Creativity in Advertising

Creativity is mental and social process involving the generation of new

ideas or concepts, or new associations of creative mind between
existing ideas or concepts, creativity is fueled by the process of either
conscious or unconscious insight. An alternative conception of
creativeness is that it is simply the act of making something new.

Creativity is the ability to think up and design new innovations, produce

work of arts, solve problems in new ways, or develop an idea based on
original, novel, or unconventional approach.
 I. Creativity Modules

1. ABCDE

1. Attention

2. Branding

3. Communication

4. Distinctiveness

5. Engage
2. Leo Burnett

1. Marketing Goals

2. Concept Consumers can relate to

3. Differentiation

4. Total Communication

5. Single Minded Focus

3. BBC-SIGMA 1

1. Market Research for Consumer Insights

2. Transformation into an Image

3. Celebrity Endorsement
4. VISUAL & SOUNDS

1. Props

2. Media Graphics

3. Production Techniques

4. Models

5. Colors

6. Locations
5. AD CRACKER

1. Benefit

2. Character

3. Exaggerate

4. Drama

5. Eye Candy

6. Make an Offer

7. Realism

8. Personify

9. Positioning

10. Metaphoric

11. Problem Solution

12. Shock

13. Twist

14. Fascinating Face

15. Symbolic

16. Story

17. Simplicity

18. Brand Face

19. Out Of Box

SHOCK

Create a concept that's shocking, gross or revolting. Picture in your mind a Gothic
vampire adding a dash of Red perfume to the fresh slit throat of a Romanian
orphan.

Set aside your inhibitions. Your sense of good taste. Sacrifice all for scenes of
human suffering, cruelty to animals. Feature people who have been convicted of
the most heinous and brutal crimes. Death. That’s a good subject to exploit,
especially if your target market is on the older side.

This is a technique to break through the clutter, the fog of thousands of other
advertisements. Or create controversy, getting people to talk about your ads,
perhaps some free publicity.

It's the creative equivalent of shouting, “Fire!” It gets everyone’s attention. But you
can’t do it too often. In fact, you might want to take ask whether you should do it
at all. Public service ads about the real dangers of drug abuse are on one side of
Ethical street. Exploiting stereotypes and racial prejudice are on the other.

At the turn of the millennium America had just gone through a round of shock
advertising. In one commercial for a dot.com company, a man loads and shoots
small gerbils from a cannon at a the company logo painted on a wall. But while it
was shocking the first time you saw it, after a few airings it lost potency. The
audience becomes immune.

Shock value is culturally specific. What shocks in Singapore might pass without
notice in New York. So if you need to use this technique to stand out in a cluttered
ad environment, be sure to take the pulse of your society. Before you juice ‘em.
TWIST

This technique takes the audience off in one direction, then suddenly pulls a
switch. That switch - assuming it is interesting - rivets audience attention, and can
engage more viewers, more effectively.

This is a dramatic technique, familiar to movie fans the world over. In advertising
communications, this technique can work very well in any broadcast or digital
media such as radio, TV or Flash.

It can also work in print media, such as print ads or brochures.

Brochure front cover headline: "Kiss your wife in places she's never been kissed
before."

Inside copy: "Whisk your wife off on a surprise trip to Bali this year to rekindle the
romance of your relationship."

The reader may think they are getting a guide to sensual exploration, but once
inside there's a friendly plot twist to a sales message from the Bali Tourist
Authority.
FASCINATING FACE

The human face is a visual magnet. It is certainly one of the the most powerful
visual techniques you have to attract attention to your ads on the web, TV or print.

A human face was the very first object that came into focus when you were a baby.
And with your mother's face came relief from hunger, as well as feelings of
security and love.

The human face is the chief way you recognize the people in your life, friend or
foe.

A few tips:

- Avoid the common face.

- Avoid the "model" face.

- Consider faces with character.

- Consider faces with flaws.

SYMBOLIC

Create a symbolic representation of the key idea you want to communicate. An

insurance company, for instance, could picture a banana on the sidewalk to
represent the unexpected risks in life.

Metaphors and similes are two ways to communicate symbolic ideas.

You can create a metaphor by using two images or statements that are completely
different, but when placed together create a new idea. A surprised-faced chicken
rushing out of a water slide is a metaphor for rapid digestion.

You can use words. Or visuals. Or both. You can create a metaphor to represent a
characteristic of the brand. Or a feature of the service. Or a benefit of the product.

