Journal of Advertising

ISSN: 0091-3367 (Print) 1557-7805 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/ujoa20

The Creative Search for an Insight in Account Planning:

An Absorptive Capacity Approach

John Parker, Lawrence Ang & Scott Koslow

To cite this article: John Parker, Lawrence Ang & Scott Koslow (2018) The Creative Search for
an Insight in Account Planning: An Absorptive Capacity Approach, Journal of Advertising, 47:3,
237-254, DOI: 10.1080/00913367.2018.1474146

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2018.1474146

Published online: 20 Jul 2018.

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Journal of Advertising, 47: 237–254
Copyright # 2018, American Academy of Advertising
ISSN: 0091-3367 print / 1557-7805 online
DOI: 10.1080/00913367.2018.1474146

The Creative Search for an Insight in Account Planning: An Absorptive

Capacity Approach

John Parker
Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
Lawrence Ang
Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
Scott Koslow
Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia

An advertising agency is like an ideas factory.

In advertising agencies, insight is frequently sought to solve Information about consumers and brands enter through
advertising problems. However, the ideation process of the account
planner is not well understood. Viewing account planning through
one door of the agency, while finished advertisements
a lens of absorptive capacity suggests that planning is about iden- exit through another, thus transforming raw external
tifying and assimilating external information about consumers for information into creative outcomes. Some academics—
use in the creative process. Account planners thus need to search Sutherland, Duke, and Abernethy (2004), for example—
deliberately for insight and work hard to express it to the crea- document how critical information often fails to reach the
tives, who then exploit it to develop powerful creative ideas.
The study adopts an in-depth grounded theory investigation of the creative team. Yet the wider transformation process
insight phenomenon among 20 Sydney-based account planners. remains understudied. To examine how agencies trans-
The findings reveal that identifying and applying insight is a form external knowledge about consumers and brands
highly creative process. The account planner uses research, into unique and useful advertising, Verbeke et al. (2008)
personal knowledge domains, challenging conventions, borrowed
sources, and central narrative extension to search for insights.
suggest the concept of absorptive capacity of the firm,
However, because not all insights are equal, this study also uncov- from Cohen and Levinthal (1990). This concept explores
ered what account planners consider quality insight. These include the firm’s ability to identify, assimilate, and exploit know-
attributes of originality, relatability, usability, and vision. These ledge from the environment. Many advertising agencies
findings provide guidelines for marketers and account planners
show they can absorb critical information and apply it to
who seek insight in framing an advertising message.
produce strong, award-winning creative work year after
year (Verbeke et al. 2008).
However, the mechanism for how agencies accomplish
this external-information-to-usable-knowledge transform-
ation still needs to be identified. We propose that a crit-
Address correspondence to John Parker, Macquarie ical element of absorptive capacity in advertising agencies
University, Faculty of Business and Economics, Balaclava
Road, North Ryde, New South Wales 2109, Australia. E-mail:
is the function of account planning, which takes external
john.parker@mq.edu.au information about consumers and transforms it into
John Parker (PhD, Macquarie University) is a sessional highly usable knowledge, commonly known as insight. In
lecturer, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie this regard, the account planner adds value to traditional
University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. market research by being the “voice of the consumer” on
Lawrence Ang (PhD, University of New South Wales,
Australian Graduate School of Management) is an associate the account team to ensure that consumer insight is inte-
professor of marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics, grated throughout the creative development process
Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South (Barry, Peterson, and Todd 1987; Hackley 2003a, 2003b).
Wales, Australia. One early study found that advertising agencies with an
Scott Koslow (PhD, University of Southern California) is a
professor of marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics,
account planning department tend to have more
Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South accounts, have higher billings, and win more creative
Wales, Australia. awards (Maxwell et al. 2000).
237
238 J. PARKER ET AL.

Yet how do account planners go about developing been applied in the category. For example, a human truth
and integrating insight into the creative development that teenage boys are sexually aspirant but socially inse-
process? Hackley (2003b) suggests that account planners cure holds a tension that can be resolved by a product
play an abstract “midwifery” role to creativity by giving benefit that facilitates social confidence. Linking this so-
the creative team the critical consumer insight necessary called human truth to the benefit may ultimately develop
for them to develop an equally abstract “central creative into a message proposition that can be creatively
platform” of the advertising campaign (p. 449). While expressed as “Brand X is your best first move.” Thus,
valuable descriptions of account planning are often the terms insight and human truth take on a different
detailed and examples of insight are frequently provided, epistemology from that which is normally applied in
prominent contributors to understanding the account the sciences.
planning function, like Fortini-Campbell (2001), Steel The mining of insight extends beyond consumer
(1998), or even Pollitt (1979), still fail to clearly define research. The planner searches for insight within personal
what insight is. In fact, much of the scholarly research knowledge domains, by challenging conventions, by using
on account planning tends to explore the broader func- borrowed sources, and by looking for insight around the
tions of account planning (Barry, Peterson, and Todd brand’s central narrative. When quality insight is
1987; Morrison and Haley 2006), or the sociopolitical revealed, it is characterized by several important attrib-
climate within which account planning exists (Hackley utes: It is original, relatable to consumers, usable by crea-
2000; Nyilasy, Kreshel, and Reid 2012; Nyilasy, tives, and visionary for the brand.
Canniford, and Kreshel 2013), rather than how account This article starts with an integrative review of account
planning activities help agencies absorb critical external planning scholarship as a mechanism for absorptive cap-
information. acity in advertising agencies. It also sets out how this
To focus on mechanisms of knowledge absorption, relates to what we know about advertising creative think-
we draw from Lane, Koka, and Pathak (2006), who iden- ing processes. Next, the article presents an in-depth
tify three sequential steps. First, an organization grounded theory investigation of the insight phenomena
must recognize and understand new external knowledge among 20 Sydney-based account planners. Finally, these
(e.g., exploratory learning). Second, the organization also results are discussed and applied to both practice and the-
needs to assimilate valuable external knowledge (e.g., ory in advertising.
transformative learning) to make it understandable to
those who use the information. Last, the firm must apply
the assimilated external knowledge to harvest its full THEORY DEVELOPMENT
value (e.g., exploitative learning). We argue that account Well before Cohen and Levinthal (1990) penned the
planners perform the first two steps, which then sets up phrase absorptive capacity, advertising agencies were con-
advertising creatives to be able to perform the third. cerned about how to take relevant external information
The initial exploratory learning step goes well about consumers and integrate it into the creative pro-
beyond merely identifying consumer-based research. It is cess. To address that challenge, two London admen,
an intensive, creative problem-solving process in itself as Stephen King of J. Walter Thompson (JWT) and Stanley
account planners actively search for such an insight. We Pollitt of Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP), founded 50 years
identify five methods account planners use to uncover ago what we know today as account planning (Baskin
insight; these include (1) traditional consumer research, and Pickton 2003).
(2) personal knowledge domains, (3) challenging Pollitt’s (1979) motivation for creating the account
conventions, (4) borrowed sources, and (5) central narra- planning discipline was driven by his concern that agen-
tive extension. cies were not using research fruitfully. The findings gener-
The second step of transformative learning requires ated tended to be too sterile and lacked pragmatic value
expressing the insight in a way that enables it to be incor- in solving the advertising problem. Pollitt perceived that
porated into the creative development process. In the advertising research tended to be used by account manag-
advertising context, insight takes on a special form, which ers to suit their own purposes rather than to genuinely
involves the identification of a human truth (Haley, understand consumers. His solution was to redefine how
Taylor, and Morrison 2014; Gordon 2002; Steel 1998). research should be conducted, making consumer feedback
This study identifies that what is referred to as a “human central to getting the advertising content correct.
truth” is actually (1) a sociocultural expression of human To achieve this, he created the role of the account plan-
motivation or need that (2) contains an inherent tension ner, whose task is to ensure that “all data relevant to key
that can be resolved by the brand attribute or benefit in a advertising decisions should be properly analyzed, com-
way that is (3) original, because it has not previously plemented with new research, and brought to bear on
 THE CREATIVE SEARCH FOR AN INSIGHT IN ACCOUNT PLANNING 239

