7 steps to successful

advertising
7 steps to successful
advertising
• Step 1: Think about what it is like to be a
consumer of your brand and behave like
one at all times.
– Unless you can truly think like your
consumer, you will always be a poor judge of
advertising.
– Listening to consumers via qualitative
research can definitely help here.
7 steps to successful
advertising
• Step 2: Focus on the proposed execution.
Check it against the strategy later
– The consumer does not get to read the
strategy, so nor should you.
– Ask for the precise strategic aim of the
advertising only after the execution has been
presented. That way his evaluation is not
biased by prior expectations.
7 steps to successful
advertising
• Step 3: Imagine you are watching/
hearing/reading the advertisement half-asleep
– Consumers do not sit up and pay attention when your
advertising comes onto the television
– Consumers process almost all television advertising passively,
using what is called ‘low-involvement processing’
– LIP is done mainly by the right hemisphere of the brain
– The right brain is emotional but not analytical. It records the
elements in the advertising and stores them along with the
feelings they create.
– If we see a dog in a Hutch advertisement we record it as a
cute, loveable dog, we do not analyse rationally what relevance
it has to mobile phones.
7 steps to successful
advertising
• Step 4: Mentally record all the elements that seem
likely to stand out, and ask yourself what they say
about the brand
– Think of these elements as the concrete associations that will
ultimately define your brand. This is what the consumer will recall
about your ad, and use to define your brand in their minds.
– The puppy is what people associate with Andrex. It carries with it the
idea of softness and caring family values.
– But sometimes it can go wrong. The 1996 Peugeot 406
advertisement, featured the track ‘Search for the hero inside yourself’.
Within in it was a sequence showing a girl in a red dress in danger of
being run over by a skidding tanker: three years later that is what
most people recall from this ad. This is an undeniably negative
association
7 steps to successful
advertising
• Step 5: Recognise that creativity does not
cease once the script or layout is presented
– It is often at the execution stage where the most
important associations in advertising are added.
The Hamlet music was never part of the original
script submission.
– All these have grown to be associations that
fundamentally influence and effectively define
these brands to consumers.
7 steps to successful
advertising
• Step 6: Consistency is key. Recognise what is a
valuable association and hang on to it
– Concrete associations are what define brands in
people’s minds, and often they are the only competitive
advantage a brand has. You sacrifice them at your peril.
– Fosters in the late 1980s decided the comedian Paul
Hogan was getting too old to be used to advertise a
lager aimed at young men. Since then they have run
countless different campaigns, and wasted untold sums
of money, but still the main thing associated with Fosters
in people’s minds is Paul Hogan.
7 steps to successful
advertising
• Step 7: Tie brand associations to brand
equity measurements
– This is the final piece of the jigsaw research
that elicits brand associations and links them
to various different quantitative measures of
brand equity. Forget advertising awareness,
copy-point recall and the other conventional
measures of advertising claims – most of
these are no more than hygiene measures.
Managing the Creative
Process
What is Good Advertising
 What is good advertising

““An
An adad whose
whose public
public isis not
not
only
only strongly
strongly sold
sold byby it,
it,
but
but that
that both
both the
the public
public and
and
the
the advertising
advertising world
world
remember
remember itit for
for aa long
long time
time
as
as an
an admirable
admirable piece
piece ofof work”
work”

Leo
Burnett
 Be Liked
“Ads are like people …
You can see most people a hundred times
and not remember them,
but meet someone you like once,
and you will never forget them”
Sir Frank Lowe
 How do you get good
advertising?
• Client/Agency Relationship
• Creative Briefing
• Receiving & Evaluating
• Understanding how it works
• Idea vs. Execution
Advertising Idea vs. Execution
 Brand Positioning

“The niche in the target consumers’

minds and/or hearts that the brand
wants to own”
Brand Positioning Statement

To ABC [target audience]

x [Brand name]

is the Brand of y [Category Need]

which delivers z [Benefit]

