Fall 2009 Account Planning

Dr. Gigi Taylor's Fall 2009 Account Planning Class
MC 4316F
Texas State University

BACK ROW:  Jeff Germenis, Valin Zamarron, Jen Leaver, Tara Davis, Dan Peterson, Ashley Clark, Chelsea Davis, Julie Korzekwa, Anna Shoemaker, Taylor Kleimann, Ben Wirtz, Harris Hickey, Joe Clyburn, Chris Roberts. MIDDLE ROW: Eric Garza, Holley McConnnell, Florence Portugal, Kelly Childers, Krystal Castaneda, Ellen Rose, Kara Oppermann, Syndey Belcher, Caroline Wilson, Jacqueline Garza, Tara Ussery, Marissa Deslatte, Kayla Holley, Tyler Cornett, Lance Rowden. FRONT ROW: Felice Hunt, Lorena Becerril, Lexi Koenig, Kim Rose, Stephanie Squires, Diana Ovalle, Ashley Dickinson, Lauren Savoy, Angel Huerta, Sarah Medina, Christa Freeland. KNEELING/SITTING: Ruby Lopez, Gabriel Carrillo, Yeny Ruiz, Yolanda Cano, Ashley Reich

by Gigi Taylor

Welcome to the Texas State Account Planning class blog. The purpose of this blog is to connect the classroom with the larger worldwide community of Account Planning.  Most of the content in this blog was created by the my Account Planing students (call it "student-generated" content).   The blog also includes interviews with guest speakers and reflections on various account planning assignments.

The course, which is held on Tuesday nights in Old Main on the Texas State campus, is divided into several sections. These teaching modules loosely follow the work flow of a strategic research project in an advertising agency.  In keeping with the communication values of account planning, here is a visual representation of the class syllabus.

In addition to in-class lectures and discussion, students learn concepts and skills via a semester long group case project. This semester, the class project was Redbox, a self-service, kiosk video rental service. There are approximately 22,000 kiosks located throughout the county in front of fast food restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores and pharmacies. The videos rent for a $1 per night.

The students conducted three types of research (secondary, survey, qualitative), then used the insights from this research to craft the advertising strategy.  For the final assignment, students wrote a creative brief informed by all the research conducted throughout the semester.


Andrew Campbell, a client-side account planer at Dell, was a guest speaker on the evening of final presentations. Andrew directs the Consumer Experience Design Group and works with product usability and design at Dell.  After speaking to the class about the planning profession, Andrew joined me in evaluating the student presentations.

I realize that not all the students will become account planners, but it is my goal that every student will leave my class with an appreciation for the importance of research in strategic decision-making. The link between research and strategy applies to just about everything...advertising, marketing, management, even careers.