judgments of creative strategy and how the campaign ideology and goal orientation between creatives and
should be appraised” (p. 22). account managers are a constant source of conflict. In
Since account planning’s introduction, the function has interviewing Scottish account planners, Crosier, Grant,
been widely copied. Barry, Peterson, and Todd (1987) and Gilmore (2003) found that while there is conflict
argued that the planner should be actively involved between account planners and creatives, this conflict is
throughout the creative development process so that resolved through collaboration. The surprising finding is
insight can be integrated into the advertising. In this way, that conflict also occurs between account planners and
the account planner “value-adds” to traditional market media planners. They speculated that media planners,
research by being the voice of the consumer. Hackley who currently tend to originate from outside the agency,
(2003b) found that there is often confusion among practi- have a numerical mind-set—different from that of
tioners on what constitutes useful research for creative account planners, who are more intuitive.
development. This is because practitioners often mistake More recently, in interviewing creatives, Haley, Taylor,
consumer research with quantitative analyses, which gen- and Morrison (2014) found that trust, respect, and know-
erally tend to yield little actionable insight for creative ing professional boundaries are vital ingredients in a
development. successful partnership between account planners and crea-
With the exceptions of Hackley (2003b) and a few other tives. In the broader context, practitioners tend to pay little
contributors (e.g., Zaltman 2014; Haley, Taylor, and attention to academic research on how advertising works
Morrison 2014), academics rarely use the term insight but instead rely on their own implicit models or creative
when discussing planning-related issues. Instead, scholars code (Nyilasy and Reid 2009; Stuhlfaut 2011). This echoes
use an abstracted notion that consumer research translates
the earlier findings of Kover and Goldberg (1995) and
into creativity seamlessly or automatically, thus invoking
Kover, James, and Sonner (1997). Nyilasy, Kreshel, and
the ideas factory analogy. For example, Koslow, Sasser,
Reid (2012) later found that advertising personnel (i.e.,
and Riordan (2006) are typical, showing that the use of
account planners, account managers, and creatives) tend to
consumer research leads to more creative advertising. The
engage in pseudo-professional tactics (e.g., rhetoric, rela-
challenge of integrating consumer information into the cre-
tionship management, and knowledge creation) to reduce
ative process is only hinted at in the form of an interaction
the anxiety of their clients.
between the consumer research’s use and the client’s open-
ness—with no mention of planners’ efforts.
Research in account planning centers around two
Insight As the Foundation for Creative Ideation in
broad themes. One theme is about what an account plan-
Account Planning
ner does (or should do) in an advertising agency. For
Although insight is scarcely studied in the academic
instance, in their survey of U.S. and British agencies,
advertising literature, there is a “community of practice”
Barry, Peterson, and Todd (1987) found that British plan-
ners are overwhelmingly more involved in communicating among account planners who highlight insight’s importance
with the creative teams and developing creative briefs in advertising development (Baskin 2008; Fallon and Senn
than their U.S. counterparts are. In a later survey of U.S. 2006; Gordon 2002; Hall 2002; Mitchell 2002; Steel 1998).
account planners, Morrison and Haley (2006) found that The term insight was popularized by Fortini-Campbell
account planners are more involved in creative strategy (2001). Her book, Hitting the Sweet Spot: How Consumer
articulation and creative strategy development research Insights Can Inspire Better Marketing and Advertising, is
than in tactical evaluation. Feedback from the creative considered a consumer insight classic among practitioners.
team is also their most preferred form of evaluation She advocated that account planners should be “insight
(Morrison and Haley 2003). Patwardhan, Patwardhan, miners” because this is “one of the most important skills a
and Vasavada-Oza (2009, 2011) found that although planner can possess” (Baskin 2008, p. 49).
account planning has been widely adopted in Indian Creatives also value highly the insights account plan-
advertising agencies, driven mostly by agency size and ners can give, often describing these as the “aha!” or
global affiliation, there is limited assimilation into such “whoa!” factors in the creative brief (Haley, Taylor, and
agencies’ routine practice. Morrison 2014, p. 177). Perhaps unlike academics, practi-
The second theme focuses on control and the sociopo- tioners are more keenly aware of the need for an insight
litical conflict between different constituencies in advertis- that will help develop a differentiating brand message.
ing agencies. For instance, Kover and Goldberg (1995) This difference in mind-set, or “logics,” is an example of
found that copywriters use discursive strategies (e.g., the tension in the academic–practitioner divide often
sneak attacks) to try to retain control over their creative debated in the management literature (e.g., Bartunek and
work, while Hackley (2000) noted that differences in Rynes 2014, p. 1184).
240 J. PARKER ET AL.

However, the work of Hackley (2003a, 2003b) tries to agency environment, the creative development process
bridge this divide by highlighting the importance of doing needs to be considered within a team context, where dif-
the right kind of research for creative development. He ferent specialists are responsible for insight formation and
observed that advertising personnel often do not know idea generation.
how to use research, equating consumer research with Recent scholarship into the creative process in adver-
quantitative studies, which tend not to yield anything use- tising takes an implicit or explicit team-oriented approach
ful for creative development. Hackley (2000) argued that where creative idea generation is the focus. The identifica-
the power of account planners comes from taking the lead tion of insight that precedes the generation of these cre-
in researching and writing the creative brief. He also sug- ative ideas is rarely emphasized, but it is still present. For
gested that if account planners can become known as instance, Lynch and West (2017) focus on knowledge util-
“consumer insight professionals” they are likely to become ization as feeding into the idea generation process rather
politically unassailable (Hackley 2003a, p. 450). than knowledge’s identification or assimilation being part
Despite insight’s importance, less is known about how of the process; the assumption is that insight is already
account planners go about searching and then recognizing found. Kover (1995) in his seminal work discovered that
a quality insight. To add further confusion, insight has not creatives use their own implicit model (in a form of
been clearly defined. Instead, practitioners suggest that internal dialogue) to determine which creative idea gener-
insights reside in hidden “truths” (Fallon and Senn 2006; ated is effective. This is not the same as finding the
Hall 2002; Steel 1998), a concept similar to Gordon’s insight that will assist in the realization of the creative
(2002) idea of “deep insight.” Overall, the community of idea. But the insight is still something creatives are given
account planners believes that a good planner can provide which “fleshes out” (p. 600) a useful understanding of the
creatives with “basic truths” to assist them in their creative target audience.
work (Haley, Taylor, and Morrison 2014, p. 175). Although current advertising creativity models also
To set this practitioner-oriented work in context, con- routinely focus on the idea generation process deployed
sider again the three-step absorption process of explora- by creatives, it is possibly better described as an exploit-
tory, transformative, and exploitative learning suggested ative learning step in the absorptive capacity process. For
by Lane, Koka, and Pathak (2006). The first step, identi- example, Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon’s (1999)
fying usable information, is almost universally acknowl- creative templates provide a framework for creatives to
edged by practitioners and scholars alike. As Baskin and exploit different techniques to translate the advertising
Pickton (2003) note, while planners often perform message proposition into a big idea. For example, to
research activities, they also analyze, interpret, and distill dramatize the message proposition that a washing deter-
information succinctly. However, account planners do gent brand makes whites whiter, a creative may consider
more than just identify and understand key pieces of deploying, among others, the extreme consequences tem-
information; they also take on transformative aspects to plate to show the implications of not using the brand.
make the information meaningful to creatives.
Few scholars directly deal with how account planners
assimilate knowledge for creatives’ use. One exception, Understanding the Characteristics of Insight
Baskin and Pickton (2003), notes how planners come into If insight plays such an important role in shaping
their own as a “knowledge applicator” (Baskin and advertising, then understanding the insight phenomenon
Pickton, p. 422); that is, to be able to laterally reformu- is critical. The problem, however, is that definitions of
late the information to articulate insight well. The trans- insight in an advertising context are difficult to find in
formative learning aspect of planning is also emphasized both the academic and the practitioner literature. One of
by Hackley (2003b). Planners, beyond providing insights, the few definitions of insight is offered by Zaltman
are also charged with ensuring such insights are acted (2014): “insight is a realization—an idea—that feels cor-
upon in the creative development process. rect; it is a thought experienced as true at the moment it
reaches awareness” (p. 373). He differentiates an insight
from what he calls “facts” (p. 373) such that insight mixes
The Idea Generation Process and Insight with other tacit knowledge to give the meaning that is not
Lubart (2001) notes that most early models of creative explicitly spelled out in data. That is, using “facts” alone
thinking are individual oriented and start with informa- is insufficient for developing advertising; rather, it is the
tion acquisition. Later models, like Osborn (1953), tend thoughts and feelings that reside in the mind that imbue
to separate out information-oriented steps as a subpro- meaning to “facts” that are important. Closely aligned
cess. Planning can be viewed as the initial steps of a cre- with the notion of thoughts and feelings, Hackley (2003a,
ative-thinking process. However, in the advertising 2003b) suggests insights are research findings about
 THE CREATIVE SEARCH FOR AN INSIGHT IN ACCOUNT PLANNING 241

