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Account Planning: The art of Making Advertising Relevant to Consumers ADV5605 Section 1, Fall 2007 | Please Check Class Announcements on Blackboard. | | INTRODUCTION: Welcome to Account Planning. Anyone who will work in an advertising agency or with an ad agency in their careers will benefit from this course. Also, anyone involved in marketing of any product or service will find their career enriched by understanding the way of thinking in account planning. This will be a course heavily based on the practice of creating insights for advertising strategy. Account planners are the voice of the consumer within ad agencies. They constitute the crucial link between client objectives, account management, and the creative development team, and also the media planning team. Account planners are strategists that are particularly attuned to the emotions and thoughts of the target audiences of advertising messages. As such, account planners need to know how to obtain valid information from the consumers of communications. Most importantly they need to know how to obtain key kernels of knowledge and emotion that will make advertising campaigns successful. After all, only advertising that sells is ultimately successful. Many ad agencies and clients have misunderstood the role of the account planner. Many have not taken advantage of this line of thinking in their organizations. This course has the objective of helping in the clarification of this role and empowering it to develop its full potential. The list of topics below constitutes the schedule and list of assignments for the course. Active links in each topic represent required readings. Course assignments and their due dates are listed under each topic. | | INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Felipe Korzenny
OFFICE: 3127 Building C, University Center PHONE: 644-8766
OFFICE HOURS: Mondays after class and by appointment Click here to send e-mail | | CLASS MEETINGS Mondays 3:35 pm to 6:05 pm, 3116 Building C, University Center | | FORMAT: The course is designed for active participation. Most weeks there will be assignments due where individuals or groups will make presentations to the class. Thus, a combination of lectures, interaction, and presentation of assignments to the class will be common during most class sessions. The "Library" on Blackboard will be used to make class materials available. Students interested in hosting "discussion boards" on Blackboard are encouraged to do so. Blackboard will be a frequently used resource for this class. | | TEXTS and reading: The book by Jon Steel, Truth, Lies & Advertising: The Art of Account Planning, published by John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1998, is a required book. It is probably the best book available detailing the discipline of Account Planning in the US. The book edited by Alan Cooper, How to Plan Advertising (2nd edition), The Account Planning Group, London, 1997, is also required. Recommended books: Advertising Account Planning: A Practical Guide, (paperback), by Larry D. Kelley and Donald W. Jugenheimer, M.E. Sharpe, 2006. Beyond Disruption: Changing the Rules in the Marketplace, by Jean-Marie Dru, Wiley 2002. Hitting the Sweet Spot, by Lisa Fortini-Campbell, the Copy Workshop, 2001 The Communications Challenge - a practical guide to media neutral planning, edited by Julian Saunders, the Account Planning Group, 2005 Please note that the active links in the course schedule of topics are required readings. | | Objectives: At the end of the semester the student will be able to: - Describe the function of an account planner in an advertising agency
- Explain the context of planning
- Identify the role of advertising in marketing
- Enumerate the perils of not involving consumers in advertising planning
- Understand and practice the skills needed by an account planner
- Understand why and how to obtain consumer input for the purposes of account planning
- Become a critical doer and consumer of research
- Obtain practice in generating insights from consumer speech and behavior in general
- Uncover the roots of truthful consumer thought and emotion
- Stimulate creative ideas through research or “creative development research”
- Develop an advertising strategy
- Understand the importance of creative briefing and its attributes
- Develop creative briefs
- Understand the perspective of creatives regarding creative briefs
- Avoid the perils of researching rough creative ideas
- Create the conditions in the advertising agency context for a successful strategy to prosper and capitalize on the synergy of all the parties involved
- Understand the role of the planner in campaign evaluation
