Learning to be a (great) planner 101 #2.

Agency myth: There will be monies allocated to do all the research you want about the brand, the product and your target market.

Correction: Yea right. Show me this agency and I'll show you a self-sacrificial government leader.

I've been thrown the same question by a lot of people lately. Why on earth am I doing what I'm doing when it's not supposed to be done by me? Well, going back to the myth above. No. Agencies do not have a bottomless pit for planners to research whether formally or not. Not the money, not the time (time spared is money burnt, some thinks) and definitely not the manpower (or woman). That's why it would be important to use every opportunity for self-initiatives and if possible try something new. Execute something you've never done. Exchange roles with someone who complains a lot about what they do. Do something different other than researching, reading and planning. To a certain extent, executing activations especially on-ground events where there are great opportunities for physical human interaction, these are great grounds for planners to find out more about their target, the product, the brand. For free. In a way. Observe and learn. Multitasking stretches your perspective to a spectrum of possibilities you never thought possible.

I'm doing what I'm doing because it will eventually add on to what I should be doing, that's why.