consumers that can be integrated into the creative devel- message proposition, the mechanisms through which insight
opment process. can be realized, and the attributes of quality insight.
Practitioners tend to talk about insight as truths about
ordinary people and their relationship with a brand or
category that can be used to inspire creative advertising METHOD
(Fallon and Senn 2006; Gordon 2002; Steel 1998). As
A Grounded Theory Approach
Gordon (2002) suggests, insights provide a depth of
This study adopted grounded theory because this
understanding “into the way people think, feel and
research aims to advance our understanding of the insight
behave in relation to brands” (p. 107). Mitchell (2002)
phenomenon by identifying important practitioner-based
provides an example of an insight from motivational
constructs and their relationships with each other (Strauss
researcher “Ernest Dichter, [who] famously advised
and Corbin 1990). Guided by practitioner accounts of
Chrysler that men thought of their sports cars as mis-
their own ideation process, this approach is most useful
tresses and of their sedans as wives” (p. 47). Fallon and
in advancing new theoretical understanding, rather than
Senn (2006) identified an insight for Lee jeans, relevant to
theoretical testing (Goulding 2017).
a young male audience, that “cool is having the confi- This study follows the constructivist grounded theory
dence and courage to let your actions do the talking” (p. approach, which proposes theoretical analysis as inter-
99). Revealing themselves in research, mining for insights pretive, rather than an objective reflection of reality
involves delving deep into the motivation of consumers to (Charmaz 2005). Through the process of grounded theory
unlock truths which consumers may not be consciously research, it is “appropriate to turn to existing literature
aware of (Zaltman 2014) or openly willing to share, or with the goal of improving it through reflection and
which may help bridge the gap between what they say reconstruction” (Burawoy 1991, p. 11). As suggested by
and what they do (Steel 1998). Charmaz (2005), no qualitative research solely relies on
Although advertising professionals need to pinpoint inductive analysis, as the world is framed and informed
what they define as insight, some perspective may be by existing knowledge. Hence, there is an interaction
gained from the study of insight in psychology. First, between induction and deduction in the justification for
when achieving insight, a person experiences a sudden grounded theory research (Miller and Fredericks 1999).
jump from the impasse to the solution (Schilling 2005; Throughout the analysis phase, there was an iterative
Schilling and Green 2011). That is, the emergence of a movement from an inductive analysis of the data to a
solution is a sudden realization and not simply the next deductive analysis within the existing literature. For
step in a deliberate problem-solving process. Second, the example, the “aha!” moment and “truths” are identified
jump produces an “aha!” moment (Lubart 2001), which in the literature as elements associated with the insight
represents the affective response that arises from the sud- phenomenon in the advertising context. However, at all
den realization there is a pathway to the solution (Gick times the research strived to ensure that the proposed
and Lockhart 1995). Third, the initial problem becomes themes are supported by empirical evidence.
reinterpreted or redefined in light of this realization. This Subsequently, this constructivist approach provided the
usually requires the problem solver to become detached appropriate method because it enabled academic and
from his or her previous experience in order to see a new practitioner-based constructs to be cultivated in the con-
relationship between critical elements of the problem. text of the extant academic and practitioner literature
This may involve changing the goals of the problem (Nyilasy and Reid 2009).
(Ohlsson 1992), redirecting attention to other problem
elements (Grant and Spivey 2003), or recombining these
elements to yield a new perspective (Davidson 1995). Data Collection
However, studying insight in a psychology laboratory is The study is informed by a sample of 20 account plan-
different from understanding insight in advertising. ners employed across 12 Sydney advertising agencies. At
Problem-solving tasks carried out in psychology laborato- this point, theoretical saturation was achieved. The
ries have one solution; in advertising, the problem is more respondents were purposefully selected at the senior
complex and often ill-defined. The telltale sign commonly account planner and planning director levels, with experi-
reported is the accompanying “aha!” moment when an ence across multiple product categories and international
insight is found. Yet notions of insight and “truth,” and markets, providing the experience necessary to create a
their relationship to the “aha!” moment, still need to be situ- reliable study. The respondents were either known to the
ated and unpacked in the advertising context. Specifically, researcher, were referrals from participants, or were iden-
we need to understand how insight informs an advertising tified via LinkedIn, and were contacted by phone to
242 J. PARKER ET AL.

TABLE 1
Description of Interview Participants
Pseudonym Gender Title Agency Years of Experience

01 M Senior planner Multinational 10

02 M Planning director Multinational 22
03 F Senior planner Multinational 6
04 M Senior planner Multinational 8
05 M Planning director Multinational 14
06 M Planning director Freelance 21
07 F Planning director Multinational 16
08 M Senior planner National 7
09 M Senior planner Freelance 9
10 F Senior planner Freelance 8
11 M Planning director Multinational 18
12 M Senior planner Multinational 7
13 F Planning director Multinational 9
14 M Senior planner National 7
15 M Senior planner Multinational 8
16 F Senior planner Multinational 6
17 F Senior planner Multinational 7
18 F Planning director Multinational 17
19 F Senior planner Multinational 8
20 M Planning director Multinational 8

