Brand Strategy Vs. Journalism.

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It seems that what I do for a living as a brand planner is similar to what I’d do were I a journalist. I interview lots of people to see where it takes me before culling the information and shaping the findings into a piece of writing. In my case the writing leads to a directive for a marketing team – a boil down – in the form of a brand brief. In the case of the journalist it leads to a fluid story meant to inform, educate and, perhaps, motivate.

I suspect journalists have a direction in mind before they start, either at the behest of an editor or an expected reader interest angle. Maybe that’s where the journalist differs from the brand planner. As a brand planner I have no going-in direction. My hope it to learn at the knees of consumers and product builders and let direction emerge. If my learning suggests the builders need to make changes, I share that. If it suggests consumers need to make changes, I share that too.

The process used by journalists and the brand planners may be similar, but the outputs are way different. In both cases, outputs need to be compelling. But for brand planner the rewards are etched in the tabula much longer.

Peace.