- Coordinate with the media planning function
- Enumerate issues in international account planning
- Describe the potential role of the planner as consultant to clients and other communication industries
| | COURSE SCHEDULE, TOPICS, AND ASSIGNMENTS | | Week 1, August 27 * Introduction to the course By the way, how many “F”s are in the following statement: FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH EXPERIENCE OF YEARS. | Assignment 1: Groups of about 5 class members each will be organized in class. Each group will research and prepare a presentation of three ad campaigns currently on the air/print/web. For each campaign the group will present at least one of the ads and will make best efforts to infer: - The communication purpose/objective of the ad(s)
- Define the intended target audience
- The key consumer insight driving the ad(s)
- The persuasive mechanism being used
- The overall brand strategy being pursued
The presentations will be audiovisual and will last no more than 15 minutes. Due September 10 Read: Steel Ch 1, Cooper Ch 1, MarCom Matrix by Bruce Bendinger, and Hackley, In Hackley, Christopher. “Account Planning: Current Agency Perspectives on an Advertising Enigma.” Journal of Advertising Research, June 2003, pp. 235-245. (Online at FSU Libraries) | | Week 2, September 10 (No class on September 3 due to Labor Day) * The context of planning * The origins of account planning * The importance of including consumers in the advertising process | Assignment 2: Groups of students will conduct at least two informational interviews with account planners of any agency in the United States or any other part of the world. The interview can be in person, by phone, or via e-mail. It is very important that the account planners interviewed be account planners as defined in this course. A summary presentation of the interviews will detail: - How planners define their role
- What is the value of their contributions to the advertising process
- Identify how planners look at advertising objectives, or what can advertising achieve
The group of students will prepare a short, 10 minute presentation summarizing their findings. Due September 17. Read: Steel Ch 2, Cooper Ch 2 | | Week 3, September 17 * The account planner as partner with consumers - What should the planner be like? - The need for the account planner in the process * Understanding the role of advertising - Importance of defining what advertising is supposed to achieve - What can advertising do? - The planner as a definer of advertising objectives | Assignment 3: Groups of class members will be formed to select a brand and a specific business problem that needs solution. Students will research as much as practical the situation of the brand they are considering and will prepare a strategy PowerPoint presentation containing the analysis suggested by Leslie Butterfield in Ch. 3 of Cooper’s book. Students will present a group strategy, lasting about 15 minutes, and the class will discuss the issues in generating a strategy statement. Due September 24 Read: Cooper Ch. 3, and Weilbacher, William M. “How Advertising Affects Consumers.” Journal of Advertising Research, June 2003, pp. 230 – 234. (Online at FSU Libraries). | | Week 4, September 24 * The advertising strategy - The business problem - The marketing mix - Analysis of the brand marketing in terms of customers, environment and competition - Definition of the role for advertising - Statement of objectives and strategy | Assignment 4: Groups of students will choose a product of interest. Will generate an observation/interviewing guide to conduct a minimum of three ethnographic interviews relevant to the product in question. The observational interview needs to take place in the environment of the interviewee. Each group will prepare a 15 minute presentation of findings to share with the class for discussion. Each presentation must address: - Objective of the interviews in regards to the product/brand chosen
- Main findings
- Conclusions and recommendations given the objective
