8 WEEKS, 2.5 HOURS PER WEEK
(1 HOUR VIDEO LECTURE, 1.5 HOUR LIVE SESSION & ASSESSMENTS)
Get equipped for the rest of your career with a core set of strategic principles and tools that all good strategists rely on. A must for planners and strategists at the beginning of their career.
Overview
As the world of strategy changes, the fundamentals of what defines strategic planning as a discipline remain the same. This includes how to identify and solve problems, uncover insights that unlock consumer behaviour, and simplify complicated solutions that are powerful and guarantee impact.
Every strategist is different and will work through problem solving in a different way, but knowing where strategy originates from, how it has evolved, and what effective strategy is today is the core offering of this course. You’ll walk away as a valued strategic thinker within your agency and among clients.
Meet your Facilitator & Lecturers
Weekly facilitators (live session)
Video lecturers (pre-recorded)
What to expect
A learning program that provokes and challenges your thinking.
A collaborative environment for problem solving.
A sense of community and camaraderie with fellow participants.
A chance to question, experiment and push yourself.
The opportunity to learn from the best.
This course has two main elements – a pre-recorded video lecture for participants to watch in their own time, and a live working tutorial session led by the course facilitator where participants can put theory into action. Additionally, this industry certified course includes homework/assessments.
Please note, if you have enrolled in an online course the “working tutorial sessions” are delivered live via zoom/teams.
Who’s it for?
Suitable for Junior Planners, Account Executives, Account Managers, Junior Marketing Managers/Professionals and Researchers, with up to 2 years work experience, who want to sharpen their strategic prowess.
Course Content
Week 1: What is strategy and where did it come from?
Lecturer: Alex Speakman
- The history and evolution of planning
- Fundamentals of planning
- What all strategies have in common
Week 2: What is brand strategy?
Lecturer: Alison Tilling
- The changing role of brands
- Understanding how they work and how to plan for them
Week 3: What is an insight and how do you uncover them?
Lecturer: Melanie Wiese
- Insight vs information
- Good, bad and ugly insights & knowing the difference
- Sources of an insight
Week 4: How to use research and how to know what type?
Lecturer: Frances Clayton
- Qual vs quant vs ethnography
- Running research (informal vs formal)
- Pre-testing vs testing
Week 5: How to be helpful to creatives and write great briefs?
Lecturers: Michael Derepas and Ant Keogh
- What is a creative brief and how to write one
- Brief vs briefing
- Selling the strategy and selling the brief
Week 6: What is connections planning and how to use it?
Lecturer: Alexandra Nel
- How to think about creativity in a connected world
- Where connections planning fits into the process
- Toolbox: tools and tips to get started
Week 7: What to measure, how to measure and why?
Lecturers: Christina Aventi and Jennifer Rhodes
- Effectiveness and setting objectives
- Knowing what is possible
- Behind the Effies
Week 8: Presenting strategy & the pitch
Lecturer: Hugh Munro
- Presentations and final assessment
This industry certified course includes homework/assessments.
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Read former AdSchool participant Jake Batty’s key takeaways from the course.
Additionally, Callam Hanks a former AdSchool participant shares “My road to social and content manager“.
Effective marketing begins with less strategy and more media by Mark Ritson
FAQ
What is the difference between “Core Strategic Planning” and the “Advanced Strategic Planning” courses?
“Strategic Planning Core Skills” is narrower in focus. It concentrates on explaining the tools and techniques available to a strategic planner working on a communications strategy or campaign from beginning to end – strategic skills as applied to creative (typically advertising ) campaigns. The focus is on the campaign. It is aimed at people with up to 2 years experience.
The “Strategic Planning Advanced Skills” course is aimed at more experienced people (4+ years), and will give them a broader perspective of the total business context – business strategy, opportunities through segmentation, the changing face of brands and branding, communications and connections planning etc. This course is more focused on the brand rather than the campaign and considers the future of strategic planning.
Participant Feedback
As an introduction to strategy, I think it is brilliant. If the aim is to leave you feeling richer in your approach to your work, it nailed that, if the aim is to leave you wanting more information, it also nails that. Great course, thank you so much.2024 Participant
The course provided a framework for strategic planning, while the facilitator provided the encouragement and confidence to put this into practice.2024 Participant
The course was excellent. I learnt a lot and it has definitely boosted my confidence. It was also great to be able to connect with all presenters and class mates on Linkedin.2024 Participant