S9-P1 – T3 TOPIC 3 THE TOTAL CONCEPTS
Topic 3: The Total Concepts.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the topic, you should be able to:
1. Discuss advertising ideas and how to get good ideas;
2. Explain the creative brief and its format that guides the creative process;
3. Explain message strategy and identify creative strategy alternatives; and
4. Discuss major advertising appeals.
INTRODUCTION
"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas". eorge Bernard Shaw (1856?1950) Creativity plays a key role in advertising and constitutes an essential part in the advertising process. The great creative idea or winning creative idea ? the idea that outdoes the others and is memorable ? provides a variety of benefits for both client and the advertising agency. Some advertising experts have estimated that a creative idea may increase a productÊs sales by five times. Also, some other experts believe that creative ideas attract new accounts, help win new awards in festivals of creativity and strengthen the existing ties between the most successful employees and the agency.
3.1 GETTING IDEAS
Advertising projects are complex. They consume a lot of effort, cost and time from different experts in the team which require that every part of the project process to be well-studied, documented and well-planned prior to working on the project. The most important part in advertising is the creative idea. The creative idea is the main point that the whole advertisement is based upon. Some advertising experts have estimated that a creative idea may increase a productÊs sales by five times. Also, some other experts believe that creative ideas attract new accounts, help win new awards in festivals of creativity and strengthen the existing ties between the most successful employees and the agency. A successful idea can push the advertisement beyond the thoughts and people will remember it for a long time. A bad idea can have a very negative impact on the product. No one is attracted to non-creative advertisements. The non-creative advertisements that repeat previous ideas not only lose its target because the audiences will not get attracted to it but it also moves the audience attention to other products especially if they provide a better method to introduce the new products or features. Therefore, in advertising, creative ideas are the lifeblood. The creative team strives to provide innovative solutions to clientsÊ business challenges and to create advertisements with real-world impact. For advertising agencies, their business must be a nonstop generator of ideas and creativity. But where do all the creative ideas come from? Many good ideas come from our own daily experience and our insights. The world around us is filled with ideas that can be useful. None of those ideas will come to us by thinking really hard in a vacuum. We have to get out in the world and practice behaviours that lead us to new ideas. By learning to think and act in ways that bring new opportunities to light, we can find a constant stream of ideas in everyday life. It takes a lot of ideas to get a few viable ones that lead to true innovations. Most products fail because the ideation process starts with too few ideas. Selecting from a limited pool of ideas leads to bad ideas being selected for new products or product features.
It is a fact that many breakthrough ideas originate from places that are not related to where the idea eventually leads to innovation. An example of that is how ideas from the biological world have led to breakthrough innovations in management. Most companies are not equipped to capture and manage this type of cross-boundary idea management. Many good ideas come from recombining seemingly unrelated ideas together. While idea A and idea B may not have much merit on their own, it could spark a new idea C in someones mind that leads to a truly breakthrough innovation. In order to fully tap the power of idea recombination, companies need to involve a lot more people in the process than they typically do both from inside the company as well as outside. Where Does The Creative Idea Come From? Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of bouncing ideas back and forth with many writers, artists, creative directors and other talented professionals. Here are a few things I have learned about creativity along the way. 1. Ideas Come from a Constellation of Experiences Everything we see and hear throughout the day every book, television show, news article, Tweet, blog, song and conversation provides the building blocks from which great ideas are built. They all end up in your bank of knowledge. So collect all the pieces you can then open your mind and see how they come together. Some of the most creative ideas I have been involved with were the product of collaboration from many peopleÊs banks of knowledge. If you were to visit our offices, you would likely find staff members engaged in lively brainstorming sessions in one of our „war rooms‰, scribbling thoughts and ideas on sticky pads lining the walls. This kind of interplay among people from various backgrounds and disciplines can spark inspiration and lead to something totally unrelated but also brilliant. 2. Quit Trying So Hard One staffer recently told me her best ideas often come to her in dreams. She said her mind is better able to work through problems when she is not actively trying to help it, and since a dreaming mind is not limited to the parameters of reality, no solution is impossible. Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
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TOPIC 3 THE TOTAL CONCEPTS ? 67 Many people claim to do their best thinking in the shower, while alone on a long drive, or in the last waking minutes before sleep. I think this is because these quiet moments provide a backdrop for the mess of seemingly unrelated information in our minds to take shape. Another staffer says, „I have e-mailed or texted myself many times. I used to come home with napkins and other scraps of paper in my pockets, with secret code words like Âturkey breastÊ, Âray gunÊ and Âreverse interventionÊ written on them. Sometimes I did not even remember what they meant‰. So the next time you are searching for a creative solution, stop trying to be creative and let your mind wander it is liable to wander in the right direction. You still have to do your homework of course. Do not expect creativity to strike unless you have got a strong foundation of research and information on which to build. Big ideas may come as lightning bolts, but they never strike empty heads. 3. Look for Ways to Make a Good Idea Better Many successful ideas have come from taking something good and making it better. Take the Snuggie. This backwards robe has become a pop culture phenomenon and is flying off shelves. It comes in multiple patterns and is targeted to every member of the family even the dog. But most people are not aware that the Snuggie was not an original idea. Then-college freshman Gary Clegg invented the Slanket in 1998. Before that, a New Jersey couple sold a similar product called the Freedom Blanket out of their home. Both were nearly identical to the Snuggie, but neither put the kind of marketing muscle behind their products as SnuggieÊs manufacturers did. Snuggie founder Scott Boilen has admitted publicly that the idea for a blanket with sleeves did not originate with him, but he was able to achieve success by making a less expensive product and promoting it heavily to the public. If you have something innovative to offer and have determined there is a market for it, put some promotional muscle behind it so the fruits of your creativity are not left to gather dust on the shelf. 4. A Good Idea can Come from Anywhere The bottom line is that creativity can come from anywhere or anyone. And I think that is what makes creativity so great. There are infinite ways to get from problem to solution the fun part is getting there. Source: Adapted from Paula MacVittie (n.d.) Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
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68 ? TOPIC 3 THE TOTAL CONCEPTS ACTIVITY 3.1 As mentioned earlier, many good ideas come from our own daily experience. From your own experience, where do you normally get ideas? What are behaviours that have led you to new ideas? 3.2 CREATIVE TECHNIQUES Creativity requires imagination and skills in problem solving. There are techniques available as a guide to assist in the creative process and many of these techniques have been developed out of the socio-psychological sciences. According to Pickton and Brodericks (2005), some of the creative techniques are as shown in Figure 3.1: Figure 3.1: Some of the creative techniques by Pickton and Brodericks (2005).
Let us now discuss these techniques in greater detail. (a) Juxtaposition Creativity has been described as the ability to put together new combination of thoughts. It is the juxtaposition of ideas which were previously thought to be unrelated. It is the ability to combine ideas in a unique way or to make useful associations among ideas. Juxtaposition is the putting together of ideas which may be unrelated previously and the outcome of this juxtaposition is a new idea. The process of juxtaposition may be facilitated by various ways. (b) Free Association In free association, an element whether it is a word or an image is considered and anything that comes to mind is recorded. Free association is a method that is used to draw ideas from the „mindÊs stream of consciousness‰. During the application of this method one idea is used to generate another, which is then used to generate a third idea, and so forth until a useful idea is found. There are two different versions of the free association technique: plain, unstructured free associations, and mixed or structured free associations. In unstructured association, ideas are listed as they naturally occur, one „block‰ idea building upon another block. Structured free association, in contrast, attempts to increase relevance of ideas to the problems. (c) Convergent and Divergent Thinking Convergent thinking deals with linear logic and the search for the correct answer through a process of narrowing down of thoughts. It is through convergent thinking methods and techniques that we evaluate all the generated ideas by the rules of the real world ? how practical, possible, effective and tangible the ideas actually are. Instead of focusing on the amount of thoughts or suggestions, we pay attention to their quality. We go from the abstract world in which most of the ideas tend to be great, unique, superb to the everyday life, where any idea has to face limitations such as cost, time, gravity, legal aspects and so on. Divergent thinking represents the opposite. It is free thinking. It seeks to open up ideas and it is the search of alternatives. Divergent thinking is more likely to lead to surprising, unusual and unexpected ideas.
(d) Lateral Thinking Introduced by Edward de Bono in his 1968 book, New Think: The Use of Lateral Thinking in the Generation of New Ideas, lateral thinking is a systematic creative-thinking process that deliberately looks at challenges from entirely different angles. Through the introduction of specific, unconventional thinking techniques, lateral thinking enables thinkers to find novel solutions that would otherwise remain uncovered. Lateral thinking focuses on what could be rather than what is possible and centres around four directives: recognise the dominant ideas that polarise the perception of a problem; search for different ways of looking at things; relax rigid control of thinking; and use chance to encourage other ideas. (e) Brainstorming Some people consider brainstorming as the best-known creative thinking process which is normally carried out in groups. Brainstorming combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem-solving with lateral thinking. It asks that people come up with ideas and thoughts that can at first seem to be a bit crazy. During brainstorming sessions there are no criticism of ideas. The best way of doing this is through informal meetings with a group of up to ten people. After being briefed on the topic, the group is allowed to give their suggestions. A flip-chart may be used to record all suggestions so that everyone can see them. Judgments and analysis at this stage are not allowed as they stunt idea generation. Ideas should only be evaluated at the end of the brainstorming session. This is the time to explore solutions further using conventional approaches. While group brainstorming is often more effective in generating ideas, studies have shown that individuals brainstorm on their own and they may come up with more ideas and often better quality ideas than groups of people who brainstorm together.
