The anatomy of account planning

A history and description of account planning: how it grew from a marketing angle at JWT and a research angle at BMP, and gradually spread across the agency world.

The Anatomy of Account Planning

Stephen KingWPP Group

Tracking account planning is rather like counting a mixed batch of tropical fish. You think you see patterns, but they’ve all changed by the time you’ve finished counting.

There’s little enough doubt about its growth. Today most of the top UK agencies have planning departments and most of the recent new UK agency Weves have them built into the letter heading (at least one of Beagle, Bargle, D’Annunzio, Twigg and Privet will be a planner).

Yet the current approach of agencies varies between the integral and the non-existent. It’s impossible to...

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