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Account planning for
Advertising
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Medium to large-sized advertising agencies divide their work into various
departments, traditionally splitting functions into interacting with clients and
looking out for their interests (account management), buying advertising
(media), and creating advertising (creative). The importance of the voice of the
consumer has grown over time. Around the 1980s US ad agencies introduced a
new discipline from the UK called account planning which became a primary
function in most US ad agencies in the 90s. Account planning brings the
consumer into the process of developing advertising.
Account planners have often been called 'the left side of a creative brain'. Their
primary function is to find consumer truth and insight that helps the creative
teams to create work that is not only entertaining and highly memorable, but
that is relevant to the consumer and effective in the marketplace. Creative ideas
that drive business are more typically the result of a strong collaboration
between creative teams and account planners. Account planners (sometimes
also called brand planners and strategic planners) use primary and secondary
research to inform their strategic thinking and are ultimately responsible for the
work that informs, and the penning of, the creative brief. If the creatives are
closest to the idea, and the account manager is closest to the client, the account
planner is closest to the consumer. The account planner is the person on an
advertising team who is most likely to have spent time with consumers (for B to
C) or customers (B to B), observing the consumer's path to purchase, by using
research such as ethnographies, focus groups or quantitative/social studies,
asking consumers how they think about and use the product or service. And in
an era in which the brand is at least as important as a specific product (for
instance, Nike as a brand has a place in the culture that far exceeds the
particular performance characteristics of their shoes), the account planner is
responsible for understanding the place of the brand in the consumer's mind.
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This is not just a simple research function - planning truly begins when research
ends - and account planners stay engaged in the campaign process from the
initial client briefing and throughout the advertising cycle. Rather than offering
research insights to others at a single point in time, they use research to continue
to provide insights within the campaign process and most importantly these
days, help to track advertising effectiveness. Whereas previously, account
planners focused on the use of traditional primary research tools, digital/social
networks have given them the ability to listen to and interact with consumers in
new ways, and to work more closely with channel or media planners throughout
the process closely also, to not only help plan effective advertising but also
engage with consumers in the most effective ways.
History
Account planning is a job title that exists in most London and UK advertising
agencies. Account planning gained an initial foothold in the US in the early 80s
but really only evolved to become an essential function is in most mid to large
sized agencies in the early 90s.
Beginning in 1965, Stanley Pollitt felt that account managers were using
information incompetently or inexpediently because the researcher was not
involved in the campaign process. Because of this, Pollitt suggested that a
specially trained researcher should work with the account manager as an equal
partner. After the opening of the Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP) agency, in 1968,
Pollitt introduced his idea, only slightly revised. Stephen King, believing that
clients deserved a better way of doing things, proposed a process of advertising
development that had a little less gut feeling and a little more scientific
foundation. This process involved rigorous analysis of a brand and its position
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in the competitive market place. This process creates an advertising message
from the marketing objectives and the client’s business objectives. In 1968, J.
Walter Thompson (JWT) established a new department called “account
planning,” coined by Tony Stead.
In Australia the course of history was different. The inventor of the role in 1965
was David Brent, a senior researcher at Unilever who had served as a senior
para-military police commander in a long, major counter-insurgency jungle war
in Asia and in the national secret service followed by ad agency account service,
creative writing and media management. These qualifications, skills and
experiences led to the launch of the new role in a Sydney agency in 1966.
Account planners, strategic planners, planners
"The account planner is that member of the agency's team who is the expert,
through background, training, experience, and attitudes, at working with
information and getting it used - not just marketing research but all the
information available to help solve a client's advertising problems." - Stanley
Pollitt
"Planners are involved and integrated in the creation of marketing strategy and
ads. Their responsibility is to bring the consumer to the forefront of the process
and to inspire the team to work with the consumer in mind. The planner has a
point of view about the consumer and is not shy about expressing it." - FortiniCampbell
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The ultimate goal of the planner is to work with consumers as partners in the
process of developing advertising. This relationship with the consumer allows
planners to involve their input at every stage of the process and to inform and
inspire creative ideas that guide and validate the resulting campaign in the
consumers interests. Planners are the “consumer’s representative” of the
account team. According to Jon Steel advertising can exist without account
planning, but planners add an element of creativity to the advertising mix. They
are typically people who are interested in meeting people and talking to the
consumers. Planners want to find out what makes people tick and use that
market information and research data to guide the campaign process. It is the
planner’s job to take all this information and funnel it down into a short idea
that helps inspire and directionalize the creative department.
Planners have the ability to bridge together their understanding of the consumer
and the awareness of how this knowledge will be used within their own
business. It is the account planners' job to understand and draw insightful
conclusions not only from the consumer, but also the brand. Because
communication channels have presently multiplied, it is even harder, and more
crucial, for communication to break through this clutter and reach the target
audience.
According to Fortini-Campbell, there are five main roles that an account planner
must fulfill; First, they must discover and define the advertising task. They have
the job of organizing information about the consumer and the marketplace from
every possible source, including the client and agency data and secondary
research. Second, they prepare the creative brief. The creative brief is the tool
that the creative department uses to conceptualize ads. Another main purpose of
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the brief is to define the proper positioning of a brand. Third, they are involved
in creative development. During creative conceptualization, it is the account
planner's duty to represent the consumer. They may also interact with the
creative department through the sharing of initial consumer responses to ad
ideas or advertising approaches. Fourth, they must present the advertising to the
client. The planner informs the client of "how and why a consumer will react to
advertising." Finally, they track the advertising's performance. Through their
follow-up research, account planners track reactions to the ads in the actual
marketplace and provide Creatives with additional information.
There are numerous characteristics that make for a good account planner.
Fortini-Campbell state that a person must possess intelligence, experience,
strong observational skills, and judgment. The account planning group adds that
account planners must have the skills to "conceptualize and think strategically.
They must also be able to argue their viewpoint coherently. Being a team player
and having a strong personality are also positive attributes. Ideally, an account
planner candidate will have some experience in market research, brands,
advertising and communications, and people management.
The account planner is the bridge between the business side to the creative side
of a marketing campaign. On the business side, the planner works with the
account manager to understand what the client is looking for and then relate that
to what the consumer wants. On the creative side, the planner helps to create an
expressive snapshot or a single-minded directional creative brief to lead the way
to the drawing board.
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A good account planner is inspiring by nature, passionate for advertising and
has respect for creativity. They are intuitive and curious about consumers and
relationships. Planners must be educated in marketing and research techniques.
Secretly planners must be little detectives looking for truth and understanding.
They must also be numerate, imaginative, and creditable when it comes to
translating and presenting research.
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