ACTIVITY 3.2 Conduct a brainstorming session by following the given Quick Start and Objective methods: Brainstorming Quick Start: (a) Write the objective, what you want to accomplish. (b) Invite a mix of participants. Split large groups into teams to compete. (c) Set a time limit: 30 minutes to two hours. (d) Announce the objective. Post and explain the rules. (e) Capture all ideas as they flow from the group. (f) Evaluate the ideas, selecting the best. (g) Assign next steps. Specify WHO will do WHAT by WHEN. (h) Issue a memo to participants, thanking them and summarising the session. Some examples of objective: (a) What events can OUM sponsor to position its brand as a top open university in the region? (b) What are some inexpensive offers that will get college students to open an account at CIMB? (c) What are ways to bring Hotel Seri Malaysia brand personality to life in ads?
(d) What are some simple ways we can communicate the idea that Kuala Lumpur is the best tourist destination in the world?".
3.3 CREATIVE BRIEF What is a creative brief? In simplest terms, a creative brief is the foundation of any advertising or marketing campaign. It is framework or a planning tool for a creative approach. It contains a well-identified and articulated summary of the key factors that can impact a campaign. A typical creative brief contains background overview, target audience details, information on competitors, short and long-term brand and marketing goals as well as specific campaign particulars (Stone, n.d.). A creative brief is like a roadmap. It is sometimes also called „design brief‰, „marketing brief‰, „communications brief‰, or even „objectives and strategies statement‰. The creative brief, therefore, is a written document that comprehensively and concisely summarises both the business and creative requirements for a specific campaign. It is not a proposal but instead the brief details the overriding advertising objectives. A brief digs deep into a project and identifies the main factors that drive the entire creative strategy. Creative Brief: What and Why? (a) What is a Creative Brief? A creative brief is a comprehensive document that helps you strategise and crystallise thoughts before writing copy, formulating a creative strategy or starting design work. The creative brief contains the „specifications‰ to which both creative services and copywriting should adhere. A creative brief will answer the following questions: (i) What is this campaign? (ii) What is the task at hand? (iii) Why are we doing it? (iv) What is the problem or opportunity? (v) Who is it really for? (vi) Why should they care? (vii) Where and how will it be used? When? (viii) Who will become engaged with it directly and indirectly?
(ix) How will it be remembered and retold? (x) What needs to be done? By whom? By when? (b) Why Creative Brief? A Creative brief helps keep projects running smoothly and prevents misunderstandings and delays by: (i) Connecting objectives with creative strategies; (ii Building team consensus; (ii) Aligning expectations; and (iii) Defining clear and measurable goals. A creative brief is normally developed from client input through meetings, interviews, readings and research. The brief should be written in the personality and point-of-view of the brand so that it will be able to inspire the team in the right direction. A creative brief provides an objective strategic tool that can be agreed and acted upon. It can be used when creating communications directed at clients, employees, shareholders, potential investors, the media or any other target group. It is also a cooperative tool by which the various people and groups involved in a project focus their thoughts and analyse the best method(s) of approaching a programme. It can serve as a set of metrics by which to judge and evaluate the appropriateness of a solution. All the relevant campaign information is contained in a single place. A well-constructed brief ensures that marketers, advertisers and creative leads are all aligned and working towards the best possible outcome for any campaign or brand development. When used properly, it can also reduce the time and cost associated with advertising projects, as it requires all the key participants to agree on important factors at the onset of the project. For these reasons, both the creative team and the client find the creative brief valuable. 3.3.1 Creative Brief Format What is the format and content of a creative brief? The format is actually not the critical issue. Different companies may use different formats. It is the briefÊs content which is more crucial. Creative briefs are meant to inspire original and exciting creative ideas. It is the message, not the medium that matters. However, there is a general guideline to ensure that the brief is comprehensive and clear.
Traditionally, creative briefs have a template form filled out by the account executive or the person who manages the client relationship for the creative firm who has true consumer insight. Answering the questions in the following Table 3.1 will effectively build the skeleton for your creative brief. Table 3.1: Creative Brief Guideline Creative Brief Guideline Description Sample Questions Background Overview of the ? What is the basic overview of the summary campaign. campaign? ? Who is the client? What is the product or service? ? What are their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? What does this brand stand for? ? What does this client value? Overview Campaign information, ? What is the advertising campaign? summary of how the ? What are we creating and why? activity has come about; whether it is as a result of ? Why does the client need this local decisions, research campaign? findings, new initiatives or ? What are the clientÊs key business the promotions of core challenges? business products and ? What is the real opportunity? services. ? Are there any emerging ideas and trends to consider? Objectives Your goals, measurable ? What is our goal for this project? objectives and outcomes to ? What are we trying to achieve? be clearly defined. ? What is the purpose of our work? ? What are our top three objectives? ? What are the essential consumer, brand and category insights? ? What thought, feeling or action can we bring to life? ? How will success be measured?
Audience Profile the target audience. ? Who are we talking to? Provide enough detail to ? What do they think of the client? enhance everyoneÊs understanding of who the ? What will make the client more audience is. Include some appealing to them? user demographic ? Why should they care about this information. brand? ? What inspires, motivates, interests and amuses them? ? Who are they talking to? ? How can we help them better connect with their own community? ? What causes buzz in their world? ? What competes for their attention? Competitors ? Profile of the primary ? Who are the competitors? and secondary ? What is the SWOT analysis on them? competitors. ? What differentiates the client from ? Provide details for them? differentiation. ? What are they telling the audience that we should be telling them? ? How and where do they engage with the audience? ? Why are they really better (or not)? Tone Intentional use of images, ? How should we be communicating? lighting, sound and ? What adjectives describe the desired written copy to create a feeling, personality or approach? specific tone or setting for an advertisement. ? Discuss how content (images or words), flow of information (narrative), interaction (physical or virtual) and user behaviours (pros or cons) should affect mode and style. Message The central, underlying ? What are we saying with this piece idea or theme within an exactly? advertisement. ? How can the client back that up? ? Are the words already developed or do we develop them? ? What do we want audiences to take away?
Visuals Use of pictures and ? Are we developing new images or graphic images. using existing ones? ? If we are creating them, who, what, where are we shooting and why? ? Should we consider illustrations and/or charts? ? What type of thematic iconography makes sense and is appealing? ? How do existing style guides and brand manuals affect the project? Details Other Important items. ? Is there any mandatory information? ? Is there a list of deliverables required such as copy, design, printed materials, banners, brochures, display advertisements, etc.? ? Any pre-conceived ideas? ? What are the format parameters? ? What are the limitations and restrictions? ? What is the timeline, approval process and budget? ? What is the best delivery media and why? People People involved. ? Who are we reporting to? ? Who will approve this work? ? Who needs to be informed of our progress? ? By what means? Source: Guide to painless projects. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.coloradocollege. edu/offices/communications/printprojects 3.3.2 Creative Brief Templates Many organisations and agencies have a very refined, possibly even copyrighted creative brief tool that is specific to how they do business. Most of them, though, have a few important elements in common. Study the examples of the following templates used by different agencies:
Ogilvy and Mather Creative Brief 1. Product: 2. Key Issue (Problem): 3. The Promise: 4. The Support: 5. Our Competition: 6. Target Consumer: Who are we talking to? Demographics and psychographics? 7. Desired Behaviour: What we expect 8. TargetÊs Net Impression: 9. Mandatories: 10. Tone and Manner: JWT Creative Brief 1. What are the Opportunities and/or Problems which the advertising must address? A brief summary of why you are advertising. Take the consumerÊs point of view, not „sales are down‰, but, rather „consumers are choosing cheaper alternatives‰. 2. What do we want people to do as a result of the advertising? 3. Who are we talking to? Try to develop a rich description of the target group. Indicate their beliefs and feelings about the category. Avoid demographic information only. Add personality and lifestyle dimensions. 4. What is the Key Response we want from the advertising? "State succinctly, what single thing do we want people to feel or notice or believe as a result of advertising".
5. What information or attributes might help produce this response? It could be a key product attribute, a key user need which the brand fulfils, etc. Avoid a laundry list. 6. What aspect of the Brand Personality should the advertising express? 7. Are there any media or budget considerations? 8. Any additional information that might affect the creative direction. „Feel free to use a visual summary, a picture, drawing or any object which aids in understanding the nature of the brief‰. Simpsons Creative Client and client contact information: (Name, phone number and e-mail address of the person or people on the client side. The „client‰ being whoever pays for or approves the work). Project: Example: „New campaign to launch ABC‰. Prepared by: (Name of the person who assumed primary responsibility for writing the brief) Approved by: Client/date: Agency/date: Background or overview: What is the big picture? What is going on in the market? Is anything happening on the client side that the creative team should know about? This is where you introduce the project to the creative team. For an overview, answer the question, „Who is the project addressed to, and what is the one main thing we want to say?‰ What is the objective of the project?: A concise statement of the effect the project should have on consumers. Typically expressed as an action and frequently focused either on what you want them to think, to feel, or do.