To create a metaphor, use one thing - a vivid statement or dramatic visual - to

suggest another thing - your company, product or service.

A metaphor, by the way, is like a simile, but more powerful. A metaphor "is". A
simile "is like". A metaphor equals. A simile is similar. But a simile can help you
create a metaphor. Here's how:

- Start with the most basic idea, the key concept for your product. That might be
'safe' or 'agile' or 'bright' or "well engineered". Then sketch or write ways to
express that idea.

- Complete the sentence, “This brand, service or product is like….”

- Fill in the blank: "The benefit to the consumer of this brand, product or service is
like __________________"

A metaphor can be used to characterize the brand's personality. A branding

campaign for an investment bank uses the visual metaphor of a fencer, for
example, to characterize the company as aggressive yet sophisticated.

A metaphor can represent a product feature or a benefit to consumers. As in the ad

for an iron enriched breakfast cereal showing a magnet attracting the cereal out of
the bowl.

Another example, a "subservient chicken" is a metaphor for "having food prepared

your way" at Burger King.
STORY

Open with, or build your ad around, a human interest story.

People are interested in people. And 98.6% your target audience has a natural
curiosity about their fellow inhabitants on this planet.

Go to the movies, turn on the TV. Pick up the newspaper, shop for a novel. Buy a
magazine, and what you find are stories about people.

This advertising technique can cover a wide range of people. From celebrities to
the "typical consumer" found in the slice of life campaigns so popular with the
Procter & Gamble set.

Perhaps not a lot of creative fun at P&G, but they do sell product.

Which is precisely the point.

If your product or service is not exactly brimming with excitement the human-
interest approach can be an excellent way to increase the number of people who
read or watch your ads.

One way to do that is to create an idea that places your product or service at the
center of a human drama, personal confession, or a funny situation.

And if you have a strong benefit or competitive advantage, consider presenting it

in a human-interest scenario.

Like a novelist or screenwriter, you can create fictional human-interest stories.

But sometimes truth is stranger and more interesting. And the best source of
information can be the client, who might have employees or customers with some
good stories to tell. Rolex, for instance, has an archive of letters and stories about
their products that goes back for decades.
BRAND FACE

Using a celebrity for only one campaign. This is against using brand ambassadors.
As Ali Zafar for telenor and Afridi for head a shoulders currently

OUT OF BOX

Injecting something unsuall, unexpected, different and out of box.

SIMPLICITY

Simplicity is one of the most effective techniques of modern communications.

Ironically, it can take a lot of work to create simple concepts.

The first step is to identify that one central idea. Example: Nano candy has three
distinct flavors rolled into one mint. To express it simply in a print ad you could
show a close-up on a kid's mouth, tongue sticking out, with a rainbow swirl of
three colors representing the three flavors.

The purpose of an ad is to communicate. And the quicker the better. So snap the
idea to the reader simply, quickly and clearly.

A few tips:

Take a look at some of the concepts you have created using other techniques. See
how you can simplify them with a visual and a simple headline.

Also try simplifying the visual. Remove everything that does not contribute to the
idea you are trying to communicate. Consider visuals that have more impact, or are
more symbolic of the idea you want to get across.

Simplify the headline. Delete the adjectives. Make it more concise. Get right to the
point.

Be brave. Be bold. Cut. Erase. Delete. Strip it nude.

Creative people are builders. The problem for some is knowing where to stop. And
having the courage, and the client's support, to do so.

Particularly in crowded advertising environments, where people have enormous

demands on their time and attention, simplicity can be the best way to make the
sale.
BENEFIT

A benefit is something of value to the target audience. Ask, “what can this product
or service do for me?” And the answer is a benefit.

The persuasive energy in a benefit ad comes from two characteristics. First is the
importance of the benefit to the reader. Second is the specificity of the benefit.

A good example, the headline, “Introducing a washer so gentle it can actually help
your clothes last longer."

Ambiguous or abstract words such as “professional” or “beautiful” or “unique” are

not specific enough to mean much, if anything, to the reader. Avoid them and their
relatives.

A benefit may or may not be a competitive advantage. It could be, for example,
that many brands of car batteries come with a lifetime guarantee. But if no one else
is making the claim, go ahead and stake out the territory.

