I had a very disconcerting conversation with a Partner in a (what counts for medium sized up here) agency recently.
This person knew that they needed some Planning, but didn’t really know what Account Planning was or what a Planner does. It was a bit of a wake-up call when I had to explain the difference between Media Planners and Account Planners to them…
This isn’t the first time that senior, experienced AdMen have been rather vague about what I do and how I do it. I’m starting to think that the APG (or even the IPA) needs a pdf on their website called ‘What is Planning, Do You Need Some and Can You Justify the Investment?’
It would certainly have saved me a lot of wasted time in meetings over the last two years.
sadly not a real book (yet…)
Having just this morning tried to explain planning to a GCSE student and had to preface it with “This job is very varied, and several of the people I work with still don’t know what I do” I feel your pain…