The role of the account planner and the account planning process become relevant in advertising agencies of the Dominican Republic.
18 December 2018, Santo Domingo, D.R.
The Cultural Centre of Spain in Santo Domingo was the venue for the advertising strategists event organised by Wanda Cardenes, Ph.D. in Advertising and Public Relations. The purpose of the discussion was to highlight the importance of adopting the strategic culture that promotes the account planning discipline and to show the advantages of hiring account planner professionals in companies and advertising agencies.
In the event, the results of the research entitled “Situation of the planning process and the account planner role in the advertising agencies of the Dominican Republic” were presented. This research was part of the field work of the doctoral dissertation that Wanda Cardenes defended in 2017, for which she received a merit with distinction from the Camilo José Cela University, in Madrid, Spain.
Doctor Cardenes stated that “the account planning discipline has been able to make important progress, both in the academic and professional fields, however it is still necessary to work more in order to achieve a real consolidation”. A good example of the discipline´s development is that in 2013, the year when the field work was conducted, only 9 professionals were working as planners in advertising agencies of the country and currently the number has multiplied. More than 20 account planning professionals can now be found working in the Dominican Republic, both on the agency and client side.
At an academic level, Cardenes highlighted the importance of adapting the academic programme of the advertising degree taught at Dominican universities in order to increase emphasis on subject areas that can help to develop strategic skills among advertising professionals. She expressed that “the account planning process is not an exclusive function of the planner; all the professionals that take part in the advertising process should know what it is and how to plan strategically”.
The event relied on the participation of a panel of experts consisting of Soraya Pina, Head of Planning of 5 Hormigas Caribe, Francesco Abbatescianni, Brand Strategy Director at Pagés BBDO agency, Tansi Santos, VP Planning of Ogilvy agency, Laura Vicens, Strategy Director at Publicis agency and Dionnis Vargas, Planner Senior at MullenLowe Interamerica agency. The above are a group of skilled professionals in their field, who shared their vision about why companies and advertising agencies should consider adopting the account planning process and include the account planner role in their organisations.
The event received the support of Vimarte agency, the television show Tips TV, the photographer Pedro Luís Rodríguez, Melvin Patisserie, the association of companies of commercial communications (AECC) and the Cultural Centre of Spain.
