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Learning Objectives
Chapter 8
LO1
Describe the role of creative strategy in advertising.
LO2
Identify inputs to the creative process.
LO3
Describe the development of creative strategy.
LO4
Examine approaches to developing the major selling
ideas that are used as the basis for an advertising
campaign.
Creative Strategy: Planning and Development
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The Advertising Message
Exhibit 8-1
Creative Strategy
•
Determines what the advertising message will say or communicate.
• Creative tactics:
• Determine how the message strategy will be executed.
• Big idea: central theme of campaign.
Source: Initiative
Advertising can be used to create images or associations and position a brand in
the consumer’s mind. Many consumers who have never driven in a BMW
perceive it as “the ultimate driving machine,” or as this ad states “joy is the all.”
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The Importance of Creativity in Advertising
Advertising Creativity 1
Creative Ads
Different Perspectives on Advertising Creativity
•
Good creative strategy and execution can determine success of
product or service.
•
•
Does not always increase sales.
•
Debate over advertising awards.
Managers’ perspective:
• Advertising is creative only if it sells the product.
• Ads are promotional tools used to communicate favorable impressions to
the marketplace.
• Risk-averse and want more conservative ads.
•
Creative people’s perspective:
• Ad creativity in its artistic value and originality.
• Ads are communication vehicles for promoting their own aesthetic
viewpoints and personal career objectives.
• Maximize impact of message.
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LO8-1
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Advertising Creativity 2
Advertising Creativity 3
Determinants of Creativity
Determinants of Creativity continued
•
•
Advertising creativity:
•
Divergence:
• Extent to which ad contains elements that are novel, different, or unusual.
• Ability to generate fresh, unique, and appropriate ideas that can be used
as solutions to communication problems.
• Achieved through:
Two central determinants:
• Originality.
• Divergence.
• Flexibility.
• Relevance.
• Elaboration.
• Synthesis.
• Artistic value.
Source: KFC Corporation
This ad for KFC Hot and Spicy chicken uses
divergence based on originality and artistic value.
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Advertising Creativity 4
Advertising Creativity 5
Determinants of Creativity continued
Determinants of Creativity continued
•
•
Relevance:
Studies of advertising creativity:
• Degree to which elements of ad are meaningful, useful, or valuable to
consumer.
•
Does impact consumers’ responses across various stages of response
hierarchy.
• Achieved through:
•
Draws more attention to advertised brand, higher levels of recall, greater
motivation to process the information, and deeper levels of processing.
•
Divergence achieved through novelty/originality and/or elaboration is
particularly important.
• Ad-to-consumer relevance—Ad contains execution elements that are
meaningful to consumers.
• Brand-to-consumer relevance—Advertised brand of product or service
is of personal interest to consumers.
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Figure 8-1 Impact of Combinations of Creative Elements
on Sales
Originality + Elaboration
More effective
+89
Elaboration + Artistic value
+28
Originality + Synthesis
+1
Originality + Flexibility
−1
Synthesis + Elaboration
−5
Flexibility + Synthesis
−20
Synthesis + Artistic value
−29
Flexibility + Elaboration
−59
Flexibility + Artistic value
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The Creative Challenge
+96
Originality + Artistic value
Less effective
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Planning Creative Strategy 1
% Relative Effectiveness
(Sales Uplift of Pairing
Relative to Average
Effectiveness)
What Creativity
Combinations Work Best?
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Must transform advertising message into engaging and memorable ad.
•
Every marketing situation is different, and each campaign or
advertisement requires a different creative approach.
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Planning Creative Strategy 2
Planning Creative Strategy 3
Taking Creative Risks
The Perpetual Debate: Creative versus Hard-Sell Advertising
•
•
Suits or rationalists:
•
Poets:
Essential for creating breakthrough advertisements that get noticed.
• Advertising must sell the product or service.
• Advertising must build emotional bond between consumers and brands or
companies.
Nike’s willingness to
allow their ad agency,
Wieden+Kennedy, to
take creative risks has
paid off in powerful and
effective advertisements
like this one.
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Source: NIKE Inc.
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Planning Creative Strategy 4
The Creative Process 1
Creative Personnel
Young’s Model of the Creative Process
•
Background in nonbusiness areas.
•
Immersion: Gathering raw material and data; immersing oneself in the
problem.
