Chapter 8 Creative Strategy: Planning and Development Copyright 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. Learning Objectives To discuss what is meant by advertising creativity and examine the role of creative strategy in advertising To consider the process that guides the creation of advertising messages and the research inputs into the stages of the creative process 8-2 Learning Objectives To examine creative strategy development and the roles of various client and agency personnel involved in it To examine various approaches used for determining major selling ideas that form the basis of an advertising campaign 8-3 1
Creative Strategy and Tactics Creative strategy Determines what the advertising message will say or communicate Creative tactics Determine how the message strategy will be executed 8-4 Different Perspectives on Advertising Creativity Managers perspective Advertising is creative only if it sells the product Ads are promotional tools used to communicate favorable impressions to the marketplace Creative people s perspective Creativity of an ad is in its artistic value and originality Ads are communication vehicles for promoting their own aesthetic viewpoints and personal career objectives 8-5 Advertising Creativity Ability to generate fresh, unique, and appropriate ideas that can be used as solutions to communication problems 8-6 2
Determinants of Creativity Divergence Originality Flexibility Elaboration Synthesis Artistic Value Relevance Ad-to-consumer Brand-to-consumer 8-7 Divergence Extent to which an ad contains elements that are novel, different, or unusual Achieved through: Originality Flexibility Elaboration Synthesis Artistic value 8-8 Relevance Degree to which the elements of an ad are meaningful, useful, or valuable to the consumer Achieved through: Ad-to-consumer relevance - Ad contains execution elements that are meaningful to consumers Brand-to-consumer relevance - Advertised brand of a product or service is of personal interest to consumers 8-9 3
D Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles s Universal Advertising Standards Does the advertising position the product simply, with unmistakable clarity? Does the advertising bolt the brand to a clinching benefit? Does the advertising contain a Power Idea? Does the advertising design in brand personality? Is the advertising unexpected? Is the advertising single-minded? Does the advertising reward the prospect? Is the advertising visually arresting? Does the advertising exhibit painstaking craftsmanship? 8-10 Planning Creative Strategy Creative challenge Every marketing situation is different and each campaign or advertisement requires a different creative approach Creative risks Essential for creating breakthrough advertisements that get noticed 8-11 Creative versus Hard-sell Advertising Rationalists Advertising must sell the product or service Poets Advertising must build an emotional bond between consumers and brands or companies 8-12 4
Young s Model of the Creative Process Immersion Gathering raw material and data, and immersing oneself in the problem Digestion Analyzing the information Incubation Letting the subconscious do the work Illumination Birth of an idea Reality or verification Studying the idea and reshaping it for practical usefulness 8-13 Wallas Model of the Creative Process Preparation Gathering background information needed to solve the problem through research and study Incubation Letting ideas to develop Illumination Finding the solution Verification Refining the idea and analyzing whether it is an appropriate solution 8-14 Account Planning Conducting research and gathering relevant information about a client s: Product/service and brand Consumers in the 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 8-15 5
Background Research Fact-finding techniques Read everything related to the product or market Ask everyone involved with the product for information Listen to what people are talking, particularly the client Use the product or service and become familiar with it Learn about the client s business 8-16 General Preplanning Input Gather and organize information on the product, market, and competition Analyze the trends, developments, and happenings in the marketplace 8-17 Product- or Service-Specific Preplanning Input Gathering information through studies conducted by the client on: Product or service Target audience Problem detection Asking consumers familiar with a product to list all the aspects they do not like, provides: Input for product improvements or new product development Ideas regarding which features to emphasize Guidelines for positioning brands 8-18 6
Product- or Service-Specific Preplanning Input Psychographic studies Construct detailed lifestyle profiles of consumers Branding research Helps gain better insight into consumers and develop more effective campaigns 8-19 Qualitative Research Input Provides valuable insight at the early stages of the creative process Focus groups: Consumers from the target market are led through a discussion regarding a particular topic Give a better idea of: Who the target audience is What the audience is like Who the creatives need to write, design, or direct to 8-20 Qualitative Research Input Criticisms Testing can weaken a creative execution Strong personalities can wield undue influence Participants may not admit or even recognize their behavior patterns and motivations Ethnographic research: Observing consumers in their natural environment Expensive to conduct and more difficult to administer 8-21 7
Input Verification and Revision Objective Evaluate ideas Reject the inappropriate Refine the remaining Give ideas final expression Techniques Directed focus groups Message communication studies Portfolio tests Viewer reaction profiles 8-22 Verification and Revision Techniques used Directed focus groups Message communication studies Portfolio tests and evaluation measures Storyboard: Series of drawings that present a proposed commercial s visual layout Animatic: Videotape of a storyboard along with an audio soundtrack 8-23 Storyboards and Animatics 8-24 8
Advertising Campaign Set of interrelated and coordinated marketing communications activities that center on a single theme or idea Appear in different media across a specified time period Campaign theme Central message communicated in all the advertising and promotional activities Expressed through a slogan or tagline Slogan Summation line that briefly expresses the company or brand s positioning and the message it is trying to deliver to the target audience 8-25 An Advertising Campaign Integrated Interrelated Marketing Communication Activities Coordinated In Different Media Centered on a Theme or Idea Over a Time Period 8-26 Advertising Campaign Themes The central message that will be communicated in all of the various IMC activities Miller Nike Lite Under BMW Armour Red Bull Just Do It We Must Protect This House. I will. Red Bull Gives You Wings 8-27 9
Criteria for Effective Slogans 8-28 Figure 8.3 - Creative Brief Outline 8-29 Figure 8.4 - Model of Marketing Information Flow from the Marketing Manager to the Creative Staff Source: John Sutherland, Lisa Duke, and Avery Abernethy, A Model of Marketing Information Flow, Journal of Advertising 33, no. 4 (Winter 2004), p. 42. Copyright 2004 by American Academy of Advertising. Reprinted with permission of M. E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction. 8-30 10
Major Selling Idea Strongest singular thing a company can say about its product or service Has the broadest and most meaningful appeal to the target audience Important in business-to-business advertising 8-31 Developing the Major Selling Idea Using a unique selling proposition Creating a brand image Approaches Finding the inherent drama Positioning 8-32 The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Benefit Unique Potent Buy this product/serv ice and you get this benefit Must be unique to this brand or claim; rivals can't or don't offer it Promise must be strong enough to move mass millions 8-33 11
Unique Selling Proposition Characteristics Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer Proposition must be unique in brand or in claim Proposition must be strong enough to move the mass millions 8-34 Creating a Brand Image Image advertising: Strategy used to develop a strong, memorable identity for a brand To be successful: Associate the brand with symbols or artifacts that have cultural meaning Use visual appeals that convey psychosocial associations and feelings 8-35 Inherent Drama Characteristic of a product that makes the consumer purchase it Advertising should: Be based on a foundation of consumer benefits Emphasis on the dramatic element in expressing those benefits 8-36 12
Positioning Establishes the product or service in a particular place in the consumer s mind Done on the basis of a distinctive attributes Basis of a firm s creative strategy when it has multiple brands competing in the same market 8-37 Contemporary Approaches to the Big Idea Big ideas must: Be adaptable - Used across a variety of media Be able to connect - Engage consumers and enter into a dialogue with them 8-38 13