Creatives and Production - AS2003 PDF

AS2003 CREATIVES AND PRODUCTION More than laying the framework of an advertising plan and strategy, the execution and production must be a priority as well. It is one of the core aspects of advertising as it packages the advertising efforts of a brand or a com...

AS2003 CREATIVES AND PRODUCTION More than laying the framework of an advertising plan and strategy, the execution and production must be a priority as well. It is one of the core aspects of advertising as it packages the advertising efforts of a brand or a company. This handout will give an extensive knowledge on how production works in the advertising industry and what techniques can be applied for crafting effective advertising messages. CREATIVE CONCEPTS Creative Brief The creative brief is the document where it all starts and becomes the foundation of all the creative strategies and key execution details. It is basically prepared by the account planner to summarize basic marketing and advertising strategies for a brand or company. Creative concepts arise from the creative brief. The following are the key points typically included in a creative brief: 1. Problem – a problem that can be solved by communication. 2. Target Audience – these are key insights about the target audience’s attitude and behavior. 3. Brand Position – this refers to other branding decisions pertaining to personality and image. 4. Communication Objectives – this aspect specifies the desired response to the message by the target audience. 5. Selling Idea – this indicated the idea that will motivate the target to respond. 6. Media Considerations – this focuses on where and when the message should be delivered. 7. Creative Direction – this provides suggestions on how to stimulate the desired consumer response. This is not entirely about creative ideas but are touch points on execution and stylistic direction when it comes to the overall tone of voice of the message. Message Objectives In planning or conceptualizing creative strategies, there are different purposes or reasons motivating a concept, but the goal is to make sure that the advertising message becomes effective that response is drawn from the target audience. As stated by Moriarty, Mitchell, and Wells (2012), the concept of Facets Models of Effects are some common advertising objectives to ensure effectiveness: 1. See/Hear (Perception) – this creates attention, awareness, interest, and recognition for the advertising message. 2. Feel (Emotion) – this touches emotion and creates feelings through the advertising message. 3. Think/Understand (Cognition) – this delivers information, aid understanding, and create recall from the advertising message. 4. Connect (Association) – it establishes brand identity and associations, transform a product into a brand with distinctive personality and image. 5. Believe (Persuasion) – this changes attitudes, creates conviction and preference, and stimulates trust. 6. Act/Do (Behavior) – this stimulates trial, purchase, repurchase, or some other form of action, such as visiting the store or social media accounts in response to the advertising message. Big Idea Essentially, the big idea is the very backbone of the message that the advertisers communicate which determines how the audience will receive and perceive the brand. The big idea has two (2) classifications: CLASSIFICATION DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE 1. Strategic Big Idea this is the overall and specific attributes Nike pushes your athletic of the message an advertiser wants to boundaries beyond what you communicate. thought was possible, so you can win on your own terms 07 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 7  AS2003 2. Creative Big Idea this summarizes the strategic big idea Just do it. into one witty and captivating copy or slogan. These big ideas do not exist overnight. It went through a creative process of brainstorming, trial-and-errors, revisions, and finalization. But these are the initial steps to producing an idea: 1. Gather information – to begin, gather specific information (elements and information directly related to the product or service) and general information (observed or surveyed information about life and events). Then, digest this material and give it a mental workover. 2. Incubate – next is the inevitable incubation period. A person may forget about the ideas and let the subconscious work on the ideas and make associations or possibilities. Not all ideas come overnight and it may take a reasonably longer incubation period before it becomes a solid concept. There may be triggers for an incubated idea to just pop and come from nowhere and everything suddenly makes sense. 3. Mull, Develop, and Adapt – Finally, shape and develop the idea. Clear the loose ends and adapt it to the advertising strategy. Conceptualization is still ongoing but reaching towards the finality of the concept. This is not absolute as production values or resources constraints may still create changes towards the concept. Determinants of Creativity Advertising creativity is the ability to generate fresh, unique, and appropriate or relevant ideas that can be used as solutions to communication problems. There are two (2) central determinants of creativity in advertising: 1. Divergence – this refers to the extent to which an ad contains elements that are novel, different, or unusual. This divergence is described further through these following aspects: a. Originality – ads that contain elements that are rare, surprising, or move away from the obvious and commonplace. Just like the iconic Fita commercial with the red sports car that aired in 2003. b. Flexibility – ads that contain different ideas or switch from one perspective to another. An example would be the Jollibee Valentine’s Day commercials that capitalize on emotions but still advertising the product. c. Elaboration – ads that contain unexpected details or finish and extend basic ideas so they become more intricate, complicated, or sophisticated. The best example for this are the new models released and advertised by Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, etc. When product features are advertised, elaboration is evident. Source: twitter.com Source: youtube.com Source: youtube.com d. Synthesis – ads that combine, connect, or blend normally unrelated objects or ideas. An example for this is Old Spice’s “Did you know?” commercial that shows unrelated ideas of deodorant preference and horse riding. e. Artistic value – ads that contain artistic verbal impressions or attractive shapes and colors. A great example for this is the “Para kanino ka bumabangon?” Nescafe commercial. The words are relatable and evokes emotions towards the audience. 