CREATIVE STRATEGY

INTRODUCTION
One of the most important components of an integrated marketing communications program is the
advertising message. It is obvious that there are a myriad of ways to convey an advertising message.
However, underlying all of these messages is a creative strategy that involves determining what the
advertising message will say or communicate and creative tactics dealing with how the message
strategy will be implemented or executed.
ADVERTISING CREATIVITY
What Is Creativity?Creativity has been defined as a quality possessed by persons that enables
them to generate novel approaches in situations, generally reflected in new and improved solutions to
problems.
CREATIVE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
The creative process of advertising is guided by specific goals and objectives and requires the
development of a creative strategy or plan of action for achieving the goal. Creative strategy
development actually begins with a thorough assessment of the marketing and promotional situation
and a determination of what needs to be communicated to the marketers target audience. Creative
strategy should, however, also be based on a number of other factors that are stated in the creative or
copy platform.
A.

Copy PlatformA copy platform provides a plan or checklist that is useful in guiding the
development of an advertising message or campaign. This document is prepared by the
agency team or group assigned to the account and may include creative personnel as well as
the account coordinator and representatives from media and research.

B.

Advertising CampaignsMost advertisements are part of a series of messages that make up

an IMC or advertising campaign, which consists of multiple messages, often in a variety of
media that center on a single theme or idea. The determination of a strong idea for the
campaign theme is very important as it is the central message that will be communicated in
all of the advertising and other promotional activities and thus sets the tone or direction for
the development of the individual ads that make up the campaign.

C.

The Search for the Major Selling IdeaAn important part of creative strategy development is
determining the central theme that will become the major selling idea or big idea for the ad
campaign. Some of the best known and most discussed approaches include:
1. The unique selling propositionthis concept was popularized by the famous copywriter
Rosser Reeves in his book Reality in Advertising. Its three characteristics include:

each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer

the proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer

the proposition must be strong enough to pull over new customers to your brand

2. Creating a brand imagesome competing brands are so similar it is difficult to find or

create a unique attribute or benefit so the creative strategy is based on the development of
a strong, memorable identity for the brand through image advertising.

3. Finding the inherent dramathe famous ad man Leo Burnett, founder of the Leo
Burnett agency in Chicago, believed that advertising should be based on a foundation of
consumer benefits with an emphasis on the dramatic element in expressing these benefits.
This type of advertising bases the creative strategy on presenting the message in a warm
and realistic way.
4. Positioningthe basic idea is that advertising is used to establish or position the
product or service in a particular place in the consumers mind.
These approaches to determining the major selling ideas discussed above are very popular and are
often used as the basis of the creative strategy for advertising campaigns. These creative approaches
represent specific creative styles that have become associated with some of the most successful
advertising creative minds and their agencies.
APPEALS AND EXECUTION STYLES
Once the major selling idea has been agreed upon, the creative team then turns its attention to
determining the specific type of appeal and execution style that will be used to carry out the creative
concept.
A.

Advertising AppealsThe advertising appeal refers to the basis or approach used in the
advertisement to elicit some consumer response or to influence their feelings toward the
product, service, or cause. At the broadest level, these approaches can be broken down into
two categories or classes which are informational/rational appeals and emotional appeals.
1. Informational/rational appealsthese types of appeals focus on the consumer's practical,
functional or utilitarian need for the product or service and/or specific reasons for owning
a particular brand. Exhibit 9-1 provides an example of a rational appeal. Examples of a
number of product- or service-related appeals that would fall under the category of
rational appeals are discussed including:

B.

Feature appeals

Competitive advantage appeals

Favorable price appeals

News appeals

Product/service popularity appeals

Emotional appealsthese types of appeals relate to consumers' social and/or psychological

needs for purchasing a product or service. Emotional appeals have become very popular in
advertising as marketers recognize that many purchase decisions are made on the basis of
feelings and emotions since rational, functional-based differentiation is often very difficult.
Examples of psychological states or feelings that can serve as a basis for emotional appeals
are shown in Figure 9-1 of the text and can be reviewed.

Another reason for using emotional appeals is to influence consumers' interpretations of their
product usage experience through the use of transformational advertising. This type of
advertising creates feelings, images, meanings and beliefs about the product or service that

may be activated when the consumer uses it and thus "transforms" their interpretation of the
usage experience.
1. Combining rational and emotional appealsmany purchase decisions are made on the
basis of both rational and emotional motives. Thus rational and emotional appeals may be
combined in the advertisement to attempt to influence both types of purchase motives.
2. Additional types of appealsOther appeal types that are discussed in the text include
reminder advertising and teaser advertising.
C.

Advertising ExecutionCreative execution refers to the manner in which an advertising

