7 steps to successful advertising

7 steps to successful advertising

Step 1: Think about what it is like to be a consumer of your brand and behave like one at all times.
Unless you can truly think like your consumer, you will always be a poor judge of advertising. Listening to consumers via qualitative research can definitely help here.

7 steps to successful advertising

Step 2: Focus on the proposed execution. Check it against the strategy later
The consumer does not get to read the strategy, so nor should you. Ask for the precise strategic aim of the advertising only after the execution has been presented. That way his evaluation is not biased by prior expectations.

7 steps to successful advertising

Step 3: Imagine you are watching/ hearing/reading the advertisement half-asleep
Consumers do not sit up and pay attention when your advertising comes onto the television Consumers process almost all television advertising passively, using what is called low-involvement processing LIP is done mainly by the right hemisphere of the brain The right brain is emotional but not analytical. It records the elements in the advertising and stores them along with the feelings they create. If we see a dog in a Hutch advertisement we record it as a cute, loveable dog, we do not analyse rationally what relevance it has to mobile phones.

7 steps to successful advertising

Step 4: Mentally record all the elements that seem likely to stand out, and ask yourself what they say about the brand
Think of these elements as the concrete associations that will ultimately define your brand. This is what the consumer will recall about your ad, and use to define your brand in their minds. The puppy is what people associate with Andrex. It carries with it the idea of softness and caring family values. But sometimes it can go wrong. The 1996 Peugeot 406 advertisement, featured the track Search for the hero inside yourself. Within in it was a sequence showing a girl in a red dress in danger of being run over by a skidding tanker: three years later that is what most people recall from this ad. This is an undeniably negative association

7 steps to successful advertising

Step 5: Recognise that creativity does not cease once the script or layout is presented
It is often at the execution stage where the most important associations in advertising are added. The Hamlet music was never part of the original script submission. All these have grown to be associations that fundamentally influence and effectively define these brands to consumers.

7 steps to successful advertising

Step 6: Consistency is key. Recognise what is a valuable association and hang on to it
Concrete associations are what define brands in peoples minds, and often they are the only competitive advantage a brand has. You sacrifice them at your peril. Fosters in the late 1980s decided the comedian Paul Hogan was getting too old to be used to advertise a lager aimed at young men. Since then they have run countless different campaigns, and wasted untold sums of money, but still the main thing associated with Fosters in peoples minds is Paul Hogan.

7 steps to successful advertising

Step 7: Tie brand associations to brand equity measurements
This is the final piece of the jigsaw research that elicits brand associations and links them to various different quantitative measures of brand equity. Forget advertising awareness, copy-point recall and the other conventional measures of advertising claims most of these are no more than hygiene measures.

Managing the Creative Process

What is Good Advertising

What is good advertising

An ad whose public is not only strongly sold by it, but that both the public and the advertising world remember it for a long time as an admirable piece of work
Leo Burnett

Be Liked
Ads are like people You can see most people a hundred times and not remember them, but meet someone you like once, and you will never forget them
Sir Frank Lowe

How do you get good advertising?

Client/Agency Relationship Creative Briefing Receiving & Evaluating Understanding how it works Idea vs. Execution

Advertising Idea vs. Execution

Brand Positioning

The niche in the target consumers minds and/or hearts that the brand wants to own

Brand Positioning Statement

To ABC x is the Brand of y which delivers z [target audience] [Brand name] [Category Need] [Benefit]

Price
Product

Performance

Rational

BRAND POSITIONING

Emotional

User Usage

Need

Successful ownership
Single-minded Consistent

Positioning Limitations
Despite positioning, brands still lose their way The transition from positioning through brief to execution causes this Positioning is a poor discipline for advertising consistency Advertising Idea is a good one It is the discipline the creative department uses

Advertising Idea
An Advertising Idea is derived from the Brands Single-Minded Proposition and its Key Consumer Insight. It is a creative thought which propels a campaign. The idea can be executed in many ways although it itself contains no executional detail. All Advertising Executions for the Brand should execute the Advertising Ideas creative thought, so that all share that thought, which remains consistent over time. Hence the advertising Idea itself can last for many years, while different executions of it keep it relevant and fresh to todays market place.

Execution
An Execution is the way in which the creative thought of the Advertising Idea has been expressed (or executed) in any particular advertisement. It is a rendering in words, sounds,

pictures, symbols, colors, shapes,

forms, or any combination of these, of an Advertising Idea. A series of executions of the same Advertising Idea form a campaign.

Axe Campaign (1998-2004)

LYNX 1998 AFRICA 1998 LYNX 1999 LYNX 2000

DEO 2001

DEO 2002

DEO 2002

DEO 2002

SHAVE 2002

DEO 2003

NEW-D 2003

DEO 2004

Qualities of Advertising Ideas

Excellent discipline for consistency over time Capable of many executions Become familiar to consumer Become valuable Brand assets

How do you get good Advertising Ideas

Key Consumer Insight

An insight is the discovery of a deeply felt human truth that creates a powerful personal connection between a brand and a consumer. It is also the springboard for great creative.

Example: Axe
Business Issue: Axe sales static due to ageing brand profile and failure to recruit amongst teenage males and dad brand image. Communications Challenge: To emotionally re-connect with youth. The Trigger Question: What does the target audience dream of

Key Consumer Insight Every man dreams of a woman making the first move

Example: French Lottery

Business Issue: Less people playing the lottery because new games seems more exciting to play Communications Challenge: Bring players back by putting the fun back into playing The Trigger Question: What would a fanatic say?

Key Consumer Insight When you play you can dream of changing your life

Key Consumer Insight

Category

Cultural

Universal

Single-minded proposition
Single-Minded Proposition

Product Belief Product Performance

Something the product actually does

Product Assertion
Something the Brand asserts to be true (and makes it so through investment over time)

Something consumers believe about the Brand (which may or may not be true
in reality)

Single-Minded Proposition

Key Consumer Insight

Advertising Idea

Key Consumer Insight

(Universal, Cultural or category)

Single-Minded Proposition
(Performance, Belief, or Assertion)

Advertising Idea

Eg: Volkswagen:

The world is a pretty unreliable place: If things can go wrong they generally do

VW is the most reliable car in its class

Reliability in an unreliable world

Key Consumer Insight

(Universal, Cultural or category)

Single-Minded Proposition
(Performance, Belief, or Assertion)

Advertising Idea

Eg: Fox Ice Hockey:

Violence is exciting

Fox Ice Hockey is really exciting to watch

If other sports were violent like Fox Ice Hockey theyd be much more exciting to watch

Key Consumer Insight

(Universal, Cultural or category)

Single-Minded Proposition
(Performance, Belief, or Assertion)

Advertising Idea

Eg: Courtyard Hotels:

Courtyard Hotels are designed by business people to give business people a better nights sleep

Lack of sleep impairs performance

Non-Courtyard business patrons perform badly

Single-Minded Proposition

Key Consumer Insight

Advertising Idea

The Creative Brief

Better Briefs = Better Ads

Time to brief vs Time to rework Less is more

Creative Brief

Creative Thinking

Creating a good Creative Brief

Time Involve others Single-Minded Proposition Relevant Consumer Insight Less is more Interesting

Creative Brief Performa

1. Advertising Requirement 2. Major Issue the Advertising Must Solve 3. Creative Strategy
Market description, Target Audience, Key Consumer Insight, Single-Minded Proposition, Support, Brand Personality

4. Ideal Consumer Response 5. Advertising Idea 6. Mandatory Executional Requirement, if any

Key properties, Local/Regional/Statutory constraints, Other

7. Budgets
Production Budget, Media Budget, Suggested Time Lengths / Space size

8. Competitive Context 9. Planned Pre-Testing

 Advertising Requirement:
What do we physically want the agency to produce?

