Keith Crosier

How effectively do marketing journals transfer useful learning from scholars to practitioners

The authors career experience provides the impetus for a survey of the extent to which marketing journals succeed in transferring useful knowledge from academics to practitioners. The Flesch Reading Ease measurement method is used to compare 475 articles published in 14 English‐language journals during 2003. Scores are found to range from zero to a figure only just inside the “fairly easy” range, the average is in the middle of “difficult”, and the mainstream marketing titles are grouped at the low‐readability end of the distribution. Analysis of variance confirms that differences within the sample are significant. The author draws personal conclusions, and suggests possible extensions of this exploratory study.

Advertising complainants: who and where are they?

A trend in images and messages that eventually cause offence was noted among significant international advertisers, accompanied by a steady increase in formal complaints over a 6-year period in the UK. Though the numbers are at present small, reanalysis of large-scale industry research reports suggested they are the tip of an iceberg consisting of many million potential complainants. If this latent activism reaches a critical mass, it will become a phenomenon that planners can no longer afford to ignore. Meanwhile, the literature on complaining behaviour has concentrated on the causes and responses rather than on the sources. Therefore, this study applied geographic and psychographic analysis techniques to postcodes accompanying over 50 000 complaints to the two main regulatory bodies in the UK, which were hitherto unavailable to independent researchers. A resulting index of complaints by location confirmed the intuitively logical assumption that it is characteristic of London and the south of England. A profile of the complainants showed that they typically belong to a distinctive and relatively homogeneous social group of potential opinion leaders. Together, these outputs provide an original and unique template for minimizing the risk of longterm negative effects due to accidental provocation of an unintended audience. This is a media-strategy solution; the alternative would of course be to abandon potentially controversial creative strategies.

Account planning: whose role is it anyway?

The account planning discipline practised in advertising agencies is a central element of a formal system for planning advertising campaigns on behalf of clients. Precise definitions are hard to find, but it is an intellectual process, to exercise quality control. The present study builds on another by the same researchers, which analysed the principles and practice of account planning from the advertising agency perspective. Its objectives were to: determine its role in the development of clients’ advertising campaigns; examine the working relationships involved; assess clients’ expectations and satisfactions; and evaluate its impact on current and future marketing planning. It was found that propensity to take advantage of agency account planning expertise ranged along a spectrum from high to low. High‐propensity clients exhibited a natural predisposition to co‐operation and collaboration, sought the agency’s planning input from the start, and believed in direct involvement with both planners and creati...

Marketing intelligence and account planning: insights from the experts.

Account planning as a discipline has been somewhat obscured from academic view. In practice, it has played a significant role in the development of the marketing communications (especially, advertising) industry although it has been adopted in varying forms and with differing emphases. It has been misunderstood by many. This paper offers a summary of the insights gained from the papers contained in this special issue of Marketing Intelligence & Planning; papers that represent many years of experience in the field; papers that are a mix of academic and practitioner perspectives. Collectively, they describe this faintly mysterious discipline more completely than any other published source of which we know. What is clear from the papers is the absence of any agreed succinct description or definition of what account planning should be in the current and anticipated future marketing communications environment. This paper attempts to remedy this situation by proposing a definition of account planning derived from this collective work which others may wish to accept, develop, repudiate or (best of all) debate.

Marketing Intelligence & Planning: past, present and future

Purpose – To reflect on the stewardship of Marketing Intelligence & Planning (MIP) over the past 25 years with special attention to the purpose and mission of the journal.Design/methodology/approach – A viewpoint contribution from the past, present and future editors of MIP, with considerations of the journals focus, scope and rationale.Findings – The requirement for academic research in marketing to be relevant to the practise of marketing is just as great as it was when the journal was founded.Originality/value – Considered advice for contributing authors – especially those at or near the beginning of their academic careers.

By his works ye shall know him (Matthew 7:16)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to celebrate the remarkable work of the late Emeritus Professor Michael J. Thomas, as Editor of Marketing Intelligence & Planning (MIP ) over 21 years, and Founding Editor in perpetuity.Design/methodology/approach – His long‐time Assistant Editor and eventual successor trawls the back issues and plumbs the depths of his own memory, to formalise the story of the man and his creation.Findings – The undoubted success of MIP, at the time of the editorial handover the third‐most downloaded title in Emeralds massive stable, was entirely attributable to the work of its Founding Editor: his clear vision of an academic journal that was applicable to the real work of intelligence gathering and strategy planning; his extensive personal networks, his professional status, and the sheer force of his personality.Practical implications – In the overheated current climate of academic research and publication, more journals should consider the merits of editorial prerogative as a pre...