Advertising and Promotion An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective

10th Edition Belch 0078028973

9780078028977

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Chapter 8

CREATIVE STRATEGY: PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Chapter Overview

This is the first of two chapters devoted to the area of creative strategy in advertising. This chapter focuses on the planning and development of the creative strategy. We will examine the concept of creativity and the process that guides the creation of the advertising campaign as well as various types of research and information that can provide input and insight into the creative process of advertising. We discuss the concept of copy platforms that are used to guide the development of advertising campaigns. Attention is also given to various approaches used for determining major selling ideas that form the basis of an advertising campaign.

Learning Objectives

1. To discuss what is meant by advertising creativity and examine the role of creative strategy in advertising.

2. To consider the process that guides the creation of advertising messages and the research inputs into the stages of the creative process.

3. To examine creative strategy development and the role of various client and agency personnel involved in it.

4. To examine various approaches used for determining major selling ideas that form the basis of an advertising campaign.

Chapter and Lecture Outline

I. INTRODUCTION

One of the most important components of an integrated marketing communications program is the advertising message. It will be obvious to students that there are a myriad of ways to convey an advertising message. However, underlying all of these messages is a creative strategy that involves determining what the advertising message will say or communicate and creative tactics dealing with how the message strategy will be implemented or executed. The focus of this chapter is on the development of creative strategy while tactical issues are covered in Chapter 9. Attention is given to the creative strategy development process and various approaches to developing the big idea that will be used as the central theme of the advertising campaign and translated into messages. The opening vignette to the chapter discusses how the Lambesis agency developed the “Iconic Passion” campaign for the Tacori jewlry line that includes very creative print and television ads as well as a short film called Par Chance. The campaign has been very successful as it has led to double digit sales increases and has helped make Tacori one of the hottest brands of fashion jewelry.

II. THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY IN ADVERTISING

The creative side of advertising is one of its most interesting aspects. The creative strategy used to communicate an advertising message is an integral part of the promotional process and is often critical to the success or failure of the campaign. Numerous examples or cases can be cited of how a good creative strategy was an important factor in determining the success of a product or service or reversing the fortunes of a struggling brand. Of course there are also many situations where companies struggle to find a creative formula that works effectively. These companies change their creative strategy frequently in hopes of finding a campaign theme or tagline that strikes a responsive chord with consumers. Attention must also be given to the issue of creative versus effective advertising as many ads may be critically acclaimed from a creative perspective but fail to help the sales of the brand. Digital and Social Media Perspective 8-1 discusses how the Wieden & Kennedy agency has developed very creative advertising campaigns for Old Spice body wash including the popular “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’ spot that won the Grand Prix award as the best commercial in the world at the 2010 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. W+K has used social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to take the campaign viral and leverage the popularity of the Old Spice commercials and other videos created as part of it.

III. ADVERTISING CREATIVITY

It is important to examine the concept of creativity, how it applies to advertising, and the challenge marketers face in developing creative and effective advertising.

A. What Is Creativity? Creativity is one of the most commonly used terms in advertising as those who develop advertising messages are often referred to as “creative types” and agencies develop reputations for their creativity. So much attention is focused on the concept of creativity because the major challenge given to those who develop advertising messages is to be creative. Creativity has been defined as “a quality possessed by persons that enables them to generate novel approaches in situations, generally reflected in new and improved solutions to problems.”

B. Different Perspectives of Advertising Creativity perspectives of what constitutes creativity in advertising vary. At one extreme are the “suits” or “rationalists” who argue that advertising is creative only if it sells the product or service. At the other end of the continuum are the “poets” who judge creativity in terms of its artistic or aesthetic value and argue that creative advertising must be novel, original and unique. The answer as to what constitutes creative in advertising is probably somewhere between these two extreme positions. We are concerned with advertising creativity, which refers to “the ability to generate fresh, unique and appropriate ideas that can be used as solutions to communications problems.” This perspective recognizes that creative advertising ideas are those that are novel, original and appropriate. To be appropriate a creative idea must be relevant or have some importance to the target audience. The “Universal Advertising Standards” (Figure 8-1) used by the former D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles agency in assessing the creativity of the advertising created by the agency should be reviewed as they provide an excellent check list for evaluating creative work.

C. Determinants of Creativity – It is generally agreed upon that there are two central determinants of creativity which are divergence and relevance. Divergence refers to the extent to which an ad contains elements that are novel different or unusual. Some of the ways divergence can be achieved in advertising include the following:

1. Originality: Ads that contain elements that are rare, surprising, or move away from the obvious and commonplace.

2. Flexibility: Ads that contain different ideas or switch from one perspective to another.

3. Elaboration: Ads that contain unexpected details or finish and extend basic ideas so they become more intricate, complicated or sophisticated.

4. Synthesis: Ads that combine, connect, or blend normally unrelated objects or ideas.

5. Artistic value: Ads that contain artistic verbal impressions or attractive shapes and colors

Relevance reflects the degree to which the various elements or the ad are meaningful, useful, or valuable to the consumer and 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 which whom consumers identify, music that they like or visual images and other execution techniques that capture their interest and attention. 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 ski-mask commercial for the Volkswagen Beetle convertible which is discussed on p. 270 provides a very good example of creative advertising that relies on the divergence criterion of originality.

