by Miriam Hara | Feb 16, 2014 | Branding, Creative, Latest
Developing creative for a brand ad, regardless of the medium, is often fraught with many obstacles. The main one being that there are so many people involved in developing brand creative…other than the creative team, at times it becomes impossible to please everyone. That very statement should give all marketing and creative professionals pause. How is it that the creative process and more importantly, creative decisions all boil down to personal preference?
As a marketing brand professional how do you really add value to the creative process?
This really should be a no-brainer as the creative brief should outline all the objectives, character, reasons to believe and tonality. However with the speed of business being what it is today, we often find the creative brief is ditched in an all out effort towards “getting the creative out”. When that happens, much of the creative decisions become based on interpretation and personal preference. While some may argue that being the brand ambassador or manager (herein brand professional) of the said brand allows them the freedom to dictate preference, I would challenge that thought.
Brand and branding is not about individual likes or dislikes. A brand’s life cycle may span over many brand professionals. That being the case, it is important that the brand’s tone, style and voice be maintained. Evolved, for sure, but consistent. More importantly, I believe that the brand professional’s main job is to make sure that the brand attributes and its physical demeanor should be maintained. While I wholeheartedly agree that success is in the details, the creative details should best be left to the creative team. The big picture, the overall impression, the quality, the benefit statements and the appearance of the brand is the responsibility of the brand professional… without question! Thus, total consideration must be given when comments directly touch on these attributes. However not all requests for changes are equal… or relevant. A good way to judge the importance of these considerations is by allocating a mark for each comment directed at “making the creative stronger”. Judgement on if the change will effect the overall delivery should constantly be a forefront of every request to change.
It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of all that is creative. Enthusiasm is always necessary for any creative project to get off the ground… and the creative process initiated. All brand professionals are creative in their own right. However, developing creative and not hindering the creative process is also a skill set that is required to make brand creative to outstanding emotive brand creative.
by Felicitas Ritter | Feb 10, 2014 | Creative, Latest
Whether you are tasked to come up with ideas for a corporate creative campaign using a team of people, or you are just trying to generate ideas for yourself, the process of “brainstorming” is virtually the same. It doesn’t have to be an intimidating process and hopefully the idea of facilitating a session doesn’t strike in you with the same kind of blinding fear it did in me the first time I had to lead one – which happened when I was barely an account executive, with half the agency present, including the Big Boss, and The Client! But not only did I survive, I gained tremendous confidence through the challenge and (I think) managed to impress a few people.
1. Preparation: When it comes to involving other people in a brainstorming session, how well you prepare everyone for it BEFORE they get there is important. Provide a one or two page outline including background on the situation, the issues, and the competition, as well as some direction as to the kinds of ideas you are looking for. Send this out a few days in advance of your session to give people time to ruminate about it. I find that when I’m coming up with ideas it sometimes takes a few hours of just sitting with the concept in my mind before ideas really start to flow. Suggest that your participants take note of any thoughts and bring those with them into the session to share – this will also help to get things started.
2. Relaxed atmosphere: Where you get creative is equally important. A room that is comfortable, quiet, and without distraction will help people focus on what you are trying to accomplish. Also, keeping the atmosphere friendly and inviting so people will feel free to contribute is key. No stuffed shirts allowed. Otherwise, you’ll just get the same old boring ideas, from the same old people and that may result in a less effective campaign. In fact, working with a more diverse group should be your objective.
We all come from different places and you want to take advantage of unique perspectives.
3. Scheduling: According to Mind Power News http://www.mindpowernews.com/BestTimeOfDay.htm the most productive time of the day to generate ideas is between 9am and 11am. This is when your brain has activated enough of the stress hormone, cortisol, to allow your mind to focus and be creative. Having light snacks, such as fruit and nuts, and keeping everyone hydrated is also a good idea.
4. No negativity: It’s all good… or not. But don’t start judging anything until the session is done. Certainly not all ideas are going to be stellar, but that luke-warm, never-gonna-fly, embarrassed-you-said-it idea could lead to the next latest and greatest one. You owe it to the team (or yourself) to just put it out there – plant the seed and see what develops, for you or someone else in the group. That crazy idea could lead to something truly original and creative.
5. Post it: Write all the ideas on a board (or several boards) around the room so everyone can see them. Having all your ideas front and center will help maintain focus and flow.
6. Visual Aids: Using images can also be helpful to stimulate creative thinking. Ask people to bring tear-sheets from magazines, or print-outs from inspiring web content. Put those up on the wall too. There also some amazing online programs and apps available to help you organize your ideas: Pinterest, Wordstorm, Springpad, and Popplet are just a few.
