• by Antony Young , June 9, 2008

Soon after I first arrived in New York from London to start my new role as president of Optimedia, I was told that communications planning was the hot new thing. I noticed many people in media and creative agencies, including my own, donning job titles that incorporated communications planning.

One only gets a small window when they arrive in a country to ask what could be considered naïve questions. So I asked anyone that would listen: "Can you tell me what communications planning is?" I got looks of disbelief and dismay.

That I would even ask such an obvious question seemed eccentric. Didn't I know? Sure, I got the stock answers: The ability to plan across all marketing communication channels. Developing insight-led planning strategies. Orchestrating cross-media solutions across multi-platforms.

What I learned was that several years ago, it came into vogue to talk up communication planning, and that media planning had somehow become passé. As a result, the big media agencies then decided to re-brand the role. Without any significant training, re-tooling or re-engineering of the approach, communication planning was invented.

At worst, it became an exercise in re-printing business cards. At best, it seemed, U.S. agencies hired a couple of Brits or agency account planners to sprinkle some pixie dust on their media plans.

Some agencies used it as an opportunity to re-name their planning function Channel Planning, Connections Planning, Engagement planning, Destination Planning ... you get the idea. Most were unable to fully articulate what it is that they were doing differently versus traditional media planning. Does that sound familiar?

So here's my little secret.

By and large, communication planning in America doesn't exist. Well, not on any structured or mainstream level. There, I said it. Shock, horror, heresy? I admit it, there are some limited pockets where it's taking place. But do a quick search on Amazon and see how many books have been written on the subject, or scan MediaPost, Ad Age or Mediaweek's sites to find any "how-to" articles. Show me a communications planner, and tell me what they're doing that is different from what a good media planner wasn't doing five years ago.

Is Naked a planning powerhouse or is it really just the emperor's new clothes? I'm sure many agency heads will claim this expertise has been in practice for many years, but I'm not sure if I'm as convinced.

This is not an article knocking comms planning. Instead, I'm trying to encourage it. And in the new world of open source, the best way to foster innovation is to provoke debate on the subject, to open up conversations. Admitting what isn't working will help us all to understand how to make it better.

So tell me what you think. Disagree with me. After all, I've always found some of the best planners are highly opinionated and disagreeable. I'd welcome feedback, critique and dialogue. Share your experiences. Every viewpoint is important. That's the only way I see this important craft building credibility and momentum.