Why Planning is Like Playing a Symphony

There are moments in our lives when we hear a work of art like Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony for the first time. These sounds can move us to the core, and we are inherently quick to recognize the brilliance.

And despite being around for hundreds of years, people listen to classical music over and over again without getting bored. Why?

Those born in the 90s might think it’s because we heard it behind every Looney Tunes cartoon on Saturday mornings; the truth is that although the notes may be the same, each time a symphony is played, the music is uniquely shaped and crafted with a new artistic rendition.

The same goes for building a strong creative campaign. Although the goal is often to create something entirely new, KPIs and the fundamental structure remains the same. This is where Planners come in to help orchestrate the process and make something people will watch over and over again for generations.

We Read the Score

Comms Planners will often receive client briefs with the business problem and objective. Sometimes it’s our job to read through the documents and figure out what we are trying to achieve. It is important to scrutinize this brief so that we can formulate a sound strategic comms brief that will stay tried and true throughout the whole process. If we familiarize ourselves, we can prepare for every peak and valley, and any changes that might be necessary for the future.

We Help Find Our Star

Behind every brilliant soloist, there is an incredible orchestra. This is important. Finding influencers, the best place to position copy or whatever will be your point of difference, costs not only time but money. We try to find this early but only after we have proven that the star is a good fit to your strategy. They are going to be the selling point of the creative work. Planners help to do the research to prove the reach of our star will hold prevalence with the audience and give advice on other places to consider.

We’ve Mastered Our Part

Each department in a full agency has a role to play. When we each find and share information, it’s like a call and response. Effective collaboration can help find any problems in the plan and invigorate new ideas. With many groups at the table, it is important to condense the information and transpose it to be understood by all groups.

And Hand it Off Smoothly

The conductor uh, I mean your client, makes the hard calls, the cuts, and the additions, but it is up to each player to learn their part and make it as well as possible. Planners will be prepared to help answer the “what if” questions.

We Bring it All Together

All of those meetings are starting to formulate into something beautiful, but it’s not quite there yet. There is a moment when it will feel that every department (creative, producers, media) are all on the same page. This is where things will start to come alive, the blueprint is locked in, and the scripts are on fire. The client will always want to work with this team again in the future.

Let’s Add the Style

Bring back our star, and you have the video spot or physical copy that your creative team made. It’s going to live in the channels you recommended, and just remember that when it win awards, you helped set the framework. You know that all of the millennials you are undoubtedly targeting will not be able to get enough of this (until you launch something else even more incredible next week, naturally.)

We’ve Created a Masterpiece!

Individual names might not all be on the mantle, but creativity in advertising takes a village. Campaigns need planning to give the result a drive — a purpose. Just like the notes on the page it creates the structural glue and guides artistic momentum.

“One note does not make a symphony; one artist does not make an orchestra.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo

Just like the orchestra members, planners are not asking for the spotlight; they want to see the whole show shine from beginning to end, and we do what we can to make sure that what began as a thought, becomes a reality.