Creative Strategy: Planning and Development

Advertising Creativity
Creative Strategy Creative Tactics Determining what the advertising message will say or communicate Determining how the message strategy will be executed

Excellent advertising helps create an image for BMW automobiles as the ultimate driving machine

Taglines That Set Vegas Part

One of the most important components of an integrated marketing communications program is the advertising message.

In addition to communicating information, ads and commercials appeal to, and often create or shape, consumers problems, desires, and goals.
What happens here, stays here

Be anyone Your Vegas is Showing

Creative specialists are finding it more and more difficult to come up with big ideas that will break through the clutter and still satisfy the concerns of risk-adverse clients. Yet, their clients continually challenge them to find the creative message that will strike a responsive chord with the target audience.

How difficult it is to come up with innovative ideas that will satisfy riskadverse clients and yet set the product or service apart from the competition.

Procter & Gamble, Levi Strauss, Nissan, General Motors, CocaCola, PepsiCo, Nike, McDonalds, and many other companies spend millions of dollars each year to produce advertising messages and hundreds of millions more to purchase media time and space to run them. While these companies make excellent products, they realize creative advertising is also an important part of their marketing success.

Best Ads of all Time?

Finding a balance between creative advertising and effective advertising is difficult. For example, the ads shown on this slide all won awards for creativity, but failed to increase sales of either product.
Nissan
Enjoy the ride Mama Mia! Thats a spicy meatball! I cant believe I ate the whole thing

Alka-Seltzer

Many advertising and marketing people have become ambivalent toward, and even critical of, advertising awards. They argue that agency creative people are more concerned with creating ads that win awards than ones that sell their clients products.

Advertisers are looking for more than award-winning adsthey want ads that move product.

Advertising Creativity

Advertising creativity is the ability to generate fresh, unique, and appropriate ideas that can be used as solutions to communications problems. To be appropriate and effective, a creative idea must be relevant to the target audience. Many ad agencies recognize the importance of developing advertising that is creative and different yet communicates relevant information to the target audience.

The Power Idea

Describable in a simple word or phrase Likely to attract the prospects attention
Power ideas often become the central theme of the advertising message and the basis around which the campaign is planned and executed.

Lets prospects vividly experience the goods

Allows you to brand the advertising

Revolves around the clinching benefit

Characteristics of a Power Idea from the Universal Advertising Standards developed by the former DArcy, Masius Benton & Bowles agency. The agency developed these standards to guide its creative efforts and help achieve superior creative work. Perspective of these standards: A creative advertising message is one that is built around a creative core or power idea, which transforms the strategy into a dynamic communications concept.

Creativity and Synergy

Agency Client

Account executives
Media planners Researchers Attorneys

Marketing managers
Brand managers Upper management

Advertising creativity is not the exclusive domain of those on the creative side of advertising; creative thinking is required from everyone involved in the promotional planning process. On the agency side, this includes account executives, media planners, researchers, and attorneys. On the client side, there are marketing managers, brand managers, and upper management. The greater the synergy between these groups, the more likely an advertising campaign is to be successful.

An Absolut World
An excellent example of creative synergy between the media and creative departments of an agency, as well as with the client, is seen in the TBWA/Chait/Day agency and its relationship with Absolut vodka. The creative strategy used for the brand for many years played off the distinctive shape of the bottle. It was depicted with visual puns and witty headlines that played off the Absolute name, as this ad shows. The ad shown on this slide was developed specifically for Los Angeles Magazine. This creative strategy was used for nearly three decades, and helped make Absolut one of the best-selling brands of vodka in the world.

The Only Rule in Advertising

Numerous guidelines have been developed for creating effective advertising, but there are no rules, no formulas, no right way. Given the same problem, a dozen creative talents would solve it a dozen different ways. If there were a sure-fire formula for successful advertising, everyone would use it. Then thered be no need for creative people.

There are no rules

The Perpetual Debate

It isnt creative if it doesnt sell Only artistic value and originality count

Suits

Artists

The perspective taken by suits, those who work on the business side, such as brand managers or account executives, is that the role of advertising is to give consumers a reason to buy the product or service. They often try to commandeer creative work, and steer it toward something safe and that has worked in the past. The artists who are involved in the creative process feel that advertising should be judged more on its artistic merit and ability to get the attention and interest of the consumer. They want to take risks, which they feel is necessary to produce breakthrough advertising that gets noticed.

Wrigley Takes a Creative Risk

Creative vs. Conservative advertising: Not all companies or agencies agree that advertising has to be risky to be effective. The bottom line is: Does it sell?

A clever ad used to introduce the new Cool Green Apple flavor of Wrigleys extra, which is the leading brand of sugar free gum. In recent years, Wrigley has taken a more dynamic approach to its marketing by introducing new products and using an edgier, creative approach to its ads.

