I’m a planning director at Energy BBDO / Proximity Chicago. Why is there a slash between Energy BBDO and Proximity Chicago? Energy BBDO is the advertising agency that hired me. Proximity is our brother/cousin/sister/sexy digital family member that lives in the same home – so I have been unofficially adopted by them.

Planning Director? The title is a bit nebulous. I do a lot of planning, but direct few (yeah I’m talking about you @k8tsait & @mdusica :-) ).

Basically, if clients want to sell more widgets they’ll tap into an agency like Energy BBDO and I help identify the real business issues and opportunities these clients may have. In order to get at the heart of the matter, planners like me use all kinds of tools along the way like webcam Q&As, in-depth interviews, surveys, focus groups, etc. This ammo aids us in developing strategies to best connect brands with people to sell said widgets.

Widgets I currently help to sell include Wrigley’s Extra Gum and Bayer’s Alka-Seltzer brand of hangover relief. Past clients have included Porsche Sports Cars, Heinz Ketchup, Toyota Trucks & Motorsports (Tundra, Tacoma, NASCAR, IRL), Toyota’s involvement in the Dew Action Sports Tour, VTech Electronic Learning Toys, Wrigley’s Orbit Gum, Crocs and Ad Council’s Emergency Preparedness Initiative – Ready.gov.