Sometimes, life at the School of Communication Arts can settle into a bit of a routine. That doesn't mean it's dull, just that it follows certain patterns.
So yesterday, despite the early start, was a welcome change. 14 of us dropped in on IPA Training's campaign planning conference, to act as creative guinea-pigs for the participants. They'd been working for two days on a brief to extend Tetley's brand appeal to middle and lower-middle class women in the south, who currently saw Tetley's as northern, irrelevant, out-of-touch, and outdated.
They'd split up into 7 strategy teams, so each one was assigned a team of 2 creatives. The brief Olly and I were given was to reposition Tetley "as a reassuring partner to support the ups and downs in everyday life" and make it a brand that "lets you embrace the unknown inherent to everyday life". The Tetley Tea Folk were to be killed and unceremoniously disposed of.
We developed 3 creative strategies for them in the morning session - a fairly weak one that met the brief, a strong one that met the brief but also took it into new pastures, and a third one that ignored the brief and found a way to keep the Tetley Tea Folk whilst appealing to a new set of customers. After much discussion, they plumped for number 2 - which had taken their strategy but substituted the word "extraordinary" for "unknown".
So the plan was to show that everyday life had changed since the timewarp-stuck cliches of the Tea Folk, and that behind the simple details of our life lie great talents, strange hobbies, unexpected friendships, and genuine suffering. And Tetley would position itself as a modern brand, providing a constant in these strange, disjointed lives we lead.
In the afternoon and after dinner, we got our ideas down on paper, and made revisions after discussion with the team. In the end we managed to churn out 4 characters, 4 TV ad synopses (including a twist that could extend the concept into a second campaign), 2 single page press ads, 2 double page press ads, a rough packaging design, and an online / experiential idea. Not bad for an afternoon's work (there's a photo at the bottom) - and it could even be something that makes its way into our portfolio.
The planning team pitched today in our absence to Tetley's marketing people - we're waiting to find out if we / they won. But even if not, the day was immensely valuable...
I learned that the brief you get from the planner can be very tight, and very focused. But I also learned that this could be inspiring.
This may not go for all planners, but I learned that challenging a brief, or at least pushing the boundaries, is always worth a try.
I learned that the more options you offer, the better the chance of getting one through.
I learned that if you knuckle down, you can produce a lot in an afternoon.
I learned that being able to articulate your creative strategy is as important as being able to produce it.
And finally, I learned that planners and account managers are absolutely lovely people, hard-working, enthusiastic, and as passionate as any of us about seeing great creative work hit the public. Or at least, the young ones are.
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