7. Organize & Evaluate: As you are writing down ideas, try to keep them in some kind of cohesive order. When you have what you consider to be enough to work with, filter through them all categorically and see if you can expand on anything that you particularly like. Once everything has been explored to the fullest, you should be ready to put together a strong and comprehensive creative campaign strategy.
by Belinda Lui | Feb 3, 2014 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Communications, Creative, Design, Latest, Marketing, Social Media
We’ve been noticing a trend recently that lends a hand to the celebrities and shows that a lot of us grew up watching. What is the purpose of using these particular stars or shows to appeal to viewers? We think it has something to do with nostalgic value. Retro advertising has been done before but ever since Oikos used the stars from Full House to market their products during the Super Bowl, we’ve seen other brands follow suit. Before we share some of these ads with you, let’s discuss why nostalgic value has any value when it comes to retro advertising:
Much like emotive advertising, retro advertising is successful because we associate certain memories and feelings with that time period in our lives. I don’t know about you, but I associate only good things with the TV shows that I grew up watching. I remember coming home from (what seemed like) a never-ending day at school, plopping myself down on the couch with a tall glass of milk, and watching after-school specials until my mother came home. That small window of alone time never went unappreciated. It was an adolescent’s time to reflect on the lessons being taught through these programs. So, when a legacy brand uses a legacy show to simulate certain emotive associations — it’s actually quite a brilliant strategy; especially if that brand is formerly associated with negative feelings.
Retro Advertising at its finest:
This is Delta’s ’80s-themed safety video: a fun and light-hearted take on a video that so many of us choose to ignore before taking off on a flight. Bet you won’t be able to ignore it now!
This is some of the cast from Full House appearing on Jimmy Fallon — this may not be directly advertising a product or service, but it was the top trending viral video on Facebook on January 20, 2014.
What examples of retro advertising can you share with us?
by Miriam Hara | Aug 29, 2013 | Advertising, Communications, Creative, Latest, Marketing
It’s difficult to stay on trend today. Within minutes of an event it’s viral. Next week it’s old news. And it’s not hard to predict. I can safely predict today that by the time you read this blog Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke will be replaced by another event that’s just as newsworthy.
And there’s no greater sure death for any marketing or advertising campaign than being out of date. Like I said it’s not easy to stay on trend. It’s not all bad. We do have some advantage in that we can easily and quickly update our sites and tweet the latest.
But, not every project or campaign can enjoy the velocity of the web. Design takes time. Printing takes time. Radio takes time. Photography takes time. So many aspects of marketing and advertising take time to produce no matter how fast we work.
But there are a few simple strategies that can help you keep on top and stay on trend.
Stay on trend with the classics
There’s a reason something is classic. A classic has stood the test of time and still comes up winning. It’s not simply because it’s a favourite. A classic implies continuance and consistency while at the same time adapting to our conventional point of view.
You can’t get older than ancient Greece. Well yes you can, but you have to agree ancient is pretty old. And you wouldn’t really think that staying on trend would mean stealing from the Greeks. Or would you?
Who could be more on trend than Nike? Yet, Nike chose its name from Greek mythology. Nike is the goddess of victory. A “classic” example where a brand has reached into the past and adapted it to fit the modern market.
We all know Amazon.com and Mars candy bars. The Apollo Theatre is a famous music theatre in New York. And I’m not going to even talk about Trojan.
Stay on trend with old ideas
There are times where an idea didn’t work. It wasn’t a bad idea but it didn’t work during that particular moment. Hang onto these ideas. Next time when you want to jump on trend, resurrect those ideas. You are already ahead of the game. You can capitalize on the time you saved and jump that much faster on trend.
Stay on trend by pulling from the past
Radio and TV and other media outlets create material ahead of time on news that hasn’t happened yet. This allows them to stay on trend and be current. They pull information from the past and use it to provide content to complement upcoming news. For example, there was lots of background material that made it easy to prepare fill in for William and Kate before the birth of Prince George.
And when you take it one step farther, it was easy to prepare two versions of the event. Boy or girl? People want to know what happens to lineage based on the sex of the baby. Easy to prepare ahead of time. As soon as the birth is announced up pops material that was already prepared.
Stay on trend with Mark Twain
There’s no argument that staying on trend means understanding your target market. That’s where your professional ability comes into play. But when staying on trend is getting your frazzled, there is some pleasure in Mark Twain thoughts on the subject.
“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”
Perfectly said!
by Miriam Hara | Aug 27, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Creative, Latest, Marketing
The real question is “should marketing be subjective?” Through years of creating concepts and designs, I have realized when you ask someone their opinion they will give it to you… whether they are qualified or not.
