Advice For Next Year

Question 41: Any suggestions for next year's survey?

In addition to planning, what are your other responsibilities? Those of us in small co.'s wear multiple hats. Thanks for doing this!!!!! :-)

Include budget of campaigns people work on

nope. looks good.

Write in for "brand best planned" of the year and something about what market has the best planning.

I really liked the section giving advice to people trying to break into planning. I routinely send this to a lot of professors and students and know they have found this section to be very valuable. I also love questions about where we think the discipl

what is the ideal culture for planning?

what is the definition planning at your agency? and what is the definition of planning in general? Developing a chart like this would be interesting: http://www.zeusjones.com/blog/2008/ux-is-the-new-account-plann

I am curious to know marital status and HHI (vs. just the individual's salary). I plan on having a family someday and would like some idea of how many female planners are married with children. Another curiousity, that stems from that, whether any planner

maybe add a question: does your agency have separate departments for engagement/connection planning and account planning? if so, do you feel this is the most effective approach?

Would include question asking interest in working flexibly or part time - this is a big issue and should be an option for more planners

Nope. Keep up the good work!

N/A

Love it, keep up the rockin work Heather!

Questions about industry trends and favorite cases

maybe provide a list in the question of existing top level planning directors for the "who would you like to work for" question ..hard to know who is in what role these days and at what agencies.

Honestly, I'd like to know how quickly other planners are getting promoted. I've been an associate brand strategist for 2 years, but I think I'm doing the job of a brand strategist. I'd like to be promoted, but I want to know if that's a realistic expecta

Create a status bar so you know where you are in the survey

provide cross tabs so we can draw our own conclusions/analysis. promote results in Ad Age.

Nope.

Something for junior planners!

Good survey. Would love next year's to look more at the different structures of planning groups in agencies - i.e. silos - integrated - what areas of specialty, etc.

Look at differences between global and regional planning assignments.

Ask age

how about a category for creative planning? thx.

Nope. Thanks!

Keep 'em coming!

nope.

ask more connections/ digital questions

Well, not working in an agency, this feels so agency centric, perhaps more inclusive of the consulting, branding side of things?

keep it up :)

not yet

take out strawberryfrog from the agency list. ilana is great, but the agency doesn't deserve to be on that list.

nope!

add some "where do you get inspired / info" questions.

What do you like most about your job?

no

No!

Please ask about freelancers as that is becoming more prominent (maybe due to economy). How much they get paid by hour, what benefits if any, do they prefer to freelance and how long is a typical engagement.

nope!

Top planning directors

Top interactive planning firms

Top planning firms in general

Top youth to watch

i'd love to hear about what companies are doing for families (i.e. allowing flex time, working from home, subsidizing or offering a daycare allowance, on sight childcare, how much maternity leave is paid, etc.)

none

Nope

none

no

a scale for are you more quant or qual... and a scale are you more account or creative.

no

nopeNope

I liked the 'accent' question as I still feel like I lose out to Brits.

Make it easy to access previous years' surveys. It makes it easier to convince other planners to take the survey if they can see the benefits of participation.

Keep em coming

this is fantastic- look forward to it every year! thanks for keeping it going!

no

nope, I always like seeing what you come up with Heather.

I would love to know more about benefits/time off for those with kids - like maternity leave, etc.

Would LOVE to know if female planners are mothers. It seems like an oxymoron, sadly. I'd also love to know people's personal feelings about their own social media knowledge.

Can you add the title "strategist"?

Less questions

Nada, keep it comin.

no

Overlaps are interesting: between planners and other groups; and their agencies and other kinds of business. How do we collaborate?

You did a great job Heather. I'm curious to see how many planners have Blogs, Twitter Accounts, RSS Feeds, etc.

degree to which planners participate in planner specific social networks; a measurement of interest in local APG gatherings by major metro area

No.

Not off the top of my head - still lovin it - thanks!

Questions about professional development & training - does their co offer internal or external training or coaching? what kinds of training are they getting? what kinds of training they need/want?

no

Ask about planning's role in innovation and design. How many agency planners are doing this at their current agency? How many planners have moved from an ad agency to a design/innovation firm?

would love to know about freelancer's fees more specifically--hourly/day rates, and perhaps about how they chose those rates based on past salaries, or how they choose salaries when they go full-time based on their freelance rates

Nope. Thanks for doing this.

I'm curious about freelance planners - at what level of seniority they find success as a freelancer.

I would like to know what kinds of work people do, whether it's mostly decks, creative briefs, etc. and what novel methods of presenting info they've conceived. Also whether people like working on new biz pitches. Is it still a big deal to be asked to wor

probe the difference in the way that planning is deployed in different countries and/or company cultures

Just keep it coming!

