What makes good advertising?

Outlines  Examining the role of creativity in advertising.  The importance of targeting the right audience.  The old and new rules of good advertising.

Why “ good advertising ” is essential?  90% of advertising is bad.  90% of it is unnoticed and fails.  No matter how many times an ad is run, if it is dull, boring, and poor the audience will ignore it.

 We know when we have seen a good ad, and even more so when we have seen a bad ad.

The role of creativity and planning for success  Advertising is a critical part of marketing:  The future of many brands depends on the quality of a series of 30 second television ad.  If the advertising is not right, then the brand could be badly damaged.

 CREATIVITY has become the entry ticket to the contemporary advertising marketplace, which is shaped by technological innovation and clutter.  New technology has opened a whole new vista for creativity, including:  Computerized design tools, morphing and digital special effects, digital video-editing, holograms, virtual reality, multimedia presentations, ink-jet personalization, public relations planning software and interactive media.

 How do ads can be noticed in such saturation?  A number of steps clients and agencies can take to break through the clutter, including:

 Producing a tightly defined, research- based advertising brief.  Precisely targeting the audience  Being interesting, surprising and relevant.  Inventing indelible imagery (image, description, metaphor).  Perfecting time.  Having a consistent approach.  Appearing effortless (good ads provide the audience with intense experiences, delivered with the maximum of cool.

Advertising as visual metaphor  The majority of advertising is in effect, the resourceful use of visual metaphors.  It is not just the promotion of a logo or a particular brand signature since visual metaphors require emotional connections and associations to work effectively.

 Brands that have managed to achieve iconic status built and retain this position through emphasizing the emotional rather than the functional rewards associated with purchasing the product or service.

 The visual metaphor of advertising can convey a number of brand values including;  Its superior performance;  The psychological rewards associated with it;  The people who use it; and  The social context in which it features.

 The English Riviera’s palm tree is a metaphor for the South of France.

 To create top notch advertising there must be a synergy between creativity and strategy.  Market research  To produce a good brief, organizations require up-to-date market research.

They need to think about:  What is happening in the marketplace and what is likely to happen in the near future?  Who is the compaign aimed at?  Does enough information exist to profile the target market or is more required?  What needs to be done to get this information?

 In addition to research, goals should answer:  What should the advertising achieve?  How does an advertiser want to influence consumers?  Does the advertiser want to raise their awareness?

 Does the advertiser want to change their perceptions?  Who is the brand competing against?  How does the brand stack up against them?  How can it be truly differentiated from the rest?

 The answers to such questions must be incorporated into an advertising brief which lays out the current position together with the desired position.  The advertising brief is the best that it can be.  Clear briefs will help to deliver innovative ideas that will lead to effective advertising, moving the brand forward.  Briefs should be honest, with realistic expectations, so it will be easier to evaluate the campaign's success.

Targeting the advertising message  The most creative ad will never sell if it is not aimed at the appropriate consumer segments  The major challenge for advertiser is to select the right media to reach their intended audience and buying into these media as cost-effectively as possible.

 It is essential that the tourism and leisure industries become much smarter in defining and targeting the right market segments.  Too few advertisers make research required to target much ‘tighter’ groups of consumers than current practice allows.  Many of them, continue to spend money targeting people who are not likely to purchase their products.

 Waste is unavoidable in advertising and in many instances it is still the case that the mass advertising media is a more effective tool for reaching consumers than highly targeted, but more expensive direct marketing techniques.  Tourism and leisure organizations should try to discover as much about their consumers as is practically possible so that they can eliminate from their media schedule all those who will not purchase their products.

The old and new rules of good advertising  Winner ads  Ads with humor  Ads with children  Product demonstrations  Real-life situations  Ads with pets  Loser ads  Hidden camera testimonials  Company CEOs  Ads with celebrities  Brand comparison  Musical commercial

The 8 old rules of advertising  You must have a USP – unique selling proposition.  You must offer rational benefit  Humor does not sell  You must have a memorable slogan  You must have a logo in the ad  You must show the product in the ad  Every ad in a compaign must look the same  Creative ads do not sell.