Creative Planning,

Strategy and
Development

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 Lecture Plan
What
Be describable in is Creativity?
a simple word or phrase

What is advertising creativity?

The creative challenge

Creative
Be describable personnel
in a simple word or phrase

Creative process

Account planning

Verificationinand
Be describable revision
a simple of ideas
word or phrase

Advertising campaign

Building a copy platform

Major
Be describable in aselling
simpleideas
word or phrase

Model of© 2007

marketing information flow
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin
 What is Creativity?
• Ads are often called creative. The people who develop ads and
commercials are known as creative types
• It is their job to turn all of the information regarding product features
and benefits, + +
marketing plans, consumer + communication
research, and
objectives into a creative concept that will bring the advertising message
to life

Information
regarding Marketing Consumer Communication
product + plans + research + objectives
features

=
Creative Message
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Two Perspectives on Advertising Creativity

The ability to generate fresh, unique and

appropriate ideas that can be used as solutions
to communication problems.

“Its not
creative “Only artistic
unless it value and
sells originality
products” Suits Artists count”

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 Determinants of Creativity
Advertising Creativity

Advertising creativity is the ability to generate fresh, unique,

and appropriate or relevant ideas that can be used as
solutions to communication problems

Determining what the

Creative
advertising message will say
Strategy
or communicate

Creative Determining how the

message strategy will be
Tactics executed
 Determinants of Creativity

Divergence Relevance

Originality Ad-to-consumer
Flexibility Brand-to-consumer
Elaboration
Synthesis
Artistic Value
 Determinants of Creativity
Advertising Creativity

• Two central determinants of creativity-

• Divergence- refers to the extent to which an ad contains elements that
are novel, different, or unusual.
• Robert Smith have identified five major factors that could account for the
ways divergence can be achieved in advertising
• Originality- Ads that contain elements that are rare, surprising, or
move away from the obvious and commonplace.
• Flexibility- Ads that contain different ideas or switch from one
perspective to another.
• Elaboration- Ads that contain unexpected details or finish and
extend basic ideas so they become more intricate, complicated, or
sophisticated.
• Synthesis- Ads that combine, connect, or blend normally unrelated
objects or ideas.
• Artistic value- Ads that contain artistic verbal impressions or
attractive shapes and colors.
 Determinants of Creativity
Advertising Creativity

• Relevance- which reflects the degree to which the various elements of

the ad are meaningful, useful, or valuable to the consumer.
• Smith et al. suggest that relevance can be achieved in two ways.
• Ad-to-consumer relevance refers to situations where the ad
contains execution elements that are meaningful to consumers.
• For example, advertisers may use celebrities with whom consumers
identify…
• Brand-to-consumer relevance refers to situations where the
advertised brand of a product or service is of personal interest to
consumers.
• Relevance or appropriateness can also be viewed in terms of the
degree to which an advertisement provides information or an image
that is pertinent to the brand.
The Silhouettes campaign for the iPod is
an Example of Creative Advertising

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 Advertising Creativity

Creative ads require involvement of:

Agency
Client
Artist
Researcher

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 PLANNING CREATIVE STRATEGY
The Creative Challenge

• Those who work on the creative side of advertising often face a

challenge.
• They must take all the research, creative briefs, strategy statements,
communications objectives, and other input and transform them into an
advertising message.
• Their job is to write copy, design layouts and illustrations, or produce
commercials that effectively communicate the central theme on which
the campaign is based.

For Ad Putting many things together to have a

Agency memorable ad

For Client Taking risk with minimum interference

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 PLANNING CREATIVE STRATEGY
Taking Creative Risks

• Many who work on the creative side in agencies argue that it is

important for clients to take some risks if they want breakthrough
advertising that gets noticed
• Not all companies or agencies agree that advertising has to be risky to
be effective.
• Many marketing managers are more comfortable with advertising that
simply communicates product or service features and benefits and gives
the consumer a reason to buy.