Target audience:
Who are we addressing? The more precise and detailed the better. Go beyond age and sex to include demographics, buying behaviour, lifestyle etc. Be sure to explain how the audience currently thinks or feels about the product category, the clientÊs brand, or the specific service as well as how they currently behave. What is the single most important thing we want to say?: What is the most persuasive or most important thing we can say to achieve the objective? This should be a simple sentence. No more than a few sentences if absolutely necessary. Avoid generalities because they result in ambiguous communication. What are the supporting rationale and emotional „reasons to act or believe?‰: List the rationale and emotional reasons for the target market to believe what we want them to believe, and do what we want them to do. Include all the major copy points, in order of relative importance to the consumer. In other words, „What else can we say to achieve the objective?‰ Include mandatory elements, helpful information and insights. Here is where you put all other details, such as information about the offer if it is a direct response ad or perhaps a description of the brand personality. Include any mandatory elements such as the clientÊs logo, address and phone number. Client Service Checklist: Do we have a complete package of all supporting information for the creative team such as previous ads, brochures, competitor ads perhaps books or websites for reference? If this is a long format communication such as a website, brochure or video, do we have an outline for the creative team that includes all the important copy points, including an indication of visuals and graphs? Is it clear from the client what must be in the communication, and what might be in the communication? What are the client mandatories versus client preferences? Source: Simpsons Creative. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.simpsonscreative.co.uk/
ACTIVITY 3.3 Choose a consumer product or service. From the Internet, study the product or service you have chosen to promote. Study also the manufacturer or the company offering the service. Study everything you need to know about the product and the company of the product. Then, prepare an overview document of a creative brief by answering these questions: (a) Who is the client? (b) What is the product or service? (c) What are products strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? (d) What does the brand stand for? (e) What does the client value? (f) Why does the client need this campaign? (g) Who are the competitors? (h) What is going on in the market? 3.3.3 Implementation The creative brief is used not only at the start of a project, but throughout the entire creative process. It is the one element that has been agreed upon and is objective enough to act as a shared guideline. Clients use it to get organised, and to develop consensus within their own enterprises. They then use it to help determine if the creative actually solves the problem as intended.
The creative team uses creative briefs to fact-find and understand their client, building knowledge about both perception and reality of the problem at hand. Creatives often find that what their client thinks is the problem is not really the problem at all. These are the things revealed in the briefing. The following information exaplains the implementation of the creative brief: (a) Managing Creative Briefs Once the creative brief is approved, it is a useful instrument to get the creative team ready to work on the project. Everyone in the team has what they need, no matter what their responsibility is. The designers and art directors have relevant grounding, the writer has messaging information, the production people have milestones and due dates and the account executive has met with all client stakeholders. (b) Evaluating Creative Briefs The creative brief is driven by the clientÊs desire to achieve a measurable goal. Some goals are less easy to measure, but analytics and benchmarks make certain kinds of success more transparent. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of your creative brief, there are some things to look at as objectively as possible: Is the creative brief aligned with the clientÊs goals and brand values? Does the creative brief distinctly position the client as unique? How has the target audience responded to the creative brief? Have they actively engaged and even shared it with others? Does the creative brief showcase unique ideas and functionality? Has the creative brief garnered industry attention? Try a rigorous evaluation after each project and report your results back to your client. This information will help the team correct and build on the work to create even more effective solutions.
3.4 FORMULATING ADVERTISING STRATEGY What is an advertising strategy? It is the formulation of a message that communicates to the market the benefits or problem solution characteristics of the product or service. Good planning demands that you know where you are headed for and those logical alternatives for getting there are explored. These alternatives are referred to as strategies. Your strategic objectives can be achieved in a number of ways. What you are trying to convey through your advertising and state in your strategy is what you offer to meet the consumerÊs need; how your product has more beneficial characteristics than the competitiorsÊ; and what the beneficial characteristics are: (a) Define Product Determine the product or service you have to offer to the marketplace and the objective of the store. For an example, let us use an imaginary convenience store named Malaysia QMart: Malaysia QMART is a whole foods store servicing the metropolitan area with the finest in fresh foods. The store also carries a large assortment of bulk foods, herbs, vitamins, body care products and natural food groceries. The primary objective of Malaysia QMart is, therefore, to service its customers with the highest quality foodstuffs and to educate the consumer on the benefits of the products offered and their contribution to a healthy lifestyle.
(b) Define Target Markets Target markets should be determined by the results of your market surveys. Target markets for Malaysia QMART are: Malaysia QMART is located in a city, surrounded by residential areas and close to higher education institutions and office buildings. There are several distinct markets targeted as Malaysia QMART customers. Each market has its own distinct buying patterns, demographics and psychographics. Therefore, each market must have a different advertising approach and product mix. But at the same time, the Malaysia QMART "message" must be consistent in each advertising group. The targets markets are college and university students, residential people, office workers and the natural food community. Each market has to be defined for its demographic characteristics, its psychographic characteristics and the products to be targeted for each group. (a) Targeted Group: (i) Demographic Characteristics: University students; Age: 1826 Sex: mixed; Race: mixed; Marital status: single; Income level: low. (ii) Psychographic Characteristics: Undergraduate, young, single, physically active lifestyle, health conscious, eat on the go. (b) Target Products: (i) Category 1: Vitamins, cosmetics, prepared foods, quick energy foods, bulk cereals, yogurt. (ii) Category 2: Basic whole foods, fresh produce, cheese, dairy, juices, essential vitamins, breads. (c) Targeted Media: (i) Category 1: University media: newspapers, magazines, radio and websites. (ii) Category 2: Handouts, brochures and fliers. (iii) Category 3: Sponsorship of university events.
SELF-CHECK 3.1 Explain the following elements and relate your explanation to a creative brief Client Audience Competitors Tone Objective Deliverables Media Budget Brand Personality 3.5 MESSAGE STRATEGIES Message strategy is a crucial step in creating an effective advertising message. It provides the foundation for the rest of the advertising campaign. According to Kotler (2009) the process in the development of a message strategy is as follows: (a) Identifying customer benefits This is to be used as advertising appeals. Customers buy products based on their perceived value and benefits they offer rather than for the product. A good advertisement should be able to communicate the products benefits and value to particular customers. (b) Developing the creative message concept The creative message concept, as defined by Kotler and Keller (2009), is „the compelling big idea that will bring the advertising message strategy to life in a distinctive and memorable way‰. This may manifest itself as a phrase, a visualisation or both. Finally, the creative concept will provide guidelines for the construction of advertising appeals. These advertising appeals should have three characteristics: they should be meaningful, point out benefits that makes the product more desirable and they should be believable. Thirdly they should be distinctive, that is, they should tell how the product is better than its competitor.
3.5.1 Message Strategy Taxonomy A message strategy is the primary tactic or approach used to deliver the message theme. Frazer (1983) proposes creative strategy taxonomies, defining seven creative strategy alternatives as explained in Table 3.2: Table 3.2: Creative Strategy Alternatives by Frazer Creative Strategy Alternatives Description Generic Making a claim all brands in the product category can make. Pre-emptive Highlight specific product or service points but do it in a way where competitors can say „me too‰ when competing. Unique selling propositions Focus on a unique consumer benefit. Brand image strategies Associate images, social situations and symbols with the brand and tend to appeal to consumersÊ psychologically. Positioning Gives the product a unique place in the consumerÊs mind which is well-suited for new entries or brands with small market share. Resonance Strategy seeks to display experiences of the consumer, imagined or otherwise, with those portrayed in the advertisement to create a relationship. Anomalous or affective Strategy attempts to connect directly to the consumerÊs emotions. Source: Frazer, C. F. (1983). Creative strategy: A management perspective. Journal of Advertising, 12 (4), 3641 However, there are three broad categories of message strategies, namely cognitive strategies, affective strategies and conative strategies. All three of the message strategies are described here.
(a) Cognitive Strategies A cognitive message strategy uses rational arguments or rational pieces of information to consumers. When a cognitive message strategy is used, the advertisementÊs key message is about the productÊs features or the benefits. The goal of the cognitive strategy approach is to plan an advertisement that will have an impact on a personÊs beliefs or knowledge structure. By using the product, customers can obtain these benefits. Cognitive strategies can be accomplished by presenting some of the potential product benefits. By doing this, the benefits will be clear to potential customers. Examples: (i) Foods products can be described as natural, healthy, tasty, low calorie and fresh. (ii) Machines or tools can be presented as durable, convenient, handy to use, long-lasting and reliable. (iii) Banking services may be portrayed as efficient, secure and user- friendly. Figure 3.2 lists five major forms of cognitive strategies. Figure 3.2: Major forms of cognitive strategies. Let us now discuss the strategies one by one. (i) Generic Messages This strategy uses direct promotions of product attributes or benefits without any claim of superiority. It focuses on selling the category rather than the specific brand. It works best for a dominant company in the industry or a brand leader. The goal of the generic message is to make the brand synonymous with the product category. For example, you may choose to highlight why using eco-friendly fuel is a smarter choice rather than highlighting why using a specific brand of eco- friendly fuel is a good choice. Generic message strategies can also be used to create brand awareness. The goal may be to develop a cognitive linkage between a specific brand name and a product category. The advertisement may contain very little information about the productÊs attributes. The intent of the advertisment is simply to put the brand name in a personÊs cognitive memory. Examples: ? Boost Immunity. Drink Milk. ? Soup is good. ? Intel inside. (ii) Pre-emptive Messages This strategy means that you are choosing to be the first to make a claim about your product or service. This claim may also be true for your competition, but you are the first to tell your target audience about it. Pre-emptive messages claim superiority based on a productÊs specific attribute or benefit. The idea is to prevent the competition from making a similar statement. Examples: ? A manufacturer pre-empts other companies from making similar- sounding claims, even though all products in the category have the similar functions and uses. ? A company becomes the first one to state the advantage. This keeps competitors from saying the same thing. Those that do are viewed as „me-too‰ brands or copycats.