Don't make everything required; I'll not take this again if that's the case.

pictures

i would like to know more about hiring- such as asking hiring managers if they intend to hire more people and also HOW they usually end up hiring people

best planning blog - both veteran and junior.

nope! keep up the good work!!

no

It would be cool to have a section about the best planning recruiters in the industry.

Ask about using Twitter, Facebook, other social media services on a daily/weekly basis and frequency of use.

Thank you for doing this - for the fifth year in a row! I'm always so happy to receive the results. Hope you're doing well in Amsterdam!

i'd like to hear people's frustrations.

Curious to know how planners describe themselves (creative vs more quant oriented) and how that relates to pay, happiness, and other success measures.

Thanks for doing this!!!

great job, again!

- How would you enhance the role of Planning at your agency

- How would you explain the role of / importance of Planning to a client

- What sources do you use to keep informed and to build your strategies (specific trend letters, research firms, sy

I'd be interested to know where other planners spend the bulk of their time. (research, meetings, writing documents, finding insights, reading client research).

would like to know what majors they had in college, and what other professions they may have come out of

Ask us which type of campaign we liked (and can be done with different types - print, interactive, TV, etc.)

Nope. Great work!

Less questionsnope. killer. love it.

Thanks for doing it.

nope.

Maybe where the role of planning is going...It used to be just brand planner, but now we have connections planners, channel planners. Are we no longer responsible for these other disciplines? Is this going in the right direction?

offer an incentive to complete! (JK!)

include a link for where to sign up for future news, survey requests

nope, just keep it up. thanks again.

I'm interested in understanding how long it took people to get to certain levels in planning ("senior," "VP," "SVP," "Director", etc.). I feel it's very fuzzy.... Also interested in understanding how much time people spend in structured research (focus g

The popularity contest is senseless. It plays into everything that makes the planning community annoying, archaic, and arrogant. Why not ask who (person) or where (agency) has the best innovative thinking? Or who/where is changing the industry for the bet

no

I'm curious if people are leaving planning/advertising due to the economic downturn. I'm also curious if people feel planning is headed more in a quant direction and how they feel about this.

The "children at home" question is interesting since I've lately been curious about work/life balance & the ability to feasibly have a family in this industry. I'd be curious to see how family-friendly others think this industry is & how people who have k

I love that you do this, thanks!

no

Include Minneapolis in your list. We have a hot ad community.

Nope. Thanks!

Would like to know on average how many accounts each planner works on and what their favorite clients are to work for.

Have a couple of questions on multicultural planning.

no

keep doing it!

This is great, thanks for continuing to do it.

More questions on happiness - I would love to know how this shakes out by level, city, agency size, etc.

All in all, this is amazing though! Thank you so much for doing this Heather.

na

NA

planners biggest frustrations in the last year and biggest positives

thank you for doing this.

would love one of those cliche 'where do you see planning/planners' in 5 years kinda question - even though it's hard to answer.

levels of responsibilities for juniors

Maybe a question about 'if you couldn't be a planner, what other job or profession do you see yourself suited for?"

n/a

questions about other fields worked in in the past. or about future fields planners are considering going into.

Divide it at the beginning:

Track 1) Tradtional Planner

Track 2) Digital Planner

Track 3) Connections Planner

nope. keep it up.

nope.

Life outside of planning? Life after planning?

Nope. Great as always.

How important are awards to planning?

What are your work hours like?

Who is the best unheard of planner?

Ask about the current mood of the agency if they've had layoffs and how it might be affecting their work.

Would love to know most common career paths for planners other than advertising (where they've come from and where they go)

keep up the good work!

Take into account interns who fill this out.

na

Ask how we stay connected with other planners? through social networking, conferences, etc. that would be interesting to know.

Finding out how the idea of planning has impacted non-traditional fields like talent management (CAA), entertainment, PR and so forth

nope. Can't wait to see the results! Thanks!

I would include questions for planners that work in multi-cultural markets (Hispanic, Asian, Af-Am).

nope

Help us figure out how muach we should be paid for each year of experience.

Thanks for putting this together. No suggestions. :)

no, it's great...keep up good work.

Maybe we can find out what the trands are for where people want to go in their careers. Digital? Connections? Pure brand planning? And how do digital planners work with the User Experience departments at digital agencies? That's something I would love to

nope. you rock.

