Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

What Is A Planner In A Ad Agency

Posted by Anonymous on 12/16/2009 at 12:22 AM ET 250 Points
Recently I was offered a role as a planner. In the past 8 years of my career, I have always been a marcoms person in the client side. Now in a managerial role. Cause I have never really work within an agency before. I don't really know exactly what a planner's lifestyle is life and how it add value between the accounts as well as the creatives.

This is the little that I understand...I have heard of account planner as well as strategic planner within an agency, largely they are responsible for the brand strategy or the ad campaign strategy. They work closely with the accounts and the clients, understanding the clients, products, market as well as competitor.

They collate these information, delve within quantitative data as well as qualitative data the agencies resources has to offer and formulates the strategic plan as well as the communicative touch points.

Then they move on to work closely with the creatives in implementing these strategies and merging the big idea for the AD within and develop the proposal for the clients approval.

This is a little of what I understand for the role of a "planner" but am not sure if this is an accurate picture. I am also unaware of the working hours, lifestyle as well as remunerations of a planner.

I was hoping that a fellow planner would be able shed some light about my uncertainties regarding, ...

day to day operations
usual working hours
remuneration packages
typical career path
notable opportunities 3-5 years after working as a planner

Would really appreciate it if some kind sole could help.

Regards
T
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  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 12/16/2009 at 10:30 AM Accepted
    Dear mailtommy,

    The outline you've got above covers many of the bases. However, you might also want to read this:

    www.rga.com/doc/283/-/True

    As for compensation, this might help:

    www.indeed.com/salary/q-Advertising-Agency-Account-Planner-Strategic-Planne...

    In terms of working hours and career path, those things depend on you, where you want to go, what you want to give in order to show your mettle, and how badly you want to progress.

    Those things will also depend on who's watching you, and on what you do (positively or negatively) for the brands and clients you work on and with.

    I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA


  • Posted by BizConsult on 12/17/2009 at 11:38 AM Accepted
    I worked over a dozen years on the client side (CPG) before joining an agency, and, while in a Marketing Strategy / Business Analysis consultant role, I work with planners daily so can add some insight and compare to a client-side marcom role.

    There are several types of planners at ad agencies: Media, Strategic and Brand/Account being the most prevalent. It sounds like you’re pursuing the latter and the scope/responsibilities include those you outline: Overall, think of an agency account planner as the advertising business’s equivalent of a Brand/Product Manager in a marketing-oriented company.

    In general, account planning work will likely include coordinating/managing the various internal departments (traffic, production, creative, research/strategy, media, etc.) and being the primary communication liaison with the client(s). There is an increasing trend in agencies to split this role up into two elements: Brand/Strategy vs. Project Management (which are fairly self-explanatory).

    In either case, you’ll need excellent verbal and written communication skills – to work with, and indirectly manage, the internal agency people and to work with clients.

    There’s no such thing as “usual working hours” – they will depend upon, and vary with, the individual agency and clients’ workloads, deadlines, etc. Count on them typically being more demanding and variable than working in a staff or support function on the client side.

    Typical short-term career path/opportunities are to move up within the agency to higher levels of account management, adding more accounts to your responsibility portfolio. Many planners move to the client side from there as well.

    Compensation varies widely with level, responsibilities, prior salary experience, geography, etc. but there are online industry resources for this. For more specifics, go to any job search site and pull up the job descriptions/responsibilities, required experience and skills, and remuneration packages for positions like the one you’re pursuing.

    Good luck!
    Steve Udell
    Doner Advertising
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 12/18/2009 at 10:58 AM Member
    Dear mailtommy,

    I'm glad the article helped. You've received better advice than
    I could ever give from Randall and Steve because I have no direct agency background, only client side.

    However, here's the "catch", the iron fist inside the velvet glove
    of the big agency" that comes a knocking from time to time.

    One big account up for review and then lost by the incumbent because the client changes something and it's all over.

    This happens when a client's had a change of marketing personnel, or because they suddenly think they "know" that it's a smart move to change agencies mid stream (when the work the agency is doing is gaining market share AND driving sales), if this happens, jobs get cut across the board.

    True, the perks, the pay, and the cachet of ad agency life look great and the highs are indeed rewarding.

    But what goes up must come down.

    This means the falls from grace, back to the real world, are long and the pain of hitting the iron hard ground of reality is painful.

    The trick when this happens (and in the world of ad agencies it's always "when", never "if") is in how high one then bounces when one does hit the deck.

    The key is resilience, to getting up again, to dusting one's self off, and to soldiering onward no matter what.

    If this plan of yours feels right for you, go for it. Give it everything and I mean EVERYTHING you've got and prove your worth. The people telling you you're nuts, well, they may be right, OR, they may just see you as having more courage than they do.

    The only person who can make the choice is you. So make it for you, for those you love or for those that might depend on you, and then immerse yourself in the subject.

    Do this, commit to it, and take the time to invest in yourself by reading and learning everything you can get your hands on about planning techniques, theories, and best practice and you'll become the best planner in your region—and a highly sought after commodity.

    Associate with fellow planners. Form a mastermind group. Help other people be the best and they (if they're the stand up people they ought to be) will return the favour and the compliment. Become the "go to" person (that's "the" go to person, not "a" go to person, there's a difference). Start a blog. Contribute to your industry. Give people meaningful content and they'll listen.

    Good luck to you mailtommy, whoever you are and wherever you are—and I hope that 2010 brings you everything you're looking for. Why? Because you deserve it.

    I hope this helps.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA
    Follow me on www.twitter.com @GaryBloomer
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