(iii) Unique Selling Proposition (USP) A brandÊs USP is the benefit that a brand promises to provide for the consumer. A USP must be unique to the brand. You should not advertise a benefit or a feature that other competitors also offer. The feature also has to be something the consumer actually cares about. An effective USP must be a feature or benefit that the audience finds believable.This strategy highlights something unique about your product or brand that others do not offer. It is the main selling point. USP is a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors. It is an explicit, testable claim of uniqueness or superiority that can be supported or substantiated in some manner. Real research needs to be conducted to know what sets a brand apart from the competitors. Brand parity makes a USP more difficult to establish. Example: ? A washing liquid claims it is the only detergent that uses a certain technology, which provides for better cleaning. This company can use this USP if it, for example, holds patents for that particular method or technology. (iv) Hyperbole Approach Hyperbole is an exaggeration which may be used for emphasis and humour for effect or to make advertisements more interesting. This strategy makes an untestable claim based upon some attributes or benefits. These claims do not have to be substantiated, which makes this cognitive strategy quite popular. Hyperbole is a useful tool for communicating the „what‰ of brand promises, but it is bad at substantiating the „why‰ necessary for credibility and subsequent purchase, whether used in traditional ads or set free on the Internet. Advertisers use such hyperbolic statements to attract customers, not with the facts about their products but with wild exaggerations not intended to reflect the truth. Examples: ? Esso Put a tiger in your tank! ? Redbull It gives you wings!
(v) Comparative Advertisement This type of advertisement compares directly or indirectly a brand to its competitor. The advertisement may or may not mention the competitor by name. Sometimes, an advertiser simply presents an anonymous competitor, giving it a name like product X. Comparative advertising tells consumers the differences in products and allows competitors to highlight why the consumer should select its product over another product. In certain countries, comparative advertising is not permissible. When advertisers seek to promote their product at the expense of another in terms of quality, performance, sales, price or other attributes, they face not only a public cautious of their claims, but also a broad spectrum of legal rules. In some countries, the trade commissionÊs policy in the area of comparative advertising encourages the naming of the competitors to avoid deception of the consumer. (b) Affective Strategies An affective strategy usually seeks to reach audiences on an emotional level. The goal is to touch the viewer through emotions and feelings. These strategies are considered „soft sells‰ because it is indirect and instead attempts to make a connection with the heart. Affective message strategies invoke feelings or emotions and match those feelings with the good, service, or company. Such advertisements are prepared to enhance the likeability of the product, recall of the appeal or comprehension of the advertisement. Affective strategies elicit emotions that lead the consumer to act, preferably to buy the product, and subsequently affect the consumerÊs reasoning process. Table 3.3 explained the two categories of affective strategies.
Table 3.3: Categories of Affective Strategies Category Description Resonance This strategy attempts to connect a product with a consumerÊs strategy experiences to develop stronger ties between the product and the consumer. Emotional This strategy attempts to evoke powerful emotions that eventually strategy lead to product recall and choice. Many emotions can be connected to products including friendship, happiness, trust, luxury serenity, pleasure, reliability, security, glamour, romance and passion. Source: Advertising design: Message strategies and executional frameworks. (2007). Retrieved from http://wps.pearsoncustom.com/wps/media/objects/ 2471/2530892/MKT610-OL_Ch07.pdf (c) Conative Strategies According to Clow and Baack (2007), conative message strategies are formulated to lead more directly to some type of consumer response or action. They can be used to support other promotional efforts, such as coupon redemption programmes, Internet „hits‰ and orders and in-store offers such as buy-one-get-one-free. The goal of a conative advertisement is to elicit behaviour. A conative strategy is present in any television advertisement for products that seek to persuade viewers to call a phone number to purchase the product. These ads typically encourage quick action by stating that the product cannot be purchased at stores and is available for only a limited time. Action-inducing conative advertisements create situations in which cognitive knowledge of the product or affective liking of the product may come later (after the actual purchase) or during product usage. For instance, a point-of purchase display is designed to cause people to make impulse buys. The goal is to make the sale, with cognitive knowledge and affective feelings forming as the product is used.
Conative advertisements are used to support other promotional efforts. Besides coupons and phone-in promotions, a company may advertise a competition that a consumer enters by filling out the form on the advertisement or by going to a particular retail store. Choosing the right message strategy is a key ingredient in creating a successful advertising programme. To be effective, the message strategy must be carefully matched with the leverage point and executional framework that have been selected as well as with the media that will be utilised. The creative and the account executive must remain in constant contact throughout the process to be certain all of these advertising ingredients are consistent.
ACTIVITY 3.4
1. Study some of the consumer advertisements in any media: print, broadcast or online. List all the claims and categorise them into different strategies. 2. Generic and pre-emptive strategies are sometimes described as the two weakest forms of advertising while affective strategy is said to be the strongest. What are generic, pre-emptive and affective strategies? Why are generic and pre-emptive strategies considered the weakest while the affective strategy is considered the strongest? Discuss and give examples. 3.5.2 Advertising Appeals Advertising appeals are specific strategies used by advertisers to connect with their target audiences. These are distinctive advertising claims about the products advertised. Appeals are basically the foundational channels of all human communication. However, each kind of appeal is only appropriate or effective for certain kinds of messages. Advertisements are meant to catch the attention of the target audience and to persuade them into doing a certain action. Table 3.4 explained some major types of advertising appeals.
Table 3.4: Major Types of Advertising Appeals Type Description Rational Rational appeals attempt to provide all the information the audience needs to make up their minds. Many products and services are much better served by rational appeals. Emotional Emotional appeals use emotion rather than intellect or reason to persuade the audience. Emotional appeals may better create personal attachments with brands and these attachments can turn into long-term bonds. Humour Humour appeals use funny elements to grab the attention and help the audience remember the advertisements. However, advertisers must be careful when using this strategy because some people have a greater sense of humour than others and what may be funny to some people may be offensive to others. Fear Fear appeals uses more memorable than upbeat or neutral ads, but if too disturbing, viewers may turn away. Using fear like any kind of emotional appeal carries ethical risks. Sex Sex appeals range from merely romantic inclinations to outright nudity. Ads with sex appeal do grab attention, but people tend not to remember the brands being advertised they are too distracted by the sexually charged content, it would seem. They also tend to remember the visual components of the ad and tend not to remember audio or text content. In many countries, sex content is not permitted. Music Musical appeals have been shown to capture the attention of viewers. In addition, they actually increase the rate at which audiences remember other ad content because the human brain often stores memories of music in long-term recall areas of the brain. Source: Advertising primer 6: Appeals and executions. (2010). Retrieved from http://blog.stage2studios.com/2010/06/advertising-primer-6-appeals-and.html ACTIVITY 3.5 Refer to The Ogilvy and Mather Guide to Effectiveness which can be accessed at http://www.ogilvydo.com. Read the section on how to produce successful campaigns. Explain each strategy and give your own evaluation of each strategy.
SELF-CHECK 3.2 Read the following cases or descriptions and decide on the type of advertising appeals used and type of cognitive strategies employed. Case or Description Type of Appeals Advertising which frequently involves selling complex or technical products or services. Overstate the plight of the homeless people to encourage volunterism. A fairly straightforward presentation of the productÊs attributes and claims. Focusing on brand jingle. Use of jokes to make the ad enjoyable, involving and memorable. Case or Description Type of Cognitive T Strategies S Testable claim based on an attribute or benefit without claim of uniqueness or explicit mention of competition. Untestable claim based upon an attribute or benefit. Message focuses upon the product class. Message focuses on developing a brand personality. Message focuses on product class.
In advertising, creative ideas are the lifeblood. The creative team strives to provide innovative solutions to clientsÊ business challenges and to create advertisements. Many good ideas come from our own daily experience and our insights. The world around us is filled with ideas that can be useful. None of those ideas will come to us by thinking really hard in a vacuum. We have to get out in the world and practice behaviours that lead us to new ideas. ? Creativity requires imagination and skills in problem solving. There are techniques available as a guide to assist in the creative process and some of the creative techniques are juxtaposition, free association, convergent and divergent thinking, lateral thinking, and brainstorming. ? The creative brief, as a written document that comprehensively and concisely summarises both the business and creative requirements, is the foundation of any advertising or marketing campaign. ? The creative message concept is the compelling big idea that will bring the advertising message strategy to life in a distinctive and memorable way. Creative concepts provide guidelines for the construction of advertising appeals. ? Advertising appeals are specific strategies advertisers use to connect with their target audiences. They are meaningful and point out benefits that make the product more desirable. Appeals should be believable and be distinctive.
Affective Strategy
Juxtaposition
Brainstorming
Message Strategy
Creative brief
Positioning
Cognitive Strategy
Pre-emptive Strategy
Generic Strategy.
