be a good thing for the market to get shaken up with a different point of view. It's healthy for everybody. Clients will benefit in the long run.

 

Which traditional media agencies do you admire for what they're doing in this space?

Plenty of agencies are evolving their offerings. People are taking notice of our success. But to really work it needs to be at the heart of an agency's belief system — not just the fluffy stuff on top. Agencies are getting it right on occasions, but none have it embedded in the core of their proposition.

What's the best communications-neutral idea you've ever come across?

A campaign for Berocca by Rocket (PHD's comms planning arm) in the UK. Traditionally a hangover remedy, Berocca wanted to be regarded as a mind-stretching mental energy supplement. It attached itself to Sudoku, staging 'mental sharpness fuelling stations' where players could meet and play, turning what was a solitary game into a social phenomenon.
Ads were also placed in the puzzle pages of newspapers. It wasn't glamorous or glitzy or advertising-led, rather a simple and elegant way to communicate a new proposition.

 

 

John Harlow Founder, Naked Communications

Isn't communications planning just a fancy term for what agencies have always done?

No. Ad agencies were set up around specific clusters of channels, and media agencies evolved out of the need to buy in those channels. Communications planning cuts across all of those things, and includes thinking about channels that you don't necessarily pay for. Communications planning is, of course, about communication, which is a much bigger word than advertising.

Would communications planning agencies exist if media unbundling had never happened?

We have evolved as much from account planning from the ad agency side as we have from media agencies, and a lot of very bright account planners come to talk to us. The big agencies are built around serving the old ways of advertising, so clients would still have needed us.

Why do clients in Asia need comms planning agencies?

Brands want to move away from traditional 'talk at them' advertising. The communications revolution is happening everywhere as the world becomes a complicated place to navigate, which calls for a different skill set.

Are we to expect a rash of Naked and PHD copycats in Asia, like in the UK?

Comms planning hasn't happened in the US or Australia in a big way yet. And while the UK has a strong planning heritage, there's been a lot of noise and misunderstanding about what we do. Some people think we're just a clever media agency that does stunts. But a lot of our work is upstream strategy and the development of ideas that aren't executed by us.

 

Which traditional media agencies do you admire for what they're doing in this space?

I can't really say. What we think of as communications planning the media agencies just aren't doing.

What's the best communications-neutral idea you've ever come across?

Tesco's 'Every little helps' positioning in the UK has grown into something that affects the entire brand, from giving out umbrellas to shoppers when it's raining, to taking sweets away from near the tills because mums said they didn't want them there. It has grown into every part of the brand's behaviour.