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1-Page Summary of Truth, Lies and Advertising
Overview
The advertising industry is full of creative geniuses who get all the credit for great campaigns. However, behind every genius there’s a planner who makes sure that the client gets what they want and helps bring those ideas to life. The author knows this firsthand because he was an account planner for “got milk?” ads as well as other famous campaigns. This article explains how planners research their clients’ needs, why you should be skeptical about consumer feedback, and when you’ve done enough research on a project.
Big Idea #1: Account planners bring together the client’s business interests, the agency’s creative team and consumer needs.
Advertising people have a bad reputation for being untrustworthy and unethical. However, not all ad agencies are like that; some try to connect with their audiences on a human level. An account planner is crucial for this type of advertising because they’re the ones who come up with new ideas and strategies to help these companies reach out to their audience in more meaningful ways.
As an account planner, you will research consumer needs and share that information with the creative team so they can come up with solutions. You’ll also learn about sales figures for individual models to understand why consumers are buying certain vehicles. For instance, when working on a project for Isuzu, you might host focus groups at dealerships to find out what kind of people buy Rodeo models. Through those interviews, you’ll learn that adventurous types drive them. That insight could help inform your idea generation process by suggesting ideas like packaging the Rodeo as a toy car or using taglines like “Grow Up Not Old.”
As you can see, account planners need to do a lot of research. That’s why it’s important that they don’t take on too many clients at once and cut corners due to overwhelming workloads or time pressure.
Agency owners should focus on getting the job done right because it will help them build lasting relationships with clients and impress them with their portfolio, which is more profitable in the long run.
Big Idea #2: The account planner guides the creative team by conducting consumer research and analyzing the results.
What are the qualities of a good liaison between creatives and clients? Well, listening well is crucial. In order to do that, you need to ask questions in a logical manner. Also, don’t be afraid to ask obvious questions!
The author learned something when he asked focus group participants how much milk they drink. Many people said they didn’t really drink any at all, forgetting the fact that they add it to their coffee and cereal every day.
Avoid questions that have a single answer. For example, in a blind taste test, people preferred the new Coca-Cola formula over the original flavor. However, since most people are so attached to traditional Coke, when this new version was released to the public it completely failed.
As you can see, focus groups have a major impact on business. That’s why it’s important to create a comfortable environment for test consumers so that they will feel relaxed and tell you what they really think. It helps to hold interviews in private homes rather than research buildings because people won’t be intimidated by the setting. The way questions are asked is also very important: Don’t interrogate focus group subjects; instead, give them a chance to participate by lending them the product for a week before asking them about their opinion of it. Next, we’ll look at how account planners work with creative teams to brief ideas and get buy-in from clients or bosses on projects and campaigns.
