These are the people who bring the consumers and the brand together. They do the research and strategic thinking. This is not as simple as it sounds. Here we have to synthesize multiple inputs from culture, politics, history, mythology and everyday behaviour. The inputs come by spending time with the consumers. They are distilled into brand communication. However, these are the days of digital communications which are interactive. Do theses make account planners irrelevant? These days we have to engage the consumers. Planners work away from other functions like creatives and client servicing . Such isolation may not survive for long.  Prior to the arrival of planners, the accounts and creative people did it all on their own. Planners came as specialists. Specialisation creates its own problems. The issues become complex. Planning is to advertising what consulting is to business. Planning is useless if it remains in the hard disk. It must be able to push the creative product to the next level. The trend now is the advent of independent agencies which fuse planning into other mainstream functions. They do cutting edge planning and cutting edge thinking.