Add 'planning director' to the title - you've always jumped from senior planner to group director skipping over director. Also might be nice to add more reflecting the fight to keep your job/ get a new one

none

Who's the next big agency?, Who's doing the best work right now?, Might not be as relevant next year but: what's your best practices during this economy in the work place?

Holograms. Think about it.

1) does planning really enhance creative results?

2)how can planning become a revenue driver (source) for agencies?

3) is there a difference b/w UK and US planners? what are they?

4) what is it that planners do? really!?!

5) you can have the best stra

No

No - this was concise.

best resources you have found as a planner

Yes --

I would be curious to know how many brands each planner works on -- and I realize that some are bigger endeavors than others. I'm concerned that my planning dept is way less effective and impactful because we are pulled in so many directions

nope!

I'd love to see how effective they feel account planning is within their place of business now as compared to wherever they were 3 years ago.

no

List top 10 U.S. markets for agencies and then regions for geography demo.

no - thank you for continuing this. It helps us know where we stand.

Do you crosstab female compensation versus male? Perhaps you do..I'd love to see that. Great stuff as always Heather! :)

Most valuable resources (daily blogs, books, etc.) of the last few months that have influenced us as planners.

Additional question: When was your last promotion?

what else would you do if you weren't a planner

general perceptions about the discipline, it's strengths/weaknesses/opportunities now that the discipline is 25 years old in the US and the entire media landscape has fractured over the past few years.

Nope

I would be terribly interested in the overall opinion of how practitioners describe planning, how they feel it is changing, and where it is headed. It would be quite interesting to see this information cut geographically, as it seems to have quite a diffe

Add: Do you have a blog?

Do you have a role model?

What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?

well done. keep it going. keeps the holding companies and agnecies on their toes in terms of low-balling planners on salary. word.

More questions on the role of planning versus the monetary issues. Would be good to know how planning differs/is similar around the world

Nope

What non-client (i.e., non-billable) initiatives do you think are/would be most helpful to your agency that you've done or would like to do?

nope

maybe something about people's opinion on the future of planning?

Better list of planning agencies. Seems to suggest a bias fueled by a lack of knowledge of what others might be doing.

Explore digital stuff more... how many have a Twitter? iPhone? Blog?

Good additions this year. I'd be keen to see even more delving into specialist areas, like shopper marketing, promotions, design, PR.

what happened to the "foreign accent factor?" that was an insightful and clever question. bring it back. also curious about age averages...is the industry getting older or younger? partic in face of tight budgets - will agencies fire the higher (older) sa

include planning director level (not director of planning) at my agency it is the level above sr. planner.

Not at the moment...very interested in seeing the results of this one!

Include Planning Director level between Senior and Group.

Ask how many planner feel leadership is good in industry, how many plan to get out and how many have a full side hustle that they use or integrate into the job

would love to see what people are doing with their creativity outside of work, both in hobbies (author, professor, etc.) and altruistically (pro bono work).

I would like to know if people think planning translates to easier/better sale of brillaint creative work. Somedays, I'm not so sure.

I'd love to see some results explaining what kind of conversations are going on in different departments/agencies around the world. You kind of hit on it with the questions about digital/connection planners....more of that.

no comments

This is great, thank you

nope, can't wait to see results!

put an Associate Director option under title

None that I can think of, but thanks for doing these surveys - they're a great resource!

Can we ask people if they think they work on a "cool" brand (ie Nike, Coke, etc.). Would like to see if there's a correlation between people that work on "cool" brands and their pay.

(My hypothesis: the cooler the brand the less pay people are willing

Keep up the good work. Also, it may be sobering to ask other people (clients, other creative disciplines, media folks, programmers etc.) how they rate the planners they work with.

would like to know what percentage of people's time is devoted to various tasks: creative dev't, new biz, connections planning, client consultation, etc.

can do for this year--create a blog that let's all of us discuss the results.

In a few years the Hispanic market will be the majority in the U.S. How will this affect the role that General Market planners currently have?

Just keep it going. We all owe you a debt of gratitude. The fact that nielsen hasn't offered you a big fat check for your data and email list astounds me. (Or HAVE they...?)

no sir

N/A

I'd like to know how long people who are currently working as a planner plan to stay in planning? Do the people taking this survey think it's the last job they'll have before they retire?

offer a grand prize!

Ask about workload.

Keep on rocking Heather. Thanks for an amazing service.

Make it longer.

Perhaps how long the head of planning has held the post at your agency. Would be interesting to see if overall happiness increases with the tenure of head of planning.