 Price
Product Performance

BRAND
Rational Emotional
POSITIONING

User Need
Usage
 Successful ownership
• Single-minded
• Consistent
 Positioning Limitations
• Despite positioning, brands still lose their way
• The transition from positioning through brief to
execution causes this
• Positioning is a poor discipline for advertising
consistency
• Advertising Idea is a good one
• It is the discipline the creative department
uses
 Advertising Idea
“An Advertising Idea is derived from
the Brand’s Single-Minded
Proposition and its Key Consumer
Insight. It is a creative thought
which propels a campaign. The
idea can be executed in many ways
although it itself contains no
executional detail.
All Advertising Executions for the
Brand should execute the
Advertising Idea’s creative thought,
so that all share that thought, which
remains consistent over time.
Hence the advertising Idea itself
can last for many years, while
different executions of it keep it
relevant and fresh to today’s
market place.”
Execution
“An Execution is the way in which
the creative thought of the
Advertising Idea has been
expressed (or executed) in any
particular advertisement.
It is a rendering in words, sounds,
pictures, symbols, colors, shapes,
forms, or any combination of these,
of an Advertising Idea.”
A series of executions of the same
Advertising Idea form a campaign.
Axe Campaign (1998-2004)

LYNX AFRICA LYNX LYNX

1998 1998 1999 2000

DEO DEO DEO DEO

2001 2002 2002 2002

SHAVE DEO NEW-D DEO

2002 2003 2003 2004
 Volkswagen
Positioning
Reliability

Key Consumer Insight

Reliability is unusual. Most people’s experience of
the world is that things generally go wrong if they can

Single-Minded Proposition
VW is the most reliable car in its class
Support
1. Air cooled engine so no frozen pipes
2. ‘What Car’ consumer survey
Advertising Idea
Reliability in an unreliable world
Executions
Weather
Breakdown
Life
Earring
Relationships
 Executional Properties
“An element of the execution of an
Advertising Idea which is particularly
powerful, memorable, and distinctive.

It may be a symbol, sign, gesture, character,

piece of action, form of words, snatch of
music, etc. etc.”
 Tums
Positioning
Antacid with Calcium
Key Consumer Insight
In a world of irresistible rich foods, antacids are a
necessary evil. But calcium is a necessary good :
your body needs it
Single-Minded Proposition
Relieves indigestion and heartburn with Calcium Carbonate
Support
1. The only active ingredient in Tums is Calcium
2. Major competitors use aluminum/magnesium
Advertising Idea
Relieves indigestion and heartburn with something
your body needs
Executions
Ingredients
Waitress
You’ll love the Tums
Health Food
So she says/Fire
 Ribena
Positioning
Healthy drink kids love most &
mums prefer to give

Key Consumer Insight

Mums worry about artificial ingredients in their kid’s diets

Single-Minded Proposition
Natural (Vitamin C) goodness
Support
No artificial sweetners, colours, or flavours. Made from
(fresh) blackcurrants which are full of Vitamin C
Advertising Idea
Animated blackcurrants which personify the goodness and
vitality of Ribena

Executions

Health Bank
Tea Party
Cyberries
Qualities of Advertising Ideas
• Excellent discipline for consistency over
time
• Capable of many executions
• Become familiar to consumer
• Become valuable Brand assets
How do you get good
Advertising Ideas
 Key Consumer Insight
An insight is the discovery of a deeply felt
human truth that creates a powerful
personal connection between a brand and a
consumer. It is also the springboard for
great creative.
 Example: Axe
Business Issue:
• Axe sales static due to ageing brand profile and
failure to recruit amongst teenage males and
“dad” brand image.
Communications Challenge:
• To emotionally re-connect with youth.
The Trigger Question:
• What does the target audience dream of
 Key Consumer Insight

“Every man dreams of a woman

making the first move”
 Example: French Lottery
Business Issue:
• Less people playing the lottery because new
games seems more exciting to play
Communications Challenge:
• Bring players back by putting the fun back into
playing
The Trigger Question:
• What would a fanatic say?
 Key Consumer Insight

