In her article, "Toward a Theory of Creative Potential," Eileen Pickard describes creativity as "an essentially qualitative phenomenon." Advertising, in utilizing creativity toward a commercial end, requires some sort of evaluation of its effectiveness. It stands to reason that quantitative research, although helpful in some respects, might fail to comprehensively evaluate a piece of advertising.

The account planning process supercedes the research function; it is not merely a new name for the same thing. Unlike researchers, who frequently analyze an ad after its completion, planners are involved in every step of the creative process. Account planning focuses on qualitative research and the intuitive aspect of advertising. It draws from one-on-one conversations with the target consumer through focus groups and long-term interaction, and from those results, planners sift out important nuggets of information for use in the creative process.

The planning philosophy acknowledges that the consumer, not the advertiser, holds the power in the marketing relationship (Goldman November 9, 1998). The concept, within the context of advertising, is actually quite revolutionary; not surprisingly, it is an idea born of change.

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