Connections Planning

Just because we can buy a space on the side of a dog doesn’t mean that we should.

Today’s media landscape offers us a multitude of ways to connect with consumers, and abounds with opportunities that just a few years ago would not have been thought of as media. While this has served to broaden the scope of advertising, it has also made it more difficult to determine which channels to utilize in order to best maximize resources.

Thus, it becomes critical that every sound communications plan takes into careful consideration all consumer touch points.

Determining whether to utilize media channels such as online, print, TV or out-of-home vehicles can be difficult enough, especially when budgets are tight. However, once a media plan has been reached, our jobs have only just begun. How can we ensure that our advertising is actually effective, that we are reaching the target in the way that we intended, that our message is being heard?

Why not tailor our advertising not only to the target audience, but to the selected media channel as well? Instead of using diverse media channels to communicate the same idea, why not take advantage of
the strengths of each unique media channel to communicate a “custom-made” advertising campaign?

The message can still be tied together by the same strategy or insight, but also give each channel a chance to shine and do what it does best, instead of twisting an idea that’s not really built with any particular channel in mind. Each media channel has its strengths and weaknesses and is self-contained to exist on its own, while simultaneously being pulled together into a greater brand narrative.
Ultimately, involving your audience is vital to any successful communication. So how do we place our brand out into the world in a way that people can become involved with? We create this connection by building relationships. We need to shift our focus to be on the brand’s relationship with people and people’s relationship with different communication channels. Bombarding people with advertisements doesn’t create relationships.

Building relationships starts with treating people as people – catering to people in their own unique and different ways. We can create and place a lot of communication pieces out there, not necessarily expecting
every person to see every piece, but creating enough interconnectivity that people will talk and eventually hear about pieces they haven’t seen from someone else. If we can only generate the following responses — “I’ve seen that ad,” “I’ve been to that event,” “I had a positive experience with an employee at that company” or “I’ve tried that product or service,” and then have our audience compare experiences
with one another. With the explosion of social media these discussions are made easier, faster and are amplified in ways that were never thought possible only a couple years ago.

Connections Planning seeks out the places where brands and people meet in the real world (both online and offline), and sparks conversation to build ongoing dialogues and relationships. Not only should Connections Planners gain insight into why consumers value particular brand attributes, but they must understand when, where, and how consumers choose to interact with the brand across different touch points. The ultimate goal is to find new ways of connecting brand and consumer through touch points that are not only useful and desirable, but credible and social. These touch points can include everything from package designs to the ambience at a retail store to simply owning behaviorallyrelated search words.


In the end, it’s all about ideas. The currency to connect with people today isn’t about great creative execution, and it’s not about efficient and effective media plans. It’s brilliant ideas – which ironically enough, make creative and media indistinguishable. A smart idea nullifies people’s ability to dismiss us and instead invites these ideas into their lives – which is what ultimately we want to do.

Marc Allen, Manager, Connections Planning, Cheil, NAHQ