“When you play you can

dream of changing your life”
Key Consumer Insight

Category

Cultural

Universal
 Single-minded proposition
Single-Minded
Proposition

Product Belief Product Assertion

Product Performance Something consumers Something the Brand
believe about the asserts to be true
Something the
Brand (which may or (and makes it so
product actually does
may not be true through investment
in reality) over time)
Single-Minded Key Consumer Advertising
Proposition + Insight Idea
Key Consumer Single-Minded
Advertising
Insight
(Universal, Cultural
+ (Performance, Belief,
Proposition
Idea
or category) or Assertion)

Eg: Volkswagen:

The world is a
pretty unreliable VW is the most
Reliability in an
place: If things can
go wrong they
+ reliable car in its
class
unreliable world
generally do
Key Consumer Single-Minded
Advertising
Insight
(Universal, Cultural
+ (Performance, Belief,
Proposition
Idea
or category) or Assertion)

Eg: Fox Ice Hockey:

If other sports were

Fox Ice Hockey is violent like Fox
Violence is
exciting + really exciting
to watch
Ice Hockey they’d
be much more
exciting to watch
Key Consumer Single-Minded
Advertising
Insight
(Universal, Cultural
+ Proposition
(Performance, Belief, Idea
or category) or Assertion)

Eg: Tums:

Relieves Relieves
indigestion and indigestion and
Your body needs
Calcium + heartburn heartburn with
with Calcium something your
Carbonate body needs
Key Consumer Single-Minded
Advertising
Insight
(Universal, Cultural
+ Proposition
(Performance, Belief, Idea
or category) or Assertion)

Eg: Ribena:

Mums worry Animated

about artificial Natural blackcurrants
ingredients in + (Vitamin C) which personify
their kid’s diets goodness the goodness &
vitality of Ribena
Key Consumer Single-Minded
Advertising
Insight
(Universal, Cultural
+ (Performance, Belief,
Proposition
Idea
or category) or Assertion)

Eg: Courtyard Hotels:

Courtyard Hotels
Lack of sleep are designed by
Non-Courtyard
impairs
performance + business people to
give business
business patrons
perform badly
people a better
night’s sleep
Key Consumer Single-Minded
Advertising
Insight
(Universal, Cultural
+ Proposition
(Performance, Belief, Idea
or category) or Assertion)

Eg: IBM:

IBM isn’t IBM can tailor its

interested in the products to match
‘Little Guy’
individual +
your computing
IBM fans
computing needs needs requirements -
of the little guy whatever they are
Single-Minded Key Consumer Advertising
Proposition + Insight Idea
The Creative Brief
Better Briefs = Better Ads
Time to brief
vs
Time to rework

Less is more
Creative Brief Creative Thinking
Creating a good Creative Brief
• Time
• Involve others
• Single-Minded Proposition
• Relevant Consumer Insight
• Less is more
• Interesting
Creative Brief Performa
1. Advertising Requirement
2. Major Issue the Advertising Must Solve
3. Creative Strategy
Market description, Target Audience,
Key Consumer Insight, Single-Minded
Proposition, Support, Brand Personality
4. Ideal Consumer Response
5. Advertising Idea
6. Mandatory Executional Requirement, if any
Key properties, Local/Regional/Statutory
constraints, Other
7. Budgets
Production Budget, Media Budget, Suggested
Time Lengths / Space size
8. Competitive Context
9. Planned Pre-Testing
• Advertising Requirement:
Requirement
– What do we physically want the agency to
produce?
• Major Issue the Advertising must solve:
solve
– Choose one and be realistic!
• Market description:
description
– Describe the consumer competitive set in
consumer language
• Target Audience:
Audience
– Not just statistics
– Picture in mind’s eye
– Can be > one
– Cab be sub-set
• Key Consumer insight:
insight
– Critical
– Business building!
– Creative ‘hook’
– Don’t invent them!
• Single-Minded Proposition