Clients will sometimes say, “Our competitors could say the same thing.” But that
may not matter to the consumer. If you are the first to advertise the benefit, the
consumer response could be, “Sounds good, I’ll give it a try.”

Even if consumers may be aware that several products offer the same benefit, the
ad that brings that benefit to mind can trigger a sale.

Features or benefits.

A feature is a characteristic of the product. “This computer has a 500 gigabyte hard
drive.” The benefit, what it can do for the reader is, “This hard drive stores a lot of
data, like my family videos.”

But sometimes, as in the above example, a benefit can be inherent in the feature.
Most people know immediately the benefit of a 500 gig hard drive. So if the vast
majority of readers understand the benefit inherent in the feature, there is no need
to explain the benefit. Just say the feature.
CHARACTER

Create a character that adds interest or story value to your campaign.

Could be an actor playing a role. Or a cartoon character. Or a dead politician. He,

she or they are all "created" characters because you define the role they play in the
advertising.

While a "brand character" must represent the personality and other aspects of the
brand, an invented character must not.

Some of the world’s best advertising campaigns have been built on invented
characters. And the best of these characters frequently do not reflect the brand or
even a demographic profile of the target audience.

Like a good movie or book, your character needs to be interesting. Different.

Unexpected. With lots of personality. Quirky behavior. Or strongly expressed
views.

These engaging, out-of-the-ordinary characters will grab attention, and by grabbing

attention, they will help communicate your sales message because they break
through the clutter, stand out from the crowd.
EXAGGERATE

Take the basic idea you want to communicate, your concept, then exaggerate it.
Take it to extremes. Push it beyond reason, beyond reality. In the copy. With
visuals. Or both.

Exaggerate a benefit. Exaggerate a problem. Exaggerate size, the physical

appearance.

Just make sure to exaggerate your exaggeration. Because a BIG exaggeration is

interesting, and a powerful way to get communicate your concept. A small
exaggeration is simply a misleading ad.

An interesting approach is to exaggerate the visual, but understate the copy. Or

exaggerate the copy and keep the visual simple.

To work with this technique, it can help to simplify your message, the main thing
you want to say, into one sentence or one visual. Then let your imagination push it
from there, all the way to outrageous exaggeration.
DRAM A / CONFILICT

Create a campaign that uses dramatic conflict to focus attention, to heighten

interest in your message.

The essence of drama is conflict. And that conflict can be between:

Husband vs. wife.

Mom vs. her children.

Recent college grad vs. sexually aggressive boss.

Molly vs. insanity, a struggle with mental health.

Girl Scouts vs. nature.

Dog vs. mailman.

Teenager vs. her conscience.

Creative Director vs. client.

You get the idea. So just a couple of tips:

Create a hero. But barf on expected, cookie cutter characters. Think of unlikely
heroes. Like kids or animals. Think of People with flaws and weaknesses. Like a
grandfather with a speech impediment. Think of characters with unusual ways of
thinking. Like the woman who believes UFOs visit regularly to steal our best
automobiles.

Your hero should have a goal, an objective, something she really really really
wants to achieve. Or has to accomplish to save the planet.

And you might need bad guys, bad creatures, bad luck, bad weather, bad relatives
or bad aliens. Come to think of it, bad relatives can be almost identical to bad
aliens. But don't use bad politicians or bad lawyers. There are enough of them
already.

It's always nice to have a resolution to the conflict, you know, like a happy ending
in the movies. But it's not necessary. Because dramatic conflict is essentially a way
to engage viewers in your ad.
PVQ / MAKE AN OFFER

Consider positioning the brand based on price or value or quality.

People naturally assume that things costing more are worth more. And that's the
territory Evian, Haagen-Dazs, Rolex, and Mercedes have staked out. As L'Oreal
says, "because you're worth it."

On the other end of the spectrum you find Walmart, Jet Blue Airlines and
Expedia.com. The promise is that the company delivers the lowest price.

In the middle you find the value positions, staked out by such companies as Dell
and American Express. Here the proposition is that, "Yes, we may cost more, but
it's not all that much more, and we're well worth it."
REALISM

Use real people in your ads. Not models. Just average folks, blemishes and all.

Show what people really think. About the opposite sex, their job, or relatives.

Show how people really feel. About money, their spouse, or financial security in
old age.

Depict the attitudes, jealousies, and insecurities that rattle around inside us all.

Like many creative techniques, there is a spectrum from moderate to extreme in

the way you get really real. From the nose-picking, overweight, insecure side of
life. To the kinder, softer side of sincerity.

