Planning the Creative Strategy [MAC 325]

Planning the Creative Strategy [MAC 325]

The job of the creative team is challenging because every marketing situation is different and each campaign or advertisement may require a different creative approach.

 

However, advertising agency personnel generally agree that the ability to develop novel yet appropriate approaches to communicating with the customer makes the creative specialist valuable—and often hard to find.

 

Most advertising agencies thrive on creativity, for it is the major component in their work. Thus, they must create an environment that fosters the development of creative thinking and creative advertising.

 

Some advertising people say creativity in advertising is best viewed as a process.

 

One of the most popular approaches to creativity in advertising was developed by James Webb Young, a former creative vice president at the international advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson.

 

Young’s model of the creative process contains five steps:

 

1.   Immersion. Gathering raw material and information through background research and immersing yourself in the problem.

2.   Digestion. Taking the information, working it over, and wrestling with it in the mind.

3.   Incubation. Putting the problems out of your conscious mind and turning the information over to the subconscious to do the work.

4.    Illumination. The birth of an idea—the “Eureka! I have it!” phenomenon.

5.   Reality or verification. Studying the idea to see if it still looks good or solves the problem; then shaping the idea to practical usefulness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A similar model of the creative process was developed by English Sociologist, Graham Wallas:

 

1.   Preparation. Gathering background information needed to solve the problem through research and study.

2.   Incubation. Getting away and letting ideas develop.

3.   Illumination. Seeing the light or solution.

4.   Verification. Refining and polishing the idea and seeing if it is an appropriate solution.    

 

Inputs to the Creative Process: Preparation, Incubation, Illumination

 

Background Research

Only the most foolish creative person or team would approach an assignment without first learning as much as possible about the client’s product or service, the target market, the competition, and any other relevant background information.

 

The creative specialist should also be knowledgeable about general trends, conditions, and developments in the marketplace, as well as research on specific advertising approaches or techniques that might be effective.

 

The creative specialist can acquire background information in numerous ways.

 

• Reading anything related to the product or market—books, trade publications, general interest articles, research reports, and the like.

• Asking everyone involved with the product for information—designers, engineers, salespeople, and consumers.

• Listening to what people are talking about. Visits to stores, malls, restaurants, and even the agency cafeteria can be informative. Listening to the client can be particularly valuable, since he or she often knows the product and market best.

• Using the product or service and becoming familiar with it. The more you use a product, the more you know and can say about it.

• Working in and learning about the client’s business to understand better the people you’re trying to reach.

 

Product/Service-Specific Research

In addition to getting general background research, creative people also get information generally that comes in the form of specific studies conducted on the product or service, the target audience, or a combination of the two.

 

Consumer research such as attitude studies, market structure and positioning studies such as perceptual mapping and lifestyle research, focus group interviews, and demographic and psychographic profiles of users of a particular product, service, or brand are examples of product-specific research.  

 

Generally, creative people are open to any research or information that will help them understand the client’s target market better and assist in generating creative ideas.

 

Inputs to the Creative Process: Verification, Revision

The verification and revision stage of the creative process evaluates ideas generated during the illumination stage, rejects inappropriate ones, refines and polishes those that remain, and gives them final expression.

 

Techniques used at this stage include directed focus groups to evaluate creative concepts, ideas, or themes; message communication studies; portfolio tests; and evaluation measures such as viewer reaction profiles.

 

At this stage of the creative process, members of the target audience may be asked to evaluate rough creative layouts and to indicate what meaning they get from the ad, what they think of its execution, or how they react to a slogan or theme.

 

The creative team can gain insight into how a TV commercial might communicate its message by having members of the target market evaluate the ad in storyboard form. A storyboard is a series of drawings used to present the visual plan or layout of a proposed commercial. It contains a series of sketches of key frames or scenes along with the copy or audio portion for each scene.

 

At this stage of the process, the creative team is attempting to find the best creative approach or execution style before moving ahead with the campaign themes and going into actual production of the advertisement.