participate. A description of the participants is provided 4. How do you go about finding insight?
in Table 1. 5. What do you think makes an insight strong?
Semistructured interviews were conducted face-to-face by
the researcher, who had previous interview experience over a These open-ended questions were broad to allow the
20-year industry work history. The interviews took place over ideas behind the insight construct to develop organically.
13 months, ranged in duration between 40 and 90 minutes, During the interviews, new elements and ideas that
and resulted in 253 transcribed pages. Interviews were con- emerged in the narratives of earlier participants were
ducted in either an agency meeting room or in an agreed- brought forward to the next interview.
upon meeting place (such as a quiet coffee shop or the lobby
of an international hotel chain). The interviewer also went
back to the respondents with further questions to clarify con-
Data Analysis
cepts and to fill learning gaps. All interviews were audiotaped
The study used the constant comparison method, cod-
and transcribed.
An interview guide was constructed around a broad ques- ing and recoding data through an iterative process
tion relating to insight to establish the respondents’ under- (Creswell 1998). Two coders analyzed the data. At the
standing of the term and to give context and clarity to the completion of each stage, the coding was reviewed and
phenomenon under investigation. Following are the open- discussed between the two coders, leading to the refine-
ended interview questions contained in the interview guide: ment of the codes at each of the steps in the coding pro-
cess. Data analysis commenced using open coding
1. In your role as an account planner, can you tell me (Strauss and Corbin 1990), which involved systematically
what an insight is? reviewing the interview transcripts in NVivo and under-
taking the preliminary process of “breaking down, exam-
2. What role does insight play in helping you solve an
ining, comparing, conceptualizing and categorizing data”
advertising problem? (Strauss and Corbin 1990, p. 61). The process focused on
3. Using an example, can you explain how you use identifying the meaning contained in words, sentences,
insight when developing an advertising message and paragraphs, and breaking the data into distinct units
proposition? of meaning. It also involved an ordering process, which
 THE CREATIVE SEARCH FOR AN INSIGHT IN ACCOUNT PLANNING 243

elevated the causes, contexts, consequences, and condi- like commodities … [many] cosmetics and fashion
tions relating to specific incidents. The emerging themes brands sell a glamour look … shampoos promise con-
were constructed by identifying narrative repetitions fidence.” Third, the insight assists the creatives by giving
(Bogdan and Taylor 1975), similarities, and differences, them a starting point to differentiate the brand: “Insight
as well as by revisiting missing data. adds a [differentiated] strategic idea to a brand benefit
At this point, axial coding linked the categories based that ultimately helps the creative team get under way in
on interrelationships. Assigning these concepts involved developing a fresh idea” (interview with planning dir-
the process of abstraction onto a theoretical level. These ector). When account planners serendipitously find
abstract concepts encompassed a number of more con- insight, they experience the “aha!” moment characteristic
crete instances found in the data, confirming their theor- of insightful problem solving, as one planner explained:
etical significance. Once these concepts were identified,
their attributes were explored to exhaust their characteris- You know when you’ve nailed the insight because the “aha!”
tics. This process continued using constant comparisons moment makes the hairs on your arms stand up … it’s a
nice feeling … . Great insights often have nothing to do with
until the data were saturated.
the product or the category … . You’re looking for
In the final step, the data were subsumed into core cat- something fresh, and you won’t find it close to home [i.e.,
egories using selective coding designed to pull together all close to the brand or category]. (Interview with
the strands and explain the phenomenon under study. At senior planner)
this point, the theory was committed to writing, which
led to new discoveries and further category refinement. Account planners also indicate they search for insight
by looking for unexpected observations or findings of
human behavior in “people, culture, category, competition,
FINDINGS the product, or the brand.” When an insight is revealed, it
Three major findings were uncovered in this study. gains its persuasive power through a succinct expression
First, insight is a so-called human truth that provides a that encapsulates the human truth. These expressions then
deep understanding of human motivation. Second, insight provide the foundations for the message proposition that
in advertising can be identified through five possible will ultimately guide the development of the creative idea.
methods: (1) research, (2) personal knowledge domains, The following are examples of insight expressed as a
(3) challenging conventions, (4) borrowed sources, and human truth:
(5) central narrative extension. Third, there are four
attributes of insight that are considered high quality: ori- Everyone has a secret to hide. (Interview with senior planner)
ginality, relatability, usability, and vision. Each of these
Teenage boys are sexually aspirant but socially insecure.
findings is discussed in more detail in the next sections. (Interview with senior planner)
Unless otherwise stated, all names of account planners
and brands are anonymized. Life is better experienced, not observed. (Interview with
senior planner)

Children love dreaming about future possibilities. (Interview

Human Truth as Insight in Advertising with planning director)
Based on participant accounts, the serendipitous dis-
covery of a human truth excites account planners because Account planners indicate that insight can serve as a
it assists them in their task. In searching for insight, our vehicle to direct new advertising messages within a
participants indicated explicitly that their objective was to brand’s existing positioning or assist in identifying how a
“find a truth about human behavior that could help seed brand may be repositioned for competitive advantage. A
an idea for the [advertising] message proposition” (inter- senior planner gave the following example of how insight
view with senior planner). into a human truth was used to reposition an existing
This search for insight is integral to the account sports shoe brand away from cluttered category claims of
planner’s creative contribution to the creative brief and superior athletic performance:
confers several advantages to the strategy development
process. First, insight brings the brand closer to the [A] nice example of where insight was used to reposition a
human motivation most effective in satisfying the target brand was with [brand name], where the agency focused on
audience’s unmet need. Second, this results in a message the idea that for most of us sport isn’t about superior athletic
performance but rather sport is part of life … part of play;
proposition that elevates an attribute or benefit from a it’s social … . Young adults aren’t into Lucozade [an energy
commodity. As one senior planner suggests, “Attributes drink] and half-time oranges. They’re into beers and kebabs
are easily superseded, and benefits are increasingly feeling and 3 a.m … . playing snooker in pool halls … . And the
244 J. PARKER ET AL.

prize isn’t a trophy but a phone number on a soiled beer Insight’s Role in the Construction of the Advertising
coaster. (Interview with senior planner) Message Proposition
Ultimately, the insight is used to place a strategic idea
The uncovering of a (new) consumer insight has huge into the message proposition. To arrive at a proposition,
implications on how an advertising problem can be the account planner must be able to link the human
solved. In this example, the insight that for most young motivation embodied in the insight to an attribute or a
adults “life is a social sport played after hours” serves to single benefit embodied in the brand. As a senior planner
create a new direction for the brand’s positioning. A new describes, “There needs to be a strategic link between the
consumer motivation is revealed that directs a new adver- insight and the attribute or attributes you may focus on,
tising narrative to strengthen brand differentiation rela- or the single benefit you may adopt … [in order] to
tive to the competition. arrive at an idea that is credible to consumers.” Once the
Importantly, insights can be distinguished from facts planner can make the association between the insight and
based on the affective appeal they embody. Facts are the attribute or benefit of the brand, he or she needs to
merely descriptors of something known or proven to be make this link via a creative expression of the propos-
true. For facts to transition to insights, they require further ition. It is in this process that the planner calls upon his
elaboration. For example, one planning director reported: or her creativity to arrive at an articulation of the mes-
“You know, facts is a dirty word, until it’s expressed in a sage proposition that is inspiring to creatives, motivating
way that somehow has a tension in it.” In this way, facts to consumers, and relevant to the brand. This is not easy.
lack the necessary surprise often seen in insight realization As one planning director suggests, “I find writing the
(i.e., the “aha!” moment). The following examples demon- proposition always difficult … . It is something I spend a
strate knowing the brand’s positioning or attribute is not lot of time on … writing, rewriting … . It has to hold
enough. They must still be linked to a human truth: the magic that inspires the creative.”
This proposition embodies the compelling message the
For example, the brand truth is that all over the globe [Brand creative work needs to deliver to fulfill the communica-
X] powers priceless experiences, and the human truth [as final
insight] that links to this brand truth is that life is better
tion objectives. It, therefore, contains the central, single-
experienced, not observed. (Interview with senior planner) minded theme that encapsulates the strategic thinking.
The following is an example (with other examples shown
In its own right, a product truth isn’t an insight … . It is in Table 2) of how an account planner links the insight to
typically only a characteristic of the product. It can lead to the benefit in constructing the final brand proposition:
an insight if you explore the human behavior that resonates
with it … [Brand Y] has a slow-forming, thick, creamy
[Brand Z] was a campaign I worked on in the U.K … .
head … . They likely linked to an insight around anticipation
based on a wonderful [human] insight that teenage boys are
… anticipation is the foreplay to pleasure. (Interview with
sexually aspirant but socially insecure. The primary brand
senior planner)
benefit was social confidence, and this connection between
benefit and insight led to a powerful strategic idea that we
Based on these observations, one can define a human articulated as “your best first move” [proposition]. (Interview
truth as (1) a succinct sociocultural expression of human with senior planner)
motivation or need, which (2) contains an inherent ten-
sion that can be resolved by the brand attribute or benefit The same insight may lead to two different expressions
in a manner that is (3) original, because it has not previ- of the proposition. How the account planer uses the insight
ously been applied in the category. to form the message proposition has a direct influence on

