Plannertarium 2019

Welcome

Since 2008, Channel 4's Plannertarium has brought together some of the industry’s greatest stars for a stellar day (and night) of inspiration, insight and debate. In that time, much in media and advertising has changed, but the core focus of The Plannertarium has remained the same - to discuss the creativity and innovation of television.

The Channel 4 Plannertarium is back for its eleventh year, with over a decade of experience in creativity and innovation in television.

On July 11th 2019, we'll be returning to the 5-Star Vineyard Hotel in Newbury for another day and night of inspiration, insight and debate with some of the industry's greatest stars.

Applications are now open - just click the link on the right to submit your application.

Over a Decade Of Events

The Plannertarium is back for its eleventh year in 2019 and over the years we’ve workshop-ed our way through a multitude of hot TV topics. Here’s a quick look back at what we got up to.

2008

In 2008, we focused on planning in the new age of TV and Mark Cranmer debated how planners could express their creativity when planning television. Simon George and Laurence Munday, cofounders of Dazzleship, joined us to discuss using broadcast content to engage the consumer, whilst Tess Alps, Thinkbox Chief Exec, explored the advantages of complementary viewing experiences with broadcast TV and TV online.

2009

2009 built on the experiences of the year before and took a fresh look at the potential of TV advertising. A plethora of speakers with representatives from Thinkbox, creative agency WCRS and 20th Century Fox all discussing different ways of innovating within the traditional ad break.

2010

In 2010 a whole new raft of experts shared their wisdom. James Herring, co-founder of Taylor Herring PR, discussed how TV campaigns can maximise the PR effect, while Ian Armstrong from Honda Europe, illustrated the art of differentiation. Steve Henry, non-exec director at HHCL, presented a segment entitled ‘Collaboration and Innovation – Unlikely bedfellows’.

2011

The 2011 event was headlined as ‘TV in the new age of engagement’. David Flynn, MD of remarkable television and Thinkbox's Tess Alps discussed how technology had allowed viewers to interact more with TV content and advertisers, while Facebook UK Sales manager David Parfect talked about the powerful synergy of TV and social media.

2013

Following a break for the Paralympics in 2012, The Plannertarium returned with a bang in 2013. The theme centred on the future of TV advertising for a connected generation. With speakers from high profile brands such as Microsoft’s Head of Marketing Paul Davis and David Titman, Senior Brand Manager for Lynx in addition to social media experts, Oliver Snoddy, Head of Strategy at Twitter and Second Sync MD, Andy Littledale; We debated how advertisers can capitalise on changing viewing habits and audience behaviours as media consumption continues to evolve across multiple platforms.

2014

In 2014, it was all about Building Brands with Content to reach consumers in a more engaging and effective way. Clare O'Brien,the IAB's head of video joined us to share her thoughts on the content ecosystem whilst media journalist Kate Bulkley moderated a commercial content panel which included Rupert Ellwood, Head of Marketing at Waitrose, David Granger, Managing Director at Monkey Entertainment and Ruth Cartwright, Broadcast Director at Maxus.

2015

In 2015, we focused on Defying Ordinary through new creative approaches. Dave Trott, Author and Creative Guru, led a masterclass in creative thinking. Ralph Lee, Channel 4's Chief Creative Officer, discussed creativoty from the point of view of a programme maker, examining where ideas come from and what he felt was important in the creative approach. Finally Duncan Smith, MD at Mindlab, joined us to discuss whether insight was killing creativity or whether the two can work in harmony.

2016

2016 was all about youth. Generation Y are a tricky bunch for advertisers. Our own top researcher Georgina Harvey defined what a Millennial is, then our panel, including Kath Hipwell from RedBee and Joe Palmer from Sony Entertainment, discussed adapting marketing to this audience. Creative Consultant Scott Morrison explored how we can use creative to talk to youth, before Emma Worrollo of Pineapple Lounge introduced us to the Millennials of Tomorrow. After lunch, we were joined by Alex, Louis and Katy from hit show Gogglebox, to give us their perspectives.

2017

In 2017 we took a close look at the world of TV sponsorships. Our Partnerships leader, Rob Ramsey, set the scene as to the journey brand have been on in the world of sponsorship before our own researcher, Sophia Field, was joined by Consumer Insight Strategy Director Lauren Ellyatt to give a sneak peak of our Sponsorship Rocks insight project, which proved the power of partnerships. Emma Derrick, our commercial Development lead, explained all the stuff you can do around a core sponsorship before Rupinder Downie, Channel 4's Sponsorship Controller, led a client panel, with marketeers from Kayak (Suzanne Perry), Allianz Insurance (Carolyn Rich) and GiffGaff (Tom Rainsford). Ewan Douglas, leader of our Nations and Regions team, then led a special viewer panel, with help from a few friends from hit show, Gogglebox.

2018

We welcomed our 10th Plannertarium group of media planners to the Vineyard for a very special anniversary event. Lindsey Clay of Thinkbox hosted a Creative Carousel with industry powerhouses from AMV BBDO The&Partnership, showcasing just why creativity in advertising is so important, as well as a trip down memory lane to look at the best ads of the past 10 years. Our brand-new research initiative, PL4YBACK was announced, followed by Suzuki and the All Star Driving School talking about the massive success of their ad-funded programme on E4. The day was rounded off with the live pitches from our amazing shortlist for the Diversity in Advertising Award. Presenting their creative for the portrayal of women in advertising for the chance to win £1m of airtime, the creative agencies and clients faced a panel of 10 judges (oh, and the 40 Plannertarium attendees) who had the chance to feedback!

Alumni

With 10 events under our belt, we've built up an impressive Alumni of Plannertarium delegates.

Here's a look back at who we've been joined by over the years

Please note the job titles/companies listed are correct as of when they attended the event!