The APG is a not-for-profit membership organization that promotes smarter thinking. We’re a community of planners and strategists in marketing and communications, based in London but with international reach. Est. in 1979 the APG is the longest established organisation representing the interests of communications strategists. We believe in the power of strategy to solve business problems and transform brands. Our aim is to equip planners and strategists with the training and inspiration they need to be bold and rigorous thinkers.
External link for APG
40 Stockwell Street
London, England SE10 8EY, GB
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19th November, 6pm live at The Gate in Covent Garden. Bring a team! It's a high energy, super competitive only mildly silly attempt to pit Planners using heads, hearts and instinct against the Planners using AI tools to ace a series of strategy tasks. 6 per team. Come and heckle if you're feeling shy(ish)
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Yesterday I heard a brief snippet on the radio. I came in half way through but it was clearly an item about what luxury means to people and how interpretations are so singular and individual. 🏊 So one person's swim in a half empty lido is another person's Taylor Swift tickets to Wembley with a friend. (I'll exempt the PM from that example) The luxuries people talked about were all experiences, not things. No surprises there. It was 📻 Radio 4 after all. I quickly forgot about it. There was nothing deep. It was just momentarily interesting. I then spent the afternoon in the company of 11 lovely, senior, strategists and two strategy legends: Craig Mawdsley and Bridget Angear. It was the final module in a series of Strategy Management Masterclasses run by Craig and Bridget. We were talking about agency and strategy culture and how to influence it as a senior strategist. We heard from the inimitable Raquel Chicourel and Raj Nathwani who spoke movingly and compellingly about work and life. It didn't feel like 🏫 training. We listened and commented and asked questions. The delegates talked to each other about their own agency cultures and what they thought they could and should do to change them for the better. It was enlightening and fascinating. And it struck me then that the real worth in the course was the luxury of time. ⌛ Time to think. Time to reflect. ⏳ Time to talk seriously and openly (about all the things we don't talk about much because we're all so busy doing pitches and helping clients and writing briefs and sitting in half pointless meetings). ⏲️ Time to listen to Craig and Bridget reflecting on what they learned in all those years running strategy at AMVBBDO and distilling it into practical advice and new ways of confronting problems that senior planners face all the time as they take on ⬆️ management roles. Whole afternoons with guest appearances from Emily Harlock Cat Wiles Andy Nairn Will Whalley. It's not easy at all to carve out time from your schedule to think more broadly about the non-urgent, non specific aspects of our work as planners. Things that have as much if not more impact on a career and life at work. When I was first promoted to Head of Planning at Ogilvy I had a chat with fountain of wisdom Paul Feldwick. He listened to me running through all the stuff I was doing and trying to do; the lists in my head; the next actions that I planned to propel me forward. ⏳ And he said: 'Spend a bit more time thinking, and a bit less time doing'
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Just some of the wonderful events and training sessions coming up this Autumn. Links are all on our homepage apg.org.uk
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We've been having a lovely time scheduling a series of sparky ✨ APG sessions for end October and November. They cost almost nothing if you are a member so to apg.org.uk to link through to get tickets 🤔 2 live Noisy Thinking events: 'Are Words or Pictures More Powerful for Communcations?' and 'Planners vs the Machine' 🌟 3 Logic, Magic and Sparkle sessions on writing the perfect APG paper 🚿 4 How To teaching sessions: 'Critical Thinking in the Age of AI', 'How to Win a Strategic Argument', 'How not to be Afraid of Numbers' and How to Make Ethnography a More Powerful Part of Your Strategy' They are ALL by brilliant practitioners who are doing this stuff now and know what they are talking about! Step forward Emily Harlock Martin Beverley Kit Altin Catherine Willoughby Richard Brim David Wilding Ayo Fagbemi Vicki Holgate Simon Gregory Matt Holt Sam Fowler Richard Huntington Mark Hadfield
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On Monday 14th October I'm talking about how Wieden + Kennedy approach new product launches at the APG, with global work done on Ford, McDonald's, Samsung and Supercell by some very talented people. We will be commencing countdown to ignition in T-minus five days, grab a ticket before lift-off: https://lnkd.in/ecWgFpKA
Only 2 places left on this amazing series of amazing strategy masterclasses for planners!