Professor Notes

IV. PLANNING CREATIVE STRATEGY

Those who work on the creative side of advertising often face a major challenge. They must take all the research, creative briefs, strategy statements, communication objectives and other inputs and transform them into an advertising message. Their job is to write copy, design layouts and illustrations and produce commercials that communicate effectively. Marketers usually hire advertising agencies to develop and implement their advertising campaigns because they are specialists in the creative function of advertising. However, it is important to point out that the development of creative strategy also involves representatives from the client side and other people in the agency as well as the creative staff.

A. The Creative Challenge those who work on the creative side of advertising have the responsibility of developing an effective way of communicating the marketer’s message to their customers. The creative person or team is often provided with a great deal of input and background information on the target audience, such as their demographics, needs and motives, and communication objectives. However, every marketing situation is different and requires a unique approach.

B. Taking Creative Risks many creative people in agencies argue that they often follow proven approaches or formulas when creating ads because they are safe and less likely to fail. They note that their clients are very often risk averse and feel uncomfortable with advertising that is too different. It is important to note that companies who have very creative advertising are more willing to assume some risk. However, many managers are more comfortable with advertising that is straightforward in communicating with customers and gives them a reason to buy. Examples of agencies known for taking creative risks, such as Wieden+Kennedy, TBWA/Chiat/Day, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky might be noted. There is a very interesting discussion of the perpetual debate over creative versus hard-sell advertising on p. 274.

C. Creative Personnel it is a fairly common perception that those individuals who work on the creative side of advertising tend to be somewhat unique and different from those working on the managerial or business side. It is worthwhile to discuss some of the characteristics of creative personnel in advertising and the need to create an environment that fosters, and is conducive to, the development of creative advertising.

V. THE CREATIVE PROCESS

A number of advertising people have argued that creativity in advertising is best viewed as a process and that creative success is most likely when some organized approach is followed. While most advertising people reject and/or resist attempts to standardize creativity or develop rules or guidelines to follow, most creative people do follow some type of process when approaching the task of developing an advertisement. There are several models or approaches to the creative process including those of James Webb Young, a former creative vice president at the J. Walter Thompson agency, which is similar to the approach of English sociologist Graham Wallas. Young’s model of the creative process contains five steps:

1. Immersion

2. Digestion

3. Incubation

4. Illumination

5. Reality or verification

Wallas suggests that creative thought evolves in four stages:

1. Preparation

2. Incubation

3. Illumination

4. Verification

A. Account Planning – To facilitate the creative process, many agencies now use 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. Account planning plays an important role during creative strategy development by driving the process from the customers’ point of view. Planners work with the client as well as agency personnel, such as the creative team and media specialists, to discuss how information they have gathered can be used in the development of the creative strategy as well as other aspects of the advertising campaign.

B. Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation/Incubation/Illumination these models of the creative process offer an organized way of approaching an advertising problem. Both models stress the need for preparation or gathering of background information that is relevant to the problem as the first step in the creative process. Various types of research and information can provide input to the creative process of advertising at each stage. There are numerous ways the creative specialist can acquire background information that is relevant to the advertising problem. Some of those discussed in the text include:

1. Background research informal fact-finding techniques and general preplanning input. Various ways of gathering background information might be discussed.

2. Product/service specific research this involves different types of studies such as attitude, market structure and positioning, perceptual mapping and psychographic studies.

3. Qualitative research input this type of input includes techniques such as in-depth interviews focus groups, or ethnographic studies. Qualitative research can provide the creative team with valuable input, particularly in the early stages of the creative process. As discussed in the chapter, creative personnel in agencies often feel that their creativity can be stifled by research techniques such as focus groups and consumer surveys. Many marketers and agencies prefer to use observational or ethnographic research to gain insight into consumers.

C. Verification/Revision the purpose of the verification/revision stage of the creative process is to evaluate ideas that come from the illumination stage, reject any that may be inappropriate, and refine those that remain and help give them final expression. Some of the techniques used at this stage include:

 Directed focus groups

 Message communication studies

 Portfolio tests

 Pretesting of ads in storyboard or animatic form

Professor Notes

VI. CREATIVE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

The creative process of advertising is guided by specific goals and objectives and requires the development of a creative strategy or plan of action for achieving the goal. Creative strategy development actually begins with a thorough assessment of the marketing and promotional situation and a determination of what needs to be communicated to the marketer’s target audience. Creative strategy should, however, also be based on a number of other factors that are stated in the creative brief or copy platform.

A. Advertising Campaigns Most advertisements are part of a series of messages that make up an IMC or advertising campaign, which consists of a set of interrelated and coordinated marketing communication activities that center on a single theme or idea that appears in different media across a specified time period. The determination of a strong idea for the campaign theme is very important as it is the central message that will be communicated in all of the advertising and other promotional activities and thus sets the tone or direction for the development of the individual ads that make up the campaign. The theme or idea for the campaign is usually expressed through a slogan or tagline that reduces the key idea into a few words or a brief statement. IMC Perspective 8-1 discusses some of the reasons why many advertising slogans do a poor job of communicating a distinctive identify for a company or brand and presents some guidelines for developing more effective taglines.