Nope -- I did like the additions this year.

please will ou do a desrve of what planners do after they leave agency life?like how thorough this got! =)

I'd ask planners to describe their accountabilities and list out/describe some of their most common deliverables in planning. I think this has changed over the years and it would be interesting to see how the role and its accountabilities has evolved more

I'd like to know if any planners are considering leaving the industry and applying their skills elsewhere. Those who were planners in the previous life... where did they go? Why did they leave? Is it better or worst than it was before?

Explain upfront how the info will be used.

none.

Provide more cities/state options for agency location. My agency is located in Detroit. i had to choose "somewhere in the central region" which is not exactly true. So the results of my survey will not reflect the exact location.

probably more about titles - the planning title area is awfully muddy

Please add a general section where you measure planner views on the world - specifically, the economy, culture and social trends. Might be interesting and a good community reference for all of us.

no

It would be interested to see/hear what types of planner and advertising-related social/networking/professional organizations people belong to. Or, what types of extracurricular planning activities people do (e.g., teach at local colleges, present to coll

Planner blogs we read? Where do we go for information/news/trends...external sources we are using to gather consumer insights when we cannot commission a study, etc.

What about multicultural planners in the discipline section next year? There are cultural skills that you need when studying lifestyle and consumer behavior for Latino, African American and Asian consumers. Contrary to what general market agencies belie

separate salary and bonus in the compensation area

What are your career aspirations over the next 5 years? (including, no change, go to next level of responsibility, retire, consult, other(specify)

love 'em. keep doing it!

worth noting that i actually quit my high-pressure, 80-hour-week job as head of both New Biz & Planning last December. Was exhausted and wanted some TIME in my life much more than I wanted money. Managing Partners did not accept my resignation and offer

nope

Navy is the color of a pilot's uniform.

nope

Maybe include some questions about balancing family life with your job as a planner. Do we think the industry is conducive to doing both?

List of must read books/blogs/artists/twitter feeds that planners are looking at.

Also what do planners think the smoke monster on lost is?

Thanks for doing this again Heather!

missed some of the "fun" questions like: do you have an accent? :)

how about - would you actively encourage a really bright young person to pursue planning as a career?

What could be done to improve our discipline and our place at the table.

have "i don't know options"

text/questions should be more succint--people tend to gloss over them if they're too long.

Nope. Nice work. Thanks.

Ask about Shopper Marketing.

Spell Anomaly correctly...

consider asking if there are any new work arrangements (working remotely, job share, etc)

yes - i'm finding that the tools and ouputs created for advertising (eg positioning statements, creative briefs, magic sentences in general ...) are less and less useful and can even be counter-productive (due to misguided perceptions and expectations fro

More focus on change. Ask about biggest changes in how people are doing their job, what they think is important, what they see happening in the future.

good work yo

Need stories of transitioning from traditional to digital

Broader then planning questions. Perceptions on what makes great work. Industry issues - diversity etc.

I would be interested in finding out more about agency working process. Do they have a process for planning? Do they have agency assets (e.g. thinking tools) to help? Thanks. Good luck with the survey.

what comes after planning?

nope, it's great.

Keep doing this. Great tool.

1. What type of research planners do most (eg what types and how often do they do qual, quant, other research)

2. More digging on relationship with creative team, such as, what stages of creative process do planners interact with creatives (brainstorming

If you ask the relationship between planners and creatives, I would like to know the same for Account/Media and PR.

none

1. which agency's planning dept would you prefer to work at?

2. what piece of business would you like to work on most ?

I'd be curious how people spend most of their time - with creatives, with clients, working on decks, out in the world, etc.

Quantitative planners. ROI, ROO, measurement of effectiveness is now ingrained into every planning phase of a campaign.

no

Planning conference attendance

no

nope!

suggestion: are you hiring?

I'm an Independent, so a lot of the questions aren't applicable. For example, when you ask my title, you don't give the option of Independent. I put GPD because that's what I was at my last job 2 years ago...

I think you had a question before (last year) about this...what kind of planner do you categorize yourself as: research-focused, strategic-focused, consumer-focused? Something like that.

And maybe some thoughts on where we find inspiration. Or some

I think it would be helpful to have benchmarks on departmental size and levels. For example, medium size agencies have X number, on averge, associates etc. It would help present a case that we are understaffed.

an indication of how much you have completed. (on each page, a % for how much of it is over)

Would love to know more about how planning and/or strategy is evolving at different agencies.

you may have already done these, but just brainstorming some questions I'd like to know:

most helpful (specific) tools/sources as a planner

best planning town/market

opinion of APG and other other awards

ask how many people were laid off in 2008 and also 2009... a lot of planners I know got cut because creative and account are "necessary" but planning isn't obviously missed from the outside

Keep it coming! I've participated every year and find the results very helpful as I plan out my personal goals for the coming year.

list of agencies by planning awards

Nope

a little more flexibility for consultant responses (i.e. not forcing us to respond to planner specific questions - though I know this is a planner survey!!)

