What’s your Problem?
sense of “having arrived”, heavy users, need to
- The better defined the problem, the quicker
and more accurate the solution.
- Advertising is often the knee-jerk reaction
of both client and agency, but is it really the
solution?
Touch, Smell, Feel your Market
- Don’t pretend that you know the market
when you are NOT the market.
“Nobody but a 16-year old can be a 16
year old.”
- Learn to segmentize the market.
Example:
Lifestage Segments:
Dependent Singles - tweens, teens still living
with their parents
Independent Singles - young adults who are
getting established in their careers
Young Couples - married couples who are
just starting to build a company
Young Nesters - parents with kids under 12
years old
Mature Nesters - parents with tween and teen
kids
Empty Nesters - parents with adult kids
These lifestages are united by a key theme:
Personal Connection
Translation of Lifestage Segments to the Link
and Hub Tribes
Dependent Singles (Newbies) - acceptance
among friends, being “in”, basic telco need,
value for money, heavy influences of other
tribes
Independent Singles (Median to HI-End
Handset Upgraders) - source of self-esteem, a
acquire the latest handset service
Young Couples (Median to HI-End Handset
Upgraders) - psychographically still in
“independent singles” lifestage, socially
active, building careers at the same time,
handset upgrade an affirmation of status
Young Nesters (Median to HI-End Handset
Upgraders) - shift of priorities to kids and
setting down acquisitions, might have upgrade
in previous lifestage, back to back telco needs
Mature Nesters (Additional Liners) -
established careers, looking forward to next
lifestage, heavy business usage, need for
family connectivity
Empty Nesters (Additional Liners) - shift of
priorities back to themselves, need for
acceptance, keep pace with the rest of the
world, more monied, more indulgent
Assign names to your market.
DOBY’s - Daddy Older, Baby Younger
MOBY’s - Mommy Older, Baby Young.
Women having babies later in life.
SKIPPIE’s - School Kids with Incomes and
Purchasing Power
WOOF’s - Well-Off Older Folks
Spot the Trends
- Don’t offer a one-dimensional view of the
situation.
- To broaden the perspective, one must look
out for change agents that could impact the we
live.
- Look into somebody’s supermarket cart ot
see what they’re buying.
Distill the Knowledge Gained in the Course
of your Investigation
- Don’t get paralyzed with information.
- A two-inch report may not have fit, may not
be relevant. A one-liner from an FGD on the
other hand, may say it all.
Track your Brand’s Performance
A job does not get done with every commercial
produced or an ad printed.

- Don’t be afraid to change perspective if a Measure your brand’s sales performance.

whole new direction emerges.
Are we doing better or worse than our
Write a New Brief competitors?

If it’s not clear on paper, it’s not clear in your Expand your Knowledge
head.
Know the shakers and movers of the industry
The brief serves three masters:
• The marketer expects an insightful Learn to spot Award Winning Ads
summation of how the communication
strategy satisfies the marketing objective Follow effective case studies.
• The creative expects to receive a clear
focus of the problem, which the Offer insights about successful case studies.
advertising aims to address
• The brief writer should benefit from the Study branding strategies.
discipline of writing the document

Yes, the creative brief should be brief. And

yes, it should be creative.

Inspire the Agency Team

You don’t have to be the resident Ms.

Congeniality but at least have good
interpersonal skills.

Earn your Client’s respect. Love will come

later

Revolutionize the Way you Do Things

Art direct your sheets. Conceptualize your
presentation. Experiment with colors, fonts,
visual aids.
Example: Literally do a song-and-dance
presentation.
Wear a costume to Client presentations.
JR- Job Request Given to CD/ACD & Concept
team
Read and Digest - Creative Brief
Concept Team - Brainstorms
If TV, do rough storyboard in thumbnails
If Print, do rough thumbs
 - Corresponds to the 3 principal meanings
Present Roughs to ACD/CD
- The bisible or “superficial” characteristics
Proceed to Storyboard if TV of brand if it were to walk into a room
Compare if Print
Final script if Radio Example:
Corona Brand Footprint
Final Check with ACD/CD … Means “South of the Boarder”
… Means Outdoor Fun
Present to Account Group … Means The Beer With Lime
Present to Client
… Is Sunny
If approved, discuss w/producer … Is Carefree
… Is Out of the Ordinary
- timing
- technical feasibility Why Three Dimensions?

Casting - search for the right talents If only one or two dimensions…
- A “flat” or uninspiring picture
Bidding - production houses bid for the project
- Does not capture the rich power of any
Director’s Briefing - director is briefed on the brand
story
If four or more
Feasibility 1 - director presents his treatment; - Laundry lists
agency reacts - No focus/coherence, and hard to understand
Feasibility 2 - director presents his revised Three dimensions provide a manageable
treatment portrait that marketers and creative people can
work with
Pre-Production - director and agency meet w/
client to discuss details of shoot Diagnostic vs Prescribed Brand Footprints
Actual SHOOT Good Footprints Bridge the Past with the
Future
- Should reflect the continuity and credibility
The Brand Footprint
of the brand’s history, while charting a new
direction to allow for future expansion
The “MEANS”
- What a brand gets credit for in the eyes of - A good check: DOES IT FEEL AND
the consumer SOUND LIKE MY BRAND?
- Its reputation Writing the Brand Footprint
The “IS” Where does the process begin?
- How would we describe a brand’s
personality traits
What Space does your brand hold now?
How about your competitors?
The place to start is the consumer. Ask
him/her.
Chances are, though…
- He/She will not tell you
- He/ She cannot tell you
Pale Pilsen - “iba ang may pinagsamahan, old
man’s beer (pang-tatay), pang-okasyon; fiesta,
binyagan, kasalan, birthdays, Efren Bata
Reyes
San Mig Light - sosi, young, bars and parties,
for girls and redefined boys, light lang ang
tama (light on stomach)
Brand Projection

If (brand) became a person, what would they

be like?

Example:
Red Horse - thirties, barumbado, matapang &
bagsik, “Jeprox, Jologs”, long hair, jeans and
rubber shoes

Colt 45 - younger than red horse, cowboy,

malinis, nakabihis, may konting class,
approachable, popular
What type of party would (brand) have?

Example:
Brand Archaelogy Tools Pale Pilsen - en-grande, fiesta, baptism,
wedding, birthday, all kinds of people,
Brand Image Inventory enjoying, laughing, grilled foot, huge
quantities

San Mig Light - pretty girls, handsome

Brand Projection boys, kwentuhan, dancing, light food:
pizza and peanuts, sosi, you can’t gate-
crash
Brand Collage Red Horse - noisy, wild, rambulan, no
food just cigarettes, filled w/
gangs, “tribes”, rock music
Brand Footprint Colt 45 - tahimik at tulala mga tao, all men,
cowboys, band is playing but people are not
Brand Inventory talking to each other
When I say (brand), what comes to mind? Defining Current Footprints
Example:
- In all cases, focus should always be in first
defining the MEANS of the Footprint.
Brand associations should be clustered into
those meanings that are believed to best
capture what the brand gets credit for now.

- These Meanings should be written precisely

and vividly to add up to a dynamic, coherent
picture of the brand.

- Once the meanings are agreed, the

“corresponding” IS are defined.

Example:
San Miguel Beer (Current) Brand Footprint

… Means Great-Tasting Beer

… Means Heritage
… Means Celebratory Moments

… Is Reliable
… Is Traditional
… Resilient