Reaching out and touching : the role of the planner in the advertising scenario

Abstract

Advertising exists to communicate messages to the consumer. To this end, advertisers must create campaigns which appropriately reflect consumer requirements, preferences and attitudes. This dissertation demonstrates that given the planner's tasks in all stages of campaign development, the planner provides direction to the creatives and accountability to the client. Direction is achieved by translating scientific research on consumers into a creative brief. Accountability is supplied to the client through the ability to demonstrate the essence of research derived upon which campaigns are developed. This study has explored the Planner's role in a foreign agency and the extent to which planning is undertaken in local advertising firms. Furthermore, in order to reveal the value planners add to advertising strategies, I examined two local campaigns through the respective materials and focus groups on their target customers. In this manner, I identified areas - as a planner would have - in which the campaign could have been rendered more effective by reaching out and touching the consumer. The research firmly confirmed that successful advertising necessitates appropriate planning. Furthermore, although it appears that this has not yet occurred in Malta, the evidence point to the benefit of the planner as a separate function within the organisation, as against planning undertaken by an account executive. It has emerged that the benefits acquired by the advertiser in segregating this role outweigh the rest.