•
More abstract and less structured, organized, or conventional.
•
Digestion: Analyzing the information.
•
Everyone involved in IMC must seek creative solutions.
•
Clients should not inhibit creative process.
•
Incubation: Letting subconscious do the work.
•
Illumination: Birth of an idea.
•
Reality or verification: Studying the idea and reshaping it for practical
usefulness.
LO8-2
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The Creative Process 2
The Creative Process 3
Wallas’s Model of the Creative Process
Account Planning
•
Preparation: Gathering background information needed to solve
problem through research and study.
•
•
Incubation: Letting ideas develop.
•
Illumination: Finding the solution.
•
Verification: Refining idea and analyzing whether it is an appropriate
solution.
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Conducting research and gathering relevant information about the
client’s:
• Product/service and brand.
• Consumers in target audience.
•
Account planners:
• Provide decision makers with information required to make an intelligent
decision.
• Responsible for research conducted during the creative strategy
development process.
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The Creative Process 4
The Creative Process 5
Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination
Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination continued
•
•
Background research.
Background research. continued
• General preplanning input:
• Fact-finding techniques:
• Gather and organize information on product, market, and competition.
• Read everything related to the product or market.
• Analyze trends, developments, and happenings in the marketplace.
• Ask everyone involved with the product for information.
• Listen to what people are talking about, particularly the client.
• Use the product or service and become familiar with it.
• Learn about client’s business.
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The Creative Process 6
The Creative Process 7
Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination continued
Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination continued
•
•
Product- or service-specific research.
• Gathering information through studies conducted by client on product or
service and target audience.
Product- or service-specific research. continued
• Branding research:
• Helps gain better insight into consumers and develop more effective
campaigns.
• Problem detection:
• Asking consumers familiar with product to list aspects they do not like.
• Y&R Group’s BrandAsset Valuator (BAV™).
• Provides:
•
Input for product improvements or new product development.
•
Ideas regarding which features to emphasize.
•
Guidelines for positioning brands.
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Exhibit 8-7
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The Creative Process 8
Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination continued
•
Qualitative research input.
• Provides valuable insight at early stages of creative process.
• Focus groups: Consumers from target market are led through a
discussion regarding a topic.
• Give a better idea of:
Source: BAV Group, Inc.
Y&R Group’s proprietary tool the BrandAsset Valuator (BAV™) uses four pillars:
energized differentiation, relevance, esteem, and knowledge. These pillars
identify core issues for the brand and evaluate current and future financial
performance and potential.
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Who target audience is.
•
What audience is like.
•
Who creatives need to write, design, or direct to.
•
Which creative approach to use.
• Critics believe testing can weaken creative execution.
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Exhibit 8-9
The Creative Process 9
Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination continued
The Aflac duck did not test
well in focus groups, but
the company continued
anyway. This creative
award-winning campaign
has been very successful
for Aflac.
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Qualitative research input. continued
• Ethnographic research: Observing consumers in their natural
environment.
• Expensive to conduct and difficult to administer.
Source: Aflac Incorporated
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The Creative Process 10
The Creative Process 11
Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination continued
Inputs to the Creative Process: Verification, Revision
•
•
Qualitative research input. continued
Process:
• Evaluate ideas.
• The Advertising Research Foundation initiated the David Ogilvy Awards.
• Reject the inappropriate ideas.
• Refine the remaining ideas.
• Give ideas final expression.
•
Techniques:
• Directed focus groups.
The Cleaner of Your Dreams
campaign for Mr. Clean won
the Grand Ogilvy Award for an
IMC campaign based on
consumer research.
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• Message communication studies.
• Portfolio tests.
• Evaluation measures, such as viewer reaction profiles.
Source: Procter & Gamble
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The Creative Process 12
Creative Strategy Development 1
Inputs to the Creative Process: Verification, Revision continued
Advertising Campaigns
•
•
Set of interrelated, coordinated marketing communications activities
that center on a single theme or idea.
•
Campaign theme:
Storyboard: Series of drawings that present a proposed commercial’s
visual layout.
• Animatic: Videotape of storyboard along with audio soundtrack.
• Appear in different media across specified time period.
• Central message communicated in all advertising and promotional
activities.
• Expressed through a slogan or tagline.