Major Issue the Advertising must solve:

Choose one and be realistic!

Market description:
Describe the consumer competitive set in consumer language

 Target Audience:
Not just statistics Picture in minds eye Can be > one Cab be sub-set

Key Consumer insight:

Critical Business building! Creative hook Dont invent them!

 Single-Minded Proposition
Its the most distinctive and single-minded proposition that we want consumers to believe our brand delivers better than any other.

 Support:
Should support SMP Not mandatory Dont use to add secondary propositions!

Brand Personality:
Useful, actionable words Not obvious idiotic ones

 Ideal Consumer Response:

Whatever would make you and your Agency colleagues embrace each other in delight as the perfect response to seeing the advertising

Advertising Idea:
See earlier in this document under Advertising Idea vs. Execution

Mandatory Executional Requirements:

As few as possible Beware closing creative doors

 Budget:
Production Budget
Specify spending ceiling

Media Budget
Gives creative team a context for production budget

Suggested Time Lengths / Space size

Suggest, but dont be dogmatic. Agency may have better idea

Competitive Context Planned Pre-Testing

Improving briefing
Take briefs as seriously as creative work Take time Involve others Single-Minded Proposition Work Hard at Consumer Insight Make it interesting

Sample Briefs

PERSIL

VECTRA

Whole Brain Model

LEFT BRAIN
An Ad That Convinced Me Rationally

RIGHT BRAIN

An Ad That Didnt Appeal To Me/Touch Me

An Ad That Appealed To Me/ Touched Me

An Ad That Didnt Convince Me Rationally

Roger Clayton Whole Brain Model

LEFT BRAIN
An Ad That Convinced Me Rationally

RIGHT BRAIN

An Ad That Didnt Appeal To Me/Touch Me

An Ad That Appealed To Me/ Touched Me

An Ad That Didnt Convince Me Rationally

Roger Clayton Whole Brain Model

Receiving & Evaluating Advertising

Judging advertising well is hard

Subjective Disadvantage vs. Agency Time Pressure Relationship

1. Preparation
What are we looking for?
Creative Brief

What context must it work in?

Historical Current Competitive

2. Environment
People Venue Empathy Attitude

3. Time
Sufficient Nerve Curve

4. The Creative Presentation Meeting

1. Listen

2. Clarify

3. Advertising Idea Evaluation

4. Executional Evaluation

5. Considered Response

Creative Evaluation Guidelines

ADVERTISING IDEA What is the advertising idea that the advertising aims to communicate? Is the idea involving for the target audience? Is it distinctive? Is it on Brief? Is it right for the Brand? Is it an endearing Creative Thought?

Creative Evaluation Guidelines

EXECUTION Is the advertising idea clear in this execution? Is this execution on Brief? Will it appeal to the Target Audience? Will it stick in their minds / stand out? Is it right for the Brand? Is it sufficiently well branded?

Creative Evaluation Guidelines

OVERALL IMPRESSION Like/Dislike Persuasion Impact

Turning down creative work

Be sure Face to face Acknowledge effort/intent Exact diagnosis Re-motivate

Value the relationship

Work at it Do unto others Tonality Play together Be honest Joint evaluations

Value the creative work

Enough time Brief well Presentations at agency Respond well Share responsibility

CHOICE

CHOICE

OVERCHOICE

Ironically, the people of the future may suffer not from an absence of choice, but from a paralysing surfeit of it. They may turn out to be the victims of that peculiar super-industrial dilemma: overchoice.
Alvin Toffler

CHOICE

POSITIONING
CHOICE

CHOICE

CHOICE

Choice Proliferation
PRODUCT
Crest Toothpaste

VARIETIES 1970 1999

15 45

Orange Juice
Cream Cheese Coke Lettuce

20
3 6 4

70
30 25 9

CHOICE

+ INNOVATION

Brings customers unprecedented opportunities

AND

unprecedented anxieties

Seven Common Fears

(John Collard, Psychologist, Institute of Human Relations - Yale University)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Fear of failure Fear of sex Fear of self-defense Fear of trusting others Fear of thinking Fear of speaking Fear of being alone

The next generation of positioning successes will belong to those brands that relieve customer stress.

