Where to next? Account planning at 40

Planning is over four decades old, and features in every type of communications agency. It is still recognisable in what it delivers - namely, an improvement of the quality of advertising - and the twin strands of strategy and optimisation, as originated by Stephen King at JWT and Stanley Pollitt at BMP, remain essential.

Where to next? Account planning at 40

John Griffiths

Account planning is in its 40th year. The discipline that originally detached an individual from the advertising development production line in order to improve the quality of the work has evolved into a worldwide movement.

After 40 years, planning is still recognisable in terms of what it delivers. It has moved from a department in just two agencies to a body that numbers over a thousand in London, reportedly 10,000 in the US, and perhaps another couple of thousand through the rest of the world.

From its origins in advertising agencies,...

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