Creative Strategy and the Creative Brief

1
Creative Strategy and the Creative Brief

• Planning That Persuades

2
Creative Plan Basic Elements

• Creative Target Audience
• (Same as Campaign)
• Creative Objectives
• Consist of message and media part
• To establish top-of-mind awareness (message) in
  60 percent of the target audience by the end of
  the first quarter (media)
• Creative Strategy
• Three key elements
• Strategic focal point (See 6-1)
• Positioning
• Big unifying idea (See 6-2)

3
Creative Strategy Optional Elements

• Physical continuity (All in the family?)
• Slogans/taglines/trade characters
• Lead-in or opening line (TV Print)
• Do you know me?
• Psychological continuity
• Theme (Feminist movement)
• Attitude
• Advocacy (Anti-drugs, Smokey The Bear)

4
Creative Tactics

• Many ways to approach the creative task
• Experienced creatives have the intuition
• New practitioners can use a process such as the
  FCB Grid
• (6-4)

5
What is your approach

• Are you selling the category or the brand?
• Generic strategy (Sells the category)
• Preemptive claim (Sells the brand)
• Unique Selling proposition (USP)
• Brand Image
• Positioning
• Resonance approach

6
The Big Three Approaches
7
What Makes Strategy Creative (cont.)

• Creative strategy is both special and different
• Does it catch people off guard?
• Does it reward and surprise?
• Does it come in under the personal blocking
  radar?
• Non sequitur or contrast?
• Its not whether you win or lose its how you
• Play the game?
• Place the blame?

8
What Makes Strategy Creative (cont.)

• Does it engage their interest?
• Do you get them involved, wondering what its all
  about. Do they care?
• Is it important and salient?
• Emotional bonding versus brand image and
  positioning
• Usually based on past experience with the brand
  or relative to the brand
• This kind of advertising relies more on how you
  say it versus what you say

9
Put it in writing

• The creative brief (6-6)

10
Dont Flaunt The Strategy

• Dont say it demonstrate it
• Dont look or sound like an ad
• Make the ad the logo
• Treat brands like people, make them likeable
• Involve the consumer
• User humor and sex carefully
• Dont brag Theres Hertz and not exactly.