Account planning in the new marketing and communications environment (has the Stephen King challenge been met?)

This paper briefly outlines the origins and development of the account planning function within advertising agencies. The transformation of the marketing communications environment during the 1990s is discussed together with the evolution of marketing theory and practice. The main focus of the paper examines if and how account planning has responded to the challenges of the marketing environment during the 1990s and the increasing demand for integrated marketing communications. It questions the extent to which account planning is meeting marketing communications needs in the new millennium both in terms of its traditional internal agency functions and the much debated topic of media neutral planning. The term media neutral planning is analysed and the distinction is drawn between media neutral ideas and neutrality in channel choice. The paper concludes that planning is an inherently flexible discipline and that its prime function is to place the consumer at the heart of creative marketing and communications planning.