Keep it up -- you're doing great.

if there are enough of us (maybe not) section on planners gone client side would be great to understand if the move is to traditional/"research" depts or something more akin to agency planning

Availability of training programs at agencies and interest in the offering.

no

What do planners do that add value at their agencies? New products, trends, insights...would be great to get a feeling for that.

nope

there seems to be a growing level of planners between senior and group planning directors - the planning director, responsible for a single account and planning team

Many planners have desires to go abroad. I'd like to know how the planning community feels about cities friendly to US planners going abroad, and their opinions on which shops are best at planning abroad.

I'd also like to see some sort of information

no

n/a

No

a game.

n/a

Nope -- thanks for doing this.

Would be curious to know main issues other planners struggle with.

Shorter

Does your agency have a dedicated social media manager or strategist?

Do it again, thanks.

No

keep it rolling.

n/a

Nope. Thanks for doing it!

open up Australian chapter

Something about new research methods.

More questions about what the planners think of the planning discipline.

More questions about how the planner should work in a cenario of many and different medias.

include some questions or areas where you can specify if you are just a planner or a merge professional, for ex: i am a copywriter that ends up assuming some planning tasks because of writing, researching skills. i feel a lot like a planner although i am

'How old are you?'

best international planners?

best international agency planning dept.?

Include questions about the tools used for planning.

make a social media and a viral about it.

just kid.

just keep doing

Track "Creative Planners"... ex- pure "creatives", now strategy creators. ;)

Nope

less questions

ask more about agencies on specific countries. For example: I'm from Brazil, I really wanna talk about bRazilian's agencies.

More questions about different disciplines of planning. This was really nice this year.

Think it would be nice have some job description even for traditional planners and other planners not mentioned (as BTL planners).

No.

No. Nice iniciative.

Ask about what kind of work people do, what diciplines they apply in their jobs.

No

No

More optative questions

I think you can do the survey just with the planners of any regions of the world, like Asia, Latin America (including Argentina e Brazil), South Africa and the others.

to include "interns" and "trainees"

You guys could ask about what we (planners) are thinking and maybe PLANNING about the future! ;)

nope

Add some questions about promotion agencies and planners.

-

favorite author

I'd suggest asking for the future of the discipline and feelings around the profession.

less wiser

Include elections of "the best brand in world", "the best case ever", "the best campaign ever" and "the best planning blog".

No

no

Dar mais oportunidade aos novos profissionais, pois o que vejo é que essa área ainda está muito restrita, fechada.

No. You're doing a good job. Congratulations.

no

Age

open a specific group for Brazil

I'd like to suggest questions about the new business models for planners. I run a planning and research agency. We work for clients and also for agencies [agencies which have big planning departaments]. Here in Brazil this kind of business is quite new an

keep doing

no, thanks

no

To include the Brazilian perspective into the survey. Here we don't have media bureaus. The media team is present inside the agency - and this impacts in the way we plan in the day-by-day.

No

I really liked the questions about digital and conncetion planners. It´s good for us to know the segmentation of our own job.

More questions about what websites should we see or access, trends, news.

Are agency planners starting their own business? Is branding going to substitute agency planning area?

No.

Nope, first time I take part in it. Looking forward for the results.

no

Try to bring more about the planner interest circle around the wold.

no

A portuguese version of the questionnaire. :-)

No, I think it`s OK.

Congratulations, and I`m sorry for the difficult with the language.

No

no

Show the count of the questions, like 12/34, 13/34.

And include some thoughts about the role of planners when talking about creating the concept of a campaing.

You could ask about thinking campaigns, if the work for creatives and planners is done in s

Just kepp doing it.

Not at all, keep the good work.

To measure how creative and how strattegic each planner see your own work. If it´s closer to clients or creation, and how they think it should be. How many clients each planner work with. I think that´s all.

What local/global awards do planners value most?

No!

No

how about asking about information architects

To include 'Design agency' category and release this survey also to Design agency´s Planners.

To insert a question related to the current planner jobs and research techniques.

no

Be transparent: Let us know, in the begging of the survey, what is the total number of questions (34 this year).

Most Importants Skills for a planner? like trendhunter, culture, books, which experiences. Ask something practical not only in theory.

make it in portuguese!

That's ok.

NoPe :)

ask about accounts!

