This document provides an overview of account planning, including definitions of account planning and related strategy and tactics. It discusses the role of the account planner in an advertising agency and provides examples of their daily responsibilities. Tips are provided on writing briefs, finding real problems, developing insights, and asking the right questions of clients. The importance of considering category, culture, consumer, and company is emphasized for developing effective advertising campaigns.

1. h e l l o !

3. today we are going to talk about
account planning, miami ad school,
how to try to get a job afterwards,
new york city, your story, my story,
brand stories, people, process,
advertising and anything else you
want.

4. but first..

7. from classmates to
lifelong friends.

9. what is
account
planning?

12. strategy in military terms: a
plan of action designed to
achieve a particular goal.
tactic in military terms:
employing available means
to accomplish objective.

13. a look at the traditional ad
agency departments.

14. so where does
the planner fit
in?

15. anthropologist
voice of consumer
support for account
right hand to client
investigator
voice of clarity
researcher
inspiration to creative
investigator
brief writer

16. a day in the life.

17. before the brief
qualitative or quantitative research
getting a client brief
workshops with product insight team
competitive analysis
developing positioning statements
testing already developed key messages

18. after the brief
Getting client and creative to buy-in
Thinking of different ways in
Brainstorming with creative team
Making sure creative is on brief
Tweaking the brief to match the work
Sending inspiration to creative team
Writing set-up story slides for the work
Presenting work to client
Making decisions based on performance

20. a look at the
brief.

23. the brief
it’s a source of clarity, inspiration and direction.
every planner has their own style.
every agency has their own template.
some briefs are left open while others are written tightly.
creatives sometimes want different ways in and thought starters.
client and account typically approve the brief.
a brief doesn’t have to be a piece of paper.
some people ignore briefs.
others edit them until the end.

24. “this tension between control and freedom is at the heart of
creative briefing. getting it right isn’t easy. however, i
believe that whilst you need to rigidly control and give
clarity about the problem you are asking creativity to fix,
being open-minded and giving people freedom in how
they solve it is the smartest thing any briefer can do.”
- pete heskett, art of the brief

25. common sections on the brief
background
what is the objective?
what is the problem (awareness, trial, sales)?
what is the real problem (price, cultural irrelevance, unclear product benefit)?
what category are we in?
audience
who are we talking to?
what do we know about them demographically or psychologically?
are they users or non-users of our brand (retain vs. recruit)
what is our insight and strategy?
after looking through the lens of culture, consumer, brand and category, what is our target insight?
using our target insight, what is the plan we want to make for our communications?
what will support our strategy?
what are the brand and product truths that support our strategy?
what do we want our outcome to be?
after our target sees our ad, what do we want them to think, do or feel?
mandatories and considerations
what are we making?
what should the creatives keep in mind when developing the work?
timing
when do we go to market?
budget
how much money to we have to play with?

26. tips on writing a brief
write, re-write and write again.
running a napkin with doodles on it to a colleague is allowed.
the words should jump off of a page.
the briefing moment does not have to be in a room.
know it’s the first step in the creative process and not the last step
in the strategy process.
client and account typically approve the brief.

28. why tone is so important.

29. how to go about
finding the real
problem.
ask many, many questions. you’ll have the chance to ask clients
about their creative brief and to ask consumers about their
hopes, dreams and fears.
rephrase the problem. example: when an executive asked
employees to brainstorm ways to increase productivity, he got
blank stares. but when he rephrased his request as ways to make
their job easier, he couldn’t keep up with the load of
suggestions.
challenge the assumptions that come in. remove bias, come up
with different ways of looking at the category and provided
problem. example, if you’re working on a restaurant brand, don’t
assume they have a clear menu.
fill your brain with goodness. this is a great time to fill your mind
with as much information about the current category,
competition, audience, historical advertising and product.

30. along with framing up the
problem in an interesting
way, getting to a core
insight is arguably the
most important thing.

31. the five whys to an insight.
why?
the battery is dead.
why?
the alternator is not functioning.
why?
the alternator belt has broken.
why?
the alternator was well beyond its useful service life and not
replaced.
why?
the vehicle was not maintained according to the
recommended service schedule.

33. the key to uncovering
insights was given to you
in pre-school.

34. “just move me, dude.”

35. let’s look at an
advertising idea.
and then a less-than
advertising idea.

36. congratulations. you just
opened your own advertising
agency and your first client is
warby parker. they asked you
to create their next
advertising campaign. what
do you ask them?

37. category culture
consumer company

38. c a t e g o r y
what category are we in?
who else is in our category?
what category could we be in?
can we re-define the category?
example: we’re not in the pretzel business but in the share
of stomach category

39. c u l t u r e
what is happening in the world right now?
can the product tie to a movement?
is the brand going with a cultural trend or against it?
is there a specific group of people that we can focus on?
example: if it’s known that many new yorkers are waking up
earlier than ever before, how can a brand or product fit into
the 7am time slot?

40. c o n s u m e r
what is the current behavior of our consumer?
how do we want to change their behavior?
what words do we want our consumer to use when telling
their friend about us?
what are their conflicts, passions and goals?
who are they influenced by?

41. c o m p a n y
what are the functional and emotional benefits?
what is your client’s goal?
what is their boss’s goal?
what is the company’s goal for this advertising campaign?
what is the company’s goal for the next five years?

42. your turn.
four teams. one per
section.

43. a good place to start.

44. it’s arguably the best job in the world
five learned lessons from
being a planner.
the skills are transferable
planners aren’t needed to make work but are there to make the work better
inspiration fades. stay with it and get out there
planners don’t need the answers but need to know how to get them later

45. it’s time to say
goodbye.
and hello to the best
three months of your
darn life.