Planning Dirty

PLANNING DIRTY
Karen Faith is an ethnographer and empathy trainer who coaches teams

(Google, Blue Cross Blue Shield, The Federal Reserve Bank) on connecting
with their customers and collaborators.
Julian Cole is a strategy consultant who works with brands and agencies to
create world class integrated campaigns.
Davis Ballard is a strategist who worked his magic on the deck design.
Planning Dirty is a monthly newsletter that shares tools and resources, it
goes out to 12K+ marketers. Get part 2 of this deck by signing up.
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Julian’s running a Strategy Masterclass in NYC (other cities TBA)
Become a pro at delivering
creative feedback at the right time.
PLANNING DIRTY
The three chronological steps to feedback
the head, heart and body of the idea.
What we’re trying to solve, who we’re talking
to and what we think we need to say to them.
This is figured out before we see creative ideas,

it informs the brief.
The actual things we’re saying, how
and where we’re saying it
When we see creative ideas for the first time

this is the feedback we look to give.
The specific the mechanics of how it works, the
copy, the visuals, the color, font, visuals
When we like an idea, we give this feedback

once we’ve bought off on an idea.
HEADACHE What’s the problem
AUDIENCE Who’s the work for
INSIGHT What we know about them
How we plan to reach them
CREATIVE FEEDBACK MODEL

STRATEGY
PLANNING DIRTY
CONCEPT The creative idea
MEDIUM What channel we’re using
MESSAGE What’s the takeaway
CONTENT Creative details (style, voice and tone)
ECOSYSTEM How it all works together
TYPOS, ERRORS & BUGS Tiny, concrete problems

HEADACHE
AUDIENCE
Feedback at pre-ideas stage
INSIGHT
STRATEGY
PLANNING DIRTY
CONCEPT
Feedback when seeing ideas
MEDIUM
for the first time
MESSAGE
CONTENT
Feedback when the idea
ECOSYSTEM
is bought and you’re in
TYPOS, ERRORS & BUGS production stage
PLANNING DIRTY
HEADACHE - Soup X is losing volume to other winter based foods
AUDIENCE - Snacking young consumers
INSIGHT - A bowl of soup warms both inside and out
STRATEGY - Own the double power of soup this winter
To get millennials to buy soup this winter, we need to
remind them of the biggest benefit soup has, it warms
you both inside and out.
The Soup X heated site

For brand Soup X, we’re going to create a mobile site
that warms visitor’s hands when they view it.
Now you play the client and give feedback to this idea.
PLANNING DIRTY
The Headache is a clear articulation of the business
problem. This is key to understanding what the root of
the idea is. Everyone needs to be aligned pre-creative
briefing.
Example Headache: Soup X is losing volume to other

winter based foods.
Example of Headache Feedback:

● This idea is wrong because our real problem is
Soup X is actually losing share to other all
natural soup competitors.
This type of feedback requires a creative rebrief as all

work shown will be off brief.
The audience gives you a clear idea of who you’re
trying to communicate with this work.
Example of Audience: Growth market of young snack

loving consumers.
Example of Audience Feedback:

● Our audience is retirees, I don’t think they will
use this. Soup X is looking to steal share from
competitors in the heavy soup buying target of
retirees.”
This type of feedback requires a creative rebrief as all

work shown will be off brief.
The insight unlocks the opportunity to succeed. This
insight works as it ownable against other winter
foods.
Example Insight: Soup has the double power by

warming both inside and outside with the hot bowl.
Example of Insight Feedback:

● We’re not tackling the biggest problem which is
Millennials see canned food as the poster child
of toxic.
This should have been mentioned pre-creative brief

and will require a complete rebrief of the work. As all
work will be off brief.
The Strategy takes the insight and makes an action
plan for how and what we communicate.
Example Strategy: Show our double power of soup

this winter.
Example of Strategy Feedback:

● If the goal was to introduce a new variety of
Chicken Pea Soup this winter or that “all natural
ingredients” was the messaging, then this
strategy would be completely wrong.
Head level feedback requires a rebrief of work. This is
why we align on a creative brief prior to seeing work.
PLANNING DIRTY
The following three pieces should be
what you’re looking to give feedback on
in the first creative review.
CONCEPT - Warm peoples hands when soup can’t

MEDIUM - Mobile phone site that warms up
MESSAGE - We’ll always keep you warm
The concept is the creative idea itself. Here, the
concept should be checked for alignment with the
brand, strategy, and audience insight.
Example Concept: Warm people’s hands when

the soup can’t.
Examples of Concept Feedback:

● We don’t think people need their hands
warmed during winter.
● This resonates with North American
audiences (due to climate), but could not
extend to the South American market until
their winter months (June, July, August).
The Medium is the channel through which we will
reach the audience. Here, we want to be sure the
medium makes sense for who we are trying to
reach and what we’re trying to do.
Example Medium: Mobile Site
Example of Medium feedback:

