Planning 2.537: The Transition Phase

Admap Essay Prize 2012 (SHORTLIST)

Abstract.

Conducting this type of past, present and future review incites the temptation to talk in extremities; to paint a picture of the future planning landscape that will get you reaching for the ‘beta-blockers’ or champagne.

As agency remuneration is marginalised against a backdrop of economic doom and gloom (at least in most of the western world), it is quite easy to predict a depressing future vision of planning. A world in which the lonely planner stumbles across a post-agency apocalypse of production houses, incoherently sputtering now quite familiar arcane phrases such as “no time for strategy”, or “they just left the brand for dead”.

It is also tempting to spout the usual ‘upstream’ predictions for planning. That in this time of ‘crisis’ we are becoming increasingly fundamental to our clients’ business beyond the remit of communications, and are destined to be pulled further up the decision chain.

In truth, these eventualities vary in credible plausibility, and leapfrogging the present to uncover the hidden secrets of the future within the confines of a short essay is probably a little hopeful. Yet perhaps what can be achieved within the parameters of this paper is ticking the box of due diligence and exploring at least one avenue of possibility, however small or large it might be.

Hopefully, this will at least entertain enough to cover the next few thousand words.

Essay published by WARC, available on warc.com or to download here

More publications