Above: Product line for Maxwell House Coffee
James Webb Young wrote ads from his heart and imagination. With this in mind it is no
wonder that in 1928, when given the Maxwell House Coffee account, Young did not rely on social science-- he relied
on his own life experience gathered from years of selling Bibles in the South, and his memories of staying at the
original Maxwell House in Nashville. It was to this house that Young sent copywriter Erwin Webb to gather information,
and from this house that inspiration for this noteworthy campaign was born. Oddly enough, it was intuition that prompted Jim Young to begin a practice that is required
in most advertising agencies today. this practice is known as Strategic Planning There are many different ways that strategic planning contributes to the development and
execution of creative strategy and great advertising. Below you'll find a list of what I believe are the top seven ways:
"The best account planners are the ones who can find the spot in the consumer's psychology
and motivations that will allow the agency to create relevant, compelling and persuasive advertising (Fortini-Campbell
1997)." In short, by becoming the voice of the consumer within the agency, the planner is able to write a
creative strategy that will inspire advertising that speaks to the consumer in the right way at the right time
and about the right issues.
"The Account Planner knows that collecting accurate, timely knowledge of the consumer
is only half the job; the other half is explaining it in a way that everyone-client, account management, media
and most importantly, creative people-will act on it (Newman 1992)."
As the creative team is working on advertisements, the planner must be able to see if
the ads will work. He might do this by getting back into "consumer character," or through copy testing.
In either case, the account planner must be able to notify the team if there is a problem with the campaign and
offer solutions of how to fix them. A perfect example of this can be seen in Goodby Berlin's win of the Sega business.
Jeff Goodby himslef said, "Planners come to you and say, 'It sucks, but listen, there's one little glimmer
of hope in this line here. Maybe there's some way to go from there (1992)."
The "asshole factor" as described by John Steel in his book, Truth, Lies and
Advertising is a great example of the identification of a hurdle (1998). Porsche sales had declined. No one knew
why, not event the client. Focus groups and drawings lead to the discovery of the "Asshole factor," and
with the discovery came a much stronger, more relevant, and effective campaign.
Picture a bunch of middle-aged white men trying to write ads for sneakers that appeal
to teenage African-Americans. This is the picture of two groups that don't speak the same language because they
don't even use the same words. It's part of the planner's job to hunt down and understand the latest "jibe."
If it finds its way into ad copy, the ad may have more impact because of it.
When a planner is able to understand what makes consumers tick and what is on their minds,
he is able to pass that information along to the creatives by way of the creative brief. The headline for an Easy
Spirit sneaker campaign reads, "You can go on crash diet, drink diet shakes and eat salads… but if you really
want to get in shape, maybe you should just walk away from the refrigerator (Garcia 1992)." This headline
is an example of how understanding consumer lifestyles led to a more meaningful and pertinent campaign.
During a client presentation, it becomes much easier to sell a creative idea that bounces
farther outside the box when it has the backing of sound account planning. The more logical the creative seems
as a solution to a previously researched situation, the easier it is for the client to accept it. This is how some
of the most memorable campaigns make it to print. The "Got Milk?" campaign is a perfect example.
"Got Milk?," Polaroid, Norwegian Cruise Lines and the recent Designer Imposters
campaigns all have one thing in common-they were all born out of great consumer insights regarding the consumer's
real relationship with the product. That is what makes these ads relevant and memorable. In essence, the insight
is the key to what makes them great.
Strategic Planning
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