Making Creativity Accountable

A comprehensive handbook for advertising and marketing managers, this volume shows how advertisers can effectively control agency costs without sacrificing creativity. Ron Harding profiles companies that have effectively enforced accountability on their agencies and demonstrates proven internal systems for controlling the advertising process--and its associated costs--from the initial spending plan through the final examination of actual expenditures. He also offers a pragmatic discussion of the procedures, timetables, and contracts managers need to put in place to ensure that all sectors of the agency--account, creative, legal, production, and business affairs--act in the best interest of their client and at the highest levels of their capability. All major categories of spending receive thorough coverage: television, print, talent, and media.

After an introduction which highlights the problems of runaway costs and mismanagement that plague many advertisers today, Harding presents a step-by-step guide to controlling advertising expenditures. Among the topics addressed are: how to create realistic spending plans and make them strict buying guides for the agency; how to spot successful advertising; how to make creative groups accountable; how to run a successful copy meeting; how to stop cost overruns in television and print; and how to streamline and strengthen the brand management system. Harding fully reviews how to cut costs at each stage--from the project initiation form, through copy and storyboards, to editing and final production. Written in clear, conversational style, the book focuses throughout on a pragmatic approach to advertising management while recognizing the central importance of creativity. In fact, Harding argues, by understanding the creative-cost equation and how to manipulate its variables, advertisers will necessarily reap the benefits of better advertising.

RON HARDING is President of Harding & Company, a consulting firm specializing in advertising and communications. He was Director of Advertising Production for Gillette for thirteen years and Production Supervisor at Procter & Gamble for nine years. His articles have appeared in Advertising Age, Backstage, and Business Week.