And show the observational interview guide used. Due October 1 Read: Steel, Ch. 3 | | Week 5, October 1 * Issues in research for advertising - Why research? - The issue of right and wrong questions - The right questions asked the wrong and the right way - The influence of the context of research - Making people talk?! - Quantification alone does not guarantee accuracy - Knowing where one needs to go! | Assignment 5: Groups of students will generate one consumer insight that in their opinion can change how they look at a brand. Each group will conduct any creative activity of his/her design with at least three individuals (consumers) relevant to a chosen product category or brand. A presentation will be produced detailing the problem, the activities conducted, the findings, and most importantly the insight found. The insights will be presented and discussed in class. Due October 8 Read Steel, Ch. 4 | | Week 6, October 8 * Stimulating creative ideas through _ - Research - Subjectivity - Experimentation - Using a wider context - A healthy measure of naiveté | Assignment 6: Groups of students will generate a creative brief following any of the templates provided in the books by Steel and Cooper. This 15 minute presentation will include: 1.The key elements of the business problem and strategy behind the creative brief. This could be the strategy generated earlier. 2. Insights derived from consumer observation/research 3. A creative brief that will fulfill the business objective Due October 15 Read Steel Ch. 5, Cooper Ch. 4 | | Week 7, October 15 * Creative briefs and briefings - The brief as a means to an end - How briefs are used - The role of the brief in the creative process - Typical components of briefs - Simplicity vs. complexity - The briefing process itself | Assignment 7: Groups of students will interview at least 3 creatives at ad agencies that have a planning function. The interview can be in person, by phone, or via e-mail or other Internet application. The 15 minute presentation will cover: - How do creative people get ideas? - Describe the relationship of the planner with the creative team. How does it work? - What do creatives want from a brief? And from a briefing? - What do creatives dislike about planners? - What is the advice that creatives would like to give to planners? - And finally, main takeaways from the interviews? This assignment is due for presentation and discussion in class on October 22. Read Cooper Ch. 5 | | Week 8, October 22 * The creative’s perspective - How do they get ideas? - The importance of the relationship between the planner and the creative team - What do creatives want from a brief, and a briefing? - What is the follow-up that the planner does? - What do creatives dislike about planners? - Top tips for good planning First exam: Five open ended questions that can cover any of the assigned material or information presented in class up to this point. Find examples of exam questions by clicking here. | Assignment 8: Groups of class members will engage in the development of an overall advertising strategy, including: a. The strategy development b. Gathering of consumer insights c. The development of a creative brief d. Testing of creative ideas and further gathering of consumer insights in a focus group, ethnography, or other insight gathering tool, that will be conducted in class, or presented to the class. e. Writing results, recommendations, and conclusions for the strategy and executions tested in the focus group Each group will conduct a focus group, ethnographic study, or other insight gathering event, in class, or presented to the class with the objective of gathering the information in “d.” above. Each student will generate a 10-15 page individual paper addressing all points a – e above. This is the integration of all the activities and readings in one strategy paper. An example of a good paper is in the course library. If focus groups are conducted they will last about 90 minutes each and will require the preparation of a discussion guide, creative stimuli, recruitment of respondents, and moderation. If ethnographies or other insight gathering events are conducted, an edited video of those events will be shown to class for discussion. The focus groups will be scheduled Nov.5 to Dec. 3. The individual paper will be the final assignment and will due Monday December 10. Read Steel Ch. 6 and Cooper Chs. 6 and 7 by October 29. | | Week 9, October 29 * Creative development research - The perils of researching rough creative ideas - Why do research at this stage - Questions to be answered at this stage - The quasi debate of qualitative vs. quantitative? - Key measures * Campaign evaluation - Sales effects vs. consumer effects - Relating advertising to sales - Advertising related responses - Brand related responses - Summative evaluation | | | Weeks 10,11, 12, and 13, that is Nov. 5, 19, 26, and Dec. 3 Click here for the schedule. (Nov. 12 there is no class due to Veteran’s Day). * Focus groups, ethnographies, etc. for the evaluation of creative ideas and gathering of further consumer insights according to assignment 8 above. After each focus group, ethnography, etc., the class will discuss and debate the merits of the proposed campaign in light of the strategy and brief. |
Read Steel, Ch. 7 and Cooper Chs. 8, 9, 10, 11, due by December 10.