Creative Personnel

Unconventional

Abstract Less structured Less organized Intuitive

James Webb Youngs Creative Process, former creative V.P. at the J. Walter Thompson agency
Immersion
Get raw material and data, and immerse yourself in the problem

Digestion

Take the information, work it over, wrestle with it in your mind

Incubation

Turn the information over to the subconscious to do the work

Illumination

Eureka! I have it! phenomenon

Verification

Study the idea, evaluate it, reshape it for practical usefulness

The development of creative ideas is a process that involves a series of steps. Models of the creative process are valuable to those who work in advertising as they offer an organized way to approach advertising problems and develop solutions to them

Wallas Creative Process Model

Verification Refining the idea

Preparation Gathering Information

Another Approach to the Creative Process,

The Creative Process

Illumination Seeing the Solution Incubation Setting Problem Aside

Developed By English Sociologist Graham Wallas.

Test Your Knowledge

A client manufactures maternity clothes for businesswomen, and it wants a new advertising campaign. Visits to obstetrician's offices to observe the clothes being worn and to maternity shops to see how they were selected could be a part of the _____ stage of the creative process. A) Preparation B) Verification C) Revision

D) Reality check
E) Incubation

Getting Creative Input

Read anything related to the product or market!

Use the product to become familiar with it!

Listen to what people are talking about!

Conduct studies of product, service, audience!

Work in and learn about the clients business!

Ask everyone involved for information!

Various forms of background information that can be provided as input to creative specialists during the preparation, incubation, and illumination stages of the creative process. Asking everyone involved for information

Illustrate the type of information that is often provided to creative specialists to help them learn more about the clients product/service or brand. This information comes in the form of general pre-planning input or product/service specific preplanning input.

Branding Research
Many advertising agencies conduct branding research to help identify clients customers and how they connect to particular brands. Nearly all of the major agencies conduct branding research and/or are developing models or systems that help them gain insight into consumers. Because the importance of building and maintaining strong brands is likely to become even greater in the future, there will be more pressure on agencies to develop tools and techniques to guide their clients advertising campaigns. Agencies use this research to determine how a brand is perceived among consumers. These insights, in turn, are used to develop more effective advertising campaigns.

Young & Rubicam develop a proprietary tool for building and managing a brand. Known as the Brand-Asset Valuator. The tool measures four factors to identify core issues for the brand and to evaluate current performance and potential.

Got Milk?
In addition to the various quantitative research studies, qualitative research techniques such as:

in-depth interviews focus groups ethnographic research

provide valuable insight at the early stages of the creative process.
The California Milk Producer Board used both quantitative and qualitative research when developing the popular Got milk? advertising campaign.

During ethnographic research, consumers are observed in their natural environment. Some agencies send anthropologists or trained researchers into the field to study and observe consumers in their homes, at work, or at play.

Input Verification and Revision

Evaluate ideas Reject the inappropriate Objective Refine the remaining Give ideas final expression

Directed focus groups Message communication studies Viewer reaction profiles Techniques

Focus groups
Focus Groups are a research method whereby consumers (usually 10 to 12 people) from the target market are led through a discussion regarding a particular topic. Focus groups give insight as to why and how consumers use a product or service, what is important to them in choosing a particular brand, what they like and dont like about various products or services, and any special needs they might have that arent being satisfied. A focus group session might also include a discussion of types of ad appeals to use or evaluate the advertising of various companies.

Top 10 Slogans of the Century

Company or Brand
1. De Beers 2. Nike 3. Coca Cola

Campaign Theme
Diamonds are forever Just do it! The pause that refreshes

4. Miller Lite
5. Avis 6. Maxwell House 7. Wheaties 8. Clairol

Tastes great, less filling

We try harder Good to the last drop Breakfast of champions Does she . . . or doesnt she?

9. Morton Salt
10. Wendys

When it rains it pours

Wheres the beef?

10 greatest ad slogans of the past century, as selected by Advertising Age, the leading trade publication of the advertising industry
These slogans are a part of advertising campaigns, which are a set of interrelated and coordinated marketing communication activities that center on a single theme or idea.

An Advertising Campaign Components

Integrated

Interrelated
Marketing Communication Activities

Coordinated

In Different Media

Centered on a Theme or Idea

Over a Time Period

Most ads are part of a series of messages that make up an IMC or advertising campaign.
Determining the unifying theme or idea around which the campaign will be built is a critical part of the creative process, as it sets the tone for the individual ads and other IMC tools that will be used.