TABLE 2
Insight, Benefit, and Proposition Relationship
Human Insight Attribute or Benefit Proposition

Teenage boys are sexually aspirant yet Social confidence [Brand] is your best first move.
socially insecure.
Professional athletes’ deepest fear Cushioning inner soles [Brand] lessens the pain of failure.
is failure.
Freedom is the ability to be completely Shows the true you With [Brand] you can live
yourself: unrestrained, uninhibited, life unbuttoned.
unembarrassed.
 THE CREATIVE SEARCH FOR AN INSIGHT IN ACCOUNT PLANNING 245

the opportunity created for creatives. In describing the Interestingly, growth in digital media has also enabled
construction of a proposition for a soft drink brand insight exploration through the monitoring of consumer
around peoples’ desire for belonging, one planner suggests: conversations. One planning director emphasizes: “Social
media monitoring tools are increasingly used for finding
The question I would ask is, “Would that inspire a creative super deep insight. We plug in keywords, and it lets us lis-
person?” … You know, beer is a social glue, as well, so you ten to all the conversations that are happening online. We
have to push the proposition in terms of the tweak you give
can even listen inside Facebook” (interview with plan-
it … . So between saying “[Brand X] brings people together”
versus … “In the land of [Brand X], nobody is a stranger,” I
ning director).
think the latter is … more inspiring in terms of where In the course of consumer research, it is important to
creatively the folks [creatives] can go. (Interview with explore both the consumers’ actual and desired state.
senior planner) Focusing research on the actual state may reveal insight
around the problem experienced by consumers and the
subsequent role the brand can play in resolving that prob-
lem. However, what might be more motivating to con-
The Mechanisms for Insight Realization in Advertising sumers is a more transformational focus in advertising
This study also discovered five mechanisms through execution that shifts the consumer from the actual to a
which account planners identify insight for the purpose of desired state. Focusing on the desired state and the unmet
advertising message development: (1) research, (2) personal needs that underlie it may reveal more persuasive and
knowledge domains, (3) challenging conventions, (4) bor- motivating insight. An example provided by one planning
rowed sources, and (5) central narrative extension. An director follows:
illustration of the coding adopted in developing the mecha-
nisms for insight identification is contained in Table 3. Too much insight research is designed to have consumers
discuss their life’s reality. So we end up with benign insight
Research Consumer research serves as a valuable from research and unfortunately [based on those insights]
source for insight realization. As one participant related. work that plays consumers’ lives back to them. For example,
“[R]research is useful for exploring around the role the mums who are time pressured: they are juggling kids, …
work, and other family responsibilities, … which ultimately
brand plays in a consumer’s life. This can often provide
gets played back to them [in advertising]. When in actual
fruitful territory to discover the insight and the benefit or fact, they are thinking more about what their lives might be
benefits that can be associated with it” (interview with like when their hectic life winds down.
senior planner). Thus, research aids planning in identify-
ing the consumer motivations that the brand fulfills.
These motivations can then be built on and more deeply Personal domain knowledge Insight also arises by
explored to determine a surprising human truth. drawing from actor-specific life experiences. These experi-
Planners adopt various research methods in their ences can result from work experiences across multiple
search for insight. These include quantitative and qualita- product and service categories, the experiences and obser-
tive research, such as focus groups, in-depth interviews,
vations one might associate with encountering life, or
observation, ethnography, and participation in the cus-
chance encounters with new information. Two account
tomer path to purchase. Ultimately, all of these various
planners provide specific details:
approaches seek to reveal the hidden consumer motiv-
ation that might hold relevant insight, or, as is particu-
I think a lot of insight comes from our experiences, rather
larly true of observation and ethnography, to reveal the than the amount of experience we have. (Interview with
subconscious consumer behavior that may embody planning director)
insight, which is frequently hidden in focus groups or in-
depth interviews. As one participant describes: [T]here’s a great scene in the movie Good Will Hunting that
shows what I mean about insights being connected to our
Observation, I think, can be really interesting to uncover life’s experiences … . It’s the scene where Robin Williams is
behaviors that consumers are unaware of. When I was sitting on a park bench talking with Matt Damon … Robin
working for [Agency X] there was a great campaign for Williams’s character is a shrink, and he says to Damon, who
[Brand Y] that identified that all the sexy women’s is a troubled kid, … You wouldn’t know what it’s like to
underwear … mostly purchased by males [as partners] was hold a dead person in your arms, and you wouldn’t know
at the back of the drawer and all the comfy stuff was at the what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel, and you wouldn’t
front. This was an interesting observation that gave rise to a know what it feels like to be really loved by a woman … .
compelling insight that was later leveraged to a comfort His point is that we have no insight into the things we have
benefit. (Interview with senior planner) never really experienced. (Interview with planning director)
246 J. PARKER ET AL.

TABLE 3
Mechanisms for Insight Realization in Advertising
Insight Mechanism Examples Interpretation and Coding

Research “Social media monitoring tools are Infers the use of research in finding
increasingly used for finding super insight.
deep insight. We plug in keywords, Coding: Insight illuminated from
and it lets us listen to all the conver- consumer research
sations that are happening online.
We can even listen inside.”
Personal domain knowledge “I think a lot of insight comes from Directly suggests that insight can come
our experiences rather than the from our own experiences.
amount of experience we have.” Coding: Insight as personal
domain knowledge.
Challenging conventions “I like to start with challenging con- Suggests that insight is found by ques-
ventions around the brand to see if tioning the status quo.
that opens up an interesting new Coding: Insight as challenging
space. Nike is a good example . . . conventions
because much of their work focuses
on the athlete. . . . What if instead
of looking at the athlete we looked
at the fans . . . and their role in
inspiring peak performance? [That]
might lead you to some interesting
insights around how sport inspires
fan love.”
Borrowed source “[R]eally, insights can come from any- Implies that insight is found by mater-
where. . . . I will look at what other ial similarity.
brands have done and see if I can Coding: Insight as a bor-
apply those insights to the category rowed source
I am working on.”
“I might look to see how other brands Directly suggests looking for problem
have found fresh ways to advertise.” resolution within a class of other
problems.
Coding: Insight as a bor-
rowed source
Central narrative extension “All great brands have a story to Suggests insight can be found around
tell. . . . Disney isn’t a story about the brand’s central story.
theme parks; it’s a story about Coding: Insight as a central narra-
magical moments. And Hallmark tive extension
cards isn’t a story about greeting
cards; it’s a story about caring shared.
So if the brand is seeking to continue
to build the bond it has with consum-
ers, I will actively seek insights that
tell the story within that story.”

