Great Learning

Wow, this week has really been a great one for me to jump in and do some great planning work and learn a lot in the process.

First, I was working with data tables this week to analyze the results of a research study. Though numbers aren't my strongest area, I do have a basic understanding of them and it really gets interesting when those numbers turn into a story. By understanding what makes good research, how numbers relate to each other, and what your findings can mean for your brand, I have just had a great time digging into something that could be considered very dry.

Along those lines, I head off to Chicago early next week for the AAAA Quantitative Workshop for Junior Planners. I'm really excited about refreshing my quant knowledge from grad school and having a deeper understanding of how best to use numbers to the advantage of my brands. [Once again, a note on becoming a resource in and of myself, these quant skills will only better serve me and our Planning department.]

Another fun exercise happened today when I worked through an entire brief with a fellow planner. Something interesting that popped up while working on it was my comparison with doing planning work in grad school.

Whenever I was writing a brief in grad school, I felt like I really didn't know the consumer very well so though I tried to keep them in mind it was difficult to relay what they believed. I finally realized that this was not some sort of lack of competence on my part but simply an absence of true knowledge about the consumer that is gained over time. You see, in grad school we had several projects throughout the semester and always had new clients. That meant that you had anywhere from 1 to 3 months to get to know not only your consumer, but the entire business environment in which you were trying to advertise. On top of that, deliverables were not just a brief and consumer knowledge but a full marketing plan. No wonder I didn't feel like I knew my target well enough - there was no time for learning!

This was completely different and such a refreshing experience. I have product knowledge, category knowledge, and most importantly consumer knowledge. Not only was I briefed on information that had already been gathered about the consumer, but I also helped put together information from a few pieces of research and also did trend work around this target. Slowly these small pieces of information that didn't seem to stand out at the time came together beautifully to paint a bigger picture of who this target is. I felt secure in making my recommendations and the hardest part was trying to evolve ideas into inspiring words in the brief. This was so much better than feeling like I really didn't know what was going on with my consumer.

Consumer knowledge...I look forward to building it over time for all of my brands.

And in general, I like to think about and study Baby Boomers because they're just so darn fascinating! ;)

I feel inspired by the work I did this week and the steps I'm taking to fill those big planner shoes.