B. Creative Brief – The creative brief (which some agencies refer to as a creative platform or work plan or creative contract) is a written document that provides a plan or checklist that is useful in guiding the development of an advertising message or campaign. This document is prepared by the agency team or group assigned to the account and may include creative personnel as well as the account coordinator and representatives from media and research. The advertising manager and/or the marketing and product manager from the client side will also be involved in the process and must approve the copy platform. An example of a creative brief and the Tacori ad that resulted from is are shown in Exhibits 8-14a and b.

C. The Search for the Major Selling Idea an important part of creative strategy development is determining the central theme that will become the major selling idea or big idea for the ad campaign. Big ideas are important in business-to-business advertising as well as advertising targeting consumers. IMC Perspective 8-2 discusses how Siemens developed very effective B-toB advertising with its “Answers” campaign. There are several different approaches that can be used for developing major selling ideas and as the basis of creative strategy. Some of the best known and most discussed approaches include:

1. The unique selling proposition this concept was popularized by the famous copywriter Rosser Reeve’s in his book Reality in Advertising. It’s three characteristics include:

 each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer

 the proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer

 the proposition must be strong enough to pull over new customers to your brand

2. Creating a brand image some competing brands are so similar it is difficult to find or create a unique attribute or benefit so the creative strategy is based on the development of a strong, memorable identity for the brand through image advertising.

3. Finding the inherent drama the famous ad man Leo Burnett, founder of the Leo Burnett agency in Chicago, believed that advertising should be based on a foundation of consumer benefits with an emphasis on the dramatic element in expressing these benefits. This type of advertising bases the creative strategy on presenting the message in a warm and realistic way.

4. Positioning the basic idea is that advertising is used to establish or “position” the product or service in a particular place in the consumer’s mind. Various approaches to positioning a brand were discussed in Chapter 2 and might be reviewed again here. Many of the top brands in various product or service categories have retained their leadership position because they have established and maintained a strong position or identity in the minds of consumers. IMC Perspective 8-3 discusses changed its positioning and approach to advertising, as well as other parts of its IMC program, to better connect with women through its “What’s Beautiful?” campaign.

These approaches to determining the major selling ideas discussed above are very popular and are often used as the basis of the creative strategy for advertising campaigns. These creative approaches represent specific “creative styles” that have become associated with some of the most successful advertising creative minds and their agencies. However, it should be pointed out that many other creative approaches and styles are available and are often used in advertising. Some of the creative styles associated with more contemporary advertising visionaries such as Lee Clow of TBWA/Chiat/Day and Rich Silverstein of Goodby Silverstein & Partners are worth noting. The challenge to the creative team is to find a major selling idea and use it as a guide to the development of an effective creative strategy.

Teaching Suggestions

For many students the most interesting aspect of advertising and promotion is the creative side. Most students really do not have an appreciation for what is involved in the development of an advertising campaign. They may think that the development of a campaign and individual messages involves only the agency creative department. It is important to stress the fact that the development of a campaign involves numerous individuals from both the other departments of the agency as well as on the client side. Many students will not end up being directly involved in the design and creation of advertisements. However, creative strategy is often critical to the success of the firm’s integrated marketing communications efforts. Thus, it is important that everyone involved with the marketing and promotional program have some understanding of the creative process that underlies the development of advertising messages, as well as the creative options available to the advertiser.

Some interesting discussion can be generated over the issues of what constitutes creative advertising. Students might be asked to debate the different perspectives of advertising creativity. One side can take the “its only creative if it sells” position versus the “aesthetic, novelty/uniqueness” perspective. Some interesting discussions can also be generated over the issue of creative risk taking and just how much latitude the client should give the agency when it comes to creating the advertising message. For a very interesting discussion on the debate over different perspectives on creativity we suggest that you read the article on “Creative Differences” by Anthony Vagnoni which appeared in Advertising Age on November 17, 1997. You may also want to update students on the advertising that wins the Lions awards at the Cannes International Advertising Film Festival each year. Advertising Age and AdWeek have articles covering the Lions awards toward the end of June each year. You can also direct your students to the Festival’s official website at www.canneslions.com. Student might be encouraged to research advertising that has won creative awards from other organizations. For example, the Association of Magazine Media honor outstanding magazine advertising each year with the Kelly Awards. Information about these awards can be found at www.kellyawards.org Effie Worldwide sponsors the Effie Awards which are given to marketing communication campaigns based on their proven success for a company or brand. Information about the Effie Awards can be found at www.effie.org

It is also important to discuss how research is used as an input to the creative process of advertising. Some time might be spent discussing the value of both qualitative and quantitative research techniques and how they can be used to provide the creative department information that gives them more insight into the consumer. It is also interesting to spend some time discussing advertising campaign themes currently being used by various advertisers. This discussion can focus on the creative strategy being used by the advertiser, the image or position they are trying to establish for the company or brand and what type of analysis or background research might have been used in developing the campaign. It is important to stress that advertising campaigns are often the result of extensive planning and research that is provided to the creative team by marketing planners and researchers on both the clients and/or agency side. The text also has a brief discussion of account planning which is becoming an important function in many advertising agencies. If you would like further information on account planning, we recommend the book Truth, Lies & Advertising by Jon Steele who was the Vice Chairman and Director of Account Planning for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. This book provides an excellent discussion of the account planning and how the Goodby, Silverstein & Partners agency has used the process in the development of many successful advertising campaigns for clients such as Polaroid, Norwegian Cruise Lines and the “got milk?” campaign for the California Fluid Milk Processors Advisory Board.

