How Good Is Your Boss

[JCSaiKrishna]

I am not sure, because I never been there, but I assume it is better than Goafest because I understood the kind of people who attend the festival. And to my knowledge I believe design process itself is far better than the usual creative process adopted by advertising agencies.

Design agencies process:

1) They study the organization and brand
2) Diagnose the designing, branding, advertising and marketing requirements
3) Build the brand identity/ depends up the project...
4) it goes on...


Advertising Agencies process:

1) They get the client's breif
2) start working on creatives.


I see the problem is not just with the advertising agencies, because advertising agencies are perceived so, as they dont have to be involved in business layers or functional layers, but get straight into the creative communication layer. And the money that is being paid to advertising agencies (or the client willing to pay) is not something that can afford brand study, market study, etc. I believe this is one reason why very most of the communications are being blended in this cluttered market. The competition between advertising agencies has been increased and their major fighting tool has become low-price which eventually forcing them to give low quality output.


I would like to hear from you guys and update my understanding on advertising industry.

Would you say Kyoorius is better than Goa AdFest?

[Saumya]

Not that I love advertising, but dont you think that the steps followed by design agencies are followed by brand planners in an advertising agency?

[Ek Kanya]

DesignYatra is better.

[Anurag]

My boss is busy navigating the politics of the organisation, carefully making sure no feathers are ruffled, and in the process growing very fast, but the department (creative) is suffering.

[JCSaiKrishna]

Design agencies listen to market (as per my understanding of their practices) through surveys or research activities, where as advertising agencies do not do that. Isn't it?

Not that I love advertising, but dont you think that the steps followed by design agencies are followed by brand planners in an advertising agency?

[Ek Kanya]

Account Planners in advertising are supposed to follow research and strategy.

[JCSaiKrishna]

Nice to know that. Ek Kanya.

Account Planners in advertising are supposed to follow research and strategy.

[Hasmukh]

But that's true, isn't it?

[JCSaiKrishna]

Well, I dont knw the answer, I am not aware of the responsibilities of an account planner. @Someone: can you elaborate on account planner role?

But that's true, isn't it?

[DesignBoyz]

From WikiPedia

Account planners have often been called 'the left side of a creative brain'. Their primary function is to find consumer truth and insight that helps the creative teams to create work that is not only entertaining and highly memorable, but that is relevant to the consumer and effective in the marketplace. Creative ideas that drive business are more typically the result of a strong collaboration between creative teams and account planners. Account planners (sometimes also called brand planners and strategic planners) use primary and secondary research to inform their strategic thinking and are ultimately responsible for the work that informs, and the penning of, the creative brief. If the creatives are closest to the idea, and the account manager is closest to the client, the account planner is closest to the consumer. The account planner is the person on an advertising team who is most likely to have spent time with consumers (for B to C) or customers (B to B), observing the consumer's path to purchase, by using research such as ethnographies, focus groups or quantitative/social studies, asking consumers how they think about and use the product or service. And in an era in which the brand is at least as important as a specific product (for instance, Nike as a brand has a place in the culture that far exceeds the particular performance characteristics of their shoes), the account planner is responsible for understanding the place of the brand in the consumer's mind. This is not just a simple research function - planning truly begins when research ends - and account planners stay engaged in the campaign process from the initial client briefing and throughout the advertising cycle. Rather than offering research insights to others at a single point in time, they use research to continue to provide insights within the campaign process and most importantly these days, help to track advertising effectiveness. Whereas previously, account planners focused on the use of traditional primary research tools, digital/social networks have given them the ability to listen to and interact with consumers in new ways, and to work more closely with channel or media planners throughout the process closely also, to not only help plan effective advertising but also engage with consumers in the most effective ways.

[JCSaiKrishna]

Nice, I think I should have done it on my own

From WikiPedia

Account planners have often been called 'the left side of a creative brain'. Their primary function is to find consumer truth and insight that helps the creative teams to create work that is not only entertaining and highly memorable, but that is relevant to the consumer and effective in the marketplace. Creative ideas that drive business are more typically the result of a strong collaboration between creative teams and account planners. Account planners (sometimes also called brand planners and strategic planners) use primary and secondary research to inform their strategic thinking and are ultimately responsible for the work that informs, and the penning of, the creative brief. If the creatives are closest to the idea, and the account manager is closest to the client, the account planner is closest to the consumer. The account planner is the person on an advertising team who is most likely to have spent time with consumers (for B to C) or customers (B to B), observing the consumer's path to purchase, by using research such as ethnographies, focus groups or quantitative/social studies, asking consumers how they think about and use the product or service. And in an era in which the brand is at least as important as a specific product (for instance, Nike as a brand has a place in the culture that far exceeds the particular performance characteristics of their shoes), the account planner is responsible for understanding the place of the brand in the consumer's mind. This is not just a simple research function - planning truly begins when research ends - and account planners stay engaged in the campaign process from the initial client briefing and throughout the advertising cycle. Rather than offering research insights to others at a single point in time, they use research to continue to provide insights within the campaign process and most importantly these days, help to track advertising effectiveness. Whereas previously, account planners focused on the use of traditional primary research tools, digital/social networks have given them the ability to listen to and interact with consumers in new ways, and to work more closely with channel or media planners throughout the process closely also, to not only help plan effective advertising but also engage with consumers in the most effective ways.

[Saumya]

Hmm. So now we know Account Planners are required....

[JCSaiKrishna]

Yeah, the advertising industry needs account planners who are allowed to focus more on exploring the grounds of market reality and be up to date with respect to international communication methods, patterns and habits.

Am I right?

Hmm. So now we know Account Planners are required....

[raja ghose]

To plan a direction for the brand.

For example : Nike.You cant tell the creative 'make a whacky ad for Nike'.

You have to say something like 'Make an ad which is about confidence, getting things done rather than day dreaming, about constructive irreverence' etc.

How is this different from Puma or Adidas or Reebok or Converse or whatever? The Account Planner will create a difference in the brand's positioning which you cant argue against. Then the 'creatives' will find a way to say THAT with focus.

[silentobserver13]

We have enough Employee Performance Review and Appraisal Sheets. High time to do one for the bosses. All this nonsense about bosses being automatically next-to-God because they have so-and-so-many years of experience will fly through the window.