Creative Strategy

 Attention & Comprehension

 Benefit-based Attitudes
 Brand-feelings Association
 Message Tactics:
 Creative approaches
 Art of copy writing
 Advertising copy testing and diagnosis
 Diffusion Processes
Attention

Gaining attention amongst:

Clutter of ads of competing brands from the
same product category
Clutter of ads in general (Advertising Noise)
Zapping: Switching across programs during
ads using remote
Zipping: Fast-forwarding through ads on
VCR while watching recorded programs
Attention

Ads to be made around:

Information of practical value
Length of copy – Number of words
Infomercials – 30 minute TV programs
To assist 'active search' when prospects scout
for info in specific mags
Information that Stimulates
Physical properties: brightness, color, size etc
Collative properties: novelty, motion, complexity
Attention

Ads to be made around:

Information that Supports
Dissonance theory
Confidence to customers who have purchased
the products or who are considering buying the
products
To negate negative information in market
against the product
 Attention
Ads to be made around:
Information that Interests increases Attention
Ad readership by men is more for machines
(automobile, electronic)
Ad readership by women is more for motion pictures
& women's clothing
 Comprehension

STIMULUS ATTENTION INTERPRETATION COGNITION

Attention - Comprehension

Attention generates interests among

segment audience due to:
Story
Brand ambassadors/ role models/ models
Jingles
Humour
Sentiments
emotions
Attention - Comprehension
Studies (Jessica Severn, George & Michael Belch)
show that ads with more attention
grabbing elements may result in:
increased ad and brand name recall
Copy point recalls going down
A balance between attention-grab and
copy is necessary
Interpretation - Comprehension

 Did the audience interpret the ad the way the

advertiser wanted?
 How much distortion occurred?
 Gestalt psychology
Concept of totality or 'whole'
Relate it to familiar or similar or meaningful
situations
 Closure: Audience fill the gaps to interpret ads
Consumers Attitude to Benefits

Classification of attributes that influence

attitude:
Physical characteristics
Pseudophysical (not easily measurable)
Greasiness, shininess, type of fragrance,
spiciness, shades of color
Benefits that the consumers derive to bring
about a good feeling about the product
 Brand – Feelings Association

Think Feel

Insurance Expensive watch

High Contact Lens Perfume
Involvement House paint
Credit Card
Eye glasses
Hair coloring
Camera Wine
Electric razor

Insecticide Greeting card

Regular shampoo Pizza
Low Disposable razor Jeans
Involvement Paper towels Inexpensive watch
Beer
Snacks

FCB Grid (Foote, Cone & Belding)

 Brand – Feelings Association
Informational Transformational
(reduce negative feelings) (increase positive feelings)

Fiction novels
Low Beer Wine
Involvement Detergent Biscuits
Aspirin

Cars
House painting Vacations
High Insurance Fashion clothing
Involvement Microwave oven

The Rossiter – Percy Grid

Advertisement - Brand Association

 Liking or dislike of ads, loaded with emotions

and feelings, may effect brand attitudes for
low involvement products more than the high
involvement products
 Both feelings and ad's usefulness shapes the
the attitude towards a brand
Advertisement - Brand Association

 Warmth in advertising:
 Depicting family, friendship, team relationship
 Winning occasions
 Humour in advertising:
 Evoke feelings of joy and happiness
 Punch-line (puns) with two levels: real and unreal
 Humour related to the product evokes a positive
response than 'unrelated' humour
 Use of humour should respect cultural sensitivity
Advertisement - Brand Association

 Fear and Anxiety in advertising:

 Adopted for such products as Insurance, dental,
tires, foods, appliances, travellers cheques,
smoking, AIDS etc
 Fear appeals are more effective when combined
with support information as to how the products
help audience to overcome such fear and anxiety
 To make fear ads more effective focus the story on
a friend or family member of the viewer
 Attitude Change & Interactive Communication

Organisation Message Medium

Information Diversion Entertainment

Gratification

Change attitude

 Levels of interactive response:

 First order response: catalogues & TV commercials
resulting orders in a short time
 Second order response: prospective customers
register communicate and may use this to make
decision at later date or when required
 Attitude Change & Interactive Communication
+ve learning factor
 Effect of ads on +ve effect

consumers (Two
No of
factor theory and Neutral effect exposures
Net effect
advertisement wear -ve effect

out) -ve tedium factor

•Getting consumer attention by two sided argument +ve and –ve

reduces reporting biases: Ex. AVIS “We are no. 2, we try harder”

• Consumers may perceive comparative ads as derogatory

Product Headline Visual

Embassy Suites “This Year, We’re Unwrapping Chocolate kisses with hotel
Suites by the Dozen” names underneath each

Toyota auto parts “Our Lifetime Guarantee May Man holding a shock absorber
Come as a Shock”

