Roles of an Account Planner in Advertising - Term Paper Example

Introduction Advertising is an important aspect of marketing which involves dissemination of information with the intention of persuading the general population to buy products from a vendor (Gobe 2001, 36). This is due to the fact that competition between manufacturers keeps on growing while on the other hand, the market for their products is not guaranteed as it depends on the will of the consumers to purchase them. As a result, the marketing departments play a major and significant role of building customer confidence and loyalty towards their products. It may seem to be an easy task looking at it casually but it entails making creative and strategic decisions aimed at outdoing other competitors and at the same time playing around with the psychology of the targeted consumers in order to develop their minds towards accepting the product (Gobe 2001, 51). To achieve this goal, an effective advertising campaign should involve an account planner, who can be described as a person with extensive training, and experience as well as an expert in acquiring information and utilizing it in a professional manner to maximize the results. This essay is a critical evaluation of the roles of an account planner, aimed at convincing a client on why he should involve one on the agency team for his brand. Conducting Research Advertising as discussed herein is a process that requires high coordination of activities so that a smooth running is achieved in achieving the desired results. It is not possible for everyone in the marketing department to wake up and go to the society to introduce a product without first having to acquire information and views of the targeted market group. This is where the role of the account planner comes in. To begin with, he has the responsibility of conducting research and processing the raw data acquired, so that he can be in a position to add quality to the marketing events long before they take place. According to Steel, going out to advertise without first of all conducting research is equivalent to a pilot flying or a person walking without exactly knowing where he or she is going (Steel 1998, 33). By so doing, he would be wasting a lot of time finding way to his destination or even fail to reach it. This is important in that it helps to identify areas or regions that require more attention than others. For example, if the mode of advertising is through road shows, it is almost impossible and costly to crisscross the whole country for example. What he does is that he goes out ahead collecting data for example in areas that are highly populated and where there is a possibility of acquiring large audience while at the same time coming up with important conclusions (Gobe 2001, 75). These are for example whether the brand in line is well known to the residents and if not, what product do they know instead. By doing so, he is able to identify the areas which the convoy would pass through based on the fact that he would have already tested those areas where the product is well known and where it is not thereby assigning importance to those which he may dim fit. Consumer’s Representative The role of an account planner entails bringing out the consumer’s points of view to the process of advertising (Steel 2006, 30). This is essential based on the fact that they minimize chances of products being rejected once they are released to the market. The information they collect from the consumers is used to inform the account on what to expect from the consumers and this can assist them in incorporating what customers want to hear or see on an advert. This is due to the fact that different people have different tastes and preferences. For example, what may be good to the ears and eyes of an elderly person may not be received with the same attitude by the youth and vice versa. The account planner is there to facilitate such information to the client as well as monitoring consumer trends in buying since their wants are dynamic meaning that they keep on changing from time to time. Steel observes that this can become successful without necessarily acquiring the services of an account planner. However, he continues to say that having one adds an element of creativity in the marketing venture (Steel 1998, 52). As such, it is advisable for business men and women to appreciate these important people as they can be termed as the future of advertising. According to research, it has emerged that account planning has had a great positive impact on the UK marketing and advertising in various ways. To begin with, it has enabled new businesses in the country to win high market shares due to the nature of its disciplined approach, which has been noted to boost client confidence that is essential in the production and marketing of products (Gobe 2001, 80). This is due to the fact that with an account planner, it is highly guaranteed that the marketing decisions you take in your business are well informed and substantiated and not based on assumptions, unlike when teams are sent out to market products without having a leader who is well informed especially on the market trends. Project Oversight In a broader perspective, account planners can also be viewed as managers especially in project implementation, walkthroughs and coordination (Steel 1998, 40). As stated earlier, it is during this process that the account planner acts as a representative of the customers since he acts as a bridge between them and the client. As it is common in the business world, it is sometimes difficult to achieve the desired goals of a project without having someone to monitor how the teams are functioning. This is due to the fact that there are two main categories of employees i.e. those who are lazy and who cannot accomplish anything without being supervised and a second category comprising of hardworking and independent employees, who are intrinsically motivated and who do not require supervision in order for them to deliver. This helps greatly in ensuring that projects are finished within the expected time frame and that they are done in an excellent manner. Anticipating Change The account planner can also be described as a futurologist (Steel 1998, 32). This means that he has the ability to foretell through research and observations on what to expect on the future of a brand or product being marketed. This is a characteristic that can be acquired through experience in analytical skills as well as the development of interest, qualities which are considered to be among the major significant qualities of an efficient account planner and which enables him to provide advice to the client so as to prepare him or her on what to improve. This role goes hand in hand with that of him being a media planner. In this aspect, he is supposed to keep a close eye on the developments in the communication sector so as to identify the most influential among all other mediums of communication since the objective of advertising is to pass information to as many people as possible. For example, modes of advertising have continued to evolve due to the wide influence that technology has had on the society. Previously, the most common media used to advertise was radio and Television as well as the print press. However, the growth of mobile technology and the internet has caught most of the advertisers unawares for they had not anticipated that competition would shift in that direction. With an account planner, this may not be the case for he is supposed to maintain close tabs with the consumers such that any new development or a shift of preference would be noted at the first instance. To some extent, these functions make him what some authors refer to as social anthropologist who studies social and cultural developments in the society and is able to differentiate them from inconsequential changes in fashion (Steel 1998, 21). As simple as it may sound, this is not a task that can be conducted by an inexperienced person. Conclusion The major intention for advertising is to communicate information to prospective buyers regarding a certain product, so that they can develop interest of buying it. It is a process that is of great importance to the success or failure of businesses depending on how well marketing events are prepared as well as the efficiency of the person or people passing the information. Having an account planner is one way of ensuring that chances of succeeding are increased. This is due to the fact that decisions on whether to accept or reject a brand lies squarely on the shoulders of the consumers. In fact, one characteristic of account planning is that it allows the consumers the time to decide and make choices. Imposing a product on them would only spoil their willingness to accept it. Having an account planner can be justified by reviewing their roles in the advertising agency. To start with, they facilitate information by conducting extensive research so as to create a smooth path for marketing events. He also acts as the consumers’ representative in the agency as well as the overseer of projects. Lastly, he keeps tabs on developments taking place, which affect adverting as well as influence market share and advises the client on the necessary actions he should take. References 1. Gobe, M. 2001. Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People, Allworth Press 2. Steel, J. 2006. Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business, John Wiley & Sons 3. Steel, J. 1998. Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning, John Wiley & Sons  Read More