Account Planning - History

History

Account planning is a job title that exists in most London and UK advertising agencies. Account planning gained an initial foothold in the US in the early 80’s but really only evolved to become an essential function is in most mid to large sized agencies in the early 90s.

Beginning in 1965, Stanley Pollitt felt that account managers were using information incompetently or inexpediently because the researcher was not involved in the campaign process. Because of this, Pollitt suggested that a specially trained researcher should work with the account manager as an equal partner. After the opening of the Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP) agency, in 1968, Pollitt introduced his idea, only slightly revised. Stephen King, believing that clients deserved a better way of doing things, proposed a process of advertising development that had a little less gut feeling and a little more scientific foundation. This process involved rigorous analysis of a brand and its position in the competitive market place. This process creates an advertising message from the marketing objectives and the client’s business objectives. In 1968, J. Walter Thompson (JWT) established a new department called “account planning,” coined by King.

In Australia the course of history was different. The inventor of the role in 1965 was David Brent, a senior researcher at Unilever who had served as a senior para-military police commander in a long, major counter-insurgency jungle war in Asia and in the national secret service followed by ad agency account service, creative writing and media management. These qualifications, skills and experiences led to the launch of the new role in a Sydney agency in 1966.