Planning has been a child of misery in India since its inception three decades ago. Account Planning: the most misunderstood and abused word in advertising and marketing.
Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout started changing things in strategic planning and consumer targeting in advertising in early eighties. From sheer number of brand recalling exercises to salesman copy to funny jokes to lifestyle semiotics’ to UPS’s; advertising was on a superlative & superiority claim trip. Focus began to shift from manufactures to consumers. Advertising agencies needed to acquire new knowledge to stay ahead thus Account Planning was invented from the rubble’d egos of strategic thinkers or overpaid management graduates.
First animal of such kind to descend on Indian Advertising was: King “Sattar Khan”. He was the first official “Account Planner” in India. JWT than HTA was the first agency to see the future of consumerism in this country and the power, potentially people can posses in controlling brands. Thompson Plan started questioning: where are we in the market? to where are we in the mind?
This shift in thinking lead to an influx of planners in India and every agency worth its salt was in a hurry to appoint account planners and start the planning department to get this unknown advantage. This hasty turn of events lead to insecurity amongst account directors thereby confusion over the territorial powers prevailed. Hostile welcome by account guys made planners align themselves with less insecure creative guys. The cold war still continues between Planning and account guys not understanding each other roles. Mind you in 80’s agencies had many services including media planning, media buying, research both qualitative and quantitative, data analysis so on so forth. Accounts guys were like ring leaders controlling all this information and therefore by default they were the knowledge leaders or strategic thinkers.
The untimely coincidence of de-bundling of advertising services and so-called planning thinkers reduced the power of account guys. Therefore planners were never welcomed. On the other hand planners for the first time started to have a conversation with creative on the softer aspects of human beings and their behavior. This common interest bonded creative and planning together, as planning started to power creative’s with human insights, creative’s started to create brands like Taj Mahal Tea, Asian Paints, Hero Honda , Cadbury’s and Iodex’s in this country. This nexus between creative and planning produced some of the most powerful advertising in Indian history in the 90’s.
I was one of the few fortunate one’s to work with legendary planning minds like Sattar Khan, Dharen Chedda, Anand Halve, Pranesh Mishra and Rajeev Sharma. I owe most of my success to them.
But 2000’s had a very different story to unfold. As consumer insight planning became significant, cleverer creative guys started to generate and use their own insights, which marginalized planners contribution and last decade also saw creative’s taking leadership roles and therefore over ruling planners intuitive thinking. Today planners are back to the same point, as they were in late eighties not wanted whole-heartedly as creative’s feel they could generate insights.
Now the point is planners are selfless guys represent the consumers or people’s voice, which in reality no agency is interested in. Planning job is a bit like KBC every one thinks they know it.
It is unfortunate that in an era, which is termed as people’s era, has very little respect for the people who understand people. Only glimmering hope are the creative leaders and visionary marketers who can save this dying precious breed called “Account Planners”
Believe you me; Planners are creative director’s creative directors.
Sir, i think like creativity is not limited only in the creative department, general planning is not restricted to any department..
To an extent, advertising is, in my knowledge, applied general knowledge..one just needs to remove the jargons..
W/regards
Moushami
While its true that everyone is creative. the specific qualification for a planner is to mine insights for this he or she has to spend time with people understand their current behavior toward a particular category or product and help remove barriers to change behavior. Sometime it may just sound like common sense but they have to do it day in and day out.
Best
Pops
Sir,
Necessity is the mother of invention, Invention is like creativity and to get this invention we do planning. Like a little child who analyze the mothers behavior and very soon he/she comes to know how they can mold their mother. But still there is bitter truth is that Childs are also very selfish because they listen to only those who gives them for eat.
Pops, boss this is an outstanding piece on the nexus. There is a lot that planners bring to party, can bring to party, provided the creative guys don’t throw them around. In these days of consumer generated media, it is even more critical
Here’s to creative Guru from a humble planner!
Naresh
Sir,
You couldn’t have put it in simpler terms!
As advertising is essentially about delivering a message to a particular TG; the whole purpose of the message would be lost due to lack of insights on that TG.
In my opinion, the planning team ideally needs to be one of the primary functions of an agency.
But like you said, they are a dying breed….
Abigail
Planners provide the “what to say” and Creatives manage “How to say it”. In a utopian world this marriage should be a happy one. In reality they are reduced to preparing the “preamble” to the creative presentations. Would it be preposterous to suggest that, maybe, the planners’ rightful place is in the client organization? At least the agencies will get focussed briefs and would not waste their time second guessing the client. Also, to overrule the planner’s intuition and insights, the creatives would require to build a stronger argument rather than merely outsell someone on the same side…