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The Controversy
While working as an account person at Pritchard Wood Partners, Pollitt was additionally put in charge of research. He believed that account people were not qualified to analyze and decide what data should be applied to advertising issues or know when they should rely on a researcher. As an account person, Pollitt had personal experience in dealing with the pressures of the clients along with those of the creatives. (Steel, 1998) Additionally, as a researcher, he was unsure of using measurable techniques such as palm sweat and pupil dilation to assess advertisements (Newman, 1998). In order to gain new insight into the consumer's mind, he believed that a researcher should work alongside the account person (Steel, 1998). Pollitt "focused agencies on the primary importance of developing a consumer oriented brand plan by putting a researcher in charge, and he made that person equal with account management and creative," (Ephron, 2002). It was
in 1968 that Pollitt introduced his idea of the "strategic
planner" at Boase Massimi Pollitt. The role would entail "someone
who would decide when research would be done and what information
was relevant to creative work, and who would remain independent
from the pressures of clients and creative directors," (Thompson,
2002). Basically, the account person would be the consumer's conscience.
Pollitt's philosophy was that if consumers were involved all the
way through the development process, then better advertising would
be the result (Thompson, 2002). This way the responses of consumers
to initial advertising ideas could be tested before too much money
or time was spent in them (Newman, 1998). While
Pollitt already had the basis of the position created, he felt that
his original name for the position, "creative tweaker,"
was not suitable. It was then that he borrowed the title of "account
planner" from Stephen King at JWT. (Thompson, 2002).
In 1957
Stephen King joined the marketing department at JWT. The responsibilities
of this department included analyzing marketing and sales data,
interpreting market research, drafting a company's whole marketing
strategy and creating an ad brief. After working for seven years
at JWT, King became discouraged with the way the creative department
was being briefed and, in turn, evaluated. He believed that "since
all advertising set out to elicit a defined response in the mind
of its audience, the only meaningful and useful measurement of success
or failure was whether or not such responses had been achieved."
(Newman, 1998). It was
in 1964 King created the T-plan (or Target Plan). This plan was
concentrated on combining research and insights to create better
advertising. (APG). Although there was some skepticism within the
agency, JWT finally embraced this idea. JWT realized that the plan
was "an invaluable, data-based evocation of a desired destination
that left room for - and, indeed, stimulated - originality in the
invention of ways to get there." (Newman, 1998). After
four more years, in 1968, the account planning department at JWT
was created, with King as the head. The title account planner came
from combining the titles of media planner and account person and
was actually coined by JWT employeed Tony Stead (APG). At JWT the
account planning department "was set up 'to improve advertising
planning, particularly in relation to a) setting of objectives b)
contributing to creative development and c) improving the methods
used to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising campaigns."
(Thompson, 2002)
Differences
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