Topic 3: The Total Concepts.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the topic, you should be able to:
1. Discuss advertising ideas and how to get good ideas;
2. Explain the creative brief and its format that guides the creative process;
3. Explain message strategy and identify creative strategy alternatives; and
4. Discuss major advertising appeals.
INTRODUCTION
"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas". eorge Bernard Shaw (1856?1950) Creativity plays a key role in advertising and constitutes an essential part in the advertising process. The great creative idea or winning creative idea ? the idea that outdoes the others and is memorable ? provides a variety of benefits for both client and the advertising agency. Some advertising experts have estimated that a creative idea may increase a productÊs sales by five times. Also, some other experts believe that creative ideas attract new accounts, help win new awards in festivals of creativity and strengthen the existing ties between the most successful employees and the agency.
3.1 GETTING IDEAS
Advertising projects are complex. They consume a lot of effort, cost and time from different experts in the team which require that every part of the project process to be well-studied, documented and well-planned prior to working on the project. The most important part in advertising is the creative idea. The creative idea is the main point that the whole advertisement is based upon. Some advertising experts have estimated that a creative idea may increase a productÊs sales by five times. Also, some other experts believe that creative ideas attract new accounts, help win new awards in festivals of creativity and strengthen the existing ties between the most successful employees and the agency. A successful idea can push the advertisement beyond the thoughts and people will remember it for a long time. A bad idea can have a very negative impact on the product. No one is attracted to non-creative advertisements. The non-creative advertisements that repeat previous ideas not only lose its target because the audiences will not get attracted to it but it also moves the audience attention to other products especially if they provide a better method to introduce the new products or features. Therefore, in advertising, creative ideas are the lifeblood. The creative team strives to provide innovative solutions to clientsÊ business challenges and to create advertisements with real-world impact. For advertising agencies, their business must be a nonstop generator of ideas and creativity. But where do all the creative ideas come from? Many good ideas come from our own daily experience and our insights. The world around us is filled with ideas that can be useful. None of those ideas will come to us by thinking really hard in a vacuum. We have to get out in the world and practice behaviours that lead us to new ideas. By learning to think and act in ways that bring new opportunities to light, we can find a constant stream of ideas in everyday life. It takes a lot of ideas to get a few viable ones that lead to true innovations. Most products fail because the ideation process starts with too few ideas. Selecting from a limited pool of ideas leads to bad ideas being selected for new products or product features.
It is a fact that many breakthrough ideas originate from places that are not related to where the idea eventually leads to innovation. An example of that is how ideas from the biological world have led to breakthrough innovations in management. Most companies are not equipped to capture and manage this type of cross-boundary idea management. Many good ideas come from recombining seemingly unrelated ideas together. While idea A and idea B may not have much merit on their own, it could spark a new idea C in someones mind that leads to a truly breakthrough innovation. In order to fully tap the power of idea recombination, companies need to involve a lot more people in the process than they typically do both from inside the company as well as outside. Where Does The Creative Idea Come From? Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of bouncing ideas back and forth with many writers, artists, creative directors and other talented professionals. Here are a few things I have learned about creativity along the way. 1. Ideas Come from a Constellation of Experiences Everything we see and hear throughout the day every book, television show, news article, Tweet, blog, song and conversation provides the building blocks from which great ideas are built. They all end up in your bank of knowledge. So collect all the pieces you can then open your mind and see how they come together. Some of the most creative ideas I have been involved with were the product of collaboration from many peopleÊs banks of knowledge. If you were to visit our offices, you would likely find staff members engaged in lively brainstorming sessions in one of our „war rooms‰, scribbling thoughts and ideas on sticky pads lining the walls. This kind of interplay among people from various backgrounds and disciplines can spark inspiration and lead to something totally unrelated but also brilliant. 2. Quit Trying So Hard One staffer recently told me her best ideas often come to her in dreams. She said her mind is better able to work through problems when she is not actively trying to help it, and since a dreaming mind is not limited to the parameters of reality, no solution is impossible. Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
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TOPIC 3 THE TOTAL CONCEPTS ? 67 Many people claim to do their best thinking in the shower, while alone on a long drive, or in the last waking minutes before sleep. I think this is because these quiet moments provide a backdrop for the mess of seemingly unrelated information in our minds to take shape. Another staffer says, „I have e-mailed or texted myself many times. I used to come home with napkins and other scraps of paper in my pockets, with secret code words like Âturkey breastÊ, Âray gunÊ and Âreverse interventionÊ written on them. Sometimes I did not even remember what they meant‰. So the next time you are searching for a creative solution, stop trying to be creative and let your mind wander it is liable to wander in the right direction. You still have to do your homework of course. Do not expect creativity to strike unless you have got a strong foundation of research and information on which to build. Big ideas may come as lightning bolts, but they never strike empty heads. 3. Look for Ways to Make a Good Idea Better Many successful ideas have come from taking something good and making it better. Take the Snuggie. This backwards robe has become a pop culture phenomenon and is flying off shelves. It comes in multiple patterns and is targeted to every member of the family even the dog. But most people are not aware that the Snuggie was not an original idea. Then-college freshman Gary Clegg invented the Slanket in 1998. Before that, a New Jersey couple sold a similar product called the Freedom Blanket out of their home. Both were nearly identical to the Snuggie, but neither put the kind of marketing muscle behind their products as SnuggieÊs manufacturers did. Snuggie founder Scott Boilen has admitted publicly that the idea for a blanket with sleeves did not originate with him, but he was able to achieve success by making a less expensive product and promoting it heavily to the public. If you have something innovative to offer and have determined there is a market for it, put some promotional muscle behind it so the fruits of your creativity are not left to gather dust on the shelf. 4. A Good Idea can Come from Anywhere The bottom line is that creativity can come from anywhere or anyone. And I think that is what makes creativity so great. There are infinite ways to get from problem to solution the fun part is getting there. Source: Adapted from Paula MacVittie (n.d.) Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
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68 ? TOPIC 3 THE TOTAL CONCEPTS ACTIVITY 3.1 As mentioned earlier, many good ideas come from our own daily experience. From your own experience, where do you normally get ideas? What are behaviours that have led you to new ideas? 3.2 CREATIVE TECHNIQUES Creativity requires imagination and skills in problem solving. There are techniques available as a guide to assist in the creative process and many of these techniques have been developed out of the socio-psychological sciences. According to Pickton and Brodericks (2005), some of the creative techniques are as shown in Figure 3.1: Figure 3.1: Some of the creative techniques by Pickton and Brodericks (2005).
Let us now discuss these techniques in greater detail. (a) Juxtaposition Creativity has been described as the ability to put together new combination of thoughts. It is the juxtaposition of ideas which were previously thought to be unrelated. It is the ability to combine ideas in a unique way or to make useful associations among ideas. Juxtaposition is the putting together of ideas which may be unrelated previously and the outcome of this juxtaposition is a new idea. The process of juxtaposition may be facilitated by various ways. (b) Free Association In free association, an element whether it is a word or an image is considered and anything that comes to mind is recorded. Free association is a method that is used to draw ideas from the „mindÊs stream of consciousness‰. During the application of this method one idea is used to generate another, which is then used to generate a third idea, and so forth until a useful idea is found. There are two different versions of the free association technique: plain, unstructured free associations, and mixed or structured free associations. In unstructured association, ideas are listed as they naturally occur, one „block‰ idea building upon another block. Structured free association, in contrast, attempts to increase relevance of ideas to the problems. (c) Convergent and Divergent Thinking Convergent thinking deals with linear logic and the search for the correct answer through a process of narrowing down of thoughts. It is through convergent thinking methods and techniques that we evaluate all the generated ideas by the rules of the real world ? how practical, possible, effective and tangible the ideas actually are. Instead of focusing on the amount of thoughts or suggestions, we pay attention to their quality. We go from the abstract world in which most of the ideas tend to be great, unique, superb to the everyday life, where any idea has to face limitations such as cost, time, gravity, legal aspects and so on. Divergent thinking represents the opposite. It is free thinking. It seeks to open up ideas and it is the search of alternatives. Divergent thinking is more likely to lead to surprising, unusual and unexpected ideas.
(d) Lateral Thinking Introduced by Edward de Bono in his 1968 book, New Think: The Use of Lateral Thinking in the Generation of New Ideas, lateral thinking is a systematic creative-thinking process that deliberately looks at challenges from entirely different angles. Through the introduction of specific, unconventional thinking techniques, lateral thinking enables thinkers to find novel solutions that would otherwise remain uncovered. Lateral thinking focuses on what could be rather than what is possible and centres around four directives: recognise the dominant ideas that polarise the perception of a problem; search for different ways of looking at things; relax rigid control of thinking; and use chance to encourage other ideas. (e) Brainstorming Some people consider brainstorming as the best-known creative thinking process which is normally carried out in groups. Brainstorming combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem-solving with lateral thinking. It asks that people come up with ideas and thoughts that can at first seem to be a bit crazy. During brainstorming sessions there are no criticism of ideas. The best way of doing this is through informal meetings with a group of up to ten people. After being briefed on the topic, the group is allowed to give their suggestions. A flip-chart may be used to record all suggestions so that everyone can see them. Judgments and analysis at this stage are not allowed as they stunt idea generation. Ideas should only be evaluated at the end of the brainstorming session. This is the time to explore solutions further using conventional approaches. While group brainstorming is often more effective in generating ideas, studies have shown that individuals brainstorm on their own and they may come up with more ideas and often better quality ideas than groups of people who brainstorm together.
