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Account planning. The evolution of the discipline in Australia
Conference paper   Peer reviewed

Account planning. The evolution of the discipline in Australia

Rod McCulloch and K Butcher
Designing Communication for Diversity: Refereed Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Australia New Zealand Communication Association, pp.1-13
Australian and New Zealand Communication Association Conference: Designing Communication for Diversity, 2003 (Brisbane, Australia, 09-Jul-2003–11-Jul-2003)
Australian and New Zealand Communication Association
2003
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Abstract

Marketing marketing communications account planning
In the UK and the US, account planning has come to be recognised as a major force in contemporary marketing communications. In the US, it has been boldly described as "the biggest thing to hit America since Doyle Dane Bernbach's Volkswagen campaign". Jay Chiat of Chiat/Day is quoted as describing account planning as the "best new business tool ever invented". In Australia, account planning has established itself in many agencies as an integral component in the development of effective communication. But is it truly a "new" business tool, or is it in fact a strategy that has been staring us in the face since the advent of time?: communication, not just from the marketer's stand- point, but rather from the consumer's point of view. This paper explores the role of account planning in the Australian advertising industry, the origins of the discipline and where we are today. Through the eyes, ears and mouths of a number of this country's leading account planners by way of a series of in-depth interviews, the paper investigates how account planning has developed to this point in Australia. It appears that the scale and nature of the Australian advertising industry mitigates against full acceptance of the UK model. Indeed, the UK model has met resistance from several areas, including agency staff and clients. Like overseas, it was found that agencies that had fully embraced the account planning concept stood apart from other agencies in terms of advertising effectiveness. The future of account planning in Australia may depend upon a consolidation of the account planning discipline by practitioners and acceptance, by clients, of its embedded value. Research issues are identified for further investigation.

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