Creative Process

and Strategy
Development
Section- D2E

Group 4

Udit Mehrotra- 2013308

Umang Warudkar-2013309
Vaibhav Miskeen-2013312
Vainav Shah- 2013314
Vartika Saxena-2013316

Creative Process and Strategy

Development
One of the most important components of an integrated marketing communications program is
the marketing communication message. It will be obvious that there are a myriad of ways to
convey an marketing communication message. However, underlying all of these messages is a
creative strategy that involves determining what the marketing communication message will say
or communicate and creative tactics dealing with how the message strategy will be implemented
or executed.
The importance of creativity in marketing communication
The creative side of marketing communication is one of its most interesting aspects. The creative
strategy used to communicate an marketing communication 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 (goods and services) 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. Attention must also be given to the issue of creative
versus effective marketing communication as many ads may be critically acclaimed from a
creative perspective but fail to help the sales of the brand.
Marketing communication creativity
It is important to examine the concept of creativity, how it applies to marketing communication,
and the challenge firms face in developing creative and effective marketing communication.
What Is Creativity?
Creativity is one of the most commonly used terms in marketing communication as those who
develop marketing communication 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 marketing communication
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.

Perspectives of Marketing Communication Creativity

Perspectives of what constitutes creativity in marketing communication vary. At one extreme are
those who argue that marketing communication is creative only if it sells the product. At the
other end of the continuum are those who judge creativity in terms of its artistic or aesthetic
value and argue that creative marketing communication must be novel, original and unique. The
answer as to what constitutes creative in marketing communication is probably somewhere
between these two extreme positions.
We are concerned with marketing communication creativity which refers to the ability to
generate fresh, unique and appropriate ideas that can be used as solutions to communications
problems. This perspective recognises that creative marketing communication 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.
Planning Creative Strategy
Those who work on the creative side of marketing communication often face a real challenge.
They must take all the research, creative briefs, strategy statements, communication objectives
and other inputs and transform them into an marketing communication message. Their job is to
write copy, design layouts and illustrations and produce commercials that communicate
effectively. Marketers usually hire marketing communication agencies to develop and implement
their marketing communication campaigns because they are specialists in the creative function of
marketing communication. 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.
The Creative Challenge
Those who work on the creative side of marketing communication have the responsibility of
developing an effective way of communicating the marketers 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 lifestyles, needs and motives, and communication
objectives. However, every marketing situation is different and requires a unique approach.
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 marketing communication that is too
different. It is important to note that companies who have very creative marketing

communication are more willing to assume some risk. However, many managers are more
comfortable with marketing communication that is straight forward in communicating with
customers and gives them a reason to buy.
Creative Personnel
It is a fairly common perception that those individuals who work on the creative side of
marketing communication 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 marketing communication and the need to create an environment that fosters, and is
conducive to, the development of creative marketing communication.
The Creative Process
A number of marketing communication people have argued that creativity in marketing
communication is best viewed as a process and that creative success is most likely when some
organized approach is followed. While most marketing communication people reject and/or
resist attempts to standardise 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.
The creative process contains five steps (according to the Youngs Model) :
Immersion
Digestion
Incubation
Illumination
Reality or verification

Another model:
Creative Strategy in 3 Easy Steps
But to make sure that creativity and selling are hooked together, there is a clear creative
strategy statement which should follow three simple steps.
1. PURPOSE OF THE ADVERTISING: Who are you talking to and what do you want to
convince them to think, feel, believe, or do?
2. METHOD: How will you convince them of that?
3. TONE AND MOOD: What will be the tone and mood of your communication?

A couple of examples taken from Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson will help us to
understand better.
He first describes a creative strategy used for Mother Nature cereal:
The purpose of Mother Nature cereal advertising will be to convince our target audience,
mothers of children twelve years of age and younger, that Mother Nature breakfast cereal is the
most nutritious and healthful boxed cereal on the market. This will be accomplished by listing
the vitamins and minerals in each serving of the cereal. The mood and tone of the advertising
will be upbeat, natural, honest, and warm.
Simple and clear. With a statement like this, the creative department can go crazy as long as
they follow this creative strategy. Heres another example:
The purpose of Miller Beer advertising will be to convince our target audience, beer-drinking
males, that Miller Beer is what macho-type men enjoy after a hard days work. This will be
accomplished by showing men at work, then after work, enjoying mugs and bottles of Miller
Beer. The mood and tone of the advertising will be masculine, joyful, socially oriented, and blue
collar.
These models of the creative process offer an organized way of approaching an marketing
communication 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 marketing
communication at each stage. There are numerous ways the creative specialist can acquire
background information that is relevant to the marketing communication problem. These
include:
Background research informal fact-finding techniques and general preplanning input.
Various ways of gathering background information might be discussed. ti
Product specific research this involves different types of studies such as attitude, market
structure and positioning, perceptual mapping and psychographic studies.
Qualitative research input techniques such as in-depth interview or focus groups with
customers or ethnographic studies.
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:

Focus groups
Message studies
Portfolio tests
Pretesting of ads in storyboard or aniamatic form

Creative Strategy Development

The creative process of marketing communication 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 marketers
target audience. Creative strategy should, however, also be based on a number of other factors
that are stated in the creative or copy platform.
Copy Platform A copy platform provides a plan or checklist that is useful in guiding the
development of an marketing communication 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 marketing
communication 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.
Marketing Communication Campaigns
Most advertisements are part of a series of messages that make up an marketing communication
campaign which consists of multiple messages, often in a variety of media that center on a single
theme or idea. The determination of the central theme, idea, position, or image is a critical part of
the creative process as it sets the tone or direction for the development of the individual ads that
make up the campaign.
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. 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:
The unique selling proposition
This concept, which was mentioned in the opening vignette, is described in Rosser Reeves
Reality in Marketing communication. Its 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
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 marketing communication.
Finding the inherent drama
Leo Burnett believed marketing communication should be based on a foundation of consumer
benefits with an emphasis on the dramatic element in expressing these benefits.
Positioning
The basic idea is that marketing communication is used to establish or position the product or
service in a particular place in the consumers mind.
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 marketing communication campaigns.
These creative approaches represent specific creative styles that have become associated with
some of the most successful marketing communication 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 marketing communication. 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.

7 Examples of Awesomely creative advertising

In Boston there was quite an unusual scene a huge golden heap of Butterfingers smacked in the
middle of Copley Square. It was the giant mound of crunchy candy. Several people stood around
the pile, gingerly picking up a candy bar here and there. But after about 30 seconds, kids
swooped down in hordes, cramming piles of bars into their backpacks in sheer ecstasy.

Upon closer examination, this was no glorious miracle, but actually a clever advertising ploy by
Pawngo, an online pawnshop business and apparent Giants fan. Their candy bar jab gives new
meaning to bittersweet.
People had never heard of Pawngo before, but they got their name out in a clever and original
way. Now ordinarily a giant pile of Butterfingers appearing in downtown Boston would certainly
attract notice, but the sly post-Superbowl insult made the prank that much more worthy of
attention.
Pawngo used their environment (Boston suffering after a Patriots defeat) to their advertising
advantage.

There are some other unique examples of advertising that take advantage of setting and
environment.

1. McDonalds Seed Bombing

This recent McDonalds seed bomb ad was designed by Sean Click. Its certainly a unique idea,
brightening up those dirty freeway shoulders with some colorful logos. But what makes the ad
superbly innovative is Clicks premeditation regarding the ads geography; the flowers are
California Poppies, the states official flower, which are illegal to dig up. So its actually illegal
to destroy this MacDonalds ad pretty incredible.
Using seed bombing as an advertising method is a really cool and original idea, and people were
interested in seeing it pushed further. Makes them wonder what it would be like if dandelions
were Massachusettss state flower

2. JobsinTowns Perfectly Placed Posters

Jobsintown.de is a German online recruitment site, and their collection of smartly placed poster
ads immediately catches attention. Theres a bit of child-like wonderment attached to these ads,
as here people are reminded of younger years, imagining little men pushing out money from
inside ATM Machines and gremlins popping out soda cans from vending machines?

3. Dominos Reverse Graffiti

For this ad campaign, Dominos experimented with reverse graffiti, in which detergent and water
is washed over a carefully placed stencil, resulting in a contrast between the dirty street and clean
stenciled spots. Non destructive, eco-friendly, and original!

4. Axes Emergency Add-On

Axe theorizes that the white running man we often see guiding us to emergency exits isnt
running from a burning inferno, but in fact a pack of lust-driven ladies, crazed by the escapees
Axe scent.

5. Milwaukee Rivers, Banksy Style

Graffiti is a great form of street art, but legal issues tend to steer most businesses away from
spray painting their brands across buildings. The Milwaukee River Keeper organization created a
clever design that incorporates the waterways spouts as art elements for a design that directly
links the message with the physical surroundings.

6. Open Wide for Oldtimer

This ad for Oldtimer, an Austrian chain of motorway rest stops is quite terrifying. People cant
help but think this might even be a safety hazard. Its certainly a great example of using your
surroundings in advertising though.

7. FedEx Trucks Are One Step Ahead

FedExs brand is almost entirely dependent on their big white trucks. FedEx knows how iconic
their trucks are, and what a great tool they can be for experimental advertising.