What makes for bad advertising? The answer is simple.. and often it’s not in the brief, because there wasn’t one! Ultimately what consumers see as the result is often the cumulation of poor direction, bad decisions and no creative brief outlining the brand’s basic position, the reason to believe and competitive landscape.
Way too often I find print ads selling their features and not educating and concentrating on benefits; or billboards featuring paragraphs rather than clever succinct statements and visuals inspiring curiosity…. and my all time favourite, TV ads way too concerned on providing entertainment value at the expense of the brand and benefit. When ever I see any of these, I always wonder what the brief looked like to begin with.
Before going any further, let me acknowledge that I can hear it from here…. the outcry… “but it’s what the client wants!” Well, that may be true, but as Creative Professionals, I believe it is our role to accommodate our clients’ wishes but also to advise them in making the best marketing decisions possible to avoid some of the symptoms of bad advertising. If a brief isn’t provided, then provide one…before you start on creative. Only then can you direct any creative discussion rationally.
Let’s face it, bad advertising only results in unsuccessful marketing and very poor ROI. It has been my experience, when presenting to clients, that once you explain the reasons why you shouldn’t do something and yes, even invest in showing them what is being compromised, clients really do get it.
Throughout my career I have often been asked by marketing professionals what I think of an ad (no matter what channel) that they or their organization just created. My answer is always the same,“what was the brief?”. Creative must come from the brief. The brief must be accurate, clear and pertinent… If a brief was not written, the ad assessment will be dependent on a number of criteria, many of them subjective…and a moving target. When I see ads that actually get to the marketplace without a clear single focused message…. I really wonder who did it…and what happened….and why.
Advertising isn’t about pretty pictures and for it to work there are certain protocols that need to be followed. At times it can be challenging, I get that…. but isn’t that very challenge the reason we as Creative Professionals are in this particular industry… Am I right?
As Creative Professionals we are often faced and given mountains of information to decipher and create a single succinct statement that speaks to the end benefit, the reason to believe, the unique selling proposition. As designers, we are given too many visual elements AND the logo (if there is only one!), along with too much information…all to be incorporated in a layout that has to have a visual flow directing the consumer’s eyes to make sure that the main message is delivered. The challenge remains the same in each one of these instances…a single focused message.
Great creative needs a very clear message. Bad ads don’t have one… they have a few… all shouting for attention. Great ads are those that increase brand and service awareness, increase the knowledge of the brand or service benefits and inspire confidence as well. They inspire confidence because they are presented professionally and well. When a client wants to throw in the kitchen sink into the ad…. as creative professionals you do have 2 options. 1) Give in without a fight and create mediocre advertising, or 2) go the extra mile, show them the ad with the kitchen sink… and show them the single focused ad . More often than not, they will side with the value…the single
I invite you to talk to me…. Share with me your stories… the brilliant, the bad, the ugly and the win! I’d love to hear about them.