IMC – Session 14, 15

Learning Objectives

Message Strategy:

LOs are same as LOs of session 11,12

 IMC – Session 14, 15

Creative Brief

Statements about a brand that summarizes the research and

insights for the creative team.

Also known as IMC Message Strategy Brief, Creative Platform,

Creative Plan or Work plan, Creative Strategy or Copy Strategy
 IMC – Session 14, 15

3 Steps in Developing Message Strategy Brief

Step 1: Determining communication objectives: What
type of impact does the message need to achieve?

Sample Marketing Communications Objectives

Cognitive: awareness, educate, explain, brand knowledge

Affective: image or personality, attitudes & brand liking, desire

or need, strike emotional chord

Behavioral: increase trial, purchase, repurchasing

 IMC – Session 14, 15

3 Steps in Developing Message Strategy Brief

Step 2: Customer Insight: Finding diamonds in the data

Customer insight: below-the-surface attitudes & beliefs that influence

customer’s behavior.

For example, Marlboro cigarettes. Insight that young and middle-

aged men fantasize about freedom & macho independence of
cowboys. It allowed men to escape into this fantasy.
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3 Steps in Developing Message Strategy Brief

Step 3: Selling strategy messages
Benefit: how a product satisfies customers’ needs, wants & desires;
promise: what good things will happen if a person buys this
product; reason why: substantiation, support or proof that explain
why a product will provide the promised benefit

Feature: attributes that give a product a distinctive difference

Value-pricing: offers the best quality product you can buy for that
price. There may be better-quality products but it would cost
more. Price is fixed, value is not. Value is a perception of what
something is worth in terms of quality and price.
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3 Steps in Developing Message Strategy Brief

Step 3: Selling strategy messages
 Unique-selling proposition: selling strategy based on a product’s
most distinctive difference from competitive products; provide
reason or proof on which a claim, benefit or proposition rests

 Generic: stresses a basic feature or benefit of a product that is not

brand specific

 Credibility: heightens conviction & decreases perception of risk; use

of endorsers, PR, testimonial

 Emotional: connects with customers & prospects at the affective

level & moves them to respond with feelings
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3 Steps in Developing Message Strategy Brief
Step 3: Selling strategy messages
 Association: psychological connection between a brand & its
customers & prospects

 Lifestyle: Uses situations & symbols of lifestyles that the target

audience can identify with or aspire to.

 Incentive: Creates a sense of immediacy & rewards customers for

responding quickly.
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3 Steps in Developing Message Strategy Brief
Step 3: Selling strategy messages
 Reminder: Keeps a brand top-of-mind with the target. Used by
mature brands with established brand identity & designed to jog
the customer’s memory at point of purchase.

 Interactive: Creating two-way communication in order to open up

communication with customers & capture their feedback
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3 Steps in Developing Message Strategy Brief
Step 3: Selling strategy messages

Type of Message Objective Message Strategy

Response
Think Awareness, brand Info, generic, pre-
knowledge, understanding, emptive, credibility
conviction
Feel Brand image & personality, Emotion,
liking, desire, self identity association, lifestyle

Do Buy, try, repeat, visit, Incentive,

contact reminder,
interactive
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Class Activity
Create Creative Brief for the following products
 Petrol

 Oxygen

 Ayurvedic Medicines

 DTH Services