Summary Chapter 5

Chapter 8: Creative Strategy: Planning and Development

• © 2021 McGraw Hill. All rights reserved. For instructor use only.

• No reproduction or distribution without consent.

The Advertising Message

• Creative Strategy: Determines what the advertising message communicates.

• Creative Tactics: Focus on how the message strategy will be executed.

• Big Idea: Central theme of the campaign.

• Creative Ads:

  • Effectiveness of strategy and execution can determine product success.

  • Success does not always correlate with increased sales.

  • Debate exists over the value of advertising awards.

Advertising Creativity

Different Perspectives

• Managers’ Perspective:

  • Advertising is only considered creative if it sells the product.

  • Ads are promotional tools aimed at creating favorable marketplace impressions.

  • Generally risk-averse, favoring conservative ads.

• Creative People’s Perspective:

  • Values artistic merit and originality in ads.

  • Sees ads as vehicles for personal aesthetic expression and career advancement.

  • Focus on maximizing impact of the message.

Determinants of Creativity

• Advertising Creativity:

  • Ability to generate unique and relevant ideas for communication.

  • Central determinants:

    • Divergence: Novelty and uniqueness of the idea.

    • Relevance: Importance and appropriateness to the target audience.

Planning Creative Strategy

• The Creative Challenge:

  • Must turn the advertising message into a memorable ad.

  • Each marketing situation requires a unique creative approach.

• Taking Creative Risks:

  • Essential for creating impactful advertisements that capture attention.

• Creative vs. Hard-Sell Debate:

  • Suits (Rationalists): Emphasize that advertising must drive sales.

  • Poets: Argue for creating emotional connections with consumers.

The Creative Process

Young’s Model

• Immersion: Gather data and immerse in the problem.

• Digestion: Analyze the collected information.

• Incubation: Let your subconscious process the information.

• Illumination: Generate the initial idea.

• Reality/Verification: Refine and validate the idea for practicality.

Wallas’s Model

• Preparation: Research and gather background information.

• Incubation: Allow ideas to develop organically.

• Illumination: Identify the solution to the problem.

• Verification: Refine and assess if the solution is fitting.

Creative Strategy Development

Advertising Campaigns

• A coordinated set of marketing activities centered on a unified theme.

• Campaigns appear across various media over a specified period.

• Campaign Theme:

  • Central message delivered in all promotional efforts.

  • Typically expressed through a slogan or tagline.

  • Briefly conveys brand positioning and intended messaging.

Campaign Themes and Slogans

• Slogans:

  • Should be simple, catchy, and emotionally engaging.

  • Many brands are moving away from using slogans.

• Campaign Themes:

  • Aim to resonate over extended periods.

  • Guided by specific marketing goals and objectives.

• Creative Strategy Statement: Outlined in a creative platform document.

Creative Brief

• Document detailing key elements of the creative strategy.

• Acts as a communication foundation between client and agency.

• Developing a Creative Brief:

  • Client creates an assignment brief; the ad agency develops the creative brief.

  • Collaborative approach where clients work alongside the ad agency is also common.

  • Often, information gaps arise during the brief development process.

Developing the Major Selling Idea

• Effective creative ideas convey key benefit claims dramatically.

• Approaches include:

  • Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

  • Brand image establishment.

  • Highlighting inherent drama.

  • Strategic positioning.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

• Benefit: Defines what buyers gain by choosing the product/service.

• Unique: Proposition must distinguish the brand from competitors.

• Potent: The promise must resonate powerfully with a mass audience.

Creating a Brand Image

• Image Advertising:

  • Strategy to forge a strong, memorable brand identity.

  • Successful image ads link the brand with culturally meaningful symbols.

  • Use of visuals to elicit emotional and psychosocial associations.

Finding Inherent Drama

• Emphasizes product characteristics that drive consumer purchases.

• Advertising should:

  • Be founded on consumer benefits.

  • Use dramatic elements to express these benefits.

Positioning

• Establishes a product or service in a distinctive place in consumer consciousness.

• Based on the unique attributes of the offering.

• Critical for firms with multiple competitive brands in the same market.