Creative Strategy: Planning and Development

This post focuses on advertising creative strategy i.e.what is meant by creativity, particularly as it relates to advertising, and examining a well-known approach to creativity in advertising.Good creative strategy and execution can often be central to determining the success of a product or service or reversing the fortunes of a struggling brand.

Creative strategy can lead to absolute success or dismal failure of an advertisement and can have profound influence on the brand. 

A best example could be the Nike's Just Do It Campaign which has been one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all times. 

In the late-1970s/early-1980s, Reebok's line of sports apparel sold far better and had a much more robust share of the market, thanks to the explosion of aerobics and general exercise enthusiasm amongst women. Nike, who at the time had little more than a line of marathoners' shoes to their name, wanted a piece of the action. So they went for the whole pie.

Late into the '80s, they started to tackle every demographic. They did this on their "Just Do It" campaign, purportedly coined during a meeting of executives between WK and Nike ("You Nike guys, you just do it."). The phrasing reflected the corporate culture and advertising approach, which was a take-no-prisoners assault on the inactive and lethargic.

Furthermore, they tied their brand to smart, humorous and cool advertising, and made sports apparel cool to wear when, well, you weren't being active. This all culminated into a perfect storm during the '90s, at which time, their market share jumped from 18% to 43%, and their sales exploded from $800 million a year in 1988 to upwards of $9.2 billion in 1998. Wanna look cool? Just do it.

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Just because an ad or commercial is creative or popular does not mean it will increase sales or revive a declining brand. Many ads have won awards for creativity but failed to increase sales. In some instances, the failure to generate sales has cost the agency the account.

What is meant by creativity in advertising?

Perspectives on what constitutes creativity in advertising differ. At one extreme are people who argue that advertising is creative only if it sells the product. At the other end of the continuum are those who judge the creativity of an ad in terms of its artistic or aesthetic value and originality.What constitutes creativity in advertising is probably somewhere between the two extremes. To break through the clutter and make an impression on the target audience, an ad often must be unique and entertaining.Everyone involved in planning and developing an advertising campaign must understand the importance of balancing the “it’s not creative unless it sells” perspective with the novelty/uniqueness and impact position.

Planning Creative Strategy

• The Creative Challenge - 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. Numerous guidelines have been developed for creating effective advertising, but there is no magic formula.
• Taking Creative Risks - Many creative people say it is important for clients to take some risks if they want breakthrough advertising that gets noticed. The issue of how much latitude creative people should be given and how much risk the client should be willing to take is open to considerable debate. However, clients and 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.
• Creative Personnel - Most agencies thrive on creativity, for it is the major component in the product they produce. Thus, they must create an environment that fosters the development of creative thinking and creative advertising. Clients must also understand the differences between the perspectives of the creative personnel and marketing and product managers. While the client has ultimate approval of the advertising, the opinions of creative specialists must be respected when advertising ideas and content are evaluated.

The Creative Process

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

Young’s process of creativity is similar to a four-step approach outlined much earlier by English sociologist Graham Wallas: