8
Creative Strategy:
Planning and Development
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Advertising Creativity
Creative
Strategy
Determining what the
advertising message will say
or communicate
Creative
Tactics
Determining how the
message strategy will be
executed
Taglines That Set Vegas Part
What happens here, stays here
Be anyone
Your Vegas is Showing
Best Ads of all Time?
• Nissan
– Enjoy the ride
• Alka-Seltzer
– Mama Mia! That’s a spicy meatball!
– I can’t believe I ate the whole thing
Hard- vs. Soft-Sell Advertising
*Click outside of the video screen to advance to the next slide
The Power Idea
Describable
in a simple
word or
phrase
Likely to
attract the
prospect’s
attention
Lets
prospects
vividly
experience
the goods
Revolves
around the
clinching
benefit
Allows you to
brand the
advertising
Creativity and Synergy
Agency
Client
• Account
executives
• Marketing
managers
• Media
planners
• Brand
managers
• Researchers
• Upper
management
• Attorneys
An Absolut World
The Only Rule in Advertising
There are no rules
The Perpetual Debate
It isn’t creative if it
doesn’t sell
Suits
Only artistic
value and
originality count
Artists
Wrigley Takes a Creative Risk
Creative Personnel
Unconventional
Abstract
Less
structured
Less
organized
Intuitive
Young’s Creative Process
Immersion
Digestion
Get raw material and data, and
immerse yourself in the problem
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
Wallas’ Creative Process Model
Verification
Refining
the idea
Preparation
Gathering
Information
The
Creative
Process
Illumination
Seeing the
Solution
Incubation
Setting
Problem
Aside
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!
Conduct
studies of
product,
service,
audience!
Use the
product to
become
familiar
with it!
Work in and
learn about the
client’s
business!
Listen to what
people are
talking about!
Ask everyone
involved for
information!
Branding Research
Got Milk?
Input Verification and Revision
Evaluate ideas
Reject the inappropriate
Objective
Refine the remaining
Give ideas final expression
Directed focus groups
Message communication studies
Portfolio tests
Viewer reaction profiles
Techniques
Top 10 Slogans of the Century
Company or Brand
Campaign Theme
1. De Beers
Diamonds are forever
2. Nike
Just do it!
3. Coca Cola
The pause that refreshes
4. Miller Lite
Tastes great, less filling
5. Avis
We try harder
6. Maxwell House
Good to the last drop
7. Wheaties
Breakfast of champions
8. Clairol
Does she . . . or doesn’t she?
9. Morton Salt
When it rains it pours
10. Wendy’s
Where’s the beef?
An Advertising Campaign
Integrated
Interrelated
Marketing
Communication
Activities
Coordinated
In Different
Media
Centered on a
Theme or Idea
Over a Time
Period
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
“ Tastes
great less
filling”
BMW
“ The ultimate
driving
machine”
General Mills,
Wheaties
“The
breakfast of
champions”
Developing a Creative Strategy
Creative Strategy
Target
audience
identity
Basic
problem,
issue,
opportunity
Major
selling
idea or
key
benefit
Any
supportive
information
Copy Platform Outline
•
•
•
•
•
•
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
Client/agency
communication
Client gatekeepers
(Brand manager)
Internal client
decision
to share
information
with agency
Internal agency
communication
Agency gatekeeper
(Account manager)
Creative staff
Agency gatekeeper
decision on sharing
client info with staff
Art is created
Successful, Long-Running Campaigns
Company or Brand
Campaign Theme
Nike
Just do it
Allstate Insurance
You’re in good hands with Allstate
Hallmark cards
When you care enough to send
the very best
Budweiser
This Bud’s for you
Intel
Intel inside
State Farm Insurance
Like a good neighbor,
State Farm is there
Chevy Trucks
Like a rock
Dial soap
Aren’t you glad you use Dial?
Search for a Major Selling Idea
Positioning the
Brand
Use a Unique
Selling Position
Seeking the
Major Idea
Positioning
Create the Brand
Image
The Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Unique Selling
Proposition
Benefit
Unique
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
Potent
Promise must
be strong
enough or
attractive
enough to
move people
Perspectives of Great Ad Men on the “Big Idea”
David Ogilvy
Leo Burnett
Brand image or personality
is particularly important
when brands are similar
Find the inherent drama or
characteristic of the
product that makes
consumers buy it
“Every ad must contribute to
the complex symbol that is
the brand image.”
“(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.”
Image Advertising
Test Your Knowledge
Which of the following is most often the basis of a
marketer's creative strategy when the company has
multiple brands competing in the same market?
A) Unique selling propositions
B) Brand image
C) Inherent drama
D) Transformational advertising
E) Positioning
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
Positioning
Positioning
Establish a particular place in
the customer’s 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
Contemporary Approaches to the Big Idea
