Boot Camp for Account Planners was developed by the US Miami Ad School to fill the specific needs of the discipline.

It has been run successfully in the US, German and Brazilian schools for more than 10 years.

The school has signed up a formidable team of senior strategists and creatives who will each conduct intensive training sessions on all aspects of strategic planning. They include:

Al Crawford	Executive Planning Director	Clemenger BBDO
Fabio Burresti	Head of Strategy	The Monkeys
Jason Lonsdale	Executive Planning Director	Saatchi & Saatchi
Andy McCowan	Head of Insights	JWT
Dominic McCarthy	Head of Qualitative Strategy	The Leading Edge
Aaron Michie	Chief Innovation Officer	Zenith Optimedia
Ben Hourahine	Head of Strategy	Razorfish
Justin Graham	Chief Strategy Officer	M&C Saatchi
Russ Mitchinson	Head of Strategy	Leo Burnett
Adam Beaupeurt	Strategy Director	DT Ogilvy & Mather
Dan Gregory	President & CEO	The Impossible Institute
Simon Veksner	Creative Director	DDB

 

Al Crawford, Executive Planning Director at Clemenger BBDO said: ‘It’s a great idea to bring the Account Planning Boot Camp to Australia. Miami Ad School is known as the world’s leading training ground for planners and creatives. The planning discipline is one of the most exciting areas of advertising but in great need of well-trained entry-level recruits. We’re looking forward to seeing new talent graduating from our own boot camp’ Crawford concluded.

Each week a different account planner takes the Students through a topic essential to planning operations in an intensive, three-day, hands-on session. Challenged by instructors who themselves are practicing creative directors, the planning students will also spend one class a week exploring strategic, creative approaches to advertising problems and how to present them. For the remainder of the week the account planning Students are teamed with art direction and copywriting Students to produce a realistic scenario that precisely mirrors active duty itself. The creative Students will execute campaigns based on the planning Students’ insights, research and creative briefs.

Adam Beaupeurt, departing Strategy Director at DT, Ogilvy & Mather said: ‘Account Planning Boot Camp Students will be as prepared as possible to enter account planning and strategy. It’s a tough 11 – week course crammed with evening and weekend classes plus assignment work. But it will be worth every aspiring planner’s time. At the end of the program participants will graduate with professional account planning skills and a professional portfolio.’

The Account Planning Boot Camp will be held in Sydney from 5 January to 27 March 2015. It will run for 11 weeks with 5 classes per week held after hours and at weekends.

The school is offering 20 places.