• Summation line that briefly expresses company or brand’s positioning
and the message it is trying to deliver to target audience.
LO8-3
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Creative Strategy Development 2
Figure 8-2 Examples of Effective Advertising Slogans
Advertising Campaigns continued
•
•
Company or Brand
Slogan
1. Nike
Just do it.
• Should be simple, catchy, and predictable.
2. Home Depot
More saving. More doing.
• Should connect with consumers emotionally.
3. Gillette
The Best a Man Can Get
• Many companies not using them.
4. McDonald’s
I’m Lovin’ It!
Slogans:
Campaign themes:
• Attempt to develop campaign themes that last many years.
• Guided by specific goals and objectives.
• Creative strategy statement outlined in copy or creative platform.
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Creative Strategy Development 3
5. Chipotle
Food With Integrity
6. Walmart
Save Money. Live Better.
7. Bounty
The Quicker Picker-Upper
8. Gatorade
Win From Within
9. Under Armour
Protect This House. I Will.
10. Dunkin
America Runs on Dunkin
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Figure 8-3 Key Elements of a Creative Brief
Creative Brief
•
•
Document that specifies key elements of the creative strategy and
serves as basis for communication between client and advertising
agency.
1. Basic problem or issue the communication must address or solve.
Association of National Advertisers (ANA) provides guidelines for
developing effective briefs.
4. Insights to drive creative work.
2. Communication objectives.
3. Target audience.
5. Key benefits or major selling idea to communicate.
• Two-step process: Client creates assignment brief and then ad agency
develops creative brief.
6. Reason to believe/supporting information.
• One collaborative brief: Client takes lead and develops brief with ad
agency.
8. Deliverables (what is needed and when).
7. Tone and manner/brand personality.
9. Measures of success (should be tied back to objectives).
• Often gaps in information.
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Creative Strategy Development 4
Creative Strategy Development 5
The Search for the Major Selling Idea
Developing the Major Selling Idea
•
Major selling idea: Strongest singular thing company can say about
its product or service.
•
Most creative ideas try to dramatically and effectively convey the key
benefit claim.
•
Has the broadest and most meaningful appeal to target audience.
•
Approaches:
•
Basis of many creative, successful advertising campaigns.
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• Using a unique selling proposition.
• Creating a brand image.
• Finding the inherent drama.
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
campaign for Old Spice is one of the
best campaigns of the new millennium.
What is Old Spice's major selling idea
in this campaign?
• Positioning.
Source: Old Spice by Procter & Gamble
LO8-4
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Creative Strategy Development 6
Creative Strategy Development 7
Developing the Major Selling Idea continued
Developing the Major Selling Idea
•
continued
Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
•
• Benefit:
Creating a brand image:
• Image advertising: Strategy used to
develop strong, memorable identity for a
brand.
• Buy product/service and you get this benefit.
• Unique:
• To be successful:
• Proposition must be unique to brand or claim; rivals can't or don't offer
it.
• Associate brand with symbols or
artifacts that have cultural meaning.
• Potent:
• Use visual appeals that convey
psychosocial associations and feelings.
• Promise must be strong enough to move mass millions.
Source: Bebe Stores, Inc.
bebe uses advertising to build an
image as a sexy and stylish brand.
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Creative Strategy Development 8
Creative Strategy Development 9
Developing the Major Selling Idea continued
Developing the Major Selling Idea continued
•
•
Finding the inherent drama.
Positioning:
• Characteristic of a product that makes consumers purchase it.
• Establishes product or service in a particular place in consumer’s mind.
• Advertising should:
• Done on basis of distinctive attributes.
• Be based on foundation of consumer benefits.
• Basis of firm’s creative strategy when it has multiple brands competing in
same market.
• Emphasize the dramatic element in expressing those benefits.
Advertising for Hallmark such as the
“Put Your Heart to Paper” campaign
often uses inherent drama.
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Kellogg has repositioned
Special K cereal using the
“Power of You” campaign.
Source: Hallmark Licensing, LLC
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Source: Kellogg Co.
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Creative Strategy Development 10
Contemporary Approaches to the Big Idea
•
Many creative styles and strategies are available.
•
Big ideas must:
• Capture consumer attention.
• Be adaptable to be used across various media.
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© 2021 McGraw Hill. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom.
No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill.
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