“It’s the most distinctive and single-

minded proposition that we want
consumers to believe our brand delivers
better than any other.”
• Support:
Support
– Should support SMP
– Not mandatory
– Don’t use to add secondary propositions!
• Brand Personality:
Personality
– Useful, actionable words
– Not obvious idiotic ones
• Ideal Consumer Response:
Response
– Whatever would make you and your Agency
colleagues embrace each other in delight as the
perfect response to seeing the advertising
• Advertising Idea:
Idea
– See earlier in this document under Advertising
Idea vs. Execution
• Mandatory Executional Requirements:
Requirements
– As few as possible
– Beware closing creative doors
• Budget:
Budget
– Production Budget
• Specify spending ceiling
– Media Budget
• Gives creative team a context for production budget
– Suggested Time Lengths / Space size
• Suggest, but don’t be dogmatic. Agency may have better
idea
• Competitive Context
• Planned Pre-Testing
 Improving briefing
• Take briefs as seriously as creative work
• Take time
• Involve others
• Single-Minded Proposition
• Work Hard at Consumer Insight
• Make it interesting
 Sample Briefs

PERSIL VECTRA
Whole Brain Model
 LEFT BRAIN

“An Ad That Convinced Me Rationally”

RIGHT BRAIN
“An Ad That “An Ad That
Didn’t Appeal Appealed
To Me/Touch To Me/
Me” Touched Me”

“An Ad That Didn’t Convince Me

Rationally”
Roger Clayton “Whole Brain” Model
 LEFT BRAIN

“An Ad That Convinced Me Rationally”

RIGHT BRAIN
“An Ad That “An Ad That
Didn’t Appeal Appealed
To Me/Touch To Me/
Me” Touched Me”

“An Ad That Didn’t Convince Me

Rationally”
Roger Clayton “Whole Brain” Model
Receiving & Evaluating
Advertising
 Judging advertising well is
hard
• Subjective
• Disadvantage vs. Agency
• Time Pressure
• Relationship
 1. Preparation
• What are we looking for?
– Creative Brief
• What context must it work in?
– Historical
– Current
– Competitive
 2. Environment
• People
• Venue
• Empathy
• Attitude
 3. Time
• Sufficient
• Nerve Curve
 Gsk form ad5
• GSK uses Form AD5 ‘Creative Evaluation
Guidelines’
• AD5 reviewed and revised
• 2 stages before ‘evaluation’
• Evaluation focus shifted and simplified
 4. The Creative Presentation
Meeting

3.
4. 5.
1. 2. Advertising
Executional Considered
Listen Clarify Idea
Evaluation Response
Evaluation
 Creative Evaluation
Guidelines
ADVERTISING IDEA
• What is the advertising idea that the advertising
aims to communicate?
• Is the idea involving for the target audience?
• Is it distinctive?
• Is it on Brief?
• Is it right for the Brand?
• Is it an endearing Creative Thought?
 Creative Evaluation
Guidelines
EXECUTION
• Is the advertising idea clear in this execution?
• Is this execution on Brief?
• Will it appeal to the Target Audience?
• Will it stick in their minds / stand out?
• Is it right for the Brand?
• Is it sufficiently well branded?
 Creative Evaluation
Guidelines
OVERALL IMPRESSION
• Like/Dislike
• Persuasion
• Impact
 The creative presentation
meeting: other considerations
• Acknowledgement
• Gut Reaction
• Chairperson helps
• Explore all opinions
• Speak when ready, not in order!
• Silence is fine
• Huddling
 Turning down creative work
• Be sure
• Face to face
• Acknowledge effort/intent
• Exact diagnosis
• Re-motivate
Together
 Value the relationship
• Work at it
• ‘Do unto others……’
• Tonality
• Play together
• Be honest
• Joint evaluations
 Value the creative work
• Enough time
• Brief well
• Presentations at agency
• Respond well
• Share responsibility
 CH
CHOICE OI
CE
I CE O I C E
H
C CO C H
HO CHOICE
OVERCHOICE
I CE
CHOICE I CE
H O
I C E C C H O
C HO IC E
 “Ironically, the people of the future
may suffer not from an absence of choice,
but from a paralysing surfeit of it.
They may turn out to be the victims of
that peculiar super-industrial dilemma:
overchoice.”