Most people either like something or don’t. It doesn’t matter if it’s a priceless painting like the Mona Lisa or their kid’s artwork hanging on the fridge. So the 
bottom line is, if people don’t like something there’s nothing that anyone can do to change their mind.
It would seem then, pretty tough to sell a product with a marketing position or concept that doesn’t resonate with the market. It’s even harder to come up with a marketing and advertising campaign that helps people make decisions on whether they should buy or not.
Marketing is like art
When it comes to marketing concepts, like art, everyone’s a critic. And like art, it’s not always easy to defend when the art you’ve just created is being criticized. It’s not like mathematics where it’s either right or wrong. 2+2 is 4 no matter which way you look. But marketing is different because it boils down to the way people think and feel.
Is marketing subjective? Is the creation of a marketing campaign purely subjective? Is it really based on the reaction of the client who tells you for the umpteenth time, ‘so and so doesn’t like it”.
Marketing behind the scenes
Not everyone seems to appreciate what goes on behind the scenes in marketing. Maybe you’ve heard: “Whoever came up with that idea? My kid can do better.” But marketing shouldn’t be evaluated on likeability alone.
Marketing is a critical business function to attract customers. Is it realistic then to leave marketing to chance? It’s true how we view elements of marketing can be subjective. I like that packaging. I don’t like that commercial. But what many don’t understand, fail to understand, forget, ignore or just don’t care is that marketing is strategic. It doesn’t matter what you like, your wife likes or your dog likes. A good marketing campaign first requires investigation and research. A SWOT analysis is key. A definition of target market is only the first step. We need to learn about our target market and what makes them tick. We identify what we want to accomplish. We anticipate how the consumer will react to our objective.
And through all this we are cognizant of the 4ps of marketing.
Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product to our customers. We do this by positioning our product to find its place and stand out amongst all the noise and babble. We create brand awareness and we sustain that awareness throughout the campaign. In order to create a marketing campaign, we capture marketing insight to determine how best to connect with customers. We build a strong brand and communicate its value. We communicate consistently. We connect with our customers and deliver a message that communicates value. We are conscious to protect our brand. We monitor on a continuous basis. And in the end, our metrics tell us whether we were successful or not in cold, hard numbers.
Those numbers are the facts. They are indisputable.
So maybe, marketing isn’t so subjective after all.
by Lisa Wedmann | Aug 9, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Creative, Latest
“Life can be much broader. You can embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.” – Steve Jobs
I was reading about the soon to be released movie “Jobs” with Ashton Kutcher and this quote jumped out at me. So much knowledge packed into one simple sentence.
I get it. I totally agree. Jobs is a testimony to this philosophy. I can easily live vicariously through Jobs and let this knowledge spill into all areas of my life. In this case, it captures my interest in marketing and brand building. Brand can be much broader. You can embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. It’s about a brand’s life cycle and it being able to live in the now.
Embrace it
There’s much to be said about your product and positioning your brand. But embracing it, now that’s where it gets juicy. Embracing is about nurturing and caring. It’s the point in your product life cycle where you have done your research. You understand what it takes to make your brand strong and resilient. You are not afraid to stand behind your brand and make your mark. You own your product. You protect it. And you embrace it.
Change it
For brands, change is not always good, but sometimes it’s necessary.. Knowing when to tweak an element of your brand or when to re-haul it takes a keen sense of timing and a marketing intuition. In most cases when brands (not products) need a total re-position, it’s because the brand hasn’t had the attention it deserves…for quite some time.
Improve it
Improving your brand is not about changing it. It is about realigning your brand to keep it current. It’s about paying attention and having your brand live in the now. Improving how your brand is presented and keeping it relevant to the market ensures its success. Staying on trend. Being fresh. In today’s marketing landscape, this is keeping current with social media and all that it has to offer.
Make your mark upon it
And here’s where Jobs was so distinctive. We can all agree he made his mark. We are all familiar with the iconic apple symbol, the brand and all that it means, not only as a product, but as an experience and a promise.
Jobs left us the formula for life success that can easily be adopted to brand success
We can all follow in Jobs’ footsteps. He left us the formula albeit, for life. To my way of thinking, Brand has a persona, and therefore, as mentioned at the beginning of this post, Brand has a life. We all refer to a brand and it’s product life cycle. Create a cohesive brand identity. Develop a unique identity that demonstrates your company’s personality. Make your product so impressive that people rush to do business with you and not your competition. Do whatever it takes to make it happen.
