Traditionally account management, creative and media were the three powerhouses of an agency, however in the 1970s ad agencies in the UK recognised the need for an additional function that sought to bring together these elements in order to drive strategy and focus for campaigns. This led to the development of what we now refer to as Strategic Planning or Account Planning and is pivotal to the advertising process. Account planning can vary from agency to agency, but typically account planners are concerned with the consumer’s point of view and insert the consumer’s viewpoint all along the advertising strategy and creation. They work closely with the creative team and through research and insights they serve as the voice of the consumer. The kind of person that makes a good planner is one who understands what makes consumers tick, they ‘get’ what they’re into and have strong research skills. Unlike a market researcher who post hoc will assess the success of a campaign, a planner has input at every stage of the process.
So what’s the big deal? Are planners not just glorified qualitative researchers? These are the kind of criticisms that are commonly levelled at the planning function. Pardon the cliché, but we now live in an information age so there’s an even greater need for this information to be distilled and disseminated so that it is meaningful and useful in isolating key trends and developing campaigns.
For digital agencies, it is key that strategists are part of the production process so that digital platforms are developed that take clients into the future. Account planners/strategists use information to develop campaigns that are relevant to their audience which in turn increases engagement and develops communities for the clients’ customers and fans. And because planning is literally about thinking ahead and embracing change, it becomes an even more essential function in the dynamic and ever-evolving digital agency.
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