About us
Us in two words:‘Expertise’ and ‘Flexibility’
How we operate
Our clients often tell us that what they most value about Planning Express is our expertise and flexibility.
Between us, we have over 50 years experience in account planning and brand strategy, and the expertise to do amazing things for your business. For instance, as well as developing inspiring, business-building insights our brainstorming techniques can leverage all the brainpower in your team to get to a great solution - faster. We also have proven strategic thinking skills and can quickly develop a unique strategy and brief that will inspire communications and keep you one step ahead.
Our flexibility stems from our ‘on-demand’, ‘pay-as-you-go’ approach. We work wherever suits you best – either from your office or remotely. And because we're a small and agile team, we're able to pool our resources, allowing you to tap into the expertise of all our account planners and get more relevant and up-to-the-minute thinking.
- Contract one of us to be your consistent brand strategist or account planner
- Hire us for a specific project or strategic planning task
- Use us on a big one-off pitch
- Ask us to develop your proprietary strategic planning process
Who we are
Liz Bielinska
07817 651 439
liz@planningexpress.com
Liz has been in account planning for 17 years and market research for 21 years. After graduating from the London School of Economics, and a short stint in publishing, she began her communications agency career in 1994 at BDH, Manchester (now TBWA). She then moved to Martin Williams Advertising in the USA to run the Account Planning department. While working for clients such as Target, LL Bean and E*TRADE, Liz pioneered creative thinking techniques and brand strategy development processes. After returning to the UK as a consultant, and then briefly back to BDH, Liz set up Planning Express in 2007. Since then she has applied her expertise to everything, from developing agency processes and training entire account teams and media sales teams on creative thinking, to developing international business-to-business brand strategies.
Rebecca Ashley
07766 200 160
rebecca@planningexpress.com
Rebecca is a MMU Business graduate with 14 years account planning experience under her belt. For 10 years she worked at TBWA\Manchester where she most recently held the position of Planning Director, working across a variety of high profile accounts including Carex, Morrisons, ghd, and ODEON cinemas. Rebecca joined Planning Express in 2008 and has so far worked with agencies to develop effective planning processes, helped win pitches, trained teams on all aspects of the planning cycle and developed brand propositions and creative work that grows business. She has come face-to-face with, amongst others, teenage boys, sexist men, pregnant smokers, unhygienic chefs, hauliers, head teachers, and holidaymakers - all in the name of planning.
Rob Gray
07759 209 145
rob@planningexpress.com
An Industrial Economics graduate from Nottingham University, Rob became a planner in 2003 when he joined TBWA\Manchester. While there he was the lead planner on Brother, Schwans (Chicago Town pizza), ATS Euromaster and Henkel (Unibond, No More Nails, Sellotape). He planned integrated communications campaigns as well as working extensively on new product and brand development.
Rob started working with Planning Express in 2007 and has since delivered a wide range of projects, from brand positioning and pitching, to research and marketing planning. He has helped brands, including Asda, Royal Mail, Superdrug, The Macallan, Beaverbrooks, Atkins and the NHS.
Rob is a two-time IPA Effectiveness Award winner.
Gael Laurie
07503 170 509
gael@planningexpress.com
Gael is the newest member to the Planning Express team. She is an accomplished brand marketer with over thirteen years’ experience gained at leading FMCG companies including Britvic Soft Drinks, Bass Brewers, Boots Healthcare International and most recently at SSL International.
Having managed leading brands such as Scholl, Party Feet, Nurofen and Carling, her areas of strength are brand strategy, brand positioning, brand architecture and innovation. Her passion is to distil complex challenges into simple actionable solutions that will grow brands and business results.