Advertising, Design & Creative Aspects of Marketing Communications Chris Price- International Director, MJD Consultancy
If you don t do any advertising/marketing promotions (with good creative) something terrible happens NOTHING
What you are trying to do.
What you are trying to do.
What you are NOT trying to do.
OK, but first we need to understand channel management as this affects creative and design aspects to a large extent..
Creating awareness though marketing communications What do we mean? More than just having a few channels More than just having matching creative Looking for real synergies Looking for the media multiplier The balance between on and off line Using each channel at their best The ideal marketing mix Customers see and hear all sorts of messages TV commercials Press ads Direct Mail packs Posters Telephone Calls Radio ads Banner Ads Email messages
Understand your target audiences preferences.. But note this can be nationally specific!)
Integrating marketing communications They don t care about lines On or off? Above or below? To them, it s all just marketing noise So lets forget about all the lines The Internet Advertising Bureau is saying Smart marketers integrate their campaigns, with online advertising working in partnership with TV, print, radio and other channels
What s really important is standing out from the crowd Any Multi-channel communications strategy needs strong, creative and purposeful design and that s why this is important! Otherwise you can spend serious $ s that could be wasted and usually is.
What makes a good advert with strong creative? Communicate with your audience in a way they wish to be communicated too (so get to know them!) Don t t state the obvious (education institutions often do!) Understand format effects design (banner, tower, pop up,?) and placement (classified, run of paper top, side, embedded?) Remember AIDA- the classic formula used by advertisers and it s s well worth remembering. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action Strong calls to action Your HEADLINE can be the most important part of your advert
HEADLINES In the ad itself the most important element is the headline. The headline is either the heading that goes at the top of the e ad or if there s s no heading it s s the first words of the ad. If you're on the radio it's the first thing people hear. If it's i TV it's the first thing they see and hear. The headline needs to grab peoples attention. One change in a headline can produce a 50-100% increase in response. One of the biggest challenges that any print advertiser faces is getting people to read their ad let alone for the ad to produce a result. So the main purpose of the headline is not to sell your product it s s just to get people to read your ad. The headline should be about your readers not about you. If your headline has the name of your business in it, you are probably losing out. Imagine you owned a company selling $20 fire alarms. Which of these headlines do you think would be most likely to get t the reader s s attention: Simpson Fire Alarms - Your Guarantee of Safety OR Is your Family's Life worth the price of a round of Drinks?
REMEMBER AIDA If you follow this formula in every ad that you write or produce,, you will greatly increase your chances of success. Attention the first thing your ad needs to do is grab the reader s s attention. You achieve this with your headline. Interest once you ve got their attention, you need to create an interest in your product p or service. Desire There is a big difference between being interested in a product or service and desiring it. You need to convert the reader s s interest into a strong desire for what you are offering. Action - Even if someone desires what you have, it is not enough until they t take action. At the end of the ad you need a call to action. Tell people exactly what t they need to do to follow through and make it easy for them to do so. This is where many people p go wrong. Even if you have a good ad, you still need to tell people precisely what to do - how to take action. Think creatively in terms of calls to action i.e. landing pages (www.city.ac.uk/cpm/visits2009) guerilla campaigns (canwehaveourballback.co.uk)
The Creative Approach/Process Differentiation is key. A A strong creative that addresses important decision factors is going g to stand you apart from your competitors. Important that your creative neatly sits alongside the other messages sages communicated by the institution something that many other organisations find difficult to achieve through a lack of understanding of markets. Have a coordinated creative approach that appeals to a diverse and a demanding student population. The Brief be explicit and have aims and objectives. Allow creativity within boundaries (but anything goes to start with. You can always drop overly radical ideas later) Brain storm ideas and test them. Understand the levels of involvement required by you and your creative team. Ask for options or if you are involved in the entire process then n synthesise the ideas into an outcome.
What makes a good creative design for advertising? The branding brainstorm - The Value Proposition(s) finding differentiation - Corporate guidelines - Images and Icons - Keep it simple but be creative - Differentiate (avoid saying what everyone else does!) - Be consistent (for branding) - Test your ideas and on your students not yourselves!
Exercise- publications review
Example of creative development from cluttered to bold
Example of creative development using focus groups
Example of creative design integrated for on and off line campaigns
How it looks on the page Leader Board (Ad space) Flag of Netherlan d and Netherlan d in Chinese INHollan d Banner Guidance for choosing school College profile Study Abroa d Sub chann el Tool Name Bar Recommen ded Readings Colle ge Rank ing
The Results? Case Study of success In Holland- targeted on line positioning campaign with good creative/branding Campaigns running in; India, China, Germany, Russia, Poland & on key global and local specialist aggregators. Results (annualized); 18m Page impressions and >21,000 leads generated
MJD creative campaign example creativity Busy markets: you need to stand out Sensitivity to international markets Works with UK communications working internationally
Conclusions- Some final tips from an insider What are you trying to achieve? If your Advertising isn t working STOP IT! And go back to the drawing board. Only use Direct Response Advertising- unless you are doing pure branding or launching new products Metrics- testing and measuring Never pay the full rate for advertising Benefits, Benefits, Benefits Don t follow the competition Don t buy into the myth that advertising is essential for your business success-its important but only a part of the marketing mix Get the services of an insider (ensure they are cash back MJDs 30-40% rule)