This planners’ implications are that we do have insight knowledge extends to include, as a senior planner sug-
into those things we have experienced. Thus, it is legitim- gests, insights revealed in “books, movies, or song lyrics.”
ate that in searching for insight the account planner may These personal knowledge domains are frequently used
draw upon his or her own life experiences as the founda- in unfocused searches for ideas that may provide a solution
tion for identifying insight. This personal domain in creative problem solving, or they may be used to
 THE CREATIVE SEARCH FOR AN INSIGHT IN ACCOUNT PLANNING 247

integrate or link unlikely pairings of multiple domains of reformulate the goal to focus on how fans, rather than
knowledge in pursuit of a novel solution. One planner sug- coaches, inspire athletic performance:
gests how these searches play out: “I use a mind map when
I start looking for insight … I think of as many ideas as I I like to start with challenging conventions around the brand
can … I keep going until I find something interesting that I to see if that opens up an interesting new space. Nike is a
good example … because much of their work focuses on the
can work with” (interview with planning director).
athlete … . What if instead of looking at the athlete we
looked at the fans … and their role in inspiring peak
Challenging conventions An alternative route to iden- performance? [That] might lead you to an interesting insight
tifying insight is challenging conventions that govern the around how sport inspires fan love. (Interview with
way we manage brand meaning. One participant explains: planning director)
“You see, challenging conventions is naturally more dis-
Borrowed sources Insight can also materialize by
ruptive [in finding insight] because it forces you to question
searching for similarity to other problems at hand. In the
the norms that place barriers on our ability to reach truly
application of a borrowed source, the planner searches for
breakthrough thinking” (interview with planning director).
insight by looking at the current advertising problem as
Challenging corporate, marketing, and consumer con-
being like a class of other problems, as the following planner
ventions go on to illuminate insight. Challenging corpor-
suggests: “What you do is look at the actions or programs
ate conventions is related to confronting the assumptions
[advertising] of other brands and infer the insight … and
around who the competition is and what category the
that may inspire you that that insight is right for you” (inter-
brand is competing in. For example, a senior planner sug-
view with planning director). This is aligned with what
gests that youth football clubs are not just competing
Schilling (2005) refers to as finding a problem analogue. In
against rival clubs: “Your competition is as much the
searching for insight by way of analogy, the account planner
beach … and that’s [competing for target audience] share
may focus on the structural similarity or similar problems
of time.” The challenging of marketing conventions faced in another domain. Given the relatively common simi-
requires questioning decisions pertaining to the product, larity in product and service benefits that can be witnessed
its price, and distribution. A planning director explained: across product categories, it is not surprising that the search
“[I]f you’re looking at a premium food category, you may for analogy is a useful mechanism for insight realization.
choose to question the fact that premium foods are posi- However, the real value of borrowed sources may
tioned around solitary indulgence. Questioning this may come from the account planner’s realization that insights
lead you to an insight around sharing [indulgence].” used to solve an advertising problem across one product
Another planner suggests: “[I]nstead of showing what it or service category may help solve the advertising prob-
feels like to use the product, we focus on what it feels like lem in a different product or service category, as is sug-
to be deprived of it … or instead of focusing on the gested in the quote that follows:
brand’s performance, you focus on the competitor’s fail-
ure” (interview with senior planner). [W]hat I would do is pick up on the tension or the consumer
Challenging consumer conventions involves challenging understanding they may have created because they had a
the nature of consumer decision making; questioning the similar problem. So, for instance, using confectionery, we
relationship between the purchaser and the consumer or the would regularly review what ice cream brands are doing and
look at the kind of [advertising] work ice cream brands are
purchaser and the brand; and the role that brands play in undertaking to see what that means for confectionery,
consumers’ lives. Consider, for example, this planner’s because they are both treats and may have similar problems.
response: “While I haven’t worked on the brand, I like the (Interview with planning director)
brave way that French Connection challenged fashion-cre-
dentialed clothing brands to establish its positioning around Therefore, more than just looking for analogues (e.g.,
anti-fashion fashion. This sets up a great brand story for Schilling 2005), this technique of insight realization
fresh insights built around the rebellious individuality of the involves deeper thinking to uncover what can be learned
FCUK consumer” (interview with senior planner). about basic human motivation or needs.
In challenging conventions, the planner seeks to view To expand on this theme further, one senior planner
the solution to the problem through a new lens. This shift suggests: “If I am working on a brand and I am looking
in perspective provides a sudden realization of the solu- for interesting insights around rebellion, individuality, or
tion to the problem. In the following example, the freedom, … I might look to see what brands like Levi’s,
account planner described the problem for the footwear Harley-Davidson, Audi have done around the world as a
brand as “finding a fresh way to extend the narrative of source of inspiration.” To trigger fresh thinking, the
superior athletic performance.” The solution was to search for an analogy by way of an insight around
248 J. PARKER ET AL.

confidence may be leveraged to a combination of attri- appropriate schema that will lead to an original and
bute and/or benefit relevant to the problem at hand. appropriate solution; yet it does not directly give rise to
the insight. However, it does assist in constraining the
Central narrative extension Planners identify that proximal values that pertain to the brand’s central story,
strong brands have a clear understanding of the central through which insight realization can be explored. This,
narrative or brand mantra that directs future storytelling in turn, reduces the random nature of the insight
in advertising execution. Planners use various descriptors search process.
to describe this central narrative that holds the brand
story, such as “story,” “brand story,” “brand essence,”
and “brand DNA.” For the brand to build and reinforce Attributes and Properties of Quality Insight
brand meaning around that central story, the planner The previous section described how account planners
may actively seek to identify insights that reinforce that go about searching for insights. However, as account
story to strengthen the bond between the consumer and planners recognize, not all insights are equal in the contri-
the brand. One example from a participant follows: bution they make to constructing the message propos-
ition. The current study has uncovered the attributes that
All great brands have a story to tell … . Disney isn’t a story
constitute quality insight. Quality insight is characterized
about theme parks; it’s a story about magical moments. And by four primary attributes, which in turn contain 12 key
Hallmark cards isn’t a story about greeting cards; it’s a story properties that provide context for the account planner,
about caring shared. So if the brand is seeking to continue to consumer, creative, and brand (see Figure 1). An illustra-
build the bond it has with consumers, I will actively seek tion of the coding adopted in developing the attributes of
insights that tell the story within that story. (Interview with
senior planner)
quality insight is contained in Table 4.

Originality The originality attribute means the

In searching for insight around this central brand human truth uncovered is fresh and surprising. This may
story, planners search for human truths that fit within the come about from distant domains of knowledge not dir-
story domain. As related by one participant: ectly related to the product category or brand yet capable
of being relevant. One planner suggests:
[W]hen I am searching for insights around a central brand
story, I tend to focus on the values that I can connect to that
I think that, in the true sense of the word, great insights
brand. So, by example, if the central story in the brand is
come from places well removed from the product or
around making progress, I would start by looking at values
category … . They tend to be more powerful … PlayStation
like ambition, passion, or spirit and use that area to explore
once did a campaign where I suspect the insight was around
the opportunity for a relevant insight. (Interview with
the idea that we all have a secret to hide, which in that
senior planner)
instance they related to adult gaming. Now when you think
of secrets you wouldn’t naturally think of gaming, but
In completing a schema, when the account planner is PlayStation made that connection. (Interview with
looking for insight that can be used to extend the brand he senior planner)
or she must identify how the problem fits into a larger
framework. In the advertising context, this involves deci- Thus, a knowledge domain distant from the product
phering how the givens and the goals of a problem fit into category makes the insight more profound. However,
the broader story that holds the narrative of the brand other account planners indicate that proximal domain
together. For example, as one account planner demon- knowledge is sufficient provided that the insight relates to
strates, the central story of “making progress” that holds latent (or hidden) consumer behavior not presently evi-
the brand meaning (i.e., the given) may reveal an insight dent or realized by consumers: “[An insight is] a surpris-
that lies within a proximal “value” to the central narrative, ing truth and one that I believe leads to more inspiring
such as “ambition,” “passion,” or “spirit,” which ultim- strategy and creative work than merely a fact that often
ately leads to fresh thinking around expressing that central masquerades as an insight” (interview with senior plan-
narrative (i.e., the goal). ner). What this implies is that, in the absence of surprise,
This creation of a schema acts as a mechanism to an insight is likely to be a mere factual account of human
reduce the random nature of the insight search process. behavior and cannot therefore cement the required emo-
Simon (1981) states that “what is evoked by initial sche- tional consumer connection.
matic anticipation is not a potential solution but a solving In this pursuit of an original insight, account planners
method” (p. 155). This appears to be the case within the often report experiencing mental blocks that need to be
advertising context, as the planner might identify the overcome. Sometimes this requires deliberate
 THE CREATIVE SEARCH FOR AN INSIGHT IN ACCOUNT PLANNING 249