| | Week 14, December 10 * Account planning and beyond - The “got milk” campaign - Account planning and media planning - International account planning - Account planning input in the client’s business (a consulting function) - Planning in other communication industries Reflections and explorations Second exam. Five open ended questions that can cover any of the assigned material or information presented in class up to this point. Find examples of exam questions by clicking here. | Final paper due Monday, December 10. | | | | |
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| | | COURSE POLICIES | | Class Attendance: | Class attendance is mandatory. Since this course only meets once a week and it is of a participative nature, only two absences will be tolerated. After two absences 5 points will be deducted for each additional absence. | | Assignments: | Due dates are clearly indicated in the syllabus. Assignments are due, electronically via e-mail, two hours before class on the day indicated. Assignments received later than that time will not be accepted unless prior arrangements are made with the instructor. The instructor reserves the right to deduct points, or disqualify, assignments received late. Collective assignments require the active participation of each group member. If active group members detect lack of interest or participation by anyone in the group, they should exclude that person from the group before the assignment is due and notify the instructor. Lack of participation in a group activity will result in 0 credit for the specific assignment unless the individual completes an entire assignment by him/herself, or gets hired by another work-group. In the case of a student carrying out a group assignment as an individual project the assignment will be worth 2 points less, and the individual student will not make a presentation to the class. Individual papers will generally be in Microsoft Word, and group presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint unless otherwise arranged with the instructor. Very Importante Notice - Each assignment should be named as follows: Every file, paper or presentation, must start with APF07[assignment number][first initial and last name of person, or group name]. For example, the file of Karen Smith's 18th assignment will be named APF07a18KSmith. Also for example, if a group assignment, assuming the name of the group is the Planning Wizards, the file of the powerpoint presentation for assignment 21 must be: APF07a21PlanningWizards. Also, the subject line of the email with each assignment must start with APF07 and a space after it, exactly. Please read this carefully and follow this instructions. I will have an automatic rule in my mailbox to redirect your assignments to a folder. If they are not labeled as indicated I will not get them and I will not be able to give you credit. Please ask questions before is too late. All assignments must contain in the first page the name or names of the students and their e-mail addresses. If the name or e-mail address are not in the first page, I will not be able to read the assignment. I will appreciate your cooperation. | | Exams: | There are two short exams scheduled for this course that can cover any course material up to the point of the exam. | | EVALUATION | | Students' Final Grade will be based on the following: | | Assignments 1 – 7 at 6 points each for a total of | 42% | | Assignment 8d – in class focus group/ethno/etc. | 13% | | First and second short exams at 10 points each | 20% | | Final strategy paper assignment (encompassing 8a - e) | 25% | | The Department of Communication is committed to reducing grade inflation in its courses. To that end, a department-wide grading standard has been adopted to insure that an "A" is reserved for outstanding performance. "A" and "A -" grades represent work whose superior quality indicates a full mastery of the subject. An "A" represents work of extraordinary distinction. | The percentage of points required to receive various letter grades is as follows: | A | 97% | B- | 82% | D+ | 72% | | A- | 94% | C+ | 80% | D | 68% | | B+ | 88% | C | 78% | D- | 65% | | B | 85% | C- | 75% | F | <65% | | OTHER INFORMATION | | E-mail: | All students are expected to have/obtain an e-mail account. Student records should contain each student’s e-mail account, if that is not the case please provide your e-mail address to the instructor ASAP. New students please note that you can register online for a free e-mail account from ACNS (Academic Computing and Network Services). Log on to the internet and enter the following address: http://register.acns.fsu.edu | | Announcements: | Please check Blackboard for class announcements. | | ACADEMIC HONOR CODE | | Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in The Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook. The Academic Honor System of The Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility (1) to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work, (2) to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the university community, and (3) to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the university community. Students are required to provide references for all materials quoted or from which the student obtains ideas used in papers and presentations. References should be substantive enough so that anyone interested can find the material referenced. Please see the following web site for a complete explanation of the Academic Honor Code.
http://www.fsu.edu/Books/Student-Handbook/codes/honor.html
http://www.fsu.edu/Books/Student-Handbook/ | | AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT | | Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should: (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center; (2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class. For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the Student Disability Resource Center
Dean of Students Department
08 Kellum Hall
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4400
(850) 644-9566 (voice)
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SDRC@admin.fsu.edu
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- Office of Audit Services. The Office of Audit Services (OAS) is charged with receiving and investigating sexual harassment complaints as set forth in this policy and shall maintain the records pertaining thereto. Within the OAS, the Coordinator of Sexual Harassment Resolutions has primary responsibility for leading these investigations.
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- Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment, academic status, receipt of University services, participation in University activities and programs, or affects the measure of a student’s academic performance; or,
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