ACTIVITY 3.2 Conduct a brainstorming session by following the given Quick Start and Objective methods: Brainstorming Quick Start: (a) Write the objective, what you want to accomplish. (b) Invite a mix of participants. Split large groups into teams to compete. (c) Set a time limit: 30 minutes to two hours. (d) Announce the objective. Post and explain the rules. (e) Capture all ideas as they flow from the group. (f) Evaluate the ideas, selecting the best. (g) Assign next steps. Specify WHO will do WHAT by WHEN. (h) Issue a memo to participants, thanking them and summarising the session. Some examples of objective: (a) What events can OUM sponsor to position its brand as a top open university in the region? (b) What are some inexpensive offers that will get college students to open an account at CIMB? (c) What are ways to bring Hotel Seri Malaysia brand personality to life in ads?
(d) What are some simple ways we can communicate the idea that Kuala Lumpur is the best tourist destination in the world?".
3.3 CREATIVE BRIEF What is a creative brief? In simplest terms, a creative brief is the foundation of any advertising or marketing campaign. It is framework or a planning tool for a creative approach. It contains a well-identified and articulated summary of the key factors that can impact a campaign. A typical creative brief contains background overview, target audience details, information on competitors, short and long-term brand and marketing goals as well as specific campaign particulars (Stone, n.d.). A creative brief is like a roadmap. It is sometimes also called „design brief‰, „marketing brief‰, „communications brief‰, or even „objectives and strategies statement‰. The creative brief, therefore, is a written document that comprehensively and concisely summarises both the business and creative requirements for a specific campaign. It is not a proposal but instead the brief details the overriding advertising objectives. A brief digs deep into a project and identifies the main factors that drive the entire creative strategy. Creative Brief: What and Why? (a) What is a Creative Brief? A creative brief is a comprehensive document that helps you strategise and crystallise thoughts before writing copy, formulating a creative strategy or starting design work. The creative brief contains the „specifications‰ to which both creative services and copywriting should adhere. A creative brief will answer the following questions: (i) What is this campaign? (ii) What is the task at hand? (iii) Why are we doing it? (iv) What is the problem or opportunity? (v) Who is it really for? (vi) Why should they care? (vii) Where and how will it be used? When? (viii) Who will become engaged with it directly and indirectly?
(ix) How will it be remembered and retold? (x) What needs to be done? By whom? By when? (b) Why Creative Brief? A Creative brief helps keep projects running smoothly and prevents misunderstandings and delays by: (i) Connecting objectives with creative strategies; (ii Building team consensus; (ii) Aligning expectations; and (iii) Defining clear and measurable goals. A creative brief is normally developed from client input through meetings, interviews, readings and research. The brief should be written in the personality and point-of-view of the brand so that it will be able to inspire the team in the right direction. A creative brief provides an objective strategic tool that can be agreed and acted upon. It can be used when creating communications directed at clients, employees, shareholders, potential investors, the media or any other target group. It is also a cooperative tool by which the various people and groups involved in a project focus their thoughts and analyse the best method(s) of approaching a programme. It can serve as a set of metrics by which to judge and evaluate the appropriateness of a solution. All the relevant campaign information is contained in a single place. A well-constructed brief ensures that marketers, advertisers and creative leads are all aligned and working towards the best possible outcome for any campaign or brand development. When used properly, it can also reduce the time and cost associated with advertising projects, as it requires all the key participants to agree on important factors at the onset of the project. For these reasons, both the creative team and the client find the creative brief valuable. 3.3.1 Creative Brief Format What is the format and content of a creative brief? The format is actually not the critical issue. Different companies may use different formats. It is the briefÊs content which is more crucial. Creative briefs are meant to inspire original and exciting creative ideas. It is the message, not the medium that matters. However, there is a general guideline to ensure that the brief is comprehensive and clear.
Traditionally, creative briefs have a template form filled out by the account executive or the person who manages the client relationship for the creative firm who has true consumer insight. Answering the questions in the following Table 3.1 will effectively build the skeleton for your creative brief. Table 3.1: Creative Brief Guideline Creative Brief Guideline Description Sample Questions Background Overview of the ? What is the basic overview of the summary campaign. campaign? ? Who is the client? What is the product or service? ? What are their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? What does this brand stand for? ? What does this client value? Overview Campaign information, ? What is the advertising campaign? summary of how the ? What are we creating and why? activity has come about; whether it is as a result of ? Why does the client need this local decisions, research campaign? findings, new initiatives or ? What are the clientÊs key business the promotions of core challenges? business products and ? What is the real opportunity? services. ? Are there any emerging ideas and trends to consider? Objectives Your goals, measurable ? What is our goal for this project? objectives and outcomes to ? What are we trying to achieve? be clearly defined. ? What is the purpose of our work? ? What are our top three objectives? ? What are the essential consumer, brand and category insights? ? What thought, feeling or action can we bring to life? ? How will success be measured?
Audience Profile the target audience. ? Who are we talking to? Provide enough detail to ? What do they think of the client? enhance everyoneÊs understanding of who the ? What will make the client more audience is. Include some appealing to them? user demographic ? Why should they care about this information. brand? ? What inspires, motivates, interests and amuses them? ? Who are they talking to? ? How can we help them better connect with their own community? ? What causes buzz in their world? ? What competes for their attention? Competitors ? Profile of the primary ? Who are the competitors? and secondary ? What is the SWOT analysis on them? competitors. ? What differentiates the client from ? Provide details for them? differentiation. ? What are they telling the audience that we should be telling them? ? How and where do they engage with the audience? ? Why are they really better (or not)? Tone Intentional use of images, ? How should we be communicating? lighting, sound and ? What adjectives describe the desired written copy to create a feeling, personality or approach? specific tone or setting for an advertisement. ? Discuss how content (images or words), flow of information (narrative), interaction (physical or virtual) and user behaviours (pros or cons) should affect mode and style. Message The central, underlying ? What are we saying with this piece idea or theme within an exactly? advertisement. ? How can the client back that up? ? Are the words already developed or do we develop them? ? What do we want audiences to take away?
Visuals Use of pictures and ? Are we developing new images or graphic images. using existing ones? ? If we are creating them, who, what, where are we shooting and why? ? Should we consider illustrations and/or charts? ? What type of thematic iconography makes sense and is appealing? ? How do existing style guides and brand manuals affect the project? Details Other Important items. ? Is there any mandatory information? ? Is there a list of deliverables required such as copy, design, printed materials, banners, brochures, display advertisements, etc.? ? Any pre-conceived ideas? ? What are the format parameters? ? What are the limitations and restrictions? ? What is the timeline, approval process and budget? ? What is the best delivery media and why? People People involved. ? Who are we reporting to? ? Who will approve this work? ? Who needs to be informed of our progress? ? By what means? Source: Guide to painless projects. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.coloradocollege. edu/offices/communications/printprojects 3.3.2 Creative Brief Templates Many organisations and agencies have a very refined, possibly even copyrighted creative brief tool that is specific to how they do business. Most of them, though, have a few important elements in common. Study the examples of the following templates used by different agencies:
Ogilvy and Mather Creative Brief 1. Product: 2. Key Issue (Problem): 3. The Promise: 4. The Support: 5. Our Competition: 6. Target Consumer: Who are we talking to? Demographics and psychographics? 7. Desired Behaviour: What we expect 8. TargetÊs Net Impression: 9. Mandatories: 10. Tone and Manner: JWT Creative Brief 1. What are the Opportunities and/or Problems which the advertising must address? A brief summary of why you are advertising. Take the consumerÊs point of view, not „sales are down‰, but, rather „consumers are choosing cheaper alternatives‰. 2. What do we want people to do as a result of the advertising? 3. Who are we talking to? Try to develop a rich description of the target group. Indicate their beliefs and feelings about the category. Avoid demographic information only. Add personality and lifestyle dimensions. 4. What is the Key Response we want from the advertising? "State succinctly, what single thing do we want people to feel or notice or believe as a result of advertising".
5. What information or attributes might help produce this response? It could be a key product attribute, a key user need which the brand fulfils, etc. Avoid a laundry list. 6. What aspect of the Brand Personality should the advertising express? 7. Are there any media or budget considerations? 8. Any additional information that might affect the creative direction. „Feel free to use a visual summary, a picture, drawing or any object which aids in understanding the nature of the brief‰. Simpsons Creative Client and client contact information: (Name, phone number and e-mail address of the person or people on the client side. The „client‰ being whoever pays for or approves the work). Project: Example: „New campaign to launch ABC‰. Prepared by: (Name of the person who assumed primary responsibility for writing the brief) Approved by: Client/date: Agency/date: Background or overview: What is the big picture? What is going on in the market? Is anything happening on the client side that the creative team should know about? This is where you introduce the project to the creative team. For an overview, answer the question, „Who is the project addressed to, and what is the one main thing we want to say?‰ What is the objective of the project?: A concise statement of the effect the project should have on consumers. Typically expressed as an action and frequently focused either on what you want them to think, to feel, or do.
Target audience:
Who are we addressing? The more precise and detailed the better. Go beyond age and sex to include demographics, buying behaviour, lifestyle etc. Be sure to explain how the audience currently thinks or feels about the product category, the clientÊs brand, or the specific service as well as how they currently behave. What is the single most important thing we want to say?: What is the most persuasive or most important thing we can say to achieve the objective? This should be a simple sentence. No more than a few sentences if absolutely necessary. Avoid generalities because they result in ambiguous communication. What are the supporting rationale and emotional „reasons to act or believe?‰: List the rationale and emotional reasons for the target market to believe what we want them to believe, and do what we want them to do. Include all the major copy points, in order of relative importance to the consumer. In other words, „What else can we say to achieve the objective?‰ Include mandatory elements, helpful information and insights. Here is where you put all other details, such as information about the offer if it is a direct response ad or perhaps a description of the brand personality. Include any mandatory elements such as the clientÊs logo, address and phone number. Client Service Checklist: Do we have a complete package of all supporting information for the creative team such as previous ads, brochures, competitor ads perhaps books or websites for reference? If this is a long format communication such as a website, brochure or video, do we have an outline for the creative team that includes all the important copy points, including an indication of visuals and graphs? Is it clear from the client what must be in the communication, and what might be in the communication? What are the client mandatories versus client preferences? Source: Simpsons Creative. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.simpsonscreative.co.uk/
ACTIVITY 3.3 Choose a consumer product or service. From the Internet, study the product or service you have chosen to promote. Study also the manufacturer or the company offering the service. Study everything you need to know about the product and the company of the product. Then, prepare an overview document of a creative brief by answering these questions: (a) Who is the client? (b) What is the product or service? (c) What are products strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? (d) What does the brand stand for? (e) What does the client value? (f) Why does the client need this campaign? (g) Who are the competitors? (h) What is going on in the market? 3.3.3 Implementation The creative brief is used not only at the start of a project, but throughout the entire creative process. It is the one element that has been agreed upon and is objective enough to act as a shared guideline. Clients use it to get organised, and to develop consensus within their own enterprises. They then use it to help determine if the creative actually solves the problem as intended.
The creative team uses creative briefs to fact-find and understand their client, building knowledge about both perception and reality of the problem at hand. Creatives often find that what their client thinks is the problem is not really the problem at all. These are the things revealed in the briefing. The following information exaplains the implementation of the creative brief: (a) Managing Creative Briefs Once the creative brief is approved, it is a useful instrument to get the creative team ready to work on the project. Everyone in the team has what they need, no matter what their responsibility is. The designers and art directors have relevant grounding, the writer has messaging information, the production people have milestones and due dates and the account executive has met with all client stakeholders. (b) Evaluating Creative Briefs The creative brief is driven by the clientÊs desire to achieve a measurable goal. Some goals are less easy to measure, but analytics and benchmarks make certain kinds of success more transparent. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of your creative brief, there are some things to look at as objectively as possible: Is the creative brief aligned with the clientÊs goals and brand values? Does the creative brief distinctly position the client as unique? How has the target audience responded to the creative brief? Have they actively engaged and even shared it with others? Does the creative brief showcase unique ideas and functionality? Has the creative brief garnered industry attention? Try a rigorous evaluation after each project and report your results back to your client. This information will help the team correct and build on the work to create even more effective solutions.
3.4 FORMULATING ADVERTISING STRATEGY What is an advertising strategy? It is the formulation of a message that communicates to the market the benefits or problem solution characteristics of the product or service. Good planning demands that you know where you are headed for and those logical alternatives for getting there are explored. These alternatives are referred to as strategies. Your strategic objectives can be achieved in a number of ways. What you are trying to convey through your advertising and state in your strategy is what you offer to meet the consumerÊs need; how your product has more beneficial characteristics than the competitiorsÊ; and what the beneficial characteristics are: (a) Define Product Determine the product or service you have to offer to the marketplace and the objective of the store. For an example, let us use an imaginary convenience store named Malaysia QMart: Malaysia QMART is a whole foods store servicing the metropolitan area with the finest in fresh foods. The store also carries a large assortment of bulk foods, herbs, vitamins, body care products and natural food groceries. The primary objective of Malaysia QMart is, therefore, to service its customers with the highest quality foodstuffs and to educate the consumer on the benefits of the products offered and their contribution to a healthy lifestyle.
(b) Define Target Markets Target markets should be determined by the results of your market surveys. Target markets for Malaysia QMART are: Malaysia QMART is located in a city, surrounded by residential areas and close to higher education institutions and office buildings. There are several distinct markets targeted as Malaysia QMART customers. Each market has its own distinct buying patterns, demographics and psychographics. Therefore, each market must have a different advertising approach and product mix. But at the same time, the Malaysia QMART "message" must be consistent in each advertising group. The targets markets are college and university students, residential people, office workers and the natural food community. Each market has to be defined for its demographic characteristics, its psychographic characteristics and the products to be targeted for each group. (a) Targeted Group: (i) Demographic Characteristics: University students; Age: 1826 Sex: mixed; Race: mixed; Marital status: single; Income level: low. (ii) Psychographic Characteristics: Undergraduate, young, single, physically active lifestyle, health conscious, eat on the go. (b) Target Products: (i) Category 1: Vitamins, cosmetics, prepared foods, quick energy foods, bulk cereals, yogurt. (ii) Category 2: Basic whole foods, fresh produce, cheese, dairy, juices, essential vitamins, breads. (c) Targeted Media: (i) Category 1: University media: newspapers, magazines, radio and websites. (ii) Category 2: Handouts, brochures and fliers. (iii) Category 3: Sponsorship of university events.
SELF-CHECK 3.1 Explain the following elements and relate your explanation to a creative brief Client Audience Competitors Tone Objective Deliverables Media Budget Brand Personality 3.5 MESSAGE STRATEGIES Message strategy is a crucial step in creating an effective advertising message. It provides the foundation for the rest of the advertising campaign. According to Kotler (2009) the process in the development of a message strategy is as follows: (a) Identifying customer benefits This is to be used as advertising appeals. Customers buy products based on their perceived value and benefits they offer rather than for the product. A good advertisement should be able to communicate the products benefits and value to particular customers. (b) Developing the creative message concept The creative message concept, as defined by Kotler and Keller (2009), is „the compelling big idea that will bring the advertising message strategy to life in a distinctive and memorable way‰. This may manifest itself as a phrase, a visualisation or both. Finally, the creative concept will provide guidelines for the construction of advertising appeals. These advertising appeals should have three characteristics: they should be meaningful, point out benefits that makes the product more desirable and they should be believable. Thirdly they should be distinctive, that is, they should tell how the product is better than its competitor.
3.5.1 Message Strategy Taxonomy A message strategy is the primary tactic or approach used to deliver the message theme. Frazer (1983) proposes creative strategy taxonomies, defining seven creative strategy alternatives as explained in Table 3.2: Table 3.2: Creative Strategy Alternatives by Frazer Creative Strategy Alternatives Description Generic Making a claim all brands in the product category can make. Pre-emptive Highlight specific product or service points but do it in a way where competitors can say „me too‰ when competing. Unique selling propositions Focus on a unique consumer benefit. Brand image strategies Associate images, social situations and symbols with the brand and tend to appeal to consumersÊ psychologically. Positioning Gives the product a unique place in the consumerÊs mind which is well-suited for new entries or brands with small market share. Resonance Strategy seeks to display experiences of the consumer, imagined or otherwise, with those portrayed in the advertisement to create a relationship. Anomalous or affective Strategy attempts to connect directly to the consumerÊs emotions. Source: Frazer, C. F. (1983). Creative strategy: A management perspective. Journal of Advertising, 12 (4), 3641 However, there are three broad categories of message strategies, namely cognitive strategies, affective strategies and conative strategies. All three of the message strategies are described here.
(a) Cognitive Strategies A cognitive message strategy uses rational arguments or rational pieces of information to consumers. When a cognitive message strategy is used, the advertisementÊs key message is about the productÊs features or the benefits. The goal of the cognitive strategy approach is to plan an advertisement that will have an impact on a personÊs beliefs or knowledge structure. By using the product, customers can obtain these benefits. Cognitive strategies can be accomplished by presenting some of the potential product benefits. By doing this, the benefits will be clear to potential customers. Examples: (i) Foods products can be described as natural, healthy, tasty, low calorie and fresh. (ii) Machines or tools can be presented as durable, convenient, handy to use, long-lasting and reliable. (iii) Banking services may be portrayed as efficient, secure and user- friendly. Figure 3.2 lists five major forms of cognitive strategies. Figure 3.2: Major forms of cognitive strategies. Let us now discuss the strategies one by one. (i) Generic Messages This strategy uses direct promotions of product attributes or benefits without any claim of superiority. It focuses on selling the category rather than the specific brand. It works best for a dominant company in the industry or a brand leader. The goal of the generic message is to make the brand synonymous with the product category. For example, you may choose to highlight why using eco-friendly fuel is a smarter choice rather than highlighting why using a specific brand of eco- friendly fuel is a good choice. Generic message strategies can also be used to create brand awareness. The goal may be to develop a cognitive linkage between a specific brand name and a product category. The advertisement may contain very little information about the productÊs attributes. The intent of the advertisment is simply to put the brand name in a personÊs cognitive memory. Examples: ? Boost Immunity. Drink Milk. ? Soup is good. ? Intel inside. (ii) Pre-emptive Messages This strategy means that you are choosing to be the first to make a claim about your product or service. This claim may also be true for your competition, but you are the first to tell your target audience about it. Pre-emptive messages claim superiority based on a productÊs specific attribute or benefit. The idea is to prevent the competition from making a similar statement. Examples: ? A manufacturer pre-empts other companies from making similar- sounding claims, even though all products in the category have the similar functions and uses. ? A company becomes the first one to state the advantage. This keeps competitors from saying the same thing. Those that do are viewed as „me-too‰ brands or copycats.
