The Creative Side and
Message Strategy
Part 4: Effective Advertising Messages
Chapter 12
The Art and Science of
Creative Advertising
• The ROI of effective advertising
– Relevant, original, and has impact
• The Big Idea
– Implements the advertising strategy so that the
message is both attention getting and memorable
• The Creative Leap
– Jumping from the strategy statement to an original
idea that conveys the strategy in an interesting way
12 – 2
Creative Thinking
• Free association
– Creates the juxtaposition of two seemingly
unrelated thoughts
• Divergent thinking
– Uses exploration to search for all possible
alternatives
• Analogies and metaphors
– Used to see new patterns or relationships
• Right-brain thinking
– Intuitive, nonverbal, and emotion-based thinking
12 – 3
Creativity Test
• IQ tests usually measure your verbal and mathematical skills.
What we want to do here is measure your associative
flexibility. There may be other possible answers than the ones
given, but at least you can use this as a gauge to see how fluid
your thinking skills are.
• This test will give you some idea of your mental plasticity and,
therefore, creativity.
• INSTRUCTIONS: Each question below contains the initials of
the words that will make it a correct phrase. Find the missing
words.
• FOR EXAMPLE: 7: D in a W.
• ANSWER: 7: Days in a Week.
12 – 4
Creative Thinking
• Creative Roles
– Copywriters and art
directors develop the
creative concept and
draft the execution of the
advertising idea
• The Creative Person
Creative Characteristics
• Problem solving
• Ability to visualize
• Openness to new
experiences
• Conceptual thinking
– In advertising, creativity
is both a job description
and a goal
12 – 5
Steps and Stages
•
•
•
•
•
•
Immersion
Ideation
Brainfog
Incubation
Illumination
Evaluation
12 – 6
Creative Strategy
• Where the art and
science of advertising
come together
• A Big Idea must be
– Creative
– Strategic
• Creative strategy
– What the advertisement
says
– Also called message
strategy
• Creative execution
– How it is said
12 – 7
Communication Objectives
1. Perception: create attention, awareness, interest,
recognition, and recall
2. Cognitive: deliver information and understanding
3. Affective: touch emotions and create feelings
4. Persuasion: change attitudes, create conviction and
preference
5. Transformation: establish brand identity and
associations
6. Behavior: stimulate some form of action
12 – 8
Message Approaches
•
•
•
•
Straightforward
Demonstration
Comparison
Problem
solving/Problem
avoidance
•
•
•
•
•
Humor
Slice of Life
Spokesperson
Teasers
Shockvertising
12 – 9
Humor
• What types of products would be most suited
to the use of humor in advertising?
• Why was this particular campaign successful?
12 – 10
Homework
• Select two magazines that have very different
target audiences
• Select one ad from each magazine
• Identify the message approach for each
• Were the approaches different? Why or why
not?
12 – 11