Using Qualitative Research in Advertising: Chapters 1-4
Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview
• Account planning
– Account planning was developed in the mid-1990’s and can be traced back to the UK
offices of two advertising agencies: J Walter Thompson and Boase Massimi Pollitt.
– Account planning originated from a need to better understand the increasingly
complex consumer landscape, synergize research, and brings a consumer focus into
the process of message generation.
– Account planning grew out of the changing consumer and business environments
along with an advertising agency’s need to assemble and analyze relevant product
data and apply it to their daily day-to-day activities and rituals.
– Account planning developed and gained popularity in Europe throughout the 1970s,
before making its way to the United States through Jay Chiat of Chiat/Day in 1982.
• The function of Account planning
– Account planners function as liaisons between the account executive and the
creative department, and between the creative department and the consumer. They
are both researchers and strategists.
– Theoretically, account planners are fully integrated members of the account and
creative teams.
– Their primary responsibility is to understand the target audience and then transfer
their understanding into their entire campaign development process. Account
planners work so closely with their focused target audiences they are often referred
to as “consumer advocates”.
– Account planners attempt to understand and represent the target audience using
market and research data in areas such as the market, competition and client. The
understanding obtained from their research leads to employable and beneficial
insights that can help creative and account management teams produce
communication campaigns that are relevant to the target market.
• The role of research in the day-to-day activities of account planners
– Account planners employ a variety of research techniques throughout their research
studies, including one-on-one interviews, focus groups, accompanied shopping,
video montages and consumer diaries.
– Account planners are skilled at identifying and keeping abreast of trends related to a
client’s business.
– Account planners use a variety of research techniques because: no single research
technique can accomplish everything and to intelligently evaluate the array of
research options available to them.
• Stages of account planning
– Account planning is aimed at generating consumer insights during two key phases of
