Northern Planner

If you want better answers, ask less questions

If I was any good as maths, I would have been a physicist instead of planner. Such is life.

That said, I've always kept a passing fascination for the subject, especially particle physics.

There's a weird phenomenon when things get very, very small, which blows my mind.

You have to assume tiny particles are in multiple places at once, yet if you actually observe them, you affect their behaviour and they appear in one place.

In other words, the more direct questions you ask a tiny particle like an electron, the less reliable the answers you get back.

Researching real people is like that. 

Make them feel watched in a focus group and they'll tell you what they think the rest of the group wants to hear (or agree with the loudest mouth).

Even when you talk to then one to one, without knowing it, they'll won't tell you how they really feel or what they'll do.

Partly because they can't help telling you what they think you'll want to hear.

Partly because the mind plays tricks, the further away they are from the experience they're talking about, the less they'll remember or predict it right.

You could ask them questions in the wild, where the experience happens, this is much better. 

You'll still get a bum steer though, because the problem isn't just where and how you ask the questions.

It's asking the questions in the first place.

Asking questions about brands, new behaviours and most categories, like it is with electrons, changes their natural state.

Which is to not to give a flying fuck.

By asking questions, you're getting then artificially interested in things they usually just don't care about.

You're asking them to think about things that normally happen on autopilot, or not at all.

Even worse when we test creative and ask them what they think.

No one wants to think about advertising apart from the people who make it.

The first task of advertising is getting noticed in a busy world, yet most research forgets this.

Asking questions in research creates false interest and consideration.

Which leads to false answers.

So most research is a waste of time. Sorry.

If you want to know, don't ask. 

The things they never teach you number one- be more like waiter and less like a rockstar

There are some things you are formally educated on when you join an agency.  Like most clients expecting a clear role for communications, or the framework of issue/insight/thought.

Then there are more informal and craft rules you mostly get taught. For example, make the creative briefing as inspirational and focused as you can, because creatives always have briefs they'll put everything into... and briefs they'll just get out off their desks.

But there are things few really tell you, that you have to learn yourself, usually the hard way.

Much of that is about the work you do, even more is about how you do it.

Let's start with a 'how you do it' one. The best strategy types are like waiters, or like Satan.

We do our best work when people forget we exist.

It's a hard lesson to learn, but we rarely make anything. We create the framework for others to. The launchpad and the little nudges for the best, most effective work.

There's nothing more annoying than a waiter, or shop assistant who marks your every move, or asks if you need any help when you clearly don't.

Just as them not being there when you DO want them is equally frustrating.

The best feedback I ever got from a client was when they said, "We're not quite sure what he does, but when he's involved it's all easier and the things we get are just better". 

The worst feedback when I was a lot younger was, "Stop trying to do my job". 

Which means a big part of how you go about your day to day is losing the ego and being really kind and generous with your thinking. 

Because suits. creatives, media planners and whatever all get judged on the quality of their work and naturally need kudos for stuff that does well. If they get a sniff that you'll steal some credit (even if an idea is yours) they'll do everything they can to do the opposite.

Strategy types ultimately get judged on the quality of other people's work, the creative output, the media plan, if the work get bought without too much pain and suffering.

For example, the dark art of the imperfect creative brief (more on that another time)

The trick is strike the balance between appearing invisible and the people who matter knowing what you contribute. 

Of course, there are moments to own and shine. The trends presentation, the comm planning day, but still, it's amazing what happens when you approach it as time to energise others, rather than a chance to look good. 

This also applies to clients. Don't let anyone tell you you're the 'brains of the operation'. Especially clients - clients are the brains of the operation. Our natural response to smart arses is either to ignore them, or compete with them. Another time we'll go into the sneaky ways of making people feel it was their thinking all along.