Chiat/Day - The First

While the idea of account planning sprung up in the UK in the 1960's, it was not until the 1980's that it "jumped the pond" to the United States. The first agency in the United States to develop an account planning department was Chiat/Day (now TBWA / Chiat / Day). Jay Chiat took notice of the new department that was being met with success over in the UK and throughout Europe. (Tran, 1999) Chiat believed that account planning was crucial to creative work and he also believed, at the time, that British creative work was far better than American work. He was also not a fan of typical market research, stating that it is "what already has been done." Planning is about discovering new things. (Fortini-Campbell)

It has been stated that "Jay Chiat did not decide to experiment with account planning. He decided to have account planning." He knew that he had to integrate the idea into his already established agency. (Fortini-Campbell) In 1982 he hired Jane Newman, a British planner, to come and work for his office in New York. Newman had previously worked at BMP and Ammirati and Puris. To develop the department, Newman hand picked Jeff DeJoseph from the Young and Rubicam media department to be her first planner on staff. (Goldman, 1995) As the department grew, so did Chiat/Day. In ten years the agency grew from having billings of $50 million to $700 million. (Tran, 1999)

Many agencies noticed the success of Chiat/Day, and desired to have their own account planning department. Their rationale was that it would be the key to their success as well. Many creative shops added planning departments, helping propel them from boutique to agency, and picking up national accounts along the way." (Tran, 1999) Other planners such as John Steel and Nigel Carr came over from the UK to help pioneer. (Newman, 1998) Companies such as Olgilvy & Mather, DDB Needham N.Y., and Goodby, Silverstien & Partners quickly restructured their agencies to fit in a planning department. (Tran, 1999)

Becoming Americanized

It is obvious that in America, a country where there is an average of 12 minutes of ads per one hour of television, there is a rather large amount of advertising clutter. For those marketers who had the fear of getting lost, planning seemed as though the magical tool to "breakthrough the clutter." For, the "mantra" of account planning is "relevant plus distinctive equals more effective. (Newman, 1998)

It was during the 1990s that account planning grew tremendously within the United States. (Tran, 1999) As of 1995, planning was "at a boiling point, spilling into every corner of the advertising landscape." (Goldman, 1995) Goldman states: "Agencies of every description want it or say they have it - even if they don't know what it is." After some of the best agencies in the field added account planning to their list of services, planning became a "buzz word" within the field. "Agencies of all sizes, specialties and philosophies began posting want ads, practically recruiting anyone who was 'related to the discipline.'" (Tran, 1999)\

The Difference Today

In present day society, there is no doubt that consumers around the world have knowledge and interest in advertising. It is something that has become part of our society and it possesses a "means of contributing meaning and values that are necessary and useful to people in structuring thier lives, thier social relationships and thier rituals."(http://www.onlymarketing.com) However, there is a difference among cultures concerning advertising. One such difference is between the UK and the US. While in the UK there is a high approval for advertising among consumers, consumers in the United States believe that advertising insults their intelligence. There are seven goals that have been achieved in the UK thanks to account planning (http://www.marketingonly.com):

It is obvious that account planning has had a positive effect on the advertising in the U.K. Only time will tell if these achievements will translate over the Atlantic to the United States!