appeal is carried out or presented. A particular advertising appeal can be executed in a variety
of ways and a particular means of execution can be applied to a variety of advertising appeals.
Some of the more commonly used execution techniques include:
1. Straight-sell or factual messagethis type of execution relies on a straightforward
presentation of information about the product or service such as specific attributes or
benefits.
2. Scientific/technical evidencea variation of the straight sell where scientific or technical
evidence or information is presented in the ad to support a claim.
3. Demonstrationthis type of execution is designed to illustrate the key advantages or
benefits of a product or service by showing it in actual use or in some contrived or staged
situation.
4. Comparisonthis type of execution involves a direct or indirect comparison of a brand
against the competition.
5. Testimonialsmany advertisers present their advertising messages in the form of a
testimonial whereby a person speak on behalf of the product or service based on his or her
personal use of and/or experiences with it.
6. Slice of lifethis type of execution is often based on a problem/solution type of format.
The ad attempts to portray a real-life situation involving a problem, conflict or situation
consumers may face in their daily lives. The ad then focuses on showing how the
advertiser's product or service can resolve the problem. Slice-of-life executions are also
becoming very common in business-to-business advertising as companies use this
approach to demonstrate how their products and services can be used to solve business
problems.
7. Animationthis technique used animated characters or scenes drawn by artists or on
computer. Animation is often used as an execution technique for advertising targeted at
children. Some advertisers have also been Roger Rabbit style ads that mix animation with
real people. For example, Exhibit 9-16 shows an image from a Star-Kist tuna commercial
featuring Charlie the Tuna that mixes animation with real people.
8. Personality symbolthis type of execution involves the use of a central character or
personality symbol to deliver the advertising message and with which the product or
service can be identified. The personality symbol can take the form of a person who is
used as a spokesperson, animated characters or even animals. The chapter discusses how

AFLAC has made effective use of this execution style by developing commercials that
have made a duck a popular personality symbol for the company.
9. Imagerythis type of appeal is used when the goal is to encourage consumers to
associate the brand with the symbols, characters, and/or situation shown in the ad. An
imagery execution may be based on usage imagery by showing how a brand is used or
performs and the situation in which it is used. It can also be based on user imagery where
the focus is on the type of person who uses the brand. For example, ads for cosmetics and
clothing often use very attractive models in the hope of getting consumers to associate his
or her physical attractiveness with the brand.
10. Dramatizationthis execution technique creates a suspenseful situation or scenario in the
form of a short story. Dramatizations often use the problem/solution approach as they
show how the advertised brand can help resolve a problem.
11. Humorhumor can be used as the basis for an advertising appeal. However, humor can
also be used as a way of executing the message and presenting other types of advertising
appeals.
12. Combinationsmany of these execution techniques can be combined in presenting an
advertising message. For example, slice-of-life ads are often used to demonstrate a
product or make brand comparisons.
CREATIVE TACTICS
Once the creative approach, type of appeal, and execution style has been determined, attention turns
to creating the actual advertisement. The design and production of an advertising message involves a
number of activities such as writing copy, developing illustrations and other visual elements of the ad
and bringing all of the pieces together in a finished product.
A.

Creative tactics for print advertisingthere are three basic components of a print ad including
the headline, body copy, and the visual elements or illustrations. These elements are brought
together through a layout.
1. Headlinesthe headline refers to the words in the leading position of the
advertisementthose that are likely to be read first or are positioned to draw the most
attention. The most important function of a headline is to attract the readers attention and
make them interested in the remainder of the advertising message. There are various types
of headlines including:

Direct headlines straightforward and informative in terms of the message presented

Indirect headlinesprovoke curiosity and intrigue by using questions, challenges,

provocations, and other methods

2. Subheadsmany ads also contain a main headline and one or more secondary headlines
or subheads. These subheads usually appear in a smaller type size than the main headline
and are generally larger the type size used for the body copy. They are used to break-up
or section off large amount of body copy and highlight key sales points in the ad.
3. Body copythe main text portion of a print ad is referred to as the body copy. Body
copy content depends on the type of advertising appeal and/or execution style being used.

4. Visual elementsanother major component of a print ad is the visual elements or

illustrations. Visual components often dominate print advertising and play a very
important role in determining effectiveness.
5. Layouta layout refers to the physical arrangement of the various parts of the ad
including the headline, subheads, illustrations, body copy and any identifying marks.
B.

Creative Tactics for TelevisionAs with print ads, television commercials have several
components which must work together to create the right impact and communicate the
advertiser's message.
1. Videothe video or visual elements are what is seen on the television screen. Decisions
have to be made regarding the main focus of the visual such as the product, the presenter,
action sequences, lighting graphics, color and other factors.
2. Audiothe audio portion of a commercial includes several elements such as voice, music
and sound effects. Voices may be heard in several ways such as through the direct
presentation of a spokesperson or as a dialogue or conversation among people in the
commercial. A common method for presenting the audio portion of a commercial is
through a voice-over whereby the message is delivered or action on the screen is narrated
by the voice of an announcer who is not visible. A trend among major advertisers is to
hire celebrities with distinctive voices to do the voiceovers for their commercials.
3. Musica very important part of many television commercials is music which plays
various roles and functions such as providing a pleasant background or helping create the
appropriate mood or setting. IMC Perspective 9-3 discusses how marketers use popular
songs to help deliver their advertising messages and how in recent years they have begun
making their names part of the songs. Another important musical element in both
television and radio commercials is jingles, which are catchy songs about a product or
service that usually carry the advertising theme and a simple message.
4. Planning and production of television commercialsthe various elements of a television
commercial are brought together in a document known as a script which is a written
version of a commercial that provides a detail description of its video and audio content.
The script indicates the various audio components of the commercial such as the copy to
be spoken by voices, music and sound effects. The video portion of the script provides the
visual plan of the commercial. Once the basic script has been conceived, the writer and
art director get together to produce a storyboard or a series of drawings used to present
the visual plan or layout of a proposed commercial. Once the client approves the
storyboard, the commercial is ready to move to the production phase. The production
process for a commercial actually involves three phases:

Preproduction all the work and activities that occur before the actual filming of a
commercial.

Production the period during which the commercial is filmed or videotaped and
recorded.

Postproduction activities and work that occur after the commercial has been filmed
and recorded.