More specific survey for each country, particularly to Brazil. Here, we have too many differences then U.S. Our planning market has more than 20 years but we have to grow still in aspects like job description, reputation, salary and some nomenclature that

Include freelancer's questions!

yes. Do the people beleive that there are different kinds of planners, with different skils? I mean: one planner is better to create ideias to brand activation and other is better to understand the client´s business and recommend the strategical way to im

Tell people who take the survey how many questions or pages are still ahead.

Must be smaller.

No, this was my first, maybe next year I'll have some.

Results of Brasil

nope

awards; events; foruns to discuss it?

nope

no

i sugest you to ask planners for some tips for great plannings. and mabe to share the most sucessful cases aswell

At results, give Brazil some special attention too. ;)

You are doing a great job. Congrats.

It's the firs I take part. I have any suggestions yet.

Please focus an especific survey for Brazilians Planners. I can contact Ulisses Zamboni, the current president of Brazil Planners Group.

I think you should have questions asking: the best case of the previous year and the most significant change we have noticed in our field of work. In the last 12 months, for instance.

how free you feel to plan in connection with marketing departments from clients? how much information you can get from your clients, and how much information the agencies provides planners?

keep up the good work

Yeap - regional survey with representative countries, based on these survey's answers.

no

it is too long!

Keep walking. This is a very good survey. You guys do a great job. Brazil rocks!

No. It's just fine the way it is.

Include Brazil's market.

Brazilian chapter!!!

No

no

Ask them about what should planners do: Develop concepts, have ideas, research, create products and services, analyze campaign results, optimize campaigns on-the-go...

No

think about a different being of planner. the ad market is dying, watch out!

congratulations for the initiative

No.

No.

It could be associated to a social media tool, to bring all the planners together somehow. We take a time to answer the survey and it would be a good way to give us some feedback.

Considering my main market, Brazil, I'd suggest a "back to the basics" question, regarding the definition of planning, because I still see people misunderstanding account, strategic, marketing,

media and even budget planning

No.

Brazilian edition.

No, that's all!

none

no

no

ask planners to mention one planning work or case (can be from anywhere in the world) that has delighted them most - in the past year / months / etc.

A question asking our specific roles like "Digital Planners", "connection planners", "Media planners", should be great.

i would suggest a special survey for Brasil. As planning is a recent discipline in our country, there´s a lot to discover, especially about salaries and bennefits...

portuguese version

not really

Nope

- Satisfaction index about your role in the process of communication

- How many campaigns reflect the planning work (15% 30% 50% 75% 100%)

- Who or what is the worse enemy of planners

- Opinion about pré ad tests

It's good

I would recommend you to include some questions regarding structure/ functions/ operating models. Considering the recent evolutions of our area, it would be interesting for us to see how is it working in different agencies of serveral sizes.

Tks

Anything

Nope

Fewer questions, please...

Prizes?

Would love to know:

1) Personal definitions of planning

2) The newest developments/tools/trends in planning that people find most exciting.

maybe a question asking about general trends/themes that people are seeing in the profeesion.

Nope!

advice for talents. if you are looking for talentes, what would be the skills you think are important.

Nope.

I think it would be better to ask for "with which client do you think planning has had the biggest impact" rather than "where is the best planning dept" - there is a big difference!

how does the planning community judges the educational possibilities outside agencies for planners

no

no

Where are we coming from? Educational Background/Studies would be interesting

nope :-)

survey current types of planners (digital, connection, creative ...)

Thanks!

what do you believe is the responsibility of a planner.

No

none

no

No

include list of technical planning skills and tasks like analyze research, write briefs, define marketing strategy, channel plan etc. I think it is interesting to see, what exactly other planners do.

Ask me about my age and tell me how i can get a job in an advertising agency that actually really wants to change.

ask for working hours

-

n.a.

-

A reminder (to enter the survey) in the most important networks for planners would be nice, e.g. Planning Sphere, Facebook, Miami Ad School Planning Boot Camp Alumni.. I haven't heard of this years study until now.

Some of the questions are tricky for freelancers or self-employed, especially those relating to holidays, salary, benefits.

Less intimate questions.

Or the option not to answer some questions e.g. salary.

more on future skills that planners will need. trends within planning business - what are tasks that planners solve apart from communication briefs.

everything is fine thankx

A 'save progress option' would be great. But thanks for the effort you made this year.

More global specific area - relevance of different media, multi-cultural skills (in markets like India, where there are upto 14 different languages!) or understanding/working on regionally aligned businesses.

