Julian Cole — Comms Planner
Julian talks to TheNextGag about what a comms planner do, why planners should get into teaching and what he took from his early days working at Naked.
Julian Cole is a Comms Planner in the USA.
Julian Cole was the Head of Comms Planning at BBDO New York until December 2017. In this role he oversaw a team of 15 comms planners working across Footlocker, AT&T, Mars Chocolate and Petcare, Bacardi, Visa, J&J or American Red Cross.
Previously he was Head of Comms Planning at BBH New York where he launched PlayStation 4, which became the fastest selling platform in video gaming history. The campaign was also awarded top advertising honors at the Cannes Lions, winning 2 Gold, 2 Silver and a Bronze Lion.
He has been fundamental in helping to establish the new discipline of Comms Planning, teaching over 2,000 students on Skillshare through his online courses.
Julian is also the founder of the Newsletter ‘Planning Dirty’.
He was the inaugural creative in the Creative Residency scheme launched by Dare.Win, the renowned Parisian entertainment agency. The scheme turns Dare.Win’s office into a hub of international cultural exchange for travelling creatives (be that freelancers, entrepreneurs, or even directors…).
THENEXTGAG: IT SEEMS THAT A LOT OF FORMER NAKED EMPLOYEES STILL VALUE A LOT THEIR TIME AT THE AGENCY. AND A LOT OF THEM WENT ON TO GET BIG POSITIONS. WHAT MADE NAKED SO SPECIAL ?
JULIAN COLE: I owe so much to Naked. That, really, was the foundation of my knowledge. It did great work. Especially the Melbourne office. It was very different around the world. It took different forms. In New York, it was very brand strategy-centric. Whereas when I was in Australia, it was creative. They made nice executions and they made really cool work.
But, it is interesting saying everyone popped off and went to different things now. Like the bosses that I was in touch with, it is really interesting to see them, they’ve gone on to stuff and in their own agencies.
TNG: A LOT OF MY FOLLOWERS FOLLOW YOU. WHY IS THAT ? ARE YOU REALLY ACTIVE ON TWITTER ? DO YOU CRACK JOKES ?
JC: I guess I was on Twitter pretty early on in Australia. And I genuinely just talk about planning stuff. It is kind of boring, I think. The stuff that I talk about online is definitely just one side of my life. The professional side. It is not really like Facebook. I don’t even have Instagram. But, it is very much about planning and comms planning.
Maybe, that’s why your followers follow me. Because, I am just consistent on that. Maybe I would be too boring if I talked about everything else. I have got no idea.
TNG: I READ A LOT ONLINE. BUT SOMETIME THE DISCUSSION WILL SHIFT FROM TWITTER, TO LINKEDIN, TO MEDIUM ARTICLES, TO NEWSLETTERS. IS IT DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO BE SPREAD OUT ON SO MANY DIFFERENT PLACES ?
JC: No. I think what you are saying is true. Linkedin just kind of popped out last year and really took off. Before, everything was on Twitter. I think it’s good that it is on Linkedin now. Because I feel like that is a bigger audience. I feel like Twitter was “the crew”. It was very a tight group of people whereas Linkedin feels like a broader segment of planners that I was just not talking to before. That’s been really good. And there is also Facebook groups that have been really interesting.
But, in terms of “does the content change too much between those platforms”, no.
TNG: I’D SAY THAT TWITTER FEELS LIKE A FAMILY. I’VE BEEN ON IT FOR 10 YEARS NOW. ON LINKEDIN, ALMOST ANYONE CAN PRETEND TO BE A STRATEGIST. I’D RATHER STAY ON TWITTER FOR MY PART.
JC: It’s interesting, I agree. Linkedin, to me, is like the Wild Wild West. It’s just the shit that goes on up there is like “Why are you writing this ? This is so cringe-worthy.” I take everything there with a pinch of salt. There is such bad stuff there.
I feel that I can chat about that with people on Twitter. Because they are all jaded and kind of pissed-off people. Especially in America. It is very snarky.
TNG: TO COME BACK TO YOUR ONLINE JOURNEY, I SEE THAT YOU ARE STILL PRETTY ACTIVE ON SLIDESHARE.
JC: Yes. I need to get back on that.
TNG: PEOPLE SEEM TO HAVE DESERTED SLIDESHARE. HOW DID YOU USE THAT TO MOVE ON TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW ?
JC: The thing that I realized was that Slideshare was great when I was using it. I was using it in 2013–14. It was good. I was doing a Skillshare course and teaching digital strategy. My job was a Digital Strategy Director. I thought, “I better write what I think it is.” And so I wrote it and I put it up there so I had somewhere to talk about it and let the people hang out. And then that just took off. And so, I used that for a while. But I’ve stopped.
But, now I think I am going to start using it again, because people like it. The SEO is still good. And I have got all these decks. I am happy to share this stuff.
TNG: HOW DID YOU GET INTO TEACHING THEN ?
JC: A friend asked me. He knew someone early on in the Skillshare days. And he was like “Hey, you should teach a course on that about Digital Strategy.” And I was like “Why not ?”
