Outstanding Creative
Three steps
• Key Consumer Insight (KCI)
• Key Brand Benefit (KBB)
• Creative Leap (CL)
• KCI + KBB + CL = outstanding creative
What is a Consumer Insight
• Reason why  Behavior
• Typical Marketplace behaviors
– Purchase / Use / Consume
– Ignore
– Avoid
– Recommend
– Disparage
– Idolize
What is a consumer insight
• Reason why – motivators
• Motivators
– Low level (secondary)
– High level (primary)
• Consumer Insight – high level motivators
of behavior
• Key Consumer Insight (KCI) – the primary
motivator which influences behavior the
most
Typical Low Level Motivators
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“The product is inexpensive”
“The product is available close by”
“The quality is very good”
“I like it”
“No other product works as well”
High Level Motivators of Behavior
• “What does that do for you?”
“The product is inexpensive”
“It validates my self-image as
being a “value conscious”
person”
“The product is available close
by”
“Spending time with my family
makes me feel like a successful
parent”
“The quality is very good”
“I only want the best in life as I
am worth it”
“I like it”
“Others envy me. I become the
center of attention”
“No other product works as well”
“I am the best and I want to have
the best”
Steps in unearthing the KCI
• Put a face on your target audience
– Demographics are not enough
– Psychographics required
• “A day in the life of Mr. Jones”
• How do you do it?
– Qualitative research methods (focus groups,
in-depth interviews, ethnography)
– Research Techniques (Laddering, Projective
techniques)
Laddering Example 1
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Interviewer: “Why do you wear a Tiffany bracelet?”
Subject: “I love Tiffany’s jewelry”
Interviewer: “Why do you love Tiffany’s jewelry?”
Subject: “It is so refined, elegant and delicate”
Interviewer: “Why is that important to you?”
Subject: “When I wear it, I feel refined, elegant and delicate”
Interviewer: “what does that do for you?”
Subject: “I feel very attractive”
Interviewer: “How do you know that?”
Subject: “I have seen my husband looking at me that certain way”
KCI: Subject wears Tiffany’s as she values her partner’s feelings for
her.
• Tiffany’s – the key to your partner’s heart.
Laddering Example 2
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Interviewer: “Why do you wear a Tiffany bracelet?”
Subject: “I love Tiffany’s jewelry”
Interviewer: “Why do you love Tiffany’s jewelry?”
Subject: “It is so refined, elegant and delicate”
Interviewer: “Why is that important to you?”
Subject: “When I wear it, I feel refined, elegant and delicate”
Interviewer: “what does that do for you?”
Subject: “I feel very attractive”
Interviewer: “How do you know that?”
Subject: “Every time I wear it I notice admiring glances from men. I
feel very flirty”
• KCI: Subject wears Tiffanys as she loves the idea of harmless flirting
• Tiffanys – Its okay to be wicked!
Laddering Example 3
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Interviewer: “Why do you wear a Tiffany bracelet?”
Subject: “I love Tiffany’s jewelry”
Interviewer: “Why do you love Tiffany’s jewelry?”
Subject: “It is so refined, elegant and delicate”
Interviewer: “Why is that important to you?”
Subject: “When I wear it, I feel unique, very different from the
masses”
Interviewer: “what does that do for you?
Subject: “It reinforces my self-worth”
Interviewer: “How do you know that?”
Subject: “Every time I wear it I am very self-assured and confident in
my abilities”
KCI: Subject wears Tiffanys as it reinforces her high beliefs about
herself
Tiffanys – one of a kind!
Projective Technique
• “I love Mauritius because______”
• Answer: “___ I can surf, swim, sunbathe, hike,
camp out in the rain forest, eat great food, relax,
energize, hit the casino and a million other
things in a place smaller than the palm of my
hand”
• Key Consumer Insight: Mauritius: bursting at
seams with things to do in spite of being so
small a place
• Ad baseline: Mauritius: 99% fun, 1% land
How do you know you have the
KCI
• Step1
– Identify all high level motivators through laddering
from various subjects
– Identify all unusual / unexpected responses
– Make sure the consumer benefit expressed is
emotional / self-expressive
• Step 2
– Quantitative survey questions e.g. How likely would
you be to buy a Tiffany’s bracelet if (scale 1 – 5):
• You were to get admiring glances from men
• Your partner were to make you feel very special
• You were to feel very confident in your abilities
Key Brand Benefit (KBB)
• What are the brand’s features and
corresponding benefits
• What are the key benefits
– The USP
• What if there are no key benefits?
– Can you create one?
Outstanding Creative
• Match the KBB with the KCI
• This is the creative process
– No creative leap – just an ad on strategy
– Creative leap – outstanding ad on strategy
The VW in the 60s
• KCI: Subject drives the VW because it
makes an anti-establishment statement
• KBB: VW’s smallness
• KBB + KCI  Drive a small, utilitarian car
as a rebel statement
• KBB + KCI + CL  “Think Small”;
“Lemon”, etc.
Ceasefire (1980s)
• KCI  “Fires don’t happen to me, they
happen to somebody else, like my
neighbor”
• KBB  portable, lightweight fire
extinguisher
• KCI + KBB  Fires can happen to you.
Keep Ceasefire in your kitchen
• KCI + KBB + CL  “Your neighbor said
that”
ICICI Bank (1990s)
• KCI  “At the slightest signs of trouble my
bankers bail on me”
• KBB  structured to be more resilient
than most banks
• KBB + KCI  “Partnership Banking”
• KBB + KCI + CL  “We’re with you for the
long haul”