“Strategic planning does not need to be expensive.”

There are two fundamental strategic plans your firm, and your brand need that Busywriter can help with — high–level marketing strategic planning and creative strategy development.

Creative strategy development.

When your brand needs a project creative strategy, and you’ve run out of time to produce it, get it finished fast. You might be more familiar with the term copy platform. Two different ways to say and mean the same thing. Read the Writing/Copywriting page and “Working Style̶ section to learn more.

High–level strategic planning.

This is where the long–range is considered. It’s about determining likely areas of development in reaching targets, then drilling down methodically and planning campaigns and tactics to deliver specific messaging. And all too often, Creative Directors and other creative professionals are left out of the planning process.

Consider a typical scenario — the CEO, COO, CMO, and myriad Vice Presidents meet to work on a strategic plan for the business. Each of them averages 5 hours preparing for the meeting, and the meeting lasts two or three hours. Then it’s another meeting the following week. In a business these hours spent looking inward can be lethal — and expensive.

Are you spending too much time looking inside?

On average a firm can devote up to 100’s of person hours a month on planning. Not much action there. And that’s worth, conservatively, how much? $18,000 month?, $36,000?, $72,000?. Which doesn’t even take into account lost opportunities and missed relationship building.

Outsource your planning.

Busywriter does strategic planning all the time, for a number of different businesses. It works because Busywriter has experience with overall planning — and the insight into your brand gained by being outsiders. Do you think those are valuable assets to add to the company team?

Busywriter is your brand champion.

Why? Because...

• we’re not tied to making fees from any communications medium
• we’re not constrained by over exposure to past communications
• we’re not scared to sell
• we’re not obsessed with the corporate past
• we do have a clear sense of urgency
• we do have enough horse–sense to be fiscally responsible
• we do have discipline
• we do believe in the process of testing, measuring, refining, adapting, testing etc.
• we’re enthusiastic because your brand success is our success

This isn’t smoke and mirrors.

Your strategic plan is essential. So, Busywriter delivers practical, no–nonsense planning scenarios for your firm to dissect, develop, and deploy where and when needed. Busywriter is not arrogant enough to pretend the planning process ever ends. We help by contributing to, not completing, your planning. Think of it as providing modules, a work in progress, not a final draft. Is that a reasonable approach?

It’s about effective business building.

Unlike many other agencies and marketing companies, the focus is on business building, not image enhancement. Producing a firm foundation for reaching out and touching prospects comes first. The delivery and content can only be created when there is consensus about how to solve awareness and differentiation first. Fair enough?

Ok, planning is strategic. But what exactly is being planned?

Depending on your individual needs, stategic thinking can range from the highest altitude right down to the daily trenches.

If we’re talking about the firm:

• Corporate Brand Strategic Planning & Implementation
• Corporate Strategic Marketing & Communications Plan
• Corporate Positioning Platform
• High–Level Creative Brief (to define & build a corporate Brandvoice™)
• Tactical plans for achieving strategic objectives

If we’re talking about a product or service:

• Strategic Brand Marketing & Communications Plan
• Brand Positioning Platform
• High–Level Creative Brief (to define and build a product–based Brandvoice™)
• Tactical brand activities (campaigns) for achieving strategic brand objectives

How are you reaching your prospects?

We’re not even near ready to consider what to say to them. Where are they, and how do we get your brand in front of them? That’s why we’re so high up in the air. Yes, it’s rarified territory, but all the expensive senior people in the firm can’t take this upon themselves alone. Maybe that sales person slugging it out in Saskatoon has a terrific insight. Has anyone asked yet? That’s where Busywriter comes in and helps bring some order to the process, with research, prospect identification, and sometimes new product initiatives.

It’s all about employing and leveraging creativity.

At senior levels, so much diverse expertise is brought to bear on planning it can be intimidating. Excellent experience, brilliant minds with different backgrounds. Experts in engineering, finance, distribution. You name it. And what is always missing? Creativity. The creatively trained are consistently ignored. And that is a shame.

Experience shows us that insight, leaps of imagination, true “ah ha” moments regularly come from minds trained to think creatively. So why are you avoiding the opportunity to have a proven creative thinker on your team?

I suppose it’s cheaper to hire an ad agency at $200,000 plus a month to do that for you. Is that because it’s easier?

Less complexity, fewer decision influencers.

Busywriter can streamline and shorten your planning process. Take a prepared ‘strategic module’ to a meeting. When you deliver that plan at 90% completion, you’ve started right off by building consensus, and eliminating infighting and inter–departmental land grabs. Because you’ve already prepared ground no one wants to re–visit. You save time, and save money, and keep stakeholders focused on the big picture. Good things to do don’t you think?

Let’s get back to that Agency. With Busywriter working virtually in–house on your team, lines of communication are shorter, clearer, and more accountable. Meaning you can accomplish more in a shorter amount of time, with less stress and expense. Sound good?

Do you still think this is expensive?

You can do all your planning in–house and divert individuals from their proven capabilities, and calculate the cost...

You can outsource planning to your Agency of record, and calculate the cost...

... Or you can contract The Busywriter to flesh it out for your approval before you present it in–house, or to that very expensive Advertising Agency.

Want the prestige, pleasure, and    recognition of a successfull brand? Help yourself out. There’s…

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David M. & Busywriter.com will save you time because you are busy, overworked, and overwhelmed. When you need experienced advertising & marketing talent, call David Morrison at (416) 691–9919 in Toronto, Canada. Or send me a creative brief directly.

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