Introduction to Account Planning

1
INTRODUCTION TO
ACCOUNT PLANNING
ross cidlowski
4.16.13
Thursday, April 18, 2013

10+ years advertising & innovation
San Francisco, New York, Boston
HI. I’M ROSS
Dad-to-beSneakerheadTarheel
Source: NYC Photo Chris Ozer

SOME CLIENTS
3

I F#$%@#^ LOVE PLANNING
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SO WHAT EXACTLY IS ACCOUNT PLANNING?
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PLANNING WAS INVENTED IN THE 1960S
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"The account planner is that member of the agency's team who is the expert,
through background, training, experience, and attitudes, at working with
information and getting it used - not just marketing research, but all the
information available to help solve a client's advertising problems."
- Stanley Pollitt
“Planners are in a unique position in their jobs because they have an
understanding of the audience through research expertise AND an
understanding of how it will be applied within their own business, thus they
provide a crucial bridge.”
- Merry Baskin
PLANNING IS
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PLANNING......
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•Gets people into the conversation
•Helps the creative work and work harder
•Makes the agency smarter
•Is a tool for new business
•Gets people excited about thinking in a new way
•Is where you start

PLANNING IS
9
source: farrah bostic

PLANNING IS ABOUT INCREASING YOUR
SHOOTING PERCENTAGE
10Source: M!

Effectiveness
PLANNING SHOULD BE BUILT ON 1 THING
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ABOVE ALL ELSE, A PLANNER’S ROLE IS TO
ENSURE THE WORK ACTUALLY WORKS
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I. Empirical not theoretical
•Intuition only gets you so far; strategists must rely on knowledge through observation & validation (otherwise
you might as well be guessing)
II. Embrace complexity
•The world won’t suddenly start simplifying itself; great planners radically simplify the big into small
•Tackle with modern strategy techniques - collaboration, iteration, ecosystems
III. Judge when to lock & unlock
•Planners must call time on an idea that is plainly not appropriate for the task or most likely to work
•Planners need to understand when decisions can ignite others and advance the ball

HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE PLANNERS
13

?
WHAT DO PLANNERS DO?
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WE WEAR MANY HATS
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Makers
Sociologists
Researchers
Explorers
Storytellers
Culturists

HOW THE HELL DO WE GET
PEOPLE TO EAT A CANDY
BAR UNCHANGED SINCE THE
1960s?
WHAT WE DO - EXPLORERS
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HOW DO WE PUT
WONDER IN A CAN?
HOW DO WE REGAIN TRUST
WHEN WE ARE A MEME FOR
BAD?

RESPONSIBILITY PROJECT
WHAT WE DO - STORYTELLERS
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WHAT WE DO - CULTURISTS
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WHAT WE DO - RESEARCHERS
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WHAT WE DO - SOCIOLOGISTS / PSYCH

WHAT WE DO - MAKE STUFF
2116

WHERE WE FIT - CONTROLLED FRICTION
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Account
Creative
Planning
Source: Gareth Kay

WHERE WE FIT - CONTROLLED FRICTION
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Make the advertising happen
Make the advertising good
Make the advertising work
Source: Gareth Kay

THE PROCESS TO GET THERE
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Deﬁning the
problem
Building Insights
& Strategies
Inspiring
Creatives
Selling the
Work
Measuring
Impact

PLANNING PROCESS
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I. DEFINING THE PROBLEM
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Most of the time something is wrong --> enter the agency
•The target, the competitive set, the beneﬁt, the proposition, not enough information, etc
The other half of the time, the problem isn’t clearly deﬁned enough:
•Telling your agency your brand lacks awareness is like telling the doctor something hurts

Insights are profound human truths
speciﬁc about people, categories, products,
businesses, and brands that are presented
in a fresh stimulating way
II. BUILDING INSIGHTS
27

ISNT
Kids like to build stuff. Parents like when
their kids build things because it keeps kids
busy and teaches them how to problem
solve.
IS
Parents believe that children who are
creative problem solvers will do better and
achieve more in their personal and
professional lives.
ISN'T / IS
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSIGHTS
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(When talking about convertibles) “everyone thinks beach and sun, but at night its like you’re in a
space ship” - Lance Jensen
GOOD INSIGHTS CAN LEAD TO GREAT WORK
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DON’T JUST REFLECT REALITY
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“It’s illuminating & romantic”

