3. 3
• Can creative thinking be defined, and how does it
lead to a Big Idea?
• What characteristics do creative people have in
common, and what is their typical creative
process?
Question to explore
4. 4
An idea is a thought or concept formed by mentally
combining pieces and fragments into something
meaningful.
Concepting is the process of coming up with a new
advertising idea.
Consider the approach taken by Akron Children’s
Hospital in your text.
As a class:
Identify the idea and concepting used here.
LINK
Creative thinking
5. 5
The Big Idea or creative concept:
Becomes a point of focus for communicating the
message strategy.
The “Road Crew” name helped define the campaign’s
Big Idea.
The “Beats driving” slogan supported the Big Idea and
communicated a benefit.
Big ideas
7. 7
Immersion:
• read, research, learn about problem.
Ideation:
• look at the problem from every angle; generate as many ideas as possible.
Brainfog:
• don’t give up when you hit a blank wall.
Incubation:
• let your subconscious work on it.
Illumination:
• the idea often comes when you’re relaxed and doing something else.
The creative process:
8-7
8. 8
• Assemble a group of 6–10 people to generate ideas.
• People and ideas play off of each other and
stimulate more ideas than one could alone.
• The group becomes an “idea factory.”
Brainstorming
8-8
9. 9
Getting Creative Input
Read anything
related to the
product or market
Listen to what
people are talking
about
Use the product
to become
familiar
with it
Ask everyone
involved for
information
Work in and learn
about the client’s
business
Conduct studies
of product,
service, audience
11. 11
To create an original and unexpected idea, try these
techniques:
Brainstorming
• What if?
• An unexpected association
• Dramatize the obvious
• Catchy phrasing
• An unexpected twist
• Play on words
• Analogy and metaphor
• Familiar and strange
• A twisted cliché
• Twist the obvious
• Exaggeration
13. 13
To prevent unoriginal
ideas, avoid or work
around:
The Look-Alike
Avoid copycat advertising that
uses somebody else’s great
idea.
The Tasteless
In an attempt to be cute, a
Subaru ad used the headline
“Put it where the sun don’t
shine”—an attempted twist on
a cliché, but it doesn’t work.
Brainstorming
14. 14
Divergent or “right-brain” thinking
explores possibilities rather than
using rational thinking.
It means “thinking outside the box”
and taking a creative leap.
Move away from the safety of a
predictable strategy to an unusual
idea that hasn’t been tried before.
The creative leap
16. 16
According to the DDB agency, an effective ad is:
Relevant: means something to target audience.
Original: novel, fresh, unexpected, unusual.
Has impact: makes an impression.
The ROI of Creativity
17. 17
As a class, discuss this quote:
“An idea can be creative for you if you have never
thought of it before, but the essence of a creative idea is
that no one else has thought of before.”
What does the quote mean, and why is it important to
creative planners?
The ROI of Creativity
18. 18
Creative people
tend to be:
• assertive
• self-sufficient
• persistent
• self-disciplined
• risk takers
• internally driven
Dialing up your creativity
19. 19
Creative people…..
don’t care much about group standards and opinions.
have inborn skepticism and strong curiosity.
Other key characteristics:
• Problem solving
• Playful
• Ability to visualize
• Openness to new experiences
• Conceptual thinking
Dialing up your creativity
21. 21
Based on the Facets Model of Effects:
See/hear
Create attention, awareness, interest, recognition.
Feel
Touch emotions and create feelings.
Think/understand
Deliver information, aid understanding, create recall.
Message objectives
22. 22
Connect
Establish brand identity and associations, transform a
product into a brand with distinctive personality and
image.
Believe
Change attitudes, create conviction, and preference.
Act/do
Stimulate trial, purchase, repurchase or some other form
of action.
Message objectives
23. 23
The target decision is key to message strategy.
Target audience for Road Crew Campaign
• 21- to 34-year old single men with a high-school education and
a blue-collar jobs.
• They are responsible for most alcohol-related crashes; most
likely to kill or be killed.
Consumer insight: prospects tended to worry about
driving home drunk, and this worry took the edge off a
fun evening.
Targeting
24. 24
Brand positions and brand images are built through
message strategies and brought to life through
advertising executions.
Advertising creates salience. The brand is visible, has a
presence in the marketplace, consumers are aware of it,
and the brand is important to its target market.
Branding and positioning
25. 25
Branding and positioning
In an era of big cars and huge
tail fins, Volkswagen launched its
unimposing little Beetle in the
1960s. This ad stated that VW’s
inspectors found no detail too
small to overlook, assuring
consumers that their cars would
last longer than other cars.
26. 26
Purpose: Let students understand their creative style
& strength
Instruction:
Creative Personality test
LINK
Activity
27. 27
• What are some key message strategy
approaches?
• What issues affect the management of
creative strategy and its implementation?
Where We’re Headed Next
