Judie was known as one of the 'godmothers' of account planning and she stayed involved with the industry and with planners until near her death at 81. I had the pleasure of working with her latterly when she was the Editor of Market Leader magazine for the Marketing Society. Her huge knowledge of the industry and acute observations about it were admired by the whole board.
Judie joined JWT London in 1968, having previously worked at Leo Burnett Chicago in her home country, and went on to become director of research and planning at JWT Europe.
Initially hired by Stephen King to set up the creative research unit within his innovative account planning department, Lannon deserves a reputation as the "godmother of account planning", in the words of veteran planner John Griffiths.
In 1976, Lannon was appointed to the JWT board.
In the early 1990s, Lannon founded her own planning and research consultancy and retired from the agency.
"Judie was an acute and stylish observer of marketing communications and a much-loved member of the society," said its editor-at-large and former chief Hugh Burkitt.
She was much admired and will be much missed.
Sarah Newman
APG Director