A discussion of a Model of Marketing Information flow developed by John Sutherland, Lisa Duke, and Avery Abernethy is presented in this chapter and warrants discussion. This model shows the flow of marketing information regarding customers, the product or service, and the market from clients to agency creative staff and the major interfaces and decision points where gatekeepers can impede the flow of information to agency creatives. Their research has found that agency personnel often lack the information needed to effectively design and execute creative strategies. Some time might be spent discussing this model and ways of improving the flow of important information to agency creatives.

A new video case on Under Armour has been produced for this edition and includes a discussion of the company’s branding strategy as well as the creative campaigns that have been used to help them enter the basketball shoe market and also target the female market. Two Under Armour marketing executives discuss the challenges of marketing to women and the strategy behind the “What’s Beautiful” campaign used to connect with women which is discussed in IMC Perspective 8-3.

Answers to Discussion Questions

1. Evaluate the “Iconic Passion” branding platform and IMC campaign that the Lambesis agency created for Tacori. Why do you think this campaign has been so successful in creating a brand identity for Tacori and increasing sales of its jewelry products? (L01,03)

When the Lambesis agency began working with Tacori, the brand had very little awareness and, like many other jewelry lines, did not have a distinct brand image. The development of the “Iconic Passion” campaign was based on extensive consumer research on how couples become engaged and the insights were used in developing the creative strategy. Many of the print and TV ads created for the campaign are designed to capture the exquisite artisanship which includes handcrafted elegance with a clean and modern style. The ads often juxtapose Tacori jewelry with objects signifying passion such as Cupid’s arrow which symbolize romance, ornate ebony and bone chess pieces which are a metaphor for the passion of conquest, apples with a bite out of them to capture the essence of temptation, and a tilted martini glass (Exhibit 8-14) which serves a toast to glamour and sophistication. The ads have been very effective in making bold statements that comunicate the glamour and elegance of the Tacori brand while positioning it as attainable luxury. Lambesis executes the “Iconic Passion” theme very well through digital media. The Par Chance short film plays off of the idea that love at first sight can happen at any moment by featuring a light-hearted story about a chance meeting between two strangers who must reconnect with each other by using a series of sexy and romantic clues. Many beautiful Tacori jewelry pieces are highlighted during the three minute webisode. The excellent advertising and IMC work done by Lambesis has increased the level of brand awareness for Tacori and helped position it as an aspirational, yet attainable brand with an image of romance and passion.

2. Digital and Social Media Perspective 8-1 discusses how the Wieden + Kennedy agency has created an effective advertising campaign for Old Spice Hair and Body Wash with popular ads such as the “The man your man could smell like” commercial. Analyze this commercial from an advertising creativity perspective and discuss some of the reasons it has gone viral and generated nearly 45 million views on YouTube. Do you think this campaign is an effective way to sell a product such as body wash? Why or why not? (L01)

“The man your man could smell like commercial” for Old Spice body wash is an example of an extremely creative commercial and won the Grand Prix for film award at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Old Spice advertising targeted men for several years with humorous creative built around the “Smell Like a Man, Man” tagline However this commercial was an ad that men and women can enjoy together. It is a humorous and entertaining spot featuring a very muscular and handsome young man (former professional football player Isaiah Mustafa) who uses a variety of unusual situations to demonstrate to women how much better their lives could be with a man who switches to Old Spice from a “lady-scented” body wash. The commercial has a number of elements that make it creative such as originality. The ad definitely contains elements that are surprising and move away from the obvious and commonplace. It shows Mustafa in various scenes such as stepping out of a shower with a towel around his waist brandishing a bottle of Old Spice body wash then goes on to show him on a boat wielding an oyster filled with “tickets to that thing you like” and then changing to a handful of diamonds. The commercial ends with the camera pulling back revealing the shirtless Mustafa on horseback as he delivers the signature line from the spot: “I’m on a Horse.” This commercial definitely struck a responsive chord with consumers as it became a viral sensation and was viewed more than 45 million times on YouTube by the end of 2013. Wieden & Kennedy developed a clever way to extend the life of this commercial by giving consumers the opportunity to submit questions to the “Old Spice Guy’ via twitter and Facebook and have him answer them in short video clips online. They received several thousand questions and comments from consumers and W&K’s digital marketing team shot nearly 200 clips Within a week, web views of the new videos eclipsed the original TV commercial and searches for Old Spice on Google soared by nearly 2,000 percent making it one of the most successful viral video campaigns ever done.

