What would you say is the single most important characteristic of an advertising person? Or advertising agency? Or advertising campaign? Most people would answer all these questions with the same, single word answer: CREATIVITY.
There is no denying that creativity is important in advertising. It is considered so important that one of the major departments within an advertising agency is named after it. But is it really THAT important? Or could it be that we have taken the reverence of creativity one step too far?
To address this question properly we first need to discuss the roles of creativity in advertising, and as Goose (Anthony Edwards) says in the movie Top Gun – “the list is long and distinguished”:
Sales data can tell you some things about what customers think of your product, as can focus groups and customer surveys. But how do you really gauge how just deeply your customers care about you? Burger King’s answer was to take that product away.
In a recent stunt (a curious fusion of market research and marketing) Burger King made one of their US branches a “Whopper Free Zone”. Using hidden cameras, they simply recorded the reactions of their customers upon being told “Sorry, we no longer serve Whoppers.” As the clip illustrates, the contorted disbelieving faces tell more of a story than answers on a survey every could. The stunt was aptly named the “Whopper Freak-out!” So, what we have is an innovative market research approach, using, you’ve guessed it: the Subtraction tool.
Through the use of over 100 advertisement examples and numerous case studies, Cracking the Ad Code provides you with practical tools for quick production of creative ideas in marketing communications.
The book includes a mixture of systematic analysis of the creation aspect of advertising, together with a taste of the real world of advertising and what makes it work.
Marketing professionals in companies will learn what to expect from their agencies, whilst agencies will be able to explain their work to clients in an analytic language that is easily understood.
Sources of creative inspiration can take different forms. One such form can be the communication objectives, included in the creative brief to the advertising agency. Now, this may sound odd! I mean, ask any art director/copy writer and you’ll hear that these objectives are the least inspiring element in the entire process!
So, how can we make our objectives more inspiring?
Take this Cannes Lions winning ad for Softlan Ultra by Y&R Malaysia for example:
Advertising Agency: Y&R, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Creative Directors: Rahul Mathew, Rowan Chanen
Art Directors: Richard Chong, Scott McClelland
Copywriter: Rahul Mathew
Retouching: Magic Cube
One possible way to describe the objective of this campaign is: “Sell more Softlan” or “The softest fabric conditioner”. As a matter of fact, this is one of the most popular ways that clients phrase objectives in their briefs to the agency. But, just think of the poor copywriter who gets yet another brief asking him to “sell more”. These guys get dozens of such requests each week and are expected to come up with a completely new creative idea each and every time.
Consider the following joke:
“My wife just ran off with my best friend. Boy, do I miss him.”
Now, look at the following ad for Pedigree Dog Care products (Advertising agency: TBWA\Paris, France, Creative director: Erik Vervroegen)
“Beware of the Dog. He’s got terrible diarrhoea”
Both are funny. Now, what’s interesting is to ask, why?
Today I was looking for a parking lot and was very happy to find one that displayed a large sign offering one hour free parking with every carwash.
My car certainly needed washing, so I took up the offer and parked my car there. Three hours later I came to get the car and was prepared to pay for two hours parking. To my surprise, the cashier at the booth told me to pay for one hour only.
I couldn’t hide my surprise, and so the cashier explained why.
As a budding copywriting student in the Watford College of Advertising, I used to wonder how I too could create ads like Stella Artois’ “Reassuringly expensive” campaign.
No matter how hard I tried to be witty, original and persuasive, few of my concepts ever seemed to quite resemble those magnificent campaigns that graced our screens and magazines. Bruised but not (totally) beaten, I limped off to become an account planner, where from close distance I watched my colleagues in the creative department bash out their wares week in, week out. What was their secret? What was I missing?
advertising campaign? Most people would answer all these questions with the same, single word answer: CREATIVITY.