Alvin Toffler
 CH
CHOICE OI
CE
I CE O I C E
H
C CO C H
HO CHOICE
POSITIONIN
I CE
CHOICE I CE
GCHOCH
HO I C E O IC E
C
 CH
CHOICE OI
CE
I CE O I C E
H
C CO C H
HO CHOICE
I CE
CHOICE I CE
H O
I C E C C H O
C HO IC E
 Choice
Choice Proliferation
Proliferation
VARIETIES
PRODUCT 19701999
15 45
• Crest Toothpaste
20 70
• Orange Juice
3 30
• Cream Cheese
6 25
• Coke
4 9
• Lettuce
CHOICE + INNOVATION

Brings
Brings customers
customers
unprecedented
unprecedented
opportunities
opportunities
AND
AND
unprecedented
unprecedented
anxieties
anxieties
Seven
Seven Common
Common Fears
Fears
(John
(JohnCollard,
Collard,Psychologist,
Psychologist,
Institute
Instituteof
ofHuman
HumanRelations
Relations--Yale
YaleUniversity)
University)

1. Fear of failure
2. Fear of sex
3. Fear of self-defense
4. Fear of trusting others
5. Fear of thinking
6. Fear of speaking
7. Fear of being alone
The
The next
next generation
generation of of
positioning
positioning successes
successes
will
will belong
belong to
to those
those
brands
brands that
that relieve
relieve
customer
customer stress.
stress.
 Become
Become thethe
customer’s
customer’s partner
partner in
in
stress
stress relief.
relief.
SIMPLICITY.
 The
The streamlining
streamlining wake-up
wake-up
call
call
•• IBM:
IBM: 1994-7
1994-7 slashed
slashed models
models from
from 34003400 to
to 150,
150,
options
options from
from 750
750 to
to 350,
350, inventory
inventory parts
parts from
from 56k
56k to
to
15k.
15k. Outgrew
Outgrew industry
industry for
for the
the first
first time
time in
in aa decade.
decade.
•• P&G:
P&G: 1995 1995 cut
cut number
number of of hair
hair care
care product
product choices
choices by by
half.
half. Market
Market share
share has
has steadily
steadily grown.
grown.

Burger
Burger King,
King, Sunoco,
Sunoco, Nabisco,
Nabisco, GM,
GM, Unilever...
Unilever...
 De-cluttering
De-cluttering strategies
strategies
•• Products/services
Products/services that
that reduce
reduce no.
no. of
of
products,
products, brands
brands or
or decisions
decisions (Conditioning
(Conditioning
shampoo,
shampoo, PDA,
PDA, ‘Single-window’)
‘Single-window’)
•• Advertising
Advertising positioning
positioning (“Honda.
(“Honda. We
We make
make it
it
simple”,
simple”, “Nokia
“Nokia -- human
human technology”)
technology”)
•• Branding
Branding (CareFree
(CareFree sugarless
sugarless gum,
gum,
Onebox.com,
Onebox.com, reduce
reduce sub-brands)
sub-brands)
•• Simplify
Simplify logo
logo designs
designs (Nike
(Nike swish)
swish)
Simplicity
Simplicity and
and the
the Internet
Internet
•• The
The need
need for
for simplicity
simplicity is
is most
most apparent
apparent where
where
complex
complex technologies
technologies need
need to
to be
be harnessed
harnessed andand
made
made invisible
invisible in
in order
order to
to provide
provide aa stress-free
stress-free
customer
customer experience.
experience.
•• Sustained
Sustained growth
growth of
of the
the Internet
Internet is
is powered
powered by by
advent
advent of
of visible
visible simplicity
simplicity sitting
sitting on
on top
top of
of invisible
invisible
complexity.
complexity.
–– One
One click
click ordering
ordering
–– Imode
Imode
 4R’s
4R’s of of Simplicity
Simplicity
Marketing
Marketing
1. Replace: Position yourself as a replacement for multiple or
1. Replace: Position yourself as a replacement for multiple or
more
more complicated
complicated product
product or
or process.
process.
2. Repackage:
2. Repackage: Bundle Bundle together
together products
products or
or services
services
previously
previously only
only available
available from
from multiple
multiple sources
sources (integration).
(integration).
3. Reposition:
3. Reposition: Directly
Directly position
position yourself
yourself on
on the
the promise
promise of
of
simplicity.
simplicity.
4. Replenish:
4. Replenish: Continuously
Continuously provide
provide zero-defect
zero-defect service
service to
to
existing
existing customers
customers atat acceptable
acceptable price
price points
points so
so they
they never
never
have
have toto make
make aa purchase
purchase decision
decision ever
ever again.
again.
 Strategy
Strategy Components