The second part of the question asks whether this commercial is an effective way to sell Old Spice Body wash. The commercial broke through all previous viral-records and became a part of popular culture. According to an article published in Advertising Age on July 26, 2010, the commercial helped increase sales of Old Spice body wash, although it was not clear how much of the jump in sales occurred because of category growth and sales promotion efforts for the brand such as couponing. The article concludes that the ad was effective in helping reverse a decline in market share for the brands in the very competitive body wash market which includes, Gillette, Nivea Men, Dove Men and Axe. The article can be found at http://adage.com/article?article_id=145096

3. The chapter discusses how the DDB agency was recently fired by Anheuser-Busch InBev even though the agency had created a number of award-winning advertisements for brands such as Budweiser and Bud Light. Evaluate the decision by AB InBevto dismiss DDB and hire a new agency given the excellent creative work it did for these brands through the years. (L01)

DDB had been the agency for Anheuser Busch’s two major brands, Budweiser and Bud Light for 30 years before AB InBev terminated the relationship in 2011. The decision by AB InBev to switch agencies came as somewhat of a surprise given the excellent creative work DDB had done for the two agencies over the past three decades. In 1981 the agency helped launch Bud Light , which is now the leading brand of beer in the U.S. market, and developed a number of award winning campaigns such for the brand such as the “Real Men of Genius” radio campaign and ads featuring the Spuds McKenzie mascot dog. DDB also created the popular “Whassup?” campaign for Budweiser as well as numerous commercials featuring the iconic Clydesdales. Commercials for Budweiser and Bud Light, developed by DDB were among the most popular on the Super Bowl each year as Anheuser Busch has been the major advertiser on the big game. One of the reasons AB InBev may have switched agencies is that while Bud Light and Budweiser are the two leading brands of beer in the U.S., both brands have struggled to increase their sales during the economic downturn that began in 2009. Thus, AB InBev decided it was time to change its creative direction for both brands. The company had begun using other agencies for Budweiser in countries such as Brazil even though DDB was the global agency of record and had an office in the country. AB InBev also began asking other agencies to submit creative ideas of its U.S. advertising for the brands which was a sign of a strained relationship with DDB. As discussed in Chapter 3, marketers often will consider changing agencies when sales are struggling and they feel that a fresh creative approach is needed. AB InBev had relegated DDB to the sidelines several years ago and decided to use a campaign developed by the agency Anomaly as its main creative campaign called “Grab Some Buds.” In early 2012 DDB was replaced by the two agencies on the Bud Light account, McGarry Bowen and the independent agency Translation. However, McGarry Bowen lasted only eight months before begin terminated with more of the creative work going to Translation.

4. Advertising creativity is viewed as the ability to generate unique and appropriate solutions to communication problems. This definition suggests that a creative ad is one that is novel but also relevant or appropriate. Find an example of an advertisement (either a print ad or TV commercial) that is novel but not necessarily relevant to the product or services Discuss why the client would have approved this ad. (L01)

For an ad or campaign to be considered creative it should meet the criteria of being both a unique and appropriate solution to a communication problem. Creative specialists have the responsibility of developing advertising messages that capture the attention of, and hopefully, persuade, the target audience to consider a brand. While many ads are entertaining, they do little to contribute to the brand. Students should be asked find a print ad or commercial that is novel or unique but does not contain a relevant message that might encourage consumers to consider purchasing the product or service. Many of the ads that appear in magazines or TV shows targeting young people fit into this category as the focus of the advertisement is on being different or unique and breaking through all of the advertising clutter. However, these ads often communicate very little about the product or service or give consumers little, if any, reason to purchase the brand. Creative personnel are often able to convince the client that something novel or unique needs to be done to get the attention of consumers and break through the clutter. Many marketing mangers defer to the judgment and expertise of agency creative personnel and allow these ads to be run.

5. Discuss the various factors that account for the way divergence can be achieved in advertising creativity. Find an example of an advertisement that reflects these various characteristics and explain how it does so. (L01)

Divergence is viewed as one of the two key determinants of creativity (along with relevance) and refers to the extent to which an ad contains elements that are novel, different, or unusual. Robert Smith and Xiaojang Yang have identified five factors that could account for the ways divergence can be achieved in advertising which they describe as follows. These include:

 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

Students should be asked to find examples of ads that reflect one of more of these characteristics and explain how it does so. They should be able to find examples of print ads that are high in artistic value or TV commercials that reflect characteristics such as originality or flexibility.

6. What is meant by ethnographic research? Discuss how this type of qualitative research might be used by and advertising agency during the preparation, illumination, and incubation stages of the creative process. Find an example of an advertising campaign that has used ethnographic research as input to the creative process. (L02, 03)

Ethnographic research involves studying consumers by observing or interacting with them in their natural environment such as in their homes, at work, or at play. This type of research can be very valuable as input to the creative process as it provides insight into the behavior patterns, purchase motives and idiosyncrasies of consumers that are gained by observing or interacting with them. For example, researchers at Procter & Gamble used ethnographic research whereby they observed consumers in their homes during the early morning hours when they were preparing and enjoying a cup of coffee. Insight was gained into the importance of the ritual of having a cup of coffee by observing how consumers enjoy the experience. The popular campaign for Folgers coffee that utilizes the tagline “The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup” evolved from ethnographic research done by P&G researchers. P&G sold Folgers to the J.M. Smucker Co. in 2008, which still uses the tagline in advertising for the brand. Students should be encouraged to find other examples of advertising campaigns that have used ethnographic research as input to the creative process. Sources of information for this assignment might include Advertising Age, AdWeek or the Effie Awards case studies.