(iii) Unique Selling Proposition (USP) A brandÊs USP is the benefit that a brand promises to provide for the consumer. A USP must be unique to the brand. You should not advertise a benefit or a feature that other competitors also offer. The feature also has to be something the consumer actually cares about. An effective USP must be a feature or benefit that the audience finds believable.This strategy highlights something unique about your product or brand that others do not offer. It is the main selling point. USP is a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors. It is an explicit, testable claim of uniqueness or superiority that can be supported or substantiated in some manner. Real research needs to be conducted to know what sets a brand apart from the competitors. Brand parity makes a USP more difficult to establish. Example: ? A washing liquid claims it is the only detergent that uses a certain technology, which provides for better cleaning. This company can use this USP if it, for example, holds patents for that particular method or technology. (iv) Hyperbole Approach Hyperbole is an exaggeration which may be used for emphasis and humour for effect or to make advertisements more interesting. This strategy makes an untestable claim based upon some attributes or benefits. These claims do not have to be substantiated, which makes this cognitive strategy quite popular. Hyperbole is a useful tool for communicating the „what‰ of brand promises, but it is bad at substantiating the „why‰ necessary for credibility and subsequent purchase, whether used in traditional ads or set free on the Internet. Advertisers use such hyperbolic statements to attract customers, not with the facts about their products but with wild exaggerations not intended to reflect the truth. Examples: ? Esso Put a tiger in your tank! ? Redbull It gives you wings!
(v) Comparative Advertisement This type of advertisement compares directly or indirectly a brand to its competitor. The advertisement may or may not mention the competitor by name. Sometimes, an advertiser simply presents an anonymous competitor, giving it a name like product X. Comparative advertising tells consumers the differences in products and allows competitors to highlight why the consumer should select its product over another product. In certain countries, comparative advertising is not permissible. When advertisers seek to promote their product at the expense of another in terms of quality, performance, sales, price or other attributes, they face not only a public cautious of their claims, but also a broad spectrum of legal rules. In some countries, the trade commissionÊs policy in the area of comparative advertising encourages the naming of the competitors to avoid deception of the consumer. (b) Affective Strategies An affective strategy usually seeks to reach audiences on an emotional level. The goal is to touch the viewer through emotions and feelings. These strategies are considered „soft sells‰ because it is indirect and instead attempts to make a connection with the heart. Affective message strategies invoke feelings or emotions and match those feelings with the good, service, or company. Such advertisements are prepared to enhance the likeability of the product, recall of the appeal or comprehension of the advertisement. Affective strategies elicit emotions that lead the consumer to act, preferably to buy the product, and subsequently affect the consumerÊs reasoning process. Table 3.3 explained the two categories of affective strategies.
Table 3.3: Categories of Affective Strategies Category Description Resonance This strategy attempts to connect a product with a consumerÊs strategy experiences to develop stronger ties between the product and the consumer. Emotional This strategy attempts to evoke powerful emotions that eventually strategy lead to product recall and choice. Many emotions can be connected to products including friendship, happiness, trust, luxury serenity, pleasure, reliability, security, glamour, romance and passion. Source: Advertising design: Message strategies and executional frameworks. (2007). Retrieved from http://wps.pearsoncustom.com/wps/media/objects/ 2471/2530892/MKT610-OL_Ch07.pdf (c) Conative Strategies According to Clow and Baack (2007), conative message strategies are formulated to lead more directly to some type of consumer response or action. They can be used to support other promotional efforts, such as coupon redemption programmes, Internet „hits‰ and orders and in-store offers such as buy-one-get-one-free. The goal of a conative advertisement is to elicit behaviour. A conative strategy is present in any television advertisement for products that seek to persuade viewers to call a phone number to purchase the product. These ads typically encourage quick action by stating that the product cannot be purchased at stores and is available for only a limited time. Action-inducing conative advertisements create situations in which cognitive knowledge of the product or affective liking of the product may come later (after the actual purchase) or during product usage. For instance, a point-of purchase display is designed to cause people to make impulse buys. The goal is to make the sale, with cognitive knowledge and affective feelings forming as the product is used.
Conative advertisements are used to support other promotional efforts. Besides coupons and phone-in promotions, a company may advertise a competition that a consumer enters by filling out the form on the advertisement or by going to a particular retail store. Choosing the right message strategy is a key ingredient in creating a successful advertising programme. To be effective, the message strategy must be carefully matched with the leverage point and executional framework that have been selected as well as with the media that will be utilised. The creative and the account executive must remain in constant contact throughout the process to be certain all of these advertising ingredients are consistent.
ACTIVITY 3.4
1. Study some of the consumer advertisements in any media: print, broadcast or online. List all the claims and categorise them into different strategies. 2. Generic and pre-emptive strategies are sometimes described as the two weakest forms of advertising while affective strategy is said to be the strongest. What are generic, pre-emptive and affective strategies? Why are generic and pre-emptive strategies considered the weakest while the affective strategy is considered the strongest? Discuss and give examples. 3.5.2 Advertising Appeals Advertising appeals are specific strategies used by advertisers to connect with their target audiences. These are distinctive advertising claims about the products advertised. Appeals are basically the foundational channels of all human communication. However, each kind of appeal is only appropriate or effective for certain kinds of messages. Advertisements are meant to catch the attention of the target audience and to persuade them into doing a certain action. Table 3.4 explained some major types of advertising appeals.
Table 3.4: Major Types of Advertising Appeals Type Description Rational Rational appeals attempt to provide all the information the audience needs to make up their minds. Many products and services are much better served by rational appeals. Emotional Emotional appeals use emotion rather than intellect or reason to persuade the audience. Emotional appeals may better create personal attachments with brands and these attachments can turn into long-term bonds. Humour Humour appeals use funny elements to grab the attention and help the audience remember the advertisements. However, advertisers must be careful when using this strategy because some people have a greater sense of humour than others and what may be funny to some people may be offensive to others. Fear Fear appeals uses more memorable than upbeat or neutral ads, but if too disturbing, viewers may turn away. Using fear like any kind of emotional appeal carries ethical risks. Sex Sex appeals range from merely romantic inclinations to outright nudity. Ads with sex appeal do grab attention, but people tend not to remember the brands being advertised they are too distracted by the sexually charged content, it would seem. They also tend to remember the visual components of the ad and tend not to remember audio or text content. In many countries, sex content is not permitted. Music Musical appeals have been shown to capture the attention of viewers. In addition, they actually increase the rate at which audiences remember other ad content because the human brain often stores memories of music in long-term recall areas of the brain. Source: Advertising primer 6: Appeals and executions. (2010). Retrieved from http://blog.stage2studios.com/2010/06/advertising-primer-6-appeals-and.html ACTIVITY 3.5 Refer to The Ogilvy and Mather Guide to Effectiveness which can be accessed at http://www.ogilvydo.com. Read the section on how to produce successful campaigns. Explain each strategy and give your own evaluation of each strategy.
SELF-CHECK 3.2 Read the following cases or descriptions and decide on the type of advertising appeals used and type of cognitive strategies employed. Case or Description Type of Appeals Advertising which frequently involves selling complex or technical products or services. Overstate the plight of the homeless people to encourage volunterism. A fairly straightforward presentation of the productÊs attributes and claims. Focusing on brand jingle. Use of jokes to make the ad enjoyable, involving and memorable. Case or Description Type of Cognitive T Strategies S Testable claim based on an attribute or benefit without claim of uniqueness or explicit mention of competition. Untestable claim based upon an attribute or benefit. Message focuses upon the product class. Message focuses on developing a brand personality. Message focuses on product class.
In advertising, creative ideas are the lifeblood. The creative team strives to provide innovative solutions to clientsÊ business challenges and to create advertisements. Many good ideas come from our own daily experience and our insights. The world around us is filled with ideas that can be useful. None of those ideas will come to us by thinking really hard in a vacuum. We have to get out in the world and practice behaviours that lead us to new ideas. ? Creativity requires imagination and skills in problem solving. There are techniques available as a guide to assist in the creative process and some of the creative techniques are juxtaposition, free association, convergent and divergent thinking, lateral thinking, and brainstorming. ? The creative brief, as a written document that comprehensively and concisely summarises both the business and creative requirements, is the foundation of any advertising or marketing campaign. ? The creative message concept is the compelling big idea that will bring the advertising message strategy to life in a distinctive and memorable way. Creative concepts provide guidelines for the construction of advertising appeals. ? Advertising appeals are specific strategies advertisers use to connect with their target audiences. They are meaningful and point out benefits that make the product more desirable. Appeals should be believable and be distinctive.
Affective Strategy
Juxtaposition
Brainstorming
Message Strategy
Creative brief
Positioning
Cognitive Strategy
Pre-emptive Strategy
Generic Strategy.
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