Test Your Knowledge

Advertising campaign themes:

A) Are always tactical in nature and design B) Set the tone or direction for all of the individual ads that make up the campaign C) Are typically designed by the client and implemented by the agency D) Are usually used for ads that run in only one type of media vehicle E) Are described by all of the above

Advertising Campaign Themes

The central message that will be communicated in all IMC activities

Miller Lite (Beer) Tastes great less filling

BMW

General Mills, Wheaties

The ultimate driving machine

The breakfast of champions

A campaign theme is the central message that will be communicated in all advertising and IMC activities. A campaign theme should be a strong idea, as it is the central message that will be communicated in all the advertising and other promotional activities. Examples of campaign themes used for various brands are shown, including Philip Morris cigarettes, BMW automobiles, and General Mills cereal.

Developing a Creative Strategy

Creative Strategy
Basic problem, issue, opportunity

Target audience identity

Major selling idea or key benefit

Any supportive information

A creative strategy is based on multiple factors.

Once the factors have been determined, a creative strategy statement should describe the message appeal and execution style that will be used.
Many ad agencies outline these elements in a document known as the copy or creative platform.

Copy Platform & its Components

Copy Platform is a document that specifies the basic elements of the creative strategy. This document is sometimes called a Creative Platform, Work Plan, Creative Brief, Creative Blueprint, Or Creative Contract. The copy platform is usually developed by an account representative or an account planner.

Basic problem or issue the advertising must address Advertising and communications objectives Target audience Major selling idea or key benefits to communicate Creative strategy statement Supporting information and requirements

Model of Marketing Information Flow

Knowledge of vital marketing information

Major Communication Interfaces and Decision Points where gatekeepers on both the agency and client side can obstruct the flow of information to agency creative's.

Client/agency communication

Internal agency communication

Client gatekeepers (Brand manager)

Agency gatekeeper (Account manager)

Creative staff

Internal client decision to share information with agency

Agency gatekeeper decision on sharing client info with staff

Art is created

Successful, Long-Running Campaigns

Company or Brand Nike Allstate Insurance Hallmark cards Intel State Farm Insurance Chevy Trucks Dial soap Campaign Theme

Just do it Youre in good hands with Allstate When you care enough to send the very best Intel inside Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there Like a rock Arent you glad you use Dial?

An important part of creative strategy is determining the central theme that will become the major selling idea of the ad campaign. Many products and services offer virtually nothing unique, and it can be difficult to find something interesting to say about them.

Search for a Major Selling Idea

Positioning the Brand Use a Unique Selling Position Various approaches used to develop the major selling idea of an advertising campaign

Seeking the Major Idea

Positioning

Create the Brand Image

This big idea should attract the consumers attention, get a reaction, and set the advertisers product or service apart from the competition.

The Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Unique Selling Proposition

Benefit

Unique

Potent

Buy this product/service and you get this benefit or reward

Must be unique to this brand or claim; something rivals can't or don't offer

Promise must be strong enough or attractive enough to move people

The Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

The concept of the unique selling proposition was developed by Rosser Reeves, who noted the three characteristics of unique selling propositions: Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer Buy this product and you will get this benefit. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer. It must be unique either in the brand or in the claim. The proposition must be strong enough to move the mass millions. That is, it must pull consumers to your brand.
Using of the USP approach to developing the major selling idea can be very effective when a particular brand possesses a unique attribute that is important to consumers. However, the advertiser must make sure that they can substantiate the uniqueness claim or they may face legal challenges.

Perspectives of Great Ad Men on the Big Idea Approaches to the major selling idea
David Ogilvy
Brand image or personality is particularly important when brands are similar
Every ad must contribute to the complex symbol that is the brand image. . The Inherent Drama is based on a foundation of consumer benefits with an emphasis on the dramatic when expressing those benefits.

Leo Burnett
Find the inherent drama or characteristic of the product that makes consumers buy it
(Inherent drama) is often hard to find but it is always there, and once found it is the most interesting and believable of all advertising appeals.

Inherent Drama

Inherent Drama

Messages generally presented in a warm, emotional way

Focus on consumer benefits with an emphasis on the dramatic element in expressing them

Image Advertising

Reeboks I am what I am campaign, which uses image advertising to promote the numbertwo athletic shoe company as the brand for young consumers.

The campaign is designed to create an image for Reebok as a brand that is about being yourself, rather than trying to become something you are not.

Positioning

Positioning

Establish a particular place in the customers mind for the product or service

Based on product attributes/ benefits, price/quality, use or application, type of user, problem solved

IBM as a Provider of Business Consulting Services

IBM print ad used to position IBM as a provider of business and consulting services. The ad campaign, which includes print, television, and online ads, sponsorships, and a micro website, is designed to reveal a side of IBM that is largely unknown to potential business consulting and services clients.

The other IBM campaign is designed to position the company as more than just a technology provider.

Contemporary Approaches to the Big Idea

The USP, brand image, inherent-drama, and positioning creative styles have been associated with some of the most successful creative minds in advertising, and their agencies