The Role of Account Planning in U.S. Agencies

ABSTRACT

It is now accepted that account planning recognizes the complexity of humans and their emotional attachment to products and that this understanding can be translated into effective campaigns extending far beyond advertising. The planning function in U.S. agencies may have progressed beyond only advertising. Jon Steel notes that planners are most useful when they go beyond advertising solutions and into broader business solutions. This article reports the results of a national survey of account planners and is part of a larger study aimed at assessing the attitudes and opinions of planners in the United States. Specifically, the study reported here focuses on the following questions: (1) How is account planning integrated into U.S. advertising agencies? (2) In which areas of strategy planning would account planners like to be more involved? In sum, the results of this study suggest that account planning is integrated up to a certain point in modern full service U.S. advertising agencies, and that planning today is highly integrated into the advertising development process. Further, most planners express high degrees of satisfaction with their involvement in molding consumer perceptions, emotional insights, and lifestyle observations into message strategy or creative briefs for mass advertising. Nevertheless, this study also highlights areas where integration of the account planning function is lacking and in need of improvement. In particular, the areas of media strategy, sales promotion, and public relations development could benefit from insights generated by account planners.