Author: Jon Steel
What is an account planner? What kind of job is it? What does it take to be a good account planner? Jon Steel raises these questions in his book, and answers all of them. First, he says what not to do, then he gives advice on what you should do based on examples from his personal experience.
I like the fact that Steel admits that these are only suggestions in his book, not laws that you have to follow. That's because each situation is different, especially when dealing with people and brands.
The stories that he uses are extremely entertaining, and paint a perfect picture in your mind about what an account planner has to go through. These stories provided a good flow to the book, and made it quite easy and fun to read.
Each chapter in the book presents a different problem that an account planner must face pretty much in the order that it happens. It makes the book feel like a whole campaign, from beginning to end, even though there are lot's of stories in it from many different campaigns that the author worked on.
This book may have "Account Planning" in the sub-title, but it is definitely not just for people who want to be account planners. Creatives should read it too because it provides really good advice, and because it describes how hard it is to get a campaign off the ground.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in advertising because it is fun to read and provides valuable insight into agency life.
Now, you may be thinking, "This book was published in 1998. It's out of date!" It may be older, but it's still extremely useful. Things change in the business all the time. But, human interactions remain the same, whether it is face to face, like focus groups, or really weird methods of research.
Read this book. It will help you get a better perspective on account planning. But don't just read it for that, read it because it is a really good and fun book to read.
That's all for now!
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