Graduate Account Planning Education: Insights from the Classroom

Abstract

While account planning as a discipline has existed in advertising agencies for decades, research related to account planning has been somewhat limited – particularly research focused on account planning education. Existing research in this area has focused on broader issues related to account planning education, with less focus on the in-classroom experience. This commentary shares the views and experiences of two relative outsiders – an academic teaching an introductory account planning seminar and a professional account planner entering academia. It seeks to initiate conversation and investigation about the role of in-classroom experience on preparing students for careers in account planning.

Looking Backward, Looking Forward: A Systematic Review of 20 Years of Research and Commentary Published by Journal of Advertising Education

“…Finally, only three articles addressed graduate education in advertising: 1) Alessandri's (2001) commentary on being a graduate student with teaching responsibilities; 2) Richards' (2012) essay about how doctoral students can become successful academics; and 3) Mackert and Muñoz's (2011) article about teaching a graduate account planning class. There also were a few articles that reported using graduate students as part of a study sample or to compare with undergraduates (Kelly & Fall, 2011) or that described an assignment given to an undergraduate and a graduate class (Wetsch, 2012).…”