07 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 7  AS2003 Source: youtube.com Source: wordpress.com 2. Relevance – this reflects the degree to which the various elements of the ad are meaningful, useful, or valuable to the consumer. a. Ad-to-consumer Relevance – this refers to situations where the ad contains execution elements that are meaningful to consumers. An example would be brand ambassadors or celebrities they can relate to. An example would be Mimiyuuuh for her Pepsi commercial. A lot of the audience would identify Pepsi as the brand that Mimiyuuuh endorses and that makes the brand relevant. b. Brand-to-consumer Relevance – this refers to situations where the advertised brand of a product or service is of personal interest to consumers. Personal interest may also come in the form of images that build the advertising message in forming impressions or attitudes toward brands. An example would be Tide’s “Gulat ka no?” commercial where the visuals validate the reliability of the product’s selling point. Source: facebook.com Source: picuki.com Storytelling Advertising at its best is a form of storytelling. This principle is the very outline of any advertising message. There must always be a story to tell for whatever advertising material is going to be produced. It must introduce a character (it may be the brand itself), identify problems, develop towards a conflict, and offer a solution provided by the brand, all in a 15- to 30-seconder advertisement or as clear as all the elements in an ad poster. CREATIVE STRATEGY The creative strategy focuses on what the advertising message will say or communicate and guides the development of all messages used in the advertising campaign. Development Approaches or Message Strategies 1. Unique Selling-Proposition – with this approach, developed by Rosser Reeves, an advertiser makes a superiority claim based on a unique attribute that represents a meaningful, distinctive consumer benefit. An example for this is the tagline of the Department of Tourism of the Philippines, “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”, is a unique selling-proposition to all tourists who would visit the Philippines. 2. Brand-Image – this approach was popularized by David Ogilvy of Ogilvy & Mather agency. It involves psychological rather than physical differentiation. The tagline of Apple, “think different”, best fits this approach as is focuses on the status or the belongingness that accompanies the usage of the brand. 07 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 7  AS2003 3. Positioning – as introduced by Jack Trout and Al Ries in the 70s, successful advertising must implant in the consumer’s mind a clear meaning of what the product is and how it compares to competitive offerings. An example for this is one of the brand campaigns of Head & Shoulders where they claim to be the world’s number 1 anti-dandruff shampoo. This was supported by their testimonial commercial as they interview respondents which shampoo is the number 2 and then the leading shampoo in the world. Source: itsmorefuninthephilippines.co.uk Source: usu.instructure.com Source: wordpress.com 4. Generic Brand – this refers to a claim to be the number one brand that does not need to acknowledge competition. Such approach can only be used if a product or service truly dominates a brand category. An example for this is the generic approach of Kellogg’s new tagline for their cereal brands, “Let’s Make Today Great.” It is a generic approach although they are the world’s leading brand in the cereal brand category. 5. Resonance – this approach requires that the creative team has a deep understanding of the target audience’s world, including their experiences and emotions, to be able to connect the message to these audiences personally. An example for this is Hallmark’s tagline, “when you care enough to send the very best.” There is an obvious emotional push from the advertising message for the audience to respond by purchasing the product or service. Source: tvcommercialspots.com Source: pinterest.com Advertising Appeals 1. Information/Rational Appeal (Hard Sell) – this appeal focuses on the consumer’s practical or functional needs with the emphasis on the benefits, features, or functions of a product or service. 2. Emotional Appeal (Soft Sell) – this appeal uses emotional messages that intends to create a sense of stimulus-response effect towards the audience. There are many ways an emotional appeal can be used for advertising messages, but these are the most seen within advertisements. a. Humor Appeal – the highest ratings in commercials are driven by the humorous appeal. This intends to add comedic value towards brands. It is evident in the “I love you, Piolo!” Sprite commercial of Toni Gonzaga, the “Red Sports Car” Fita commercial, and the series of Boysen Paint’s commercials. 07 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 7  AS2003 b. Sex Appeal – with the adage “sex sells”, there are sexual undertones within most commercials, but it is not always correct as it tends to appeal majorly on the male consumer population and a lot less with the female consumer population. It is observed with the commercials of Red Horse Beer, and even the promotional events of Century Tuna and their hotdog variant commercial with Aljur Abrenica. c. Fear Appeal – this approach heightens consumer fears about social acceptance and isolation, daily needs, family love, and other factors adding to audience’s fear. An example for this is the advertising messages of body and facial products of skin-whitening brands, like Maxipeel, Skin White, and Pond’s, which appeal to the fear of being unaccepted by societal standards because of skin complexion issues. 3. Combination Appeal – not all appeals are mutually exclusive when used in advertising messages, some appeals may be combined with one another to specifically target the audience’s behavior patterns and mental processing. An example for this is Joy’s dishwashing commercial with Michael V. where they show the extent of plates that can be washed by the product compared to other brands, yet they execute it in a humorous appeal. Execution Styles 1. Testimonial – also known as word-of-mouth advertising, this style uses well-known figures or even an unknown, “typical” person to provide product testimonials. 2. Problem-solution – this tactic presents the viewer with a problem to be solved and the solution is provided by the advertiser’s product. 