I think, when you teach, it makes you so much better as well. You can be good, but when you have to actually teach it or talk about it, it makes you 10x better. So, I really see the value of teaching, because it makes me better at my job. Which is the best thing.
But, also, people seem to get a lot of benefit out of it as well. Because, at least, in the comms planning world, there is not much information out there about it. So, If I can help provide that for someone else, then I am happy to do that.
TNG: ISN’T IT HARD TO TEACH CLASSES NOT IN A CLASSROOM BUT FROM BEHIND YOUR COMPUTER ?
JC: I agree. It is hard. You kind of have to write more back to them. Like when I was giving feedback..
I don’t know. It kind of just worked. I did do a couple of Google Hangouts with students at the end. But, most of the people were just reading and using. I think they find a value from it.
At BBDO New York, it is just much harder to get work out.
TNG: YOU TALKED ABOUT YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES AT BBH AND BBDO AS “BIG BRANDS. BIG BUREAUCRACY”. PERSONALLY , I CONSIDER BBDO NEW YORK AS THE BEST CREATIVE AGENCY RIGHT NOW. DO YOU AGREE ?
JC: Yes, they are one the most creative agencies that I’ve worked for. They were really smart people within that creative agency. I felt pretty lucky to be able to work there and to work with that calibre of creative people.
I think there are so many great agencies in New York and in the world. I have to have a positive view on the place. There are other ones that I respect too. I really loved my time at BBH. I think the creatives were quite different there.
But at BBDO, it is just much harder to get work out. It takes longer in America that it does here. That’s the big bureaucracy I was talking about. I don’t love it. And that’s kind of the reason that I moved there. Because it was a big agency but it still had the good reputation of making great work. I think it’s really hard to keep that consistency when you are talking about a network. How many offices have they got around the world ? It is hard to keep that consistency high. And certain agencies in the network are much stronger than others.
You need to be thinking about how can you can make everyone else’s lives easier.
TNG: COMING BACK TO THE ROLE OF A STRATEGIST, I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK MAKES A GOOD ONE ?
JC: I had three ways I judged planners and that was peer review, performance and participation.
- Performance means you’ve got to get the work on the board. You got to have really effective and award-winning work. And if you don’t have that, then it is really hard to prove that you are a good planner. Because, at the end of the day, we need to do great work out for clients. And for a lot of planners, that can be tough. There are so many variables out of your control, but you must control that one. You need to put yourself in that position.
- Peer review is quite simply, does the creative director or creative leader like you and value you?” and does the account lead and equally the client lead ?” And, the brand planner, if you are a comms planner. And if you can get those three people on your side, then I think you’re good. Because, a lot of people struggle with the diplomacy of working that out.
- Finally, Participation, which is what are you doing to develop the department. What are you doing to give back to the group , beyond just your own role. You need to be thinking about how can you can make everyone else’s lives easier.I will make sure that whatever agency I’m at, I try to make the atmosphere as positive as possible.
And I think if you do those three things, that can make you a great planner.
Within those three, there of course needs to be a certain skill-set.
The interesting thing I found was that the best planners don’t always work out when they work at the best agencies.
I think you need to read the room and know what position you need to play.
TNG: COLLEN LEDDY OF DROGA5 IS PROBABLY THE ONLY COMMS PLANNER I’M AWARE OF. HOW DO YOU DEFINE COMMS PLANNING AS OPPOSED TO STRATEGIC PLANNING ?
JC: The way we talk about it, as comms planners, is that the brand planner will come up with what are we going to say and then the comms planner comes up with how we are going to say it. That’s to say, how the idea will be brought to life.
If you take a campaign like the latest one from Droga5 with the tourist in Australia, where they make the fake Dundee movie, the comms planner’s role would be how do we make this actually feel like a movie launch. What are the different elements that we need to put together to actually bring it to life, including writing up all the tactical briefs and making sure that it’s all well orchestrated when brought together. Whereas the brand planner would have come up with the initial brief to get to that idea, the comms planner is orchestrating everything and working hand-in-hand with the media planner.
So, brand planning is getting to the first message with an architect.
TNG: YOU MENTIONED THE DUNDEE MOVIE. AS AN AUSTRALIAN, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT EFFORT ?
JC: I liked it. I thought it was really good. I think it will hopefully work. It uses star power in a good way. It didn’t feel like it can sometimes when you are just inserting a celebrity in there for no reason. I also like it from a comms planning perspective, because they are creating and integrating a whole campaign.
I really love all the Droga5 work. And I think that’s really close to the work we used to create at Naked. I think it’s an Australian type of work, where you are making something beyond the ad or you are trying to make something bigger than just an ad. And Droga5 does that all the time and I really appreciate their work.
I thought that one was another great piece in the ongoing great run they are having.
Comms Planner
Linkedin | Twitter | Newsletter | Skillshare | Slideshare
TheNextGag offers ad professionals an up-to-date calendar showing upcoming deadlines of the major global ad awards competitions and rankings of campaigns, brands, agencies and creatives in a beautiful mobile site.
TheNextGag | Obsessed with Creative Advertising