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 PLANNING CREATIVE STRATEGY
Creative versus Hard-sell Advertising

“Suits”/ Rationalists Poets

• Advertising • Advertising
must sell the must build an
product or emotional
service bond between
consumers
and brands or
companies

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

PLANNING CREATIVE STRATEGY

The Perpetual Debate

Only artistic
It isn’t creative if it
value and
doesn’t sell
originality count

Suits Artists
PLANNING CREATIVE STRATEGY

Creative Personnel
Unconventional

Abstract

Less
structured

Less
organized

Intuitive
• It is important to note that creativity is not the exclusive domain of
those who work in the creative department of ad agencies.
• Integrated marketing communications requires creative thinking from
everyone involved in the planning and execution of IMC programs
Creative Personnel

Less
Immersion
structured

Relying on intuitions more than logic

Does not work on schedule

Dress differently

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 THE CREATIVE PROCESS

• Some advertising people say creativity in advertising is best viewed as

a process, and creative success is most likely when some organized
approach is followed.
• James Webb Young, a former creative vice president at the J. Walter
Thompson agency. Young said,
“The production of ideas is just as definite a process as the
production of Fords; the production of ideas, too, runs an
assembly line; in this production the mind follows an operative
technique which can be learned and controlled; and that its
effective use is just as much a matter of practice in the
technique as in the effective use of any tool.”

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 The Creative Process (by James Young)

Getting raw material, data, immersing

Immersion one's self in the problem to get the
background.

Ruminating on the data acquired,

Digestion turning it this way and that in the
mind.

Ceasing analysis and putting the

Incubation problem out of conscious mind for
a time.

A sudden inspiration or intuitive

Illumination revelation about a potential solution.

Studying the idea, evaluating it, and

Verification developing it for practical usefulness.

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Wallas’ View of the Creative Process

Illumination Preparation
Seeing the Gathering
Solution Information

The
Creative
Process

Verification Incubation
Refining Setting
the Idea Problem
Aside

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Account Planning (Getting Creative Input)

• Account planning, which is a process that involves conducting research

and gathering all relevant information about a client’s product or
service, brand, and consumers in the target audience.
• They search for insights using various mechanisms, such as conducting
consumer research; tapping into their personal domain knowledge,
including experiences and observations; and challenging conventions,
such the nature of consumer decision making and consumers’
relationships with a brand.

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Account Planning (Getting Creative Input)
Use the
product to
become Listen to what
Read anything
familiar with people are
related to the
it! talking about!
product or
market!

Ask everyone
Work in and
involved for
learn about
information!
the client’s
business!

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination

• Background Research:
• The creative specialist should also be knowledgeable about general
trends, conditions, and developments in the marketplace, as well as
research on specific advertising approaches or techniques that might be
effective.
• The creative specialist can acquire background information in numerous
ways. Some informal fact-finding techniques have been noted by
Sandra Moriarty:
• Reading anything related to the product or market—books, trade publications, general
interest articles, research reports, and the like
• Asking everyone involved with the product for information—designers, engineers,
salespeople, and consumers.

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination
• Listening to what people are talking about. Visits to stores, malls,
restaurants, and even the agency cafeteria can be informative.
• Using the product or service and becoming familiar with it
• Working in and learning about the client’s business to understand better the
people you’re trying to reach
• To assist in the preparation, incubation, and illumination stages, many
agencies provide creative people with both general and product-
specific preplanning input.
• General preplanning input can include books, periodicals, trade
publications, websites, scholarly journals, pictures, and clipping
services, which gather and organize magazine, newspaper, and online
articles on the product or service, the market, and the competition,
including competitors’ ads
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin
 THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Product- or Service-Specific Research
• creative people receive product- or service specific preplanning
input.
• This information generally comes in the form of specific studies
conducted on the product or service, the target audience, or a
combination of the two.
• Types of product-specific preplanning input include quantitative and
qualitative consumer research such as demographic and
psychographic profiles of users of a product, service or brand; focus
groups and/or in-depth interviews; and perceptual mapping and
positioning studies.
• Many of these studies use a variation of an approach called problem
detection for finding ideas around which creative strategies could be
based.
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin
 Verification and Revision of Ideas
Evaluate ideas generated

Reject inappropriate ideas

Objective
Refine remaining ideas

Give them final expression

Directed focus groups

Message communication studies

Techniques
Viewer reaction profiles

Portfolio tests
(Lab test. Comparing audience recall
for a portfolio of ads Including control and test ads)

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 CREATIVE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

An Advertising Campaign

Integrated

Interrelated Coordinated
Marketing
Communication
Activities

Centered on a
Theme or Idea
In Different Over a Time
Media Period

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 CREATIVE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

An Advertising Campaign

• A campaign theme should be a strong idea, as it is the central message

that will be communicated in all the advertising and other promotional
activities.
• The theme for the advertising campaign is usually expressed through
a slogan (tagline) that reduces the key idea into a few words or a brief
statement.
• The advertising slogan should serve as a summation line that succinctly
expresses the company or brand’s positioning, as well as the message it
is trying to deliver to the target audience.
 Advertising Campaign Themes

