Alex Steer

214 words | ~1 min

If you care about the question implied in the subject line, read Martin Weigel's speech to the APG, but especially this:

In a world characterized by constant change and innovation, planning will be knowledgeable about the fundamental principles of marketing and communications. It is breathtaking how little planning knows about how businesses actually make money, and how brands grow and are sustained. It is equally depressing how uninterested many planners appear to be in any of this today. Planners who find this stuff too tedious, or beneath them, would probably be better off advising production companies, than advising clients on how to address their business issues. In contrast, radical planning will take a keen interest in how our clients actually make money – in the business behind our clients’ brands.

There's so much wisdom in the whole piece, but I believe the root of it all is what's above. Planners should know how to use marketing communications to help increase an organisation's revenues and profits, by reinforcing and changing perceptions in ways that reduce the cost of sales or justify higher prices. If they can do that, they will still be valuable to people who manage brands, regardless of the kind of organisation they work in.