7. Many advertising creative personnel are opposed to focus groups research as they argue that they may inhibit the creative process. Discuss the problems, as well as the value, of using focus groups to evaluate advertising creative work. (L02)

Focus groups are a qualitative research method whereby a small group of consumers are led through a discussing regarding a particular topic or issue. They can be used to gather detailed insight as to why and how consumers use a product or service, problems they might have and are looking to resolve as consumers, what is important to them in choosing a particular brand, and what they like or dislike about various brands. They can also be used to evaluate advertisements as consumers can be shown examples of current or proposed ads and asked to evaluate them. All of this information can be useful to those involved in the creative process as input gathered from focus groups provides creative specialists with a better sense of who the target audience is, what they are like, their purchase motives, and what they like and dislike about various types of advertising.

Malcolm Gladwell has been critical of focus groups as he argues that there is very little psychological justification for the notion that you can find out what people think about an in idea, particularly a revolutionary new idea, by asking them. In his book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Gladwell examines the content and origin of instantaneous impressions and argues that decisions made quickly can be as good as those made after much deliberation. Agency creative personnel have long been critical of the idea of having their ideas and work critiqued by consumers as they argue that it limits their ability to develop innovative and breakthrough advertising. Recently focus groups have been criticized for a number of reasons. Many advertising creative people insist that good ideas don’t need to be tested and that testing can weaken a creative execution. They note that focus group participants often have difficulty expressing how they feel about a commercial and often mimic the responses of a dominant member of the group. It has also been argued that focus groups do not provide enough insight into consumer’s emotional responses to an ad and may encourage consumers to think too much rather than respond the way they might while watching television. While creatives may be opposed to the use of focus groups, it is very unlikely that clients will allow them to produce ads without some early indication of how consumers will respond to them. There are many examples of situations where the testing of creative concepts and even finished commercials has provided very valuable input that was used to make modifications to an ad or campaign before it ran. Companies that are spending millions in production and media costs want to be confident that their ads are going to effectively communicate with consumers and will want to test them either through focus groups or some other type of testing method. A very good article on this issue titled “Why the Traditional Focus Group is Dying” can be found in the October 31, 2005 issue of Adweek, pp. 24-25, 32.

8. Assume that you have been hired as an account planner by an advertising agency and assigned to work on the development of an advertising campaign for a new brand of bottled water. Describe the various types of general and product-specific preplanning input you might provide to the creative team. (L02)

General preplanning input includes overall information on trends, developments and conditions in the marketplace that would be relevant to the marketing of the product. In the case of a new brand of bottled water, the advertiser would want to know about a number of trends and developments affecting the beverage market such as the increasing popularity of new age drinks. Information on the changing lifestyles of consumers and how this might affect their beverage consumption would also be relevant as would product specific information on the bottled water segment of the beverage market. Product-specific preplanning input includes information that is directly relevant to the product or service. Usage and attitude studies regarding bottled water users and nonusers in particular, could be performed as well as psychographic studies. Problem detection studies could be performed to determine what changes or improvements consumers would like to see in bottled water (e.g., taste, flavors, nutritional supplements). The outcome of a problem detection study may provide input for product improvements, reformulations, or new brands. It would also be important to have information on the type of advertising being used by competitors such as Evian, Dasani, Arrowhead, Propel, and other brands.

9. Discuss the role an advertising slogan plays in the development of an advertising campaign as well as some of the factors that should be considered in developing an effective tagline. Find an example of a good tagline as well as one that does not communicate effectively. Discuss the reasons why you view these as either good or bad examples of advertising slogans. (L03)

An advertising slogan or tagline is used to express the central theme or message that is being communicated in an advertising campaign. The 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. Marketing experts note that a good tagline must break through the advertising clutter, differentiate the company or brand and be memorable. As noted in IMC Perspective 8-1, the tagline is a hardworking collection of words that should give you that ‘aha’ moment every time you see or hear it.” A slogan or tagline is the brand’s sound bite and is often all you can expect consumers to remember. Long-time marketing executive Steve Cone argues that creating strong slogans is a marketer’s most important job but today is a forgotten part of marketing planning. He suggest that advertising messages should contain “powerlines”, or powerful taglines, which he describes as “words that are well-chosen and have the power to awe, inspire, motivate, alienate, subjugate, and in a marketing context, change the buying habits of consumers.” He argues that since we are bombarded by so many advertising messages, a powerline can do the heavy lifting and break through all of the sensory overload. Students should be encouraged to fine examples of slogans or taglines that they think are very good or effective in meeting these criteria as well as those that do a poor job of communicating because they use meaningless phrases that do little, if anything, to differentiate the brand or company using it from their competitors or providing an identity for the brand.

10. IMC Perspective 8-2 discusses how Siemens developed the “Answers” campaign to increase awareness of the company and create a stronger brand identity. Evaluate the big idea used for the “Answers” campaign and discuss what other business-to-business marketers might learn from analyzing this campaign. (L04)

The Siemens “Answers” campaign is a very good example of how big ideas are important for business-to-business marketers as well as companies that are marketing their products to the consumer market. The initial “Answers” campaign used an informative, solutions-focused approach as the basis for the creative strategy and emotional imagery and copy that related Siemens product offerings to the everyday lives of people. The second phase of the campaign was called “Somewhere in America” and was designed to show how Siemens contributes to the local economy such as through the construction and operation of manufacturing plants in various towns and regions. Many large business-to-business companies are not very well known or understood by consumers since they do not directly use their products or services. However, it is important for them to communicate with consumers, many of whom are business people to whom they might eventually be trying to sell their products and services. Many other B-to-B marketers such as IBM, Adobe, General Electric and Xerox have used large scale advertising campaigns to build awareness of their companies and provide the general public with a better understanding of what they do and how it might relate to their personal lives, either directly or indirectly. Advertising Age covers B-to-B marketing on its website and is a very good source for examples of effective campaigns.

