Sophie Price + Leo Roberts set to chair 2016 IPA Campaign Planning Course in Sydney; Andrew Baxter + Gavin MacMillan to chair in Melbourne
Leaders from different corners of the industry have set the agenda for The Communications Council’s 2016 IPA Campaign Planning Course, calling for a new breed of campaign planners to leverage today’s volatile communications landscape.
Offering perspectives from media, digital, advertising, customer engagement and brand, UM chief strategy officer Sophie Price (top, left) will chair the Sydney course, supported by Coca-Cola South Pacific marketing manager, integrated marketing communications, Leo Roberts (bottom, left), while Publicis Australia CEO Andrew Baxter (bottom, centre) will chair the course in Melbourne, supported by co-chair Gavin MacMillan (right), Ogilvy + Mather head of strategy.
Says Price: “Many creative agency planners are stuck in the land of the traditional creative brief. The brief is usually devoid of connections thinking and therefore isn’t designed to inspire modern ideas. Media agencies still plan for a paid media world and think about channels in isolation instead of considering a ‘connected system’ of owned, earned and paid connections that build a brand experience. We designed the IPA Campaign Planning Course to ensure we are breeding planners with a diverse skill set, regardless of their agency mindset.”
Says Baxter: “Today it is impossible to plan campaigns in isolation of the client and the various agency disciplines. We wanted a wide range of perspectives represented among the course leaders to ensure a true reflection of campaign planning in 2015.”
The three-day residential course runs in Melbourne from 20 – 22 March and in Sydney from 3 – 5 April. It is designed for agency account managers and planners in advertising, media and PR with a minimum of three years’ experience.
Says Tony Hale, CEO of The Communications Council: “Each year, the agendas for our internationally recognised IPA residential courses are completely redeveloped by our course chairs to ensure training is both localised and responds to the latest industry needs. This program has enlisted almost 30 expert speakers to help uncover new opportunities for today’s campaign planners – we look forward to sharing more details in the coming weeks.”
For more information about all IPA courses in Australia, visit The Communications Council website.
2 Comments
I would have thought it more important to help planners understand how they can help clients grow their business. Planners don’t need to learn more about ‘connections planning’, they need to demonstrate structure in finding revenue & profit for clients.
Sophie Price – one hot lady there!