Bucks filter “Herd of These?” Cigarette pack with a picture of

cigarettes a stag

Bounce fabric “Is There Something Creeping Woman’s dress bunched up on

softener Up Behind You?” her back due to static

Pepsi “This Year, Hit the Beach Pepsi bottle cap lying on the
Topless” sand

ASICS athletic “We Believe Women Should Woman jogging in a rural

shoes Be Running the Country” setting
Message Tactics

Creative Approaches
The Art of Copy writing
Advertising Copy Testing and Diagnosis
Creative Approaches

Creating an outline of what message to

be conveyed to who and with what tone
Provides guiding principles for
copywriters and art directors who are
assigned to develop ads
Any ad thus created should conform to
the advertisement objectives
Plays a major role in positioning brands
Rational Creative Approaches

Comparative Ads:
In certain product category like automobiles
and consumer durables, companies create
differentiation around product attributes
Consumers seek a holistic value
Comparative ads tries to provide clarification to
make the choice easier
Extensive comparison (instead of few attributes
and one-sided) receives greater attention
Rational Creative Approaches

Inoculative Ads:
Used for defending current position by
frequent ad appeals
Used for defending comparative ads put up
by competitor
Built on supportive arguments or counter-
arguments
Rational Creative Approaches

Refutational Ads:
Refutational messages contain some
supportive info, even though less than
supportive ads
Are more stimulating than supportive
messages
Refutation restores balance
“No. 2 tries harder”
Emotional Creative Approaches

Credibility Source
A consumer approaches a known and
credible brand with less risk
Credibility factors are created by:
Dimensions of Source Credibility
Source Components of Ad Copy
Emotional Creative Approaches

Selecting an Endorser:
Celebrity
Q rating (“one of my favourite/totally
familiar”)
An expert
Expert + Celebrity
A typical satisfied customer
An announcer (TV, Radio, DJs, RJs,
Commentators)
Emotional Creative Approaches

Endorser's Role:
For more rational and highly involved
purchase products, experts are appropriate
If purchase is driven by logical reason, a
non-celebrity is suffice and comes cheaper
Celebrities are suited for products where
high psychological and “social” risk exists
Endorser's presence should not distract
consumer from the main message
Art of Copy Writing

Creative Process:
Converts a stated 'drab' marketing objective
into creatively developed attractive
communication
Involves special 'talent' and 'art'
Involves:
Writing copy
Illustrating
Layout
Art of Copy Writing

 Starting Creative Process as seen by Alex

Osborne (founder BBDO-Batten, Barton,
Durstine & Osborn)):
 Fact finding:
Define problem/issue
Gather and analyse pertinent data
 Idea finding:
Think many possible leads
Select by adding/reprocessing ideas
Art of Copy Writing

Creative Process:
Heuristic Ideation Technique: identifying
relevant dimensions of a product like
Context in which it is used
Benefit it provides
Personalities who could endorse it
Brainstorming
Copy Writing

Guidelines (John Caples, ex-BBDO):

 Cash in on your personal experience
 Write from your heart
 Learn from the experience of the others
 Talk with the manufacturer and study the product
 Review previous advertising for the product
 Study competitors ads
 Study testimonials from customers
 Solve the prospects problem
 Put your subconscious mind to work
 Copy Writing

 General Copy Principles:

 Put only one or two copy ideas
 Should contain a benefit or idea unique to the brand
 Flows naturally and smoothly from beginning to end
 Use believable facts
 Keep the format simple, uncluttered and straightforward
 Use simple language
 Do not radically change the style over the life cycle of the product
 Link the various ads: print, radio, TV etc
 Copy Writing

 Print Copy Principles:

 Headline with an appeal to the reader’s interest / or
evoke curiosity
 The visual and the headline should relate to
brand/product, since many may not go beyond this to
read the ad
 Pictures improve the attribute understanding
 Pictures should engage consumer to imagine himself
or herself in that behaviour
 For highly involved customers, product relevant info
 Copy Writing

 Television Copy Principles:

 TV scripts take advantage of visual nature of the
medium by using demonstration and close-ups
 Shots in the ad should be connected and linked to each
other
 As the number of shots in a TV ad goes up the recall
and persuasion score goes down (Ideal around 10
shots per ad)
 In a low involvement product, make the product /
person appear bigger, bolder and stronger
 Copy Writing

Radio Copy Principles:

Create a picture in listeners mind through use
of human voice, sound effects, humour and
music
Use sound effects to evoke feelings not
describable by words
Mention product, brand name and benefit
Use short words and sentences
 Copy Writing

Outdoor Copy Principles:

Message has to be communicated in few
seconds
Copy and visual must be extremely short,
simple and obvious
Retail Copy Principles:
Must contain specifics like size, colour, price
Should reinforce image of store
 Copy Writing

Business to Business Ads:

Informative (problem-solving/profit-improving)
Offer case histories
They can contain some drama or human
interest
A coupon and/or telephone number to be
included
 Copy Writing

Internet Ads:
Combine moving visuals, audio with links to
evoke interest inviting consumers to click
further to access company web site for further
information
Use attractive and pleasing colours
 Illustrating (Artwork)
 Important and critical:
 For consumer non-durable products
 For getting attention and building awareness
 The job of an artist
 Involves what identification to include like company or
trade name, brand name, trade-marks, certified approvals
etc
 Positioning picture, message, logos
 Black & white print ads may have equal effectiveness as
coloured ones
 Layout
 Print layout considerations:
 Balance: arrangement of elements for visual impact
 Contrast: using different sizes, shapes, densities, colours etc to
enhance attention and readability
 Proportion: relation of the object to background
 Gaze motion: Headline, illustration, copy and identification mark, in
that order to provide logical sequence (may be altered in specific
cases)
 Unity: Combination of above to enhance holistic appearance
(coupons to be cut appropriately placed for convenience of
cutting)
 Layout
 Print layout classifications:
 Picture window (Ayer #1)
 Mondrian/Grid: demarcated rectangles or even sized boxes
 Type-specimen: exhibit types without illustration
 Copy-heavy: no or small visual; mostly words
 Frame: artwork or illustrative material with copy
 Silhouette: White space pushed toward the edges of the ad
 Multipanel: similar to comic strips
 Circus: intense multipanel suitable for grocery ads
 Rebus: Word-phrase by pictures; Puzzles in ads
Silhouettes
 Layout

Chris Janiszewski’s study based on brain’s

hemisphere processes:
Right hemisphere is suited for processing
pictures and these are better placed on left side
of the ad
If the key information in the ad is about words,
place them on the left side of the ad
 Types of TV Commercials

 Story line: unfolding type

 Problem-solution
 Chronology
 Special effects (musical sound/pictorial technique)
 Testimonial
 Satire: Sophisticated wit to point out human
foibles
 Spokesperson: on-camera announcer
 Creative Styles

David Ogilvy's 11 commandments:

 What you say is more important than how you say it
 Ad not built around a great idea will flop
 Give facts (Consumer isn't a moron, she is your wife)
 You can not bore people into buying
 Don't clown, be well mannered
 Make your ads contemporary
 Committees can criticize ads, but they can not write them
 Creative Styles

David Ogilvy's 11 commandments:

 If you are lucky to write a good ad, repeat it until it stops
pulling
 Never write an ad which you do not want your family to read
 The image and the brand: It is the total personality of a
brand rather than trivial product differentiation decides its
position in the market
 Don't be a copycat; it is the mark of an inferior person

 Ogilvy was most concerned with brand image

Copy Testing

 Categories of response:
 Recognition (noted/seen associated/read most)
 Recall of commercial & its contents
Day-after recall
 Persuasion or attitude change
Take a sample show them a half-hour program
In between insert 7 ads, including test
commercials
Take a recall test
Copy Testing

 Categories of response:
 Change in purchase behavior
 Coupon stimulated purchasing
 Split-run tests (Industrial products)
 Split cable testing
 Amount of product or service consumed (effects of brand
loyalty)
Diagnostic Copy Testing

 For creative people to understand how parts of the ad contribute

to its impact
 Audience impression of the ad by qualitative research
 Adjective check list
 Emotional response (active/passive, positive/negative)
 Physiological measures
 Eye camera
 Pupillometrics
 Brain waves
Diagnostic Copy Testing

 ARF (Advertising Research Foundation) Study:

 Measure of persuasion: Poor-to-excellent rating of the brand
obtained after exposure
 Measure of salience: Number of times the brand was
mentioned first in awareness of that category
 Measure of communication: answer to question “other than to
get you buy the product, what was the main point of the ad”
 Predictor of sales: Agree/disagree for the statement “this ad is
one of the best I've seen recently”
Diagnostic Copy Testing

 ARF (Advertising Research Foundation) Study:

 Ads lead to sales if ads rated high on either or both of:
 “tells a lot about how the product works”
 “this advertising is funny or clever”
 Ads may not lead to sales if rated high on either or both of:
 “I find this ad artistic”
 “this ad does not give any facts, it just creates an image”
Diffusion Process

Reference Group Influence

Word-of-Mouth
Reference Group Influence
 Degree of group influence depends on:
 Nature of product/service
 Luxury or necessity
 Public or private
 Consumer profile
 Younger consumers are more susceptible to reference
group influence
 Decision Making Unit
 Deciding for oneself or family/group
 Purchasing situation:
 Alone or amidst others
Word of Mouth Influence by Ads

The Ad should stimulate one to ask the

user or incorporate the users' message
in the copy
Simulations of use incorporated in the
message will stimulate personal influence
and encourage WOM activity