Creative Strategy

how messages attract attention

-appeals to informational or hedonic needs

-use of novel stimuli

-use of intense or prominent cues

-use of motion

elaboration likelihood model

explains how consumers process persuasive messages and how advertising influences their attitudes and buying decisions

central route

-consumers think carefully about the message

-pay attention to facts, details, features and benefits

-more motivated to make an informed decision

peripheral route

-consumers are persuaded by cues that don’t require much thought

-focus on visuals, music, celebrities and emotions

-decision based on how the ad makes them feel

6 elements of sticky advertisements

-simplicity

-concrete

-emotional

-storytelling

-credibility

-unexpectedness

comparative ads

the practice in which advertisers directly or indirectly compare their products against competitive offerings and claim superiority

pitfalls of comparative ads

-brings attention to competitors

-legal complications

-can cause poor brand image

-can create consumer confusion

fear appeals

-may stress physical danger or threats to health

-may identify social threats

-can backfire if level of threat is too high

humor appeals

-can attract and hold attention

-often the best remembered

-put consumers in a positive mood, make them smile

pros and cons of fear appeals

-message can feel urgent

-may ignore message if feeling overwhelmed

pros and cons of humor appeals

-aids retention of message

-not everyone thinks the same things are funny

-may be too distracting from actual message

psychological reactance

when consumers resist a message because they feel it is threatening their freedom or trying to control their behavior

appeals to consumer guilt

-breaking rules / violating beliefs

-guilt can be relieved by product or by doing something

sex appeals

-elicits attention

-evokes emotional responses

-enhances recall

unique selling proposition (USP)

identifying an important difference that makes a brand unique and supports a claim that competitors cannot match

brand image

developing an image or identity for a brand by associating the brand with symbols that provide a transformational context

resonance

attempting to match “patterns” in an advertisement with the target audiences stored experiences

emotional

aiming to reach the consumer at a visceral level through the use of emotional strategy

means end chain strategy

brand attitudes and the consequences of consuming these attributes are the means whereby people achieve valued ends

means

attributes + consequences

ends

values

10 universal values

-self direction

-stimulation

-hedonism

-achievement

-power

-security

-conformity

-tradition

-benevolence

-univeralism

creative brief

explains what an ad campaign is to accomplish so the client is aware of what the agency plans to do

components of a creative brief

-background

-target audience

-insights

-objectives

-positioning

-message / mediums

-deliverables