Post on 15-Nov-2014
It has been over 30 years since the first account planner walked the earth. Since then account planning has developed into a job function that exists not only in the advertising agencies but in client marketing departments, direct marketing agencies, design consultancies, PR firms, media independents et al. It has long since existed outside its London, England birthplace, extending to the US and Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Scandinavia, Chile, Brazil, Europe, even China. And those are just the countries that have approached us about starting their own APG.
One of the striking tendencies of human beings is to act, judge, believe or vote on strictly instinctive, emotional grounds, and then, after the act is committed, to try to justify it or defend it by intellectual or logical reasons. (The Want Makers – Eric Clark)
‘An advertisement is nothing but facts/information put in a strategically healthy fit of words is always paying and effective on the consumer ’ David Ogilvy (Confessions of an Advertising Man)
Account Planning is a study of consumer psychology often called ‘research’. Borrowing from David Ogilvy, The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife. A good husband is always called perfect when he understands his wife well, what are her likes, dislikes, her feelings, what has to be said when to make it most effective yet romantic!!!
An account planner is known as the ‘Voice of the Consumer’ (Pollitt 1979)
This is typically the role of an account planner, to figure out what is mapping on the mind of the consumer alias his wife.
Is the consumer's representative.
Monitors the market trends and the attitude of the consumer towards the client's brand and its competitors.
Develops effective strategies in achievable basic form for the creative team.
The name .account planning. was coined by Tony Stead at a JWT awayday in 1968,attended by media planners and account people from the marketing department. Hesimply merged the two titles together as Stephen.s new department was to comprisea hybrid . selected folk from both disciplines. And so we have been saddled withone of the most obfuscatory job titles ever since. Our North American friends inadopting the discipline have strived to better it with the likes of .Brand Planner. and.Strategic Planner. (preceded by the usual Senior Executive Vice President tosh, ofcourse) but none of these appear to have stuck. Perhaps we rather enjoy themystique of having a job title that implies crystal ball gazing without a clearly definedhandle?
The name .account planning. was coined by Tony Stead
at a JWT in 1968, attended by media planners and
account people from the marketing department. He
simply merged the two titles together as Stephen’s new
department was to comprise a hybrid . selected folk from
both disciplines. And so we have been saddled with one
of the most obfuscatory job titles ever since. Our North
American friends in adopting the discipline have strived
to better it with the likes of Brand Planner. And Strategic
Planner. (preceded by the usual Senior Executive Vice
President tosh, of course) but none of these appear to
have stuck. Perhaps we rather enjoy the mystique of
having a job title that implies crystal ball gazing without a
clearly defined handle?
Is the consumer's representative.
Monitors the market trends and the attitude of the consumer towards the client's brand and its competitors.
Develops effective strategies in achievable basic form for the creative team.
In the words of Bill Bern Bach; “At the heart of a creative philosophy is the belief that
nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature,
what compulsions drive a man,
what instincts dominate his action,
even though his language so often camouflages what really motivates him.
for if you know these things about (a) man you can touch him at the core of his being.”
Agency set upBridge between marketing and advertising objectives.
Organizes information about the consumer and marketplace from every source available.
Analysis of Current Marketing Information.
Deductive reasoning.
Intuition driven by conversations with consumers.
Task Definition, based on consumer insight becomes the creative brief.
Exploratory Research
Descriptive Research
Causal Research
New Product Research
Packaging Research
Branding Research
Pricing Research
Field Trial Focus Groups Personal Interviews Observations Surveys
Who is the Typical Target Consumer?
Demographics
Psychographics
Usage and Behavior
How do Consumers View the Brand?
What is the Role for Advertising?
Focus on the Consumer
Written from Consumer POV
Use THEIR terminology
Introduces the Creative Department to the person they are talking to
Know the Creative Team
Brief must be single-minded
Imaginative Description of Target Group
Brand Specific
Consumer Litmus Test
Very Delicate
Must be encouraging
Not Leading
Not Dictatorial
Success built on good judgment & trust/relationship with creatives
Summarize the brief
Present the Key Insight
Describe the Consumer
Presentation can be elaborate (videos, brandscapes, composites)
Consumer Reaction to Advertising
“Let the Consumer Tell us”
Feedback: Tracking the Advertising
Do they get it?
What do they get?
What do they remember?
Are there dynamics in the marketplace that can and should affect the next stage?
What’s going on?
What’s new?
What is cumulative impact on brand?
Market Researcher Data Analyst Qualitative Focus Group Moderator Information Center Be a bad cop!! ;) Brainstorming facilitator Target audience representative/ Voice of the consumer Futurologist Media/Communication Planner Strategic Developer Writer of creative brief Think Piece Polemicist Social Anthropologist Insight Miner Knowledge applicator
Process of measuring the effectiveness of an advertisement
It may be broadly classified into two types:
• Pre-testing• Post-testing
Psychological Tests or Projective Techniques
Physiological Tests
Experimental Type
Lab Experiments
Field Experiments
Consumer jury survey
Coupon-return analysis
Recognition test
Recall or impact test
Sales area test
Doing research without anyone knowing WHY The Wrong Questions are often asked Right Questions are asked in a Wrong Way People don’t always mean what they say It is also very important for an effective research
to get the respondent in his comfort zone i.e. without any prejudices. The best interpretations are sought from non verbal and underlying meaning of words said.
An account planner needs to learn, unlearn and relearn for every new research undertaken.
Confessions of an Advertising Man Truth Lies & Advertising The Advertising Handbook- Sean Brierly The Want Makers- Eric Clark How to Plan Advertisement- Alan Cooper www.apg.org.uk/download.cfm http://americanapersona.wordpress.com/
2008/04/30/anheuser-busch%E2%80%99s-budweiser/