FIG. 1. Quality insight attributes and properties.

disengagement from the task or distraction to be able to For an insight to be relatable it must first be credible.
see it with fresh eyes. Two planners report on That is, it must be capable of being believed: “[When]
this process: evaluating an insight, it must be an interesting truth. And
yes, it must be true, most importantly in order for con-
Finding a great insight isn’t an easy task … you find yourself sumers to be able to relate to it” (interview with senior
constantly pushing to find something fresh … something that planner). Like metaphors, analogies, and similes, the
hasn’t been done … . It’s easier to reject a poor insight … insight needs to be familiar to the target audience. When
than it is to find that nugget of gold that is truly original [that
an insight is familiar, consumers can immediately relate
reveals the solution]. (Interview with senior planner)
to it and draw upon it to form a personal association, as
the following planners describe:
The strange thing about insight is that often it comes when
you least expect it. I could have spent days toiling over it
with no real progress, and then I could be out shopping, [Insights] are powerful because we make an immediate
watching a movie, or having a game of tennis, and then association with them … . So if insights fail to provide that
suddenly it will come to me out of the blue. (Interview with experience for you as a planner, they will inevitably fail to
senior planner) provide that experience for the consumer. (Interview with
senior planner)

[The insight] … might not be something they say themselves

Relatability The relatability attribute of the insight or that they would articulate personally, but it needs to be
means the properties of the human truth uncovered are relevant, relatable to them and their world. (Interview with
credible, familiar, and motivating for the target audience. planning director)
250 J. PARKER ET AL.

TABLE 4
Attributes of Quality Insight and Their Interpretation and Coding
Insight Quality Attribute Examples Interpretation and Coding

Originality “It’s the fact that they [insights] sur- Directly suggests that insights are hid-
round us yet remain unnoticed.” den from conscious thought.
Coding: Insight as latent
“[W]hen they [insights] are brought to Directly suggest that insight offers an
our attention . . . they offer an elem- element of “surprise.”
ent of surprise.” Coding: Insight as surprising
Relatability “As long as it’s [insight] genuine and Directly suggests that insight needs to
as long as it’s relevant and hits back be “genuine” and “relevant.”
to you know our deeper Coding: Insight as credible
human instinct … ”
Usability “[T]he expression [of insight] needs to Suggests that insights need to be cap-
be just sufficiently expressed to cap- tured succinctly.
ture the thought.” Coding: Insight as an economy
of expression
“[I]nsight should provide the context Implies that insight needs to contain
for the storytelling but not actually gaps from which “storytelling” can
be the story.” be built.
Coding: Insight as spacious
Vision “Insights have gained prominence Implies that insights strengthen the
because emotional benefits have “commodity” nature of benefits.
become like commodities.” Coding: Insight as differentiating

In the presence of credibility and familiarity, the or provides a platform for how the creative will relate to
insight becomes motivating to consumers. This motiv- consumers and therefore to keep the resulting creative
ation manifests because the insight resonates with con- work relevant to them and their reality.
sumers’ behavior and serves to either affirm that
behavior or be in conflict with it. It is this surprising yet Usability This attribute encompasses the properties of
familiar tension embodied in an insight that holds the the human truth that can inspire the creative team to strive
motivation necessary of quality insight, as one partici- for the big idea. Insights are strongly influenced by the lin-
pant describes: guistic frame of the language adopted by the account plan-
ner, as well as the imagination, to identify a potency of
[T]he insight needs to grow out of behavior you want to expression. When realized, insight contains the single-
change or behavior you want to encourage, and you need to minded idea from which the message proposition can be
understand why people are doing what they are doing, constructed, founding a preliminary idea from which the
because that’s the purpose of the insight. Because that’s the
tension you can resolve with your advertising … . So,
creative team can launch its work. A high-quality insight
familiarity is grounded in the fact that insight captures a can facilitate this development, as insight “should serve to
truth about their world that can provide the basis for how inform and provide inspiration to the proposition and, in
you motivate them. (Interview with planning director) that sense, provide inspiration to the creative team” (inter-
view with senior planner).
However, the relatability attribute needs to be prefaced To be inspiring, the insight must be succinct, charac-
with the notion that an insight is designed to construct the terized by an economy of expression. This economy of
proposition and may not necessarily make its way directly expression of insight serves as a discipline that compels
into creative execution. Instead, it may take an indirect the account planner to be focused and clear. One planner
route. In this instance, consumers are not directly respond- noted about insight that the “expression needs to be just
ing to insight, as one planning director suggests: “Often, sufficiently expressed to capture the thought clearly”
insights are not something that you directly want consum- (interview with planning director). Importantly, this
ers to respond to because it’s something that you give to expression needs to provide a space or a context from
creative as an internal thing.” That is, insight sets the stage which the creatives can leap to an idea, requiring that the
 THE CREATIVE SEARCH FOR AN INSIGHT IN ACCOUNT PLANNING 251

