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Truth, Lies & Advertising

The Art of Account Planning

Jon Steel

Wiley, 1998

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Successful ad campaigns are not linear developments where a business need meshes straightforwardly with an effective creative approach and actually produces successful tangible results. Instead, building memorable, provocative advertising campaigns is such a complex, political task, both rational and emotional, that a successful campaign is a wonder. Veteran advertising expert Jon Steel contends that building a good campaign is the common sense responsibility of the account planner - the new nexus of the consumer, agency creative staff, client and researchers. Steel shows the pitfalls of misguided research and creative arrogance as he explains that a good business-oriented account planner can help produce wonderfully effective, often simple, ad campaigns. His witty, erudite book concludes with its best case study: a look inside the successful "Got Milk" campaign for the California milk industry. getAbstract recommends this book to those who buy and sell advertising and to anyone working at an ad agency.

Summary

Planning Comes First

Planning is essential for any complex project, including constructing a successful ad campaign. However, many ad agencies neglect the account planning function when they embark on expensive, time consuming creative efforts to solve business problems. This lack of planning may be one reason that effective advertising is such a high-risk business proposition. Account planning, however, may mitigate these business risks. Planners link strategic research, creative approaches and consumer opinions in a process that strengthens the brand and builds the client's corporation. If this is done right, the agency benefits, too, because it can create better ads and, thus, attain a larger, more loyal client base.

Building a successful account planning department starts with an agency-wide commitment that ads should be effective at all costs, including the effort of getting consumer feedback about ad content. The agency must commit the resources to give planners access to all appropriate research as well as the authority to conduct any new research. Such investigation includes time to attend client meetings and to work on an equal footing with the account director...

About the Author

Jon Steel is director of account planning and vice chairman at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. His clients include American Isuzu Motors, Anheuser-Busch, the California Milk Producers, Nike, Hewlett-Packard, Polaroid and Porsche. He is a member of the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement for executives younger than 40 and has been profiled in Ad Week Magazine as "West Coast Executive of the Year."

Truth, Lies & Advertising

The Art of Account Planning

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Planning Comes First

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