The central message that will be communicated in

all of the various IMC activities

Miller General Mills,

Philip Morris BMW
Lite Wheaties

“ Marlboro “ The ultimate “The breakfast

country” driving of champions”
machine”

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Some good slogans/themes

Company or Brand Campaign Theme

1. Obama Yes we can
2. Nike Just do it!
3. Coca Cola The pause that refreshes
4. Miller Lite Tastes great, less filling
5. Avis We try harder
6. Maxwell House Good to the last drop
7. Wheaties Breakfast of champions
8. Clairol Does she . . . or doesn’t she?
9. Morton Salt When it rains it pours
10. Wendy’s Where’s the beef?

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 Successful Long-Running Campaigns

Company or Brand Campaign Theme

Nike Just do it
Allstate Insurance You’re in good hands with Allstate
Hallmark cards When you care enough to send
the very best
Intel Intel inside
State Farm Insurance Like a good neighbor,
State Farm is there
Chevy Trucks Like a rock
Dial soap Aren’t you glad you use Dial?

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 CREATIVE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

Creative Brief
• The creative brief is a document that specifies the key elements of the creative
strategy for an advertising campaign and serves as the basis for communication
between the client and the advertising agency.
• Some agencies and/or companies have a different name for this document, such
as creative platform or work plan, creative blueprint, or creative contract.
• The traditional way of developing the creative brief has been a two-step
process.
• The client first creates the assignment brief (sometimes called a business or
marketing brief) that includes what the client wants the agency to do, as well as
what the agency needs to know to succeed.
• The second step is the development of the creative brief by the agency, which
is usually done by the account planner and/or representative assigned to the
account.
Building a Copy Platform Outline

6. Supporting information and requirements

5. Creative strategy statement

4. Selling idea or key benefits to communicate

3. Specify target audience

2. Advertising and communications objectives

1. Basic problem advertising must address

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 Major Selling Ideas
• An important part of creative strategy is determining the central
theme that will become the major selling idea of the ad
campaign
• Some advertising experts argue that for an ad campaign to be
effective it must contain a big idea that attracts the
consumer’s attention, gets a reaction, and sets the advertiser’s
product or service apart from the competition’s.
• Well-known ad executive John O’Toole describes the big idea as
“that flash of insight that synthesizes the purpose of the
strategy, joins the product benefit with consumer desire in a
fresh, involving way, brings the subject to life, and makes the
reader or audience stop, look, and listen.
 Developing Major Selling Ideas
There are myriad ways that creative personnel can approach the search for
big ideas and how to execute them. Among the four best-known approaches
are:

Use a Unique
Positioning the Create
Use a aUnique
Brand
SellingBrand
Proposition Selling
Image
Position

Seeking the
Major Idea

Positioning Create
Find thethe Brand
Inherent
Image
Drama
 Approaches to the Major Selling Idea: USP
• The unique selling proposition (USP) was developed by Rosser Reeves,
former chair of the Ted Bates agency, and is described in his influential
book Reality in Advertising.
• Reeves noted three characteristics of unique selling propositions:

Unique Selling
Proposition

Benefit Unique Potent

Buy this product Must be unique The promise

or service and to this brand or must be strong
you will benefit claim; something enough or
this way or rivals can't or attractive enough
enjoy this don't offer to move people
reward © 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin
 Creating a Brand Image

Used when competing brands are so

similar it is difficult to find or create a
unique attribute

The creativity sales strategy is based on a

strong, memorable brand identity through
image advertising

Often used for products such as soft

drinks, perfume, clothing, airlines

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Reebok Uses Image Advertising

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Approaches to the Major Selling Idea:
Inherent Drama

Messages generally presented

Inherent Messages generally presented
in a warm, emotional way
Drama in a warm, emotional way
Hallmark, Maytag, Kellogg

Focus on consumer benefits

with an emphasis on the
dramatic element in expressing
them

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 Approaches to the Major Selling Idea:
Positioning

Establish a particular place in

Positioning the customer’s mind for the
product or service

Based on product attributes/

benefits, price/quality, use or
application, type of user,
problem solved

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

IBM Positions Itself as a Provider of Business
and Consulting Services

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 Model of Marketing Information Flow

Knowledge of vital
marketing
information

Client/agency Internal agency

communication communication

Client gatekeepers Agency gatekeepers Creative staff

(Brand manager) (Account manager)

Internal client
decision Agency gatekeeper Art is created
on sharing decision on sharing
information client info with staff
with the agency

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin