The creative of your commercial is as important as your ad schedule. This presentation showcases why good creative is important to maximizing the results of your advertising campaign.

1. The Importance of
Creative Advertising
Content
in QUALITY
INVESTING

2. What creative is
How quality creative
can help you get better
results from your
advertising
Why quality creative
is so important
How you can develop
quality creative that fits
your budget, serves your
needs and achieves
your business goals
Investing in advertising is a big decision. That’s why it’s crucial to ensure you are getting the
most out of your advertising dollars. Choosing where you place your media is important,
but what your advertising message says is just as important. If you are cutting corners on the
creative content of your advertising in an effort to save money, as many businesses do, you
could be selling your business short — and ultimately missing out on market share and sales.
Investing in Quality
The Importance Of Creative Advertising Content
2© 2015 Cox Media

3. What exactly is “creative,” and what role does it play in the success of
a business’s advertising efforts? To get the big picture, it’s important to
clarify four related terms that are frequently misunderstood — branding,
marketing, advertising and creative.
• Branding is the process of developing, protecting and promoting
your brand. Your brand is the sum of all the elements — logo, trademark,
product packaging, customer service and more — that compose the
image customers think of when they think of your business. Your brand
expresses the essence of your business. When it’s done right, a brand
creates an emotional response, like the way you feel when you think
about an ice-cold Coca-Cola on a hot summer day.
• Marketing refers to all the actions you take to get your product or
service to market, to make prospective customers aware of it and to
encourage them to buy from you. You may have heard of the “four
P’s” of marketing — product (or service), place (where and how your
product or service is sold), price (the value of your product or service
to the customer) and promotion (the means by which you convey your
marketing message to your target market).
• Advertising, which is a key component of marketing, means
placing advertisements in various media such as television,
radio, print publications and online.
• Creative refers to the elements that make up an
advertisement, such as words (whether text or scripted
copy), visuals (colors, illustrations, fonts, photos or video)
and sound (sound effects or music).
The most important aspect of creative, however, is the overall
concept behind the ad. A good creative concept will not only
tie in with and reinforce the business’s brand, but also tell
a story that makes an emotional connection with the target
customer. As a result of this emotional connection, a good
creative concept will engage the customer, creating a lasting
relationship with the brand and making the ad stand out from the
competition’s ads in a memorable way.
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What’s the Difference?
© 2015 Cox Media

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Why is quality creative so important to maximizing results from your
business’s ad campaign? Consider these factors:
Creative has a strong impact on sales. Studies have shown that creative is
the single most important factor in the impact of advertising, accounting for 52% of
an ad’s effect over time.1
Advertising is not an expense, but an investment in your business.
Small-business owners, managers and marketers who are trying to get the most from
their budgets often attempt to economize on the production part of their advertising
campaign. In addition, some are tempted by “free production,” whether online or
even for television.
However, not all creative campaigns are created equal, and you often get what
you pay for when it comes to free production. Your business’s image is a critical
component of your brand and the decision consumers make to interact with your
company, so it’s important it is effectively represented. Rather than viewing creative
as an unnecessary expense that they should strive to
limit, small-business owners, managers and marketers
must realize that quality advertising is an investment
that will pay off many times over.
Since the 1920s, research has
consistently shown that companies
that increase or maintain their
advertising spending enjoy
greater profitability gains than
do companies that cut back
on advertising. In one study,
“aggressive advertisers” saw their
revenues rise by 275% between 1980
and 1985 — despite a recession during
that time period — compared to firms
that cut their advertising expenditures.2
You can multiply the return on your
advertising investment by investing in
good creative. One study found that money
invested in highly creative ad campaigns had
nearly double the sales impact of money invested in a less
creative ad campaign.3
Quality creative can be repurposed on multiple media platforms,
extending the return on investment even further.
Why Good Creative Matters
Rather than viewing creative as an
unnecessary expense that they
should strive to limit, small-business
owners, managers and marketers
must realize that quality advertising
is an investment that will pay off
many times over.
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The quality of creative is as important to the success of a
business’s ad as the advertising schedule. Once you’ve decided to invest
in advertising, it’s important to place as much focus on developing the creative as
on developing the ad schedule. A business can invest a great deal in a good ad
schedule, but executing that schedule with poor-quality creative will negate that
investment. In fact, running a poor quality ad can actually do more harm than good.
In one study, 70% of ad campaigns with an above-average creative strategy resulted
in above-average execution. However, among campaigns
with a below-average creative strategy, 65% resulted
in below-average execution. In no cases
did campaigns with a below-average
creative strategy result in above-
average execution.4
Quality creative
is especially important if your
industry or marketplace is highly
competitive. If your business is
striving for share-of-voice in such a
marketplace, poor-quality creative
can actually harm the business’s
image rather than help it. Ultimately,
this will give your advertising campaign
the opposite of its intended effect.
Your business only gets one
opportunity to make a good
first impression. That one impression can
determine whether or not a prospect chooses to
contact, learn more about or do business with your company. Quality
creative that captures the prospect’s attention, inspires emotions, and is appealing
and memorable will form a strong positive impression of your business.
Perception is reality when it comes to advertising. If you want your
business to be perceived as quality, your marketing message needs to convey
quality, too. Good creative is an essential component in conveying a quality
business. Conversely, poor-quality creative may convey the message that a business
is struggling, is cheap or offers low-quality products and services.
IF YOU’RE TARGETING MILLENNIALS, YOU HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE. If your
brand seeks to reach the millennial generation, 80 million strong with spending
of over $1 trillion a year, creativity counts. A recent National Public Radio study of
millennials finds this group wants to see entertaining advertising that captures their
attention and speaks to their conscious. Without a solid creative strategy to speak to
these needs, it would be very difficult to break through to this young audience.5
Quality creative is
especially important if your
industry or marketplace is
highly competitive.
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© 2015 Cox Media
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6. Now you know why creative is so crucial to advertising success. The good news is that
quality creative is attainable for every business, no matter what its budget may be. Let’s look
at the various ways a small business can achieve quality creative without breaking the bank.
There are different levels of production that your ad can achieve. The level you choose will
depend on many factors, including:
By taking all of these factors into account, your creative and media partners can help you
determine the right level of creative — good, better or best — for your ad campaign. Often, the
wisest approach is to develop an ad campaign that incorporates all three levels of creative.
What is the difference between good, better and best when it comes to creative?
Remember, creative not only includes words, images and sound, but also includes the
concept behind your ad. Therefore, good, better and best ads vary both in terms of
artistic value (for example, high production quality and memorable music) and in terms of
originality (unique, memorable or unusual concepts).
Let’s take a closer look at the three levels of
on-air and online creative 6
Good, Better, Best
How much do you want to invest in your ad
campaign? How much do you need to invest to
achieve your goals?
What do you want your ad campaign to achieve? Will
the focus of the ads be transactional (driving sales)
or building relationships and promoting your brand?
How will you measure results?
How soon does your ad campaign need to begin?
How frequently will your ads run and for how long?
How many versions of the ad are you going to create?
What demographic or geographic market do you
want to reach with your ad campaign?
What information, brand image and/or specific offer
are you seeking to convey with your ad campaign?
What is your competitive advantage and how will you
make your business stand out from the competition?
Your message
Your BUDGET
your advertising
goals
your target
market
your time frame
© 2015 Cox Media

7. Good on-air creative will typically feature these elements:
• A simple message;
• Still photos, typically provided by the business or a stock photo house;
• Basic graphics; and
• In-house music and voice-over.
This level of creative is engaging and professional. It alerts prospects to the business’s
products and services, and may even include a specific offer or “call to action.”
Good creative can be very cost-effective and can also be created quickly, making it an
excellent solution if you need an ad to run with rapid turnaround time.
However, good creative can’t demonstrate moving parts or features, nor does it
allow for a