Brand History / Equity / Values
•Mission Statement
•Brand Tracker
•Stakeholder Interviews
•Brand Clouds
•Brand Equities
•Content Engagement
GETTING TO GOOD INSIGHTS
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Business Brand
ConsumerEngagement Cultural Context / Attitudes /
Motivations
•3rd party data
•Quantitative Surveys
•Qualitative Research
•Social Listening
Market Share & Competitive Data
•Competitrak
•Financial Analyst Reports
•Sales Trends
•Category Trends
•Annual Sales Data
Behaviors / Media / Purchase
•Experiential Research
•Customer Journeys
•Qual & Quant Research
•Syndicated Data
•Blogs
•Forrester & Iconoculture

WHAT WAS THE INSIGHT?
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INSIGHTS ARE THE BASIS FOR ALL
MARKETING
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Insights
Positioning
Creative
Media
Content
All Marketing Efforts
insights become foundation for all marketing
Source: Rowena Alston
Belief
Behavior

II. SETTING THE STRATEGY
35source: mike aruz

GOOD STRATEGERY
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TALK DEBATE DISCUSS INTERNET DRINK SLEEP GO AWAY TALK TALK DEBATE
DISCUSS INTERNET DRINK SLEEP GO AWAY TALK TALK DEBATE DISCUSS
INTERNET DRINK SLEEP GO AWAY TALK TALK DEBATE DISCUSS INTERNET
DRINK SLEEP GO AWAY TALK TALK DEBATE DISCUSS INTERNET DRINK SLEEP
GO AWAY TALK TALK DEBATE DISCUSS INTERNET DRINK SLEEP GO AWAY TAL
TALK DEBATE DISCUSS INTERNET DRINK SLEEP GO AWAY TALK TALK DEBATE37
III. INSPIRING CREATIVES

Our Main Deliverable. Distillation of all research, thinking & discussions. Serves multiple functions.
BRIEFS
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Write the brief
Get some account and media
suggestions
Simplify the problem
Get away from the
idea
Come back & crack
the idea
Feed bits of
inspiration
Give them something
helpful everyday
Build your strategic
fortress
Source: Heidi Hackemer
Rewrite the brief

Come Correct
•Building Sessions
•Be Positive
•Start with the good parts
•Keep bitching to a minimum
CREATIVE GUIDANCE STRATEGIES
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It’s not easy being a creative
•Intense pressure
•Weird hours
•Each works differently

IV. SELLING THE WORK
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•Bring the idea to life in any way possible
•Sell early and often
•Don’t accept the client’s frame of the problem. Reframe in the terms that are
surprising but make your answer inevitable and inarguable
•Tell a story: the power of an idea, the problem, an even bigger problem,
catalyst for change, how we know we’re right

You made it, now get to work!
•Old world - wait for 3/6/12 months sales data
•New World - real-time measurement & reporting for 24/7
optimization
•Work can always be made as culture and consumer’s
behavior shifts
•Planners work with media & analytics to:
•Deﬁne program goals
•Develop learning & measurement plans
•Generate fodder for new insights
V. MEASURING IMPACT
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Test
Measure
Learn
Optimize
•Analytics
•Brand Tracking
•Engagement
Measurement
•Buzz Metrics
•Brand Index
•Copy Testing

HOW TO WORK WITH PLANNERS
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BE A WOLFPACK
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Planner
Creative Media Account Production
Source: Heidi Hackemer

Planning takes time, good planning takes more time
GIVE PLANNERS THINKING TIME
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Planners are never not working
They’d love to bounce ideas,
chat, or imagine the future
Talk to them
BRING YOUR IDEAS EVERYDAY
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“Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative”
- Oscar Wilde
DONT BE AFRAID OF FAILURE
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Source: Gareth Kay / Mark Lewis

New business scour on
blogs & social media, etc
POTENTIAL DAY IN THE LIFE - JR PLANNER
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Competitive Dig for Market
Analysis
Write tactical brief for
Dunkin Donuts Summer
Promotion Biscuit Breakfast
Sharing stimulus in
creative brieﬁng
Developing hypotheses &
initiatives for go-to-market
launch strategy on Cigna
Get Organized for
day and week ahead

WANT TO BE A PLANNER?
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IDEAL PLANNER DNA
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A good intellect & innate curiosity
Capable of daring leaps
Humanity and empathy
A dose of anxiety
Weird wiring
Geeking out
Ability to perform
Brave
Ego-less
Always on
Numerate
Team player

READ THIS
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Gareth Kay
FOLLOW THEM
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Mark Earls Russell Davies Heather LeFevre

Feed & Fuel Creativity
Be Objective & Optimistic
Be present & talk often
Be additive, not interruptive
Be Curious
DO THIS
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QUESTIONS / THOUGHTS / COMMENTS
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THANKS
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ross.cidlowski@hhcc.com
Lifeﬁlter

Introduction to Account Planning

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