Become the customers partner in stress relief.

SIMPLICITY.

The streamlining wake-up call

IBM:
1994-7 slashed models from 3400 to 150, options from 750 to 350, inventory parts from 56k to 15k. Outgrew industry for the

first time in a decade.

P&G:

1995 cut number of hair care product choices by half. Market share has steadily grown.

Burger King, Sunoco, Nabisco, GM, Unilever...

De-cluttering strategies
Products/services that reduce no. of products, brands or decisions (Conditioning shampoo, PDA,

Single-window)

Advertising positioning (Honda. We make it

simple, Nokia - human technology) Branding (CareFree sugarless gum, Onebox.com, reduce sub-brands) Simplify logo designs (Nike swish)

Simplicity and the Internet

The need for simplicity is most apparent where complex technologies need to be harnessed and made invisible in order to provide a stress-free customer experience. Sustained growth of the Internet is powered by advent of visible simplicity sitting on top of invisible complexity.
One click ordering Imode

4Rs of Simplicity Marketing

1. 2. multiple or more complicated product or process. previously only available from multiple sources (integration). 3. 4. promise of simplicity.

Replace: Position yourself as a replacement for

Repackage: Bundle together products or services Reposition: Directly position yourself on the Replenish: Continuously provide zero-defect

service to existing customers at acceptable price points so they never have to make a purchase decision ever again.

Strategy Components
REPLACE
REPACKAGE REPOSITION REPLENISH
Substitution Consolidation

Aggregation Brand Streamlining Continuous Supply Vertical Extension

Integration Discontinuous Repositioning Competitive Pricing

Zero Defects

What use could this company make of an electrical toy?

Western Union president, William Orton, rejecting Bells offer to sell his struggling telephone company for $100,000.

Alexander Graham Bell

The telephone may be briefly described as an electrical contrivance for reproducing in distant places the tones and articulations of a speakers voice so that conversation can be carried on by word of mouth between two persons in different rooms, in different streets or in different towns.

AT&T

Reach out and touch someone

Complexity is not to be admired. Its to be avoided.

20,000

114,000

600,000

 Pulchritude possesses profundity of a merely cutaneous nature.

(Beauty is only skin deep.)

 It is not efficacious to indoctrinate a superannuated canine with innovative maneuvers.

(You cant teach an old dog new tricks.)

 Visible vapours that issue from carbonaceous materials are a harbinger of imminent conflagration.

(Where theres smoke, theres fire.)

 A revolving mass of lithic conglomerates does not accumulate a congery of small green bryophitic plants.

(A rolling stone gathers no moss.)

Memos from Hell

(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

Top leadership helicoptered this vision.

(The bosses are looking beyond next week.)

Memos from Hell

(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

Adding value is the keystone to exponentially accelerating profit curves.

(Lets grow sales and profits by offering more of what customers want.)

Memos from Hell

(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

We need to dimensionalise this management initiative

(Lets all make a plan.)

Memos from Hell

(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

We utilised a concert of cross-functional expertise.

(People from different departments talked to each other.)

Memos from Hell

(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

Dont impact employee incentivisation programs.

(Dont screw around with peoples pay.)

Memos from Hell

(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

Your job, for the time being, has been designated as retained.

(Youre not fired yet.)

Big ideas almost always come in small words

Volvos Mission Statement?

Volvo is in the business to make the safest vehicles in the world.

Volvos Mission Statement!

130 Words. Safety is the 126th word.

(Contains 301 corporate mission statements)

- Jeffrey Abrahams

The Mission Statement Book

Growth (118) Environment (117) Profit (114) Leader (104) Best (102)

Service (230 times) Customers (211) Quality (194) Value (183) Employees (157)

Forget what you want to be. Focus on what you can be.