🤼 Working in an agency can be tremendous, lively and fun learning experience for planners. It should mean learning on the job from some great people. Or not. 🥹 If you're in the 'not' camp you are sadly in good company. 🏛️That's why the APG has a course starting next Wednesday 9th October, asssembling all the great strategists people would ideally like to learn from. Your own company of 'greats' to chat to and learn from. 🏫 It's a series of live, online masterclasses taught by the most brilliant and inpsiring strategy practitioners out there, with Shekhar Deshpande of Meta as course leader. Each masterclasses tutor covers an essential aspect of planning. 🔖 Every class has a 'cheat sheet' which covers the essential things you've learned and reminds you how to apply them: Vicki Holgate on nailing your marketing strategy Shekhar Deshpande on getting to your insight and brand idea Neil Godber on effectiveness James Caig on media and channel planning Greg Newman on understanding people through data David Masterman on working with creatives and creative ideas Phil Barden on the practical application of behavioural economics and Julian Saunders on brand thinking Think of it as your own virtual agency culture. Fill in all the gaps in your knowledge, get answers to the questions that run around your head when you're working and and learn brilliant, quick ways of solving strategy problems. Contact me or Alison@apg.org.uk https://lnkd.in/ePjXKKF9
Advance warning of tickets for this...lots have gone and we hadn't even started talking about it
Five Things to Stop Doing Today! (And still not get fired) APG Noisy Thinking is back on 19th September 6pm to 8pm live at Ogilvy Sea Containers https://lnkd.in/eXPTvM78 The relief. For once it’s a planning event designed to take stuff off your To Do List rather than berate you for not having enough strings to your bow. 🤔 This is the one where two of the most influential and successful CSOs debate the art of doing less to achieve more, and not only keep your job but effectively get better at it. (Sounding a bit like Elizabeth Day, there. Whoops) 💻 I had a fascinating conversation Jo Arden, CSO of Ogilvy and Richard Huntington, CSO of Saatchi and Saatchi. We talked about how we all struggle in the age of scope creep, wall to wall zoom, pushy account people and hideously blurred boundaries.And how hard it can be to work out how and where to devote your time. 🏥 Jo and Richard are going to address this in an entirely practical way with lots of brilliant advice, war stories and some personal prescriptions for being a more effective and satisfied strategist. As Richard puts it: ‘My basic rule for a happier career is that planners should only do what only planners can do. You can do other peoples’ jobs but it’s not helping you build a sensible and sustainable career’
10th September, central London: How to Thrive as a Junior Strategist
How do you thrive as a junior strategist? We're running a special event for junior strats and planners on 10th September. It's for planners starting out in an agency, but with a focus on helping those from historically marginalised or under represented backgrounds. It’s a chance to hear from some excellent leaders Jed Hallam Ayo Fagbemi and Rajal Mahida who are working with us to try and create a more equitable planning community. Come and listen, chat to other people also starting out, and do a bit of very low key and unintimidating networking. Thanks to Charlotte Mulley for hosting us at Mullen Lowe, London. https://lnkd.in/evhJhKMp
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And here's the inimitable Nick Hirst with his excellent take on all things insight. Potted version of last night's tremendous APG Noisy Thinking event that has inspired a terrifying degree of terrace envy amongst the Planning community at drinks
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Yesterday's promise of delectable drinks, terrific terraces and very Noisy Thinking came good! Fact or fiction: Do we need insights? It was an outstanding evening with fiery interventions from Nick Hirst Mel Arrow Matthew Waksman and Ran Stallard who spoke for the creative community with style; surrounded by all those planners! Whar were the highlights? Here's a starter for 10 from Mel Arrow