11. Discuss the challenges Under Armour faces in the female market for exercise apparel. Evaluate the strategy behind the “What’s Beautiful” campaign. Do you think this IMC campaign will be an effective way to position Under Armour as a brand for women? Why or why not? (L04)

Under Armour faces a number of challenges in marketing its exercise apparel products to women. First, the brand image for Under Armour was built around male-dominated sports such as football and baseball, particularly the former. The original tagline for Under Armour was “We Must Protect This House” and the advertising focused heavily on associating the brand with the raw emotion and excitement of football. Although Under Armour expanded into other sports such as softball, lacrosse, golf, tennis, basketball and running, the core of its brand identity has been more male-centric. Also, as note in IMC Perspective 8-3, Under Armour was perceived by many women as a brand for serious and elite athletes, which potentially alienated the real women who work out at fitness classes or alone in the gym. Under Armour also faced competition from brands such as Lululemon which has been focusing on women by creating apparel for specific activities such as yoga and Pilates as well as Reebok which and been making aerobic shoes and apparel for women for many years.

The “What’s Beautiful” campaign was designed to juxtapose beauty and femininity alongside the effort that women put forth in fitness classes as well as their own workouts. The campaign encouraged women to post photos of themselves on social media as well as submit inspirational stories that could be shared with other women. An important goal of the campaign was to challenge the perception that Under Armour was only a brand for elite male athletes. The campaign included a modified version of the iconic “Protect This House. I Will” tagline that was altered to “No Matter

What Sweat Every Day. I Will” and featured women working out intensely in Under Armour gear in settings that would normally be associated with male athletes.

Under Armour is clearly trying to move beyond its original “shrink it and pink it” strategy whereby it merely created smaller and more colorful versions of its men’s apparel to fit women’s bodies and expanded its product line to include shorts, tops and sports bras. The company now recognizes that the way it must communicate with women is quite different from the approach it has used for the male market. However, the company faces a delicate balancing act as they must be careful not to alienate their core male consumer as they market more to women.

12. Find an example of an ad or campaign that you think reflects one of the approaches used to develop a major selling idea such as unique selling proposition, brand image, inherent drama, or positioning. Discuss how the major selling idea is used in this ad or campaign. (L04)

Jeweler refers to the major selling idea as “the strongest singular thing you can say about your product or service. This should be the claim with the broadest and most meaningful appeal to your target audience.” O’Toole describes the big idea as the insight that synthesizes the product benefit with consumer needs or desires. Major selling or big ideas should attract the consumers’attention, get a reaction, and differentiate the advertiser’s product or service from the competition. There are four approaches discussed in the text for developing major selling ideas that can serve as the basis of the creative strategy. These include the unique selling proposition, creation of a brand image, the use of inherent drama and positioning. Students should bring in examples of ads that they feel are examples of each approach to developing a major selling idea and describe the logic of their selection.

Additional Discussion Questions (not in text)

13. Explain what is meant by creative strategy and creative tactics in advertising. Find an example of an advertising campaign and evaluate the creative strategy and tactics used in the ads.

Creative strategy determines what an advertising campaign and messages will say or communicate. It is best viewed as a process that is designed for determining what the advertising should communicate about the product or service and the big idea that will be used as the central theme of the advertising campaign. Creative tactics focus on how the advertising campaign and messages will be communicated with regard to areas such as various appeals and execution styles as well as the tactical issues involved in the design and production of advertising. Students should be asked to find an example of a current advertising campaign and evaluate the creative strategy and tactics used in the ad. They should analyze the creative strategy in terms of the big idea used as the central theme of the advertising campaign as well as the type of appeal, execution style and tactical elements used in the individual ads that are part of the campaign.

14. Television commercials are often developed that rely on unusual creative tactics and have very little relevance to the product or service being advertised. Creative personnel in agencies defend the use of the strange messages by noting that they are novel and break through the clutter. Evaluate the pros and cons of this argument

Creative personnel do face a major challenge as they must develop ads that will break through the clutter that occurs in various media such as television, radio, online, magazines and newspapers and grab the attention of the viewer, listener or reader. This can be particularly difficult in the broadcast media and online as consumers watching TV, listening to radio or surfing the Internet are often trying to avoid ads rather than pay attention to them. While consumers may be more receptive to advertising in magazines or newspapers, the vast numbers of ads that appear in most publications makes it very challenging for any one ad to get notices. Thus, creative personnel argue that they must use novel tactics such as startling images, sexual or suggestive appeals or very irreverent ads that can break through the clutter and get noticed by the consumer. It often appears that the goal of these ads is to entertain the viewer or listener rather than to deliver a strong message to them. These types of ads often do not contain a message that is relevant to the product or service but do manage to get noticed and register a brand name or attribute association. Creative personnel will also argue the main goal of advertising is to create and maintain top-of-mind awareness and novel or unusual ads are an effective way of doing this.