For FMCGs, realism might be found in the history of the product. For instance,
you could explore the feelings a young housewife has towards her mother, who
used the same product.

For a B2B products you might explore feelings of competitiveness, of over-sized

egos, or greed. Or just plain stinginess.

For luxury consumer good, consider ads that explore feelings related to "keeping
up with, or surpassing, the Jonses. " That is, the desire to be better then the guy
next door, or the woman in the office down the hall. Here we're talking about envy
or jealousy. Or to show, "I'm just as good as you."
PERSONIFY

Give a human face to your product. Or human characteristics to an abstract idea,

like "hunger" or "greed."

This technique - personification - can help you create ads that are more interesting,
and relevant to viewers. More human and engaging.

You can literally turn the product into a person. Or give it human abilities, such as
speech, thought or emotion.

Or go the other way, and blend something about the product into a real person. For
example, to depict someone who is a heavy computer user or text message sender,
you could show keypad letters embossed on finger tips - and fingertips in the
concave shape of the keys.

If you’re working on a service, consider creating a visual icon that can be

personified. What, for example, would your wallet say about your bank?
PROBLEM

Problems. Everyone has them. And some products solve them.

A TV commercial opens with the kids screaming, “We’re hungry, mom!”

A headline reads, “Do you have enough money for retirement?”

This is a technique to grab attention, to engage people who have the problem. Or
people who want to avoid getting the problem. Or those who are concerned about
the problem for other reasons, like the guy whose wife has headaches every night.

Later in your ad, commercial, or mailer you’ll explain how your product solves the
problem. But the focus of the ad, the concept, should be about the problem.

This concept works particularly well when your target audience has a big problem,
a big concern. The bigger the problem, the better it works.

But it can also be used with charm or humor. "Problem # 3 with SPIKE cologne:
Women touch you in elevators."
EYE CANDY

Create a visual so luscious, unusual and striking that it leaps off the
screen to grab attention.

Good examples are Omore ice cream launch ad and Reliance Rang
Barse
 II. AD APEALS

1. Testimonial/ Celebrity

2. SOL

3. Humor

4. Fear

5. Sublimation

6. Sex

7. Agony

8. Abrasive

Celebrity appeal is used in maximum numbers of ads following the BBC-

Sigma 1 Module. Its catching up with 40% ads globally.

Slice of life owing to its familiarity breeds familiarity syndrome is

equally popular o convey positioning of brands.

Humor is gaining momentum as it has high recall and helps break

clutter. However it stales fast and is often advocated not to be used in
brand launches and high involvement products. More popular in
FMGCs.
 III. BEHAVORIAL CONCEPTS

Freud’s Marketing Implications

 Oedipus Complex

 Electra Complex

 Fetishism

 Sublimation

 Metaphoric

In Oedipus complex love between son and mother is highlighted.

Electra complex focuses the bond between father and daughter.

People are often fetish- give undue importance- to feet, nails, hair, silk,
leather boots, etc. This is exploited in ads for greater impact.

Undisclosed mind programming is done through sublimation. Now used

profusely in marketing for higher leverage.

Metaphoric advertising id in vogue for advertisers and they attain

differentiation using this technique to create a distinct value in the
minds of consumer.
 OOH – OUT OF HOME

1. 90 -95% visual

2. Only 5 – 10% Headline, Caption or Copy

3. IMC to be adhered to

4. Details may only be shown if net OTC is high

5. All other basic rules of creativity to be followed.

 BRAND SENSE

Martin Lindstrom talks about sensory branding. He advocates that TVCs

can be made more creative if in addition to sight and sound all senses

are used. Touch, smell, and taste should therefore be incorporated in

ads too.
 Effective Print Ads

1. The 40-40-20 Success Rule

1.1. 40% focus should be on offer

1.2. 40% focus should be on list

1.3. 20% focus should be on creativity

2. How to make print ads Creative

2.1.Choose one dragon.

2.2.Don’t just decorate.

2.3.Use maximum visuals.

2.4.Use Appeals

2.5.Use Colors

2.6.Stand Out

2.7.Make Ads Humorous

2.8.Focus on customer not products.

2.9.Draw a Connection

2.10. Keep It Short And Simple (K.I.S.S)

2.11. Use Emotions

3. Use of 3D Technology
Creativity

In

Advertising