Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Advertising Concept Book
Advertising Concept Book
For Jeannie
www.thamesandhudson.com
2008 Pete Barry
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or
any other information storage and retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-500-51405-4
Printed and bound in China by SNP Leefung Printers Limited
Unless otherwise stated, the illustrations in this book are
the Authors interpretations of the concepts that were presented
to the client.
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright owners of
the advertisements used in this book. The Author and Publisher
apologize for any unintentional omissions. We would be pleased
to insert an appropriate acknowledgment in any reprint of this
publication.
Contents
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Introduction
Basic Tools
17
The Strategy
41
56
The Campaign
90
The Tagline
97
Generating Strategies
and Ideas
106
TV
154
Ambient
175
Interactive
184
Copy
199
Radio
209
Integrated
218
Execution
229
247
252
Conclusion
262
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
266
268
269
Introduction
Concept Over Execution,
Substance Over Style
There have been hundreds of great ad campaigns
over the years, but there are surprisingly few great
books on how to create this level of work. (By
create, I mean those books that focus on concepts
and ideas, rather than on the look or final
execution of an ad.)
Since the emergence of so-called Concept
Advertising* in the 1950s and 1960s (the basis
of Larry Dobrows rare, timeless book When
Advertising Tried Harder [1984]) sadly only
a handful of genuine ad titans (of which Im
certainly not one) have shared their words of
wisdom on paper. Although insightful, many
of these ad man textswaxing lyrical about
business-winning philosophies and set-in-concrete
creative dos and dontsare starting to show
their age.
There are also plenty of terrific graphic design
books out there, written by much more worthy
design folk than myself. Plus every year theres
a new batch of award books which will hopefully
inspire. Oh, and dont forget those coffee table ad
books that look just like cut-and-pasted awards
books. And if its the latest computer software
skills youre after, the choice of manuals and
how-to guides is expanding by the day.
This book, however, deals solely with the first
and most important step toward creating great,
timeless advertising: concept.
Without a great concept you have nothing but
mutton dressed as lamb. The best choice of type
or color palette or photography or illustration
cant save a bad idea. (Or as someone once crudely
put it: You cant polish a turd.) Concept is to
advertising what the little black dress is to fashion:
it will always be in demand.
Learn to Draw
If the reason for this is still unclear, heres an
explanation from famed art director Ron Brown:
It is an advantage to be able to draw, as it
enables you to put down an idea on paper. If
you understand perspective, know how light
behaves, how anatomy works and how to make
use of white space, it will help you do a layout.
I use a Pentel to draft an ad and a computer to
craft it.
Why Advertise?
This question comes up in the classes I teach every
year (usually from the S.S.S., or single skeptical
student).
Youd think the basic answer is obvious, right?
That advertising is a tried and tested way to get a
product or service noticed in a highly competitive
world, etc., etc
But then the S.S.S. invariably quips: Yeah, but
why bother to do anything creative? Why not just
say what the product is?
What?! Im stunned.
*Note: some designers and advertising creatives, including the ingenious Bob Gill, prefer the term ideas rather than concept, believing the
latter should be reserved for Einstein-sized thinking only. One could easily argue that advertising ideas sounds too lightweight and general.
Depending on their background, some people will use concept to mean a big campaign idea that came out of the strategy, into which smaller
ideas (executions) are injected. The US tends to use concept, whereas the UK prefers idea. It really doesnt matter. I believe that concept
and idea are the same thing: its what comes after the strategy, and before the executions. I will therefore use the two definitions interchangeably throughout the book. As for its title, The Advertising Concept Book simply sounded better to me than The Advertising Idea Book.
6 Introduction
Introduction 7
8 Introduction
Introduction 9
10 Introduction
Be a Thinker
The creative team is usually made up of a
copywriter (words) and an art director (pictures).
Dont worry if youre still unsure which role fits
you best. They overlap. More often than not,
a great art director has the potential to be a
great copywriter, and vice versa. The copywriter
can have a brilliant idea about the art direction;
the art director could come up with a great tagline.
Anyhow, you will have plenty of time to be
pigeonholed as soon as you start your career.
For now, just concentrate on being an art director/
copywriter. Or a copywriter/art director. Better yet,
a thinker. And as the famous Apple tagline requests,
think different.
What helps you think? Simply absorb yourself
in anything and everything: movies, poetry,
photography, art, novels, newspapers, current
events, sport, etc. Without question, the best
advertising people are renaissance people.
12 Introduction
Consumer response
Introduction 13
14 Introduction
Introduction 15
Creativity: a combination of
tools, talent, intuition, and
tenacity.
16 Introduction