Can you touch upon best practices in 'Knowledge Sharing' platforms/ systems? Would really like to know which Agencies are leading the way on that front.

Would also love to hear what Planners have to say about 'scam ads'.

Thanks and keep up the goo

You do a great job!

Would it make sense to ask planners, if they feel their input really does effect the final output :), or to what extent.

tell us what the survey is for

nay

Need to understand a bit more on clients' perception of planning and the value they get out of it.

xx

none in particular.

maybe you could include a bit about the kind of work/ job roles/responsibilities planners around the world undertake

An understanding of what planners are doing - tracking emerging trends and challenges in strategic planning

Provide country-wise cuts (if you are not doing so this year :))

N/A

None in particular

You should also cover the regional differences and specific trends in non US / UK markets

It should be shorter. Gets mundane after the first 20 questions

Can be more close-ended for definite results, the current survey was more open ended which is also fine, I am taking it for the first time so don't know the parameters of evaluation. Overall a good survey

no suggestions

a deeper dig into planning different philosophies, maybe

None

-

In the section dedicated to Study and Education, could you please better describe what you mean with the abbreviation above mentioned?

Maybe more information about where planning is growing, going - where the talent comes from.

a bar showing what percentage you've completed

No, keep it up!

More cowbell. I need more cowbell.

Shorter please!

Is it ever going to get any better?

N/A.

More focus on training. What and the agency's training budget per planner.

Favourite books and blogs?

No. It is a great one already!

It would be good to see how clients view Planning, it worth, what we do and so on.

Ask people what their digital experience is - not open ended questions

How about a section on international experience and global vs local roles?

Perhaps I shouldn't have filled in it, as I got confused whether I was answering for Ruby Pseudo [my company] or Wiedens, sorry... It might be good to have more questions around recession type stuff?

Please split the planners by spcialism:

- Advertising (creative agency)

- Advertisaing Media

- Comms Planner(BTL and digital media)

- Brand

- Design

- Digital

- Sales Promotion

- Publishing

- Direct Marketing

- CRM

- PR

- Clientside (in-house

Delve more into the true sources, definition and value of consumer based insights

tell us who it's from and why you want it before we start it 8)

Perhaps a way to gauge where planning is developing in the world.

how planners' jobs are changing? ie stuff we spend more/less time on now than we used to

Make it longer.

i t would be good to get other disciplines views on planning

what planners have done before they became planners...

Maybe ask how people think they add most value to their companies beyond the 'day-to-day' job?

what about comms planners? people with a media background who are increasingly becoming connections planners, comms planners, engagement planners, etc.

Where people see the insutry going.

update your list. So few of us in the dept received the email.

It would be interesting to ask people what qualities they think a head of planning should have...

Yeah, give me an idea of how far through the survey i am!

NA

What it is people most like and dislike about their jobs?

a question about how much you would liek to earn

keep it up

no

Would love to have people suggest top 3 most valuable websites and or conferences where they find the most inspiration.

Strawberry Frog is nowadyas called Amsterdam Worldwide.

-

A level between "senior planner" and "group planning director"

no

-

If we earn more or less compared to other departments.

I have no suggestions

keep going!

No

Ask about the relationships and ways of working of the work teams.

Categorize the salaries in dollars

--

No Thank you

How about looking at which cities are regarded best for planning, or widening the scope to have a little more Asia focus - agencies here are so diff from europe. also planners opinions on effies. how many blog, twitter, meet up regularly too?! =) good luc

Nope.

specific salary figures

ad some pictures. pictures are nice.

question about methodology: do they work according to a model? or do they use models to explain and give logic sense to their right brain thinking?

Books sugestions.

No

More market-specific questions

Don't ignore Asia, pls!

Which is the best country to work as a planner?

Token of appreciation for doing the survey? :P

Hours worked, pressure felt under, enjoyment of job

Not at the moment.

I think it should be shorter

not

keep doing this

Analyze the relationship between Planning Dept and others such as Account Dpt.

Measure emergence of planning as a discipline in smaller markets such as mine.

Ideas on how to excel in planning function - OR, benchmarks for excellency in planning capability.

I'm curious to know what would be the equivalent of a Cannes Lion for planners. Or what awards are highly recognized by the planning community in general.

no

On one page and ... what about a widget ? :)

win shares in GM?

not for the moment ;-)

thanks for the work - keep on doing it

I'd like to know about the general scope of work

-> do you directly brief creatives on all subjects ?

-> how important is your opinion in plansboards ?

-> how long do you take every day to read/be informed ?

