Account planning in Scottish advertising agencies: a discipline in transition

Abstract

Over 35 years the modus operandi of 'account planning' has changed significantly while the rationale has remained the same: to temper intuition with analysis. The aim of this study was to define those changes, investigate possible causes and predict future developments. Scotland was chosen as the fieldwork location. The findings are based on face-to-face interviews in mid-2001 in 24 large and small advertising agencies. This sample included all but four of the Scottish total. The respondents were individuals who either had a specific account planning remit or were senior managers who considered it to be one of their responsibilities. Analysis of transcripts of the interviews suggested four key factors determining how the principle is converted into practice and four distinct models of the account planner's role in the process. It also found that the expected 'conflict' between creative teams and those responsible for strategic planning was in fact seen as productive 'tension' and that pragmatic collaboration was feasible. However, there was conflict with the parallel discipline of media planning. Two future scenarios are discussed and the conclusion drawn that the discipline needs to pay as much attention to planning survival strategies for itself as it does to planning campaign strategies for its clients. The findings and conclusions of a small-scale study are not necessarily generalizable, even based on a virtual census, but do offer a new perspective on a literature that generally deals with practice among large agencies in a handful of world 'capitals' of the discipline

Market Research and Advertising Strategy in Portuguese Agencies: Perspectives of Professionals

“…Taylor, Hoy, and Haley (1996) interviewed 11 French professionals to examine the way they develop creative strategy. Crosier and Grant (2003) studied the role of account planners and their relations with the various functions and departments in the context of Scottish advertising agencies. Using semistructured, face-to-face, indepth interviews with 24 advertising professionals, the authors analyzed the context and practice of account planning.…”

“…We found that many of them used smaller samples, between 6 (Hirschman, 1989) and 24 individuals (Crosier and Grant, 2003). The agencies of our study were chosen randomly from a list of Portuguese advertising agencies published in an annual directory (Briefing, 2001).…”

Does planning make perfect? How advertising practitioners in India perceive account planning

“…Though books like Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning (Steel, 1998) and Hitting the Sweet Spot (Fortini-Campbell, 2001) have tried to explain and demystify planning, scholarly research indicates some lack of agreement about its role in the agency. Studies of agency executives in London and New York (Hackley, 2003), Singapore (Chong, 266 P. Patwardhan et al 2006) and Scotland (Crosier et al, 2003) all found a lack of full understanding of the function. Some departmental friction regarding planners' power over the creative process particularly in the early years of planning adoption in the US (Kendrick & Dee, 1992) as well as differences in the way it is utilized in British and American agencies (Hackley, 2003) have also been noted.…”

“…It was introduced by Stanley Pollit (BMP) and Stephen King (JWT) in an attempt to combine research and strategic thinking into one function to provide stronger consumer focus in the development of ad campaigns (Barry, Peterson, & Todd, 1987;Crosier, Grant, & Gilmore, 2003). The somewhat misleading term 'account planning' was coined by JWT; today terms like account planning, strategic planning and planning may be used interchangeably within agencies.…”

“…Maxwell, Wanta, Sheehan, & Bentley, 2000;Morrison & Haley, 2003), agency perspectives about research (Chong, 2006) and the planning role (e.g. Crosier et al, 2003;Hackley, 2003), its integration in US agencies (Morrison & Haley, 2006) and client perspectives on account planning (Moran, 1988). Though books like Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning (Steel, 1998) and Hitting the Sweet Spot (Fortini-Campbell, 2001) have tried to explain and demystify planning, scholarly research indicates some lack of agreement about its role in the agency.…”