3. Demonstration – This is designed to illustrate key advantages or benefits of the product or service by showing it in actual use or in some contrived situation. 4. Slice-of-life – a variation of the problem-solution approach, this technique portrays a real-life situation involving a problem or conflict that consumers face in daily life. The ad then focuses on showing how the advertiser’s product or service can resolve that problem. 5. Fantasy – the approach uses special effects to create an imaginative place, event, or characters. 6. Informative – this creates advertising messages with a straight-forward approach or tone. It tends to bombard consumers with the attributes, benefits, and the need for the advertiser’s product or service. Creative Challenges 1. The challenge posed for all creatives in the industry is to take all the research, plans, strategies, creative brief, statements, communications objectives, and all other input and transform them into one cohesive advertising message. Production will then commence when all elements were unified. 2. Another challenge looming among creatives is the ability to adapt to different marketing situations because no brand or account is the same with another as they require different creative approach. 3. The final challenge is to take risks. There are existing formulas for the advertising industry to effectively communicate to a target audience, but it is in taking risks that a brand elevates to another level. These risks are challenging as some efforts may be a flop or a success, but it will never be known unless acted upon. ADVERTISING PRODUCTION Print Advertising Production This relates to the ads within a newspaper or magazine. 1. Layout and Design – the most important consideration in this aspect of print advertising is the hierarchy of advertising elements within the layout and design. These are the basic advertising layouts: 07 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 7  AS2003 Source: thinglink.com Source: behance.com Source: pinterest.com a. Copy Heavy – text heavy b. Frame – the image surrounds c. Mondrian – unequal size of layout. the major advertising boxes divides the space. statement. Source: establishareconnect.org Source: design.tutsplus.com Source: josephnewton.com d. Grid – equal size of squares e. Picture Window – space is f. Type Specimen – artistic texts divides the space. largely occupied by art, photo, dominate the space. or another image. 2. Typography – it is the art of selecting and setting type since almost every advertisement, especially in a magazine and newspaper, has some reading matter. Eye-catching typefaces help break through the clutter of advertising competition, just like seeing the Disney typeface makes children stop and focus on the page where they saw the typeface. Broadcast Advertising Production This relates to both TV and radio commercials. 1. TV Advertising – this translates the narrative to an audio-visual experience for the target audience. The major consideration for this platform is the conciseness and cohesiveness of the advertising message fit for 15 to 30 seconds as airtime on television has monetary value depending on frequency and the time slot for the airtime. a. Camera Shots – camera shots are used creatively and symbolically to push forward the advertising message in aid of the time constraints and the overall packaging of the advertisement. b. Storyboard – this serves as the “rough sketch” of the TV ad. It gives a visual flow of the advertisement for the whole production team to fully understand the flow of the output and how it will translate in the production process. 07 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 6 of 7  AS2003 c. Editing/Post-Production – it is a vital part of producing TV commercials as it stitches all the production elements to fit the necessary standards of a TV ad. This adds narrative value to the whole material as some techniques of editing, musical scoring, or color grading may be used artistically or symbolically for the whole storytelling. 2. Radio Advertising – this type of advertising is solely dependent on the sound experience of consumers and may require more descriptive dialogues to compensate for the lack of visuals. In the same way as TV ads, radio commercials must also fit the airtime or else the advertising message will be cut short if it exceeds and may waste the resource if it’s too short and wouldn’t reach the exact time. a. Voice Talent – a great and fitting voice talent will advance the advertising efforts of a brand. There is a pool of great voice talents in the Philippines that can really push the effectivity of a radio advertisement. b. Sound Effects (SFX) – since there are no visuals for this type of ad, sound effects are utilized to add depth to an advertising message. This gives an imaginative experience to the audience for every SFX used. c. Background Music – this adds aesthetic or emotional value to the advertising message as it can be used symbolically for an advertisement. Social Media Advertising Production Internet advertising resembles print and broadcast advertising in its purpose (to market goods, services, and images with persuasive messages) but differs in key respects. It can reach a narrowly defined niche audience, to enable immediate interaction between the consumer and the advertiser, and to link the consumer to other product or company information. Copywriters work with graphic designers to come up with concepts. Ads may be of any length, from banner ads, the primary advertising format, to deep, multiple-page ads that usually span a page width and are an inch or so deep. Typically, Internet ads feature bold or decorative headlines, a graphic image, and a link to further information with the click of a button. Advertising through social media may come in various forms as it caters to various platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, Blogsites, etc. References Armstrong, J. (2010). Persuasive Advertising. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. Baack, D., & Clow, K. (2018). Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson. Belch, G., & Belch, M. (2018). Advertising & Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Johnson, C., & Lee, M. (2005). Principles of Advertising A Global Perspective. New York: Routledge. Moriarty, S., Mitchell, N., & Wells, W. (2012). Advertising & IMC Principles & Practice. New Jersey: Pearson. Rodgers, S., & Thorson, E. (2019). Advertising theory. New York: Routledge. 07 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 7 of 7