● Is this the best place that this idea could
come to life?
● What can a site achieve that an app
couldn't?
● What do we know about this audience's
engagement with mobile sites?
The message is the key takeaway from the
execution. Be sure this connects directly with the
strategy.
Example Message: We warm your hands when

our soup can’t.
Example of Message feedback:

● Do we think people will understand that
this is warming their hands like our soup?
● This doesn’t speak enough to both parts of
the warming inside and out.
PLANNING DIRTY
With concept, message and medium aligned. It’s
now into creative production feedback. It’s time to
shore things up with some solid editing.
The content is the nuts and bolts of the execution.
Feedback here addresses the look and feel (color,
copy, photography, video treatment).
Note: This is when you should be bringing in the

brand’s style guide and making sure the content
aligns.
Example of Content feedback:

● Can we make the logo more prominent?
● Is this the official Soup X font?
● That red background makes it hard to see
our product. How might we make the
product more prominent?
The ecosystem is the network of brand
touchpoints and audience experiences as a whole.
When examining this, ensure that the idea lives
harmoniously within the ecosystem of the
consumer and brand’s other work.
Examples of Ecosystem feedback:

● Do you have a user journey for what this
idea looks like?
● How will people find this execution? How
can we get people to share the site?
● How do we link this to what we are doing
in store?
At this level, we are dealing with misspellings,
factual errors, code bugs, color mismatches: are all
concrete things that are inarguable and corrected
without requiring sign off from anyone.
Example of Error-level feedback:

● Has this cleared legal?
● There are two typos on the landing page.
● The purchase link is broken.
● What is the risk that we blow up someone’s
phone?
● How can you assure me this is not going to
do that?
CONCEPT - Warm peoples hands when soup can’t

MEDIUM - Mobile phone site that warms up
MESSAGE - We’ll always keep you warm
CONTENT - Mother looking out for you (cues of the warmth of a bowl of soup)
ECOSYSTEM - Roll out plan involves social ads and influencers
ERRORS - Force the CPU to process a large amount of code, causing the phone to heat up
PLANNING DIRTY
Next time you’re giving creative feedback,
use the cheat sheet to identify what level
feedback you’re giving.
This will make the creatives job much easier

when trying to address the feedback
HEADACHE What’s the problem
AUDIENCE Who’s the work for
INSIGHT What we know about them
STRATEGY How we plan to reach them

PLANNING DIRTY
CONCEPT The creative idea
MEDIUM What channel we’re using
MESSAGE What’s the takeaway
CONTENT Creative details (style, voice and tone)
ECOSYSTEM How it all works together
TYPOS, ERRORS & BUGS Tiny, concrete problems

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PLANNING DIRTY

Karen Faith is an ethnographer and empathy trainer who coaches teams

Looking for Strategy Training?

This is ﬁgured out before we see creative ideas,

When we see creative ideas for the ﬁrst time

When we like an idea, we give this feedback

AUDIENCE Who’s the work for

INSIGHT What we know about them

How we plan to reach them

CREATIVE FEEDBACK MODEL

CONCEPT The creative idea

MEDIUM What channel we’re using

MESSAGE What’s the takeaway

CONTENT Creative details (style, voice and tone)

ECOSYSTEM How it all works together

TYPOS, ERRORS & BUGS Tiny, concrete problems

The Soup X heated site

Example Headache: Soup X is losing volume to other

Example of Headache Feedback:

This type of feedback requires a creative rebrief as all

Example of Audience: Growth market of young snack

Example of Audience Feedback:

This type of feedback requires a creative rebrief as all

Example Insight: Soup has the double power by

Example of Insight Feedback:

This should have been mentioned pre-creative brief

Example Strategy: Show our double power of soup

Example of Strategy Feedback:

CONCEPT - Warm peoples hands when soup can’t

Example Concept: Warm people’s hands when

Examples of Concept Feedback:

Example Medium: Mobile Site

Example of Medium feedback:

Example Message: We warm your hands when

Example of Message feedback:

Note: This is when you should be bringing in the

Example of Content feedback:

Examples of Ecosystem feedback:

Example of Error-level feedback:

CONCEPT - Warm peoples hands when soup can’t

This will make the creatives job much easier

AUDIENCE Who’s the work for

INSIGHT What we know about them

STRATEGY How we plan to reach them

CONCEPT The creative idea

MEDIUM What channel we’re using

MESSAGE What’s the takeaway

CONTENT Creative details (style, voice and tone)

ECOSYSTEM How it all works together

TYPOS, ERRORS & BUGS Tiny, concrete problems

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