Account Planning

Account planning is an important activity in mainstream advertising, and represents both a philosophy of advertising development as well as an analytical technique to centralize consumer insights in the creation of advertising messages. This chapter summarizes past and current scholarship on account planning from around the world with the purpose of stimulating further research. It is organized around five broad areas of investigation: studies examining (i) definition, role, and scope of planning; (ii) global adoption and growth; (iii) factors influencing adoption; (iv) client and agency views on planning; and (v) planning effectiveness. Both commentary and empirical investigations are included in the chapter since both types of articles appear in academic journals. Theoretical frameworks are mentioned where available. The chapter concludes with future research suggestions on account planning in international settings.