Those who are from the “it is not creative unless it sells” school of advertising argue that the goal of advertising should be to deliver relevant information that helps sell the brand. They do not accept the breaking through the clutter, capturing attention or creating controversy argument as viable excuses for developing ads that do not deliver a relevant message or communicate a selling point. They expect advertising to do more than maintain brand awareness and feel that creative personnel should be challenged to do more than develop irreverent or unusual messages.

15. Evaluate the debate over creative versus hard-sell advertising. Discuss the arguments for and against each perspective. Who should be responsible for judging the creativity of an ad – clients or agency creative personnel? (L01)

As discussed on p. 274, there has been an ongoing battle in advertising between those who believe ads should move people and those who feel they should just move product. The “suits” or “rationalists” on the hard-sell side argue that the primary function of advertising is to sell the product or service. They take the position that advertising isn’t creative unless it sells and are driven by sales results rather than creative awards. They argue that the high costs of commercial production and media time are making it more important than ever for advertising to produce measurable results. They also note that there is tremendous financial pressure on businesses to produce results so they are looking for campaigns that can move the sales needle. Those advocating the hard-sell approach often feel that the more selling points or information in an ad, the better its chances of moving the consumer to make a purchase. They argue that the goals of an advertising message or campaign should be to deliver relevant and favorable impressions to consumers which will help sell a product or service. The impact of advertising on sales is the real measure of its creativity and is more important than whether it is innovative or wins awards.

On the other side are the “poets” or proponents of creativity, who argue that advertising has to build an emotional bond between consumers and brands or companies rather than focusing on product features and benefits. They feel that it has become very difficult to differentiate a company or brand on the basis of functional features, as most products have become indistinguishable from their competitors. They argue that in today’s highly competitive market place where many companies offer high quality products at similar prices, strong brand images are the key to differentiating a product or service. Their perspective is that consumers are tired of seeing traditional forms of advertising for products such as automobiles that focus on sleek appearances and advanced features. They argue that consumers want to see ads that are more entertaining, fun and make them feel good. The “poets” also defend the advertising as art and entertainment approach by noting that this type of advertising is needed to break through the clutter as well as the consumers’ boredom barrier. Moreover, they note that highly creative ads are often effective, even though it is difficult to quantify their impact on sales. They argue that creativity cannot be judged solely on the basis of sales since and might argue that advertising that is unique or different is often needed to break through the competitive clutter, grab the consumer’s attention and have some impact. They are more likely to view creativity in terms of the ad’s ability to generate an emotional response and create certain feelings or images that can be transferred to the brand.

Those involved with an advertising campaign must understand the importance of balancing these two perspectives. The position of creative personnel must be respected and they should be given some latitude in developing advertising messages. However, the creative team should recognize that ads that are creative only for the sake of being creative often fail to communicate a relevant or meaningful message that will help sell a product or service. There are numerous examples of advertising campaign that have won awards for creativity but failed to sell the product (e.g., Alka Seltzer). When this occurs, the agency usually loses the account and the client looks for a new approach that will help move the sales needle. Students might be asked to debate these two perspectives on advertising creativity.

There is no easy answer to the second part of this question as ideas and perceptions regarding what constitutes a creative ad vary among those who are involved with and evaluate advertising. The “Universal Advertising Standards” of the D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles agency, which are presented in Figure 8-1, offer some ideas for judging the creativity of advertising. The issue of who should have the responsibility for judging the creativity of an advertisement is debatable. Obviously creative personnel are probably best able to evaluate an ad in terms of criteria such as its novelty, uniqueness, and artistic merits. However, the client may be in the best position to evaluate the ad in terms of its ability to communicate the intended sales message to the target audience. Ideally, there should be agreement between the creative specialists and client. The client does not want creativity for creativity’s sake but rather a creative message that effectively communicates with consumers. On the other hand, the client must respect the creative insight and background of the agency

16. Briefly describe the five major communication interfaces and decision points in the model of marketing information flow shown in Figure 8-4. Discuss how breakdowns in communication can occur at each interface and how this might negatively impact the creative process. (L03)

This model, which was developed by developed by John Sutherland, Lisa Duke, and Avery Abernethy, shows the flow of marketing information regarding customers, the product or service, and the market from clients to agency creative staff and the major interfaces and decision points where gatekeepers can impede the flow of information to agency creatives. The five major communication interfaces and decision points where breakdowns can occur include (1) between clients and their agencies (2) the client or client gatekeeper lacking knowledge of some or all of the information needed for effective advertising (3) the client deciding not to share all the available information that is relevant to creating effective advertising (4) the agency gatekeeper(s) deciding not share with creative staffers all the client information they receive (4) and internal agency communication failures which may result in the creative staff not receiving all the relevant information from the client. Breakdowns can occur at each interface clients may not have important marketing information or gatekeepers on the client side, such as brand managers, may choose not to share all the relevant information with their agency. Problems can also occur on the agency side as the gatekeepers such as account managers may not share all of the relevant information with their creative staff or there can be breakdowns in communications among the various departments within the agency. These breakdowns result in agency personnel often lacking the information needed to effectively design and execute creative strategies such as demographic profiles of the target audience, product usage information, information regarding the performance of the client’s product or service, competitive information, and insights into the client’s marketing strategy and major selling points.