A question like that :

what's the most frustrating thing in your job ?

none so far. this is the first time i participated.

less [Q] is more

Looks good. :)

yes, questions about different sources of information planners use (not only brand planners but comms planners)

No!

more research on sources (blogs, conferences, books) and on people to follow

In terms of results, would be interesting to see the similarities/differences in roles and expectations of Asian planners vs. US/UK

Like it that you incorporated local currency, that was my biggest issue previously.

Well, last year during the 40th anniversary of planning appeared a quote of Stephen King that said around 10 years ago that he was surprised that nothing had change in the planning discipline. So I think it would be interesting to see what planners all ov

Include questions regarding our view of how we see how planning is developed in our countries comparing to other countries.

a section in where we can put our lifestyle would be great to really know the planning community around the world.

Maybe the types of agencies people or working in: traditional, digital, etc.

to get to now specific activities that naybe could help inspire everyone's work.\Thanks!

Yup. How can we better share ideas and information. I feel planners are a rare breed, and we gotta keep each other's backs.

no

NONE

no

Keep doing it!

ask about future of planners e.g. account directors will be more insightfull and cover planning job, creatives will be more analytics and insightfull and will cover planners job. Planners will gain importance. Research investment will decline.

What do you feel you are missing at your agency and why?

What are the strong points at your agency?

What has surpriesd you the most in the last year at your job?

No. thank you very much

Would be nice to know how clients view our discipline around the globe.

Not only if planning is regarded by them as a leading area within advertising or other agencies but also what value they perceive in planning and the people behind planning departmen

make one on spanish and consider the mexican market.

Ask about the type or level of clients people work with ... perhaps in what industry and at what level company or within the company. I feel one´s level of clients says a lot about agency/work level.

no

You can ask about whether the planner would like to continue in planning or move to another career direction e.g. consultancy, client side? ---You can also ask about how much and how frequently a planner relies on research?--- And do planner really rely o

How are planners coping / coped with the credit crunch?

keep digging, please !

None

none

not really

shorter and photos

:-)

present the results by country not only by region

none so far

Maybe find out which agencies have the most percentage of planners vs. agency size?

Perhaps a section on how to keep planning relevant in the years to come

Nope.. pretty exhaustive i think...

-

explore definition of planning. what is it meant to achieve etc...

What about asking if planners believe their bosses are able to mentor them? Or what is the obstacle to good work? (my view is that, more often than we dare to think.. it is the 'creative' themselves :-(

The splitting digital and other planners in my view is pretty irrelevant.

differences between brand planners and creative planners and integrated vs unintegrated planners

Nothing

Ask about which are the daily tasks of the planners and which tools do they use, as well as the sources of information.

.-

Wipe off silly questions regarding gender and/or ethnicity.

nope

Im more interested in visions, ideas and the future of planning, will it always be called planning? Why is the work so different, one planner to another, I have never met a planner that does exactly the same tasks, why is it so hard to define planning?

No. Keep up the digital/connection section and expand if possible and relevant.

keep it up!

make it shorter

Make a shorter survey

it's all good. thank you

trends planners see emerging in the near future in planning

on average, on how many accounts/brands does a planner work on?

Not at the moment

no

it's brilliant as is

some more specific questions about how the role & daily tasks are changing / how the ever shorter deadlines are impacting our job

Do you have a blog? does it improve your planning skills somehow?

nop

I would addapt terms/realities to other countries out of the US (i.e. specific education). thank u!

Don't aske ethnics

too long!

what about the massive movement from ad agencies planners to media agencies? In Spain now,is THE place to be, raising admiration from our forme colleages from the ad agency, and being able to compete developing the com strategy (not the media strat) again

future of planning

no

be watter my friend

no

lölhow is your approach in the final business decision in brand which you work for?

none

The chance for multiple answers to the questions about most respected planner and agency with best planning group, or disclosure between global and local market.

Therefore results would also reflect local (and more realistic) preferences.

Don't ask about religion colour, and domestic things.

Any, good job. Please let mw know results!

no

Take into account areas like where is planning growing more, where is planning more important. Considering countries, agencies, etc

ask for working hours ; )

that customers have confidence in our strategies and pay them well because they can emerge from crisis

thanks a lot !

Please, there are more languages than english... and countries too. Our culture mark as well substancials differences aobut the account planning.

mmmm, no.

Pay it

as well as 'kids at home' could you add 'dependant parents'?

Hours worked on a daily basis?

Stress levels?

Ask what do we really do, I mean, we are all planners but the planning role is not the same in each agency/country...

Just Keep Going!!!!

Do not ask salary

Ask more interesting questions

'head of planning you'd never want to work for' question maybe?

no