Wednesday 18 April 2007

Planning in Greenland


I am going to do an APG (account planning group) event, mid May, provisionally entitled 'Planning in Greenland'

The objective is to share some of my thinking & research from the book with people who devise communication strategies for clients; this is ultimately quite close to the bullseye of people I want to influence, so it would be good to do it well.

I want to do something different. Not as interesting probably as interesting 2007 - its only a short evening event, but the nonethless more interesting than the 'lecture from old lag' format.

Some initial thoughts:
- is there an especially thought provoking green venue? (bear in mind it may rain, so pref indoors)
- how to do it differently, in a way that's relevant & helps people get more from the thing (doesnt have to be wacky; one thought is to do it in conversation with someone from CSR/green world)
- how to make it the meetup of a longer engagement programme?

Ideas pls

:J

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

CRAZY GREEN IDEA I
John, do you know what is "cana"? It´s the original plant where we take sugar and ethanol here in Brazil: sugar cane. Everybody is talking about that all over the world - for and against, I know. By one side you have Fidel Castro and Chavez trying to be nice and be against and by the other side you have even Jeb Bush defending it as it was an oil paradise (oops sorry). We could send you slices of that cane so you could serve as appetizer for the audience. It´s a very sweet, juicy and energizing substance. The farm workers (my grandma used to be one) used to drink it´s juice to keep on the hard crop work. Imagine people getting ready to watch you and the first thing you do is invite them to refresh a little bit. They could put on green trays with Planning in Green Land written on the side. And would be very, very easy to provide you of that cane. The insights that you can use to introduce the subject are many, don´t you think? Or I have had too much sugar cane juice and said something really stupid?

John Grant said...

That's certainly very interesting. Is it the same stuff they put in caipirinha? I'm not really clued up on the sugar cane & corn/ethanol thing (beyond the fact that it is using a food crop from poor regions to make fuel for the states). Slightly worried about the food miles for such a stunt though? :J

Anonymous said...

Yes, cachaça comes from sugar cane too. But the thing is that it´s the best substitute for corn and other food crop because it´s not used as food. And, for the miles, I´ll found out some solution, it´s not hard. I´m part of Cris Orlandi´s team here in Brazil (who was introduced to you by Juliana).

John Grant said...

ah I see. I think people would love to drink cane juice, especially with ethanol in it. I'll ask a few green friends here what the current view is, but yes if it is not taking out food (or food land, or forest)... & actually if they know they are going to get anything like caipirinha to drink nobody will drive which would be a smart way to make the event greener too! :J

Anonymous said...

You made the whole way of the strategy!!! :) Probably Diageo will start thinking about a new campaign :) People wouldnt drink ethanol but they would experience how the green innovation is different and must be worked and planned in a different way. And the sample would be easy to produce.