Account planning: whose role is it anyway?

The account planning discipline practised in advertising agencies is a central element of a formal system for planning advertising campaigns on behalf of clients. Precise definitions are hard to find, but it is an intellectual process, to exercise quality control. The present study builds on another by the same researchers, which analysed the principles and practice of account planning from the advertising agency perspective. Its objectives were to: determine its role in the development of clients' advertising campaigns; examine the working relationships involved; assess clients' expectations and satisfactions; and evaluate its impact on current and future marketing planning. It was found that propensity to take advantage of agency account planning expertise ranged along a spectrum from high to low. High-propensity clients exhibited a natural predisposition to co-operation and collaboration, sought the agency's planning input from the start, and believed in direct involvement with both planners and creatives. Low-propensity clients regarded control as paramount, and therefore preferred co-ordination to collaboration.