expression be spacious and liberating, rather than benefit because it adds a strategic idea to the message
constraining: proposition, which the benefit can resolve, in a manner
unique to the brand.
[Insight] should provide the context for the storytelling but
not actually be the story. (Interview with planning director)
DISCUSSION
Think of insight as a seed, not a tree. A seed needs room to The objective of this article is to develop an under-
grow. (Interview with planning director) standing of how an account planner searches for, uses,
and evaluates insight. If the insight is of poor quality,
Account planners consistently affirm the importance of it cannot adequately guide the subsequent development
focusing insight on the inherent nature of being human, of the “big idea.” In the absence of any studies that exam-
avoiding an explicit descriptive expression unlikely to ine the planner’s ideation process, the findings
contain any deep understanding of the human motivation from this investigation are novel. It bridges the
under study: “[When] you’re articulating an insight, you academic–practitioner gap by suggesting how account
need to avoid being too descriptive. And if it is descrip- planners define insight, how they go about searching for
tive, it’s likely you haven’t found the insight, so you need one, and what they consider a high-quality insight. While
to delve deeper” (interview with senior planner). account planning is still a severely underresearched area,
Furthermore, planners also report that when an insight is this article contributes to this literature in several ways.
highly descriptive and offers little room for originality, First, account planners play a more complex role in
creatives may lack the passion required to excite original the creative development process than the scholarly litera-
work. In the presence of a highly descriptive and con- ture acknowledges. In the planners’ quest for insight, they
straining insight there may be little room for further cre- engage in their own struggle that is a creative process of
ative ideation. As a result, the creative team merely its own, involving searching for human truth and then
executes the brief in an appropriate yet unoriginal man- linking it to a brand attribute or benefit. This iterative
ner: “It’s quite ironic that, in many instances, often the searching and linking process is needed because the solu-
creative work doesn’t live up to the strategy, and I find a tion is not immediately obvious. To be successful, the
lot of examples of creative work which I see these days human truth needs to have an inherent tension the brand
where you look at the ad and say, ‘Oh, that’s the creative can credibly resolve. Described as “elusive” by one senior
brief or the insight. Where is the creative work?’” (inter- planner, and often subject to mental blocks, message for-
view with senior planner). mulation is hardly an easy task.
One apparent reason why the search for insight is diffi-
Vision The vision attribute means the insight offers cult is that it has to be four things: original, relatable,
space for the brand to be transformative, allowing it to dif- usable, and visionary. Account planners search for insight
fer from the competition, yet remains compatible with the by conducting research, tapping into existing domain
desired brand positioning. As one senior planner suggests: knowledge, challenging conventions, using borrowed sour-
“Insights by their very nature tend to open up fresh new ces, and extending the brand’s central narrative. But even
spaces for brands because they provide a fresh way to tell so, they struggle to identify an insight that will seed a
the story … . Look at Nike and the way they use insights strong creative idea from which creative ideation can leap.
around things like commitment, hard work, … pain, Second, we show that the human truth adds a strategic
female empowerment, endurance, … you know, the list idea to the advertising message proposition. This human
is endless.” truth represents a belief about human motivation that,
The transformational aspects of insight are frequently when it surfaces to the conscious mind, through a suc-
observed when account planners adopt the technique of cinct expression, it will be surprisingly true. The affective
challenging conventions discussed earlier. When realized, response that flows from the human truth embodies the
this human truth provides a strategic idea to an attribute “aha!” moment, which when enacted in the advertisement
or benefit that elevates it from feeling more like a com- creates the emotional connection for the consumer.
modity to one that holds a strategic idea. One senior Relying on the simple attribute or benefit of the brand
planner notes: “Insights have gained prominence because alone lacks this human connection. A human truth gives
emotional benefits have become like commodities.” strategic context to an attribute or benefit that elevates it
This is important for competitive advantage, as product from feeling more like a commodity to one that holds an
categories are increasingly, as one senior account planner inherent strategic idea. By example, the benefit of social
suggests, “flooded” with the same emotional benefits. A confidence alone could be deployed by numerous brands
human truth can be differentiated from a single emotional across various product categories. However, introducing
252 J. PARKER ET AL.

the human truth that teenage boys are sexually aspirant relationship in strengthening the affective appeal of
yet socially insecure frames a tension this benefit can advertising, if any.
solve in a manner original for the brand, appropriate for Related to this research question is whether some
the target audience, and inspirational for creatives. mechanisms for revealing insight are more effective than
In some ways, this finding is not surprising, because the others in helping account planners find the insight.
notion of human truth is not new (Holbrook 1995; Hollis Although five methods were discovered (i.e., research,
2008). However, what is surprising is the importance personal domain knowledge, challenging conventions,
account planners place on a human truth as a form of borrowed sources, and central narrative extension),
insight unique to the advertising context. One possible rea- the effectiveness of their application may vary in different
son why human truth is so important is that insight circumstances. For a genuinely new product category,
focuses on motivation, which in turn helps focus the adver- relying on personal domain knowledge is not likely to be
tising communication toward an emotional brand benefit useful due to limited experience. For a brand that seeks a
(Mitchell 2002). Perhaps experienced account planners new positioning, challenging conventions may be a pro-
know that this form of insight is more likely to spark the ductive option.
imagination of the creatives and set them on a path to Future research can also examine how the account
finding the winning idea using a more emotional advertis- planner and the creative interact with each other when
ing appeal. Interestingly, an analysis of the 2017 Cannes the quality of insight is poor. One intriguing question is
Lions award winners found that “emotion remains central whether a low-quality insight will spur creatives to work
to best-practice campaigns” (WARC 2017, p. 3). harder. If so, this may result in a better creative idea,
because creatives have no choice but to ideate more.
On the other hand, if the presented insight is already of
Future Research and Limitations high quality, thanks to the hard work of the account
The current findings suggest new avenues for future planner, the creatives may simply take advantage of this.
research. Although account planners spend considerable However, without additional ideation on the part of the
effort searching for the link between the human truth and creative, the insight, no matter how strong, may not reach
the brand, it is assumed that this will be helpful in devel- its full potential of becoming the big idea.
oping a creative idea. Future experimental research on This research is not without its limitations. First, this
creatives can confirm whether insight improves their idea- study adopts a cognitivist approach to social research,
tion process. Similarly, one can also study whether which has an intrapersonal orientation. While this
insight, as a creative technique deployed by the account approach may represent one view of reality, we acknow-
planner, can substitute for other creative techniques, such ledge that a broader constructionism approach (e.g.,
as Goldenberg, Mazursky, and Solomon’s (1999) cre- Hackley 1998) may also be useful in revealing different
ative templates. reality—in particular, how other team members might
If insight has its influence on improving creativity, it play a role in the realization of insight. In this study,
should contribute to the strategic orientation and origin- insight is assumed to originate solely from account plan-
ality of creative work, although Kilgour and Koslow ners; in reality, insight can come from anyone, including
(2009) identified a trade-off between appropriateness and the clients themselves.
originality in divergent thinking tasks. Related to this Different sociocultural contexts at both the macro and
issue is whether insight acts as primed knowledge. If so, micro level may give rise to different realities from which
then it would influence creative thinking. Various studies insight may materialize. At the micro level, the contribu-
have demonstrated that priming respondents to a specific tion of insight and the types of insights themselves may
knowledge domain can impair their divergent thinking vary based on the socialization factors through which
ability because of mental set fixation (Marsh, Landau, individual actors construct their own sociocultural reality.
and Hicks 1996; Smith, Ward, and Schumacher 1993). How actors make choices and how professionals engage
On the other hand, if insight is intended to bring the in meaning-making influences their cultural knowledge
brand closer to the consumer, then research that examines and shapes advertising creative process (Zayer and
different conditions of insight (such as strong, weak, Coleman 2015; Nyilasy, Canniford, and Kreshel 2013).
and no insight) should influence consumer attitudes For instance, face-to-face interactions between planners
toward the brand, the advertising, and purchase inten- and clients were not studied here; nor were group dynam-
tion. This qualitative study also suggests a role for insight ics between planners and creatives. Such interactions
in making advertising more emotional. It is therefore bring a different form of reality and could very well influ-
essential to develop our understanding of insight and its ence how insights are attained.
 THE CREATIVE SEARCH FOR AN INSIGHT IN ACCOUNT PLANNING 253

Future research can also investigate the influence of Charmaz, Kathy (2005), “Grounded Theory in the 21st Century,” in
the macro environment on insight attainment. For Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd ed., Norman K. Denzin and
Yvonna S. Lincoln, eds., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 507–35.
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Crosier, Keith, Ian Grant, and Charlotte Gilmore (2003), “Account
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Fallon, Pat, and Fred Senn (2006), Juicing the Orange: How to Turn
sentiments toward the environment, bullying, gay mar- Creativity into a Powerful Business Advantage, Boston: Harvard
riage, gender equality, and the visual portrayal of women Business School Press.
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of such market sentiments and how they shape insight are Insights Can Inspire Better Marketing and Advertising, Chicago, IL:
The Copy Workshop.
not examined in this study. But they have an important
Gick, Mary L., and Robert S. Lockhart (1995), “Cognitive and
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Mark Ellis, eds., London: Kogan Page, 103–21.
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