The Eleven Miles planning team has been thinking ahead for 2023: Where can we add the most value? How can we take ourselves out of our comfort zone? What do clients need from us now? In our latest series, each Eleven Miles planner muses on the single word that sums up what 2023 could hold for them.

Planners in 2023 will need to be concise…

Looking back over the past year, it's no secret that it has been an economically challenging one. With many brands feeling the effects of inflation throughout the business many brands are, amongst other things, tightening their budgets as they look to navigate the impact. Reflecting on today's circumstances made me think about how we as planners can provide value for clients throughout 2023, and if there is any way we can develop our processes and approaches to meet the needs of today. In this respect, I think there is an opportunity for planners to contemplate the ways in which we can be more concise and approach the planning process with brevity.  

Being concise is already a best practice of planning when it comes to the delivery of strategies. Writing a strategy, then rewriting a strategy, and continuing to refine the wording until we can deliver a strategy effectively, powerfully and in a way which doesn't use any unnecessary words. This helps us to be concise in our delivery, but how could we extend this throughout the planning process?

We can actively consider how we can be more incisive when we approach a new brief, identifying where there are opportunities for us to work smarter, or in some instances, faster. This could look differently across various projects and as a result would need to be evaluated on a brief by brief basis. However, there are two areas in particular where I believe there is always an opportunity for brevity in the planning process.

Firstly, a key consideration would be in how we make use of evidence throughout our approach to creating a strategy. Evidence is key in planning and utilising this throughout the process can help planners come to a conclusion easier and faster, reducing the overall amount of time spent on a project. It's also beneficial as it ensures the strategies we deliver are evidence based.

Secondly, once we have developed and delivered the strategy, we can consider how we can be more concise in the delivery of creative briefs for the creative team. Being concise in writing pushes us to evaluate how we can relay information in a straightforward way and using fewer words. However, there is also the opportunity when evaluating the words we use, to ensure the words we choose relay the strategy in a compelling way. Equipping creative teams with exciting briefs can help to inspire great creative work, which is important in enabling a more streamlined process. 

Even in the face of adversity, we can uncover new opportunities to grow and adapt to meet the needs of today and find ways of providing more value for clients. Brevity is a learned skill, but honing this skill can be one which can provide great value.