R
Components
REPLACE
Substitution Consolidation
REPACKAGE

Aggregation Integration
REPOSITION

REPLENISH Brand Vertical Discontinuous

Streamlining Extension Repositioning

Continuous Zero Defects Competitive

Supply Pricing
“What use could this company
make
of an electrical toy?”
Western Union president, William
Orton, rejecting Bell’s offer to sell his
struggling telephone company for
$100,000.
 Alexander
Alexander Graham
Graham Bell
Bell

“The telephone may be briefly

described as an electrical contrivance
for reproducing in distant places the
tones and articulations of a speaker’s
voice so that conversation can be
carried on by word of mouth between
two persons in different rooms, in
different streets or in different
towns.”
 AT&T
AT&T

“Reach
“Reach out
out and
and
touch
touch someone”
someone”
Complexity is not to be
admired.
It’s to be avoided.
 20,000

114,000

600,000
• Pulchritude possesses profundity of a merely
cutaneous nature.

(Beauty is only skin deep.)

• It is not efficacious to indoctrinate a
superannuated canine with innovative maneuvers.

(You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.)

• Visible vapours that issue from carbonaceous materials
are a harbinger of imminent conflagration.

(Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.)

• A revolving mass of lithic conglomerates does not
accumulate a congery of small green bryophitic plants.

(A rolling stone gathers no moss.)

 “Memos
“Memos from
from Hell”
Hell”
(circulating
(circulatingat
atFortune
Fortune500
500companies)
companies)

• Top leadership helicoptered this vision.

(The bosses are looking beyond next

week.)
 “Memos from Hell”
(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

• Adding value is the keystone to

exponentially accelerating profit
curves.

(Lets grow sales and profits by

offering more of what customers
want.)
 “Memos from Hell”
(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

• We need to dimensionalise this

management initiative

(Lets all make a plan.)

 “Memos from Hell”
(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

• We utilised a concert of cross-

functional expertise.

(People from different departments

talked to each other.)
 “Memos from Hell”
(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

• Don’t impact employee

incentivisation programs.

(Don’t screw around with people’s

pay.)
 “Memos from Hell”
(circulating at Fortune 500 companies)

• Your job, for the time being, has

been designated as “retained.”

(You’re not fired yet.)

Big ideas almost always
come in small words
 Volvo’s
Volvo’s Mission
Mission
Statement?
Statement?

““Volvo
Volvo is
is in
in the
the business
business
to
to make
make the
the safest
safest vehicles
vehicles
in
in the
the world.”
world.”
Volvo’s
Volvo’s Mission
Mission Statement!
Statement!

130
130 Words.
Words.
‘‘Safety’
Safety’ is
is the
the 126th
126th word.
word.
 The
The Mission
Mission Statement
Statement
Book
Book
(Contains
(Contains 301
301 corporate
corporate mission
mission
statements)
statements)
-- Jeffrey
Jeffrey Abrahams
Abrahams
• Service (230 times) • Growth (118)

• Customers (211) • Environment (117)

• Quality (194) • Profit (114)

• Value (183) • Leader (104)

• Employees (157) • Best (102)

Forget “what you want to
be.”
Focus on “what you can
be.”