Be Imaginative
What’s the easiest way to kill a great ad campaign before it even begins? Take it too
seriously. Advertising is not rocket science. You shouldn’t need a degree in the
physical sciences to create or understand an ad.
And you should never, ever, under any circumstances, kill an ad because it is not
literal enough. On the contrary, if you find your ads are too literal, you should
destroy them all and start fresh.
Are Volkswagens flawed pieces of junk? No, but an ad with the headline “Lemon”
gets your attention, doesn’t it? It makes you want to read the story, which goes on
to explain how the particular car shown in the ad would never be driven because VW
cares so much it weeds out the lemons so you never get a bad car. Think what an
opportunity would have been missed if the folks at Volkswagen had taken that
headline too literally.
Think about it from this angle. Why do people read an ad or watch a commercial?
The majority do so because they find them entertaining and informative. If your ads
are all information and no entertainment, you’ve wasted your budget.
This is not to say that an ad should be created purely for entertainment purposes.
Again, a great ad is both entertaining and informative. The entertainment value
should be derived from a feature of your product or brand. In other words, what
you’re selling should be the star of the show. Sounds simple enough, but it is often
hard to strike the right balance. That’s what makes advertising so fun.
How much information does your audience really need? What kind of story will they
find entertaining? These are questions that should be asked and answered early on
so that when you finally are presented with an ad or a campaign, you can judge the
work according to these preordained guidelines.
A good campaign will reach your target audience and talk to them on a personal
level. This has a valuable effect on your sales and reputation. A great advertising
campaign will do more than that. It will create a buzz outside of your target
audience.
Apple Computer’s “1984″ commercial ran only once. But it is still one of the most
talked about commercials because it was rebroadcast on every major news show
and written about in every major newspaper for weeks and months. And none of
this cost Apple anything more than a single TV buy.
It’s worth noting that Apple’s Super Bowl commercial helped make the company a
household name and created unbelievable demand for the new Macintosh
computer-yet the ad never showed the product or explained any details about it.
BMW’s Mini Cooper was one of the first cars to be introduced in the United States
with no TV advertising. Blasphemy! Instead, they bolted the Minis to the roofs of
SUVs and drove them around major cities. They created tongue-in-cheek billboards,
interactive print ads and great guerrilla promotions. Most importantly, they created
a waiting list of customers who couldn’t wait to get a Mini.
Companies that think bigger become bigger. It’s a self-fulfilling cycle. If you just
think like a local operation, you might miss the opportunity to expand regionally,
nationally, or even internationally. Your advertising campaign should reflect the
direction of your companyeven if you’re not yet there.
Challenge yourself and your agency to think bigger.
This article introduced the third of twelve steps. Challenge yourself, your staff and
your advertising agency to revolutionize your ad program. If you missed a previous
step, contact the author for a complimentary copy. And, remember, every revolution
begins with just one step.
Jeff Berney is a freelance idealist, brand evangelist and writer. He can be reached at
jeff@jberney.com.
© 2006
After more than a decade in the business, Jeff Berney offers more than a passion for
prose. Above all, he is a strategic thinker, an idealist, a brand evangelist. The articles
posted here are from his collection entitled, “Twelve Steps to Creating Breakthrough
Advertising Campaigns: A creative philosophy to help companies recover from years of
playing it safe.” You can view his work or read his blog at http://www.jberney.com
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