If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- What if the most important person in an advertising meeting isn’t actually in the room?
- Have you ever wondered why traditional market research often fails to capture what consumers really think?
- What’s the secret to bridging the gap between a client’s business goals and a creative team’s wildest ideas?
Listen to Truth, Lies and Advertising — Free Audiobook
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Key Takeaways from Truth, Lies and Advertising
- Discover how an account planner acts as the vital bridge connecting a client's business goals, the creative team's vision, and the consumer's actual needs.
- Learn why asking the obvious questions and avoiding restrictive surveys can save a campaign from disaster, as demonstrated by the New Coke failure.
- Understand the importance of observing consumers in natural, comfortable environments—rather than intimidating research labs—to capture their genuine thoughts and habits.
- Master the art of the creative brief by distilling complex consumer research into a single, powerful proposition sentence that guides the creative team.
- Find out how to translate deep consumer research into unforgettable campaigns by collaborating with creatives to polish and elevate your initial insights.
Learning Tools
Reinforce what you learned from Truth, Lies and Advertising
Mind Map
Truth, Lies and Advertising
The Account Planner's Role
Acts as the bridge between clients, creatives, and consumers
Researches consumer habits to solve specific client business problems
Limits workload to max 3 clients to ensure deep, quality research
Keeps creative teams on track without dictating final ideas
Effective Consumer Research
Ask the obvious; consumers often forget ingrained daily habits
Avoid single-answer questions that ignore emotional brand attachments
Conduct interviews in natural, relaxed settings like private homes
Let consumers test products independently before asking questions
The Creative Brief
Keep it simple and casual to spark creative flow
Essential Elements
The Proposition
Collaboration & Client Management
Creatives translate planner's strategic insights into distinctive, catchy messaging
Test creative concepts with consumers to refine and improve ideas
Use focus group data to logically overcome client objections
Find effective solutions instead of blindly following client demands
Case Study: got milk?
Research: Paid consumers to forgo milk for a week
Insight: Milk is viewed as essential with companion foods like cookies
Strategy: Remind consumers to stock up to avoid feelings of deprivation
Execution: Placed ads near grocery stores to trigger immediate purchases
Cultivating Inspiration
Read non-business books and magazines to broaden perspective
Talk to people outside the ad industry for fresh, outside insights
Quiz — Test Your Understanding
Question 1 of 6
What is the primary role of an account planner in an advertising agency?
Truth, Lies and Advertising — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Account planners connect clients’ business goals, the agency’s creative teams, and consumers’ essential needs today.
Chapter 3: The account planner steers creatives by conducting consumer research and analyzing the findings in depth.
Chapter 4: The account planner employs the creative brief to deliver a simple, powerful idea to the creative team.
Chapter 5: The account planner partners with creatives to weave client expectations into the overall campaign concept effectively.
Chapter 6: The author created the iconic “got milk?” campaign by following the account-planning process closely.
Truth, Lies and Advertising Summary & Overview
In Truth, Lies and Advertising (1998), leading account planner Jon Steel shares an insider’s insight into the world of advertising. For Steel, the creation of great ads is all about understanding the consumer, and his compelling behind-the-scenes anecdotes illustrate the role account planners play in developing a successful campaign.
Who Should Listen to Truth, Lies and Advertising?
- Anyone who’s starting out in advertising or planning
- Mad Men fans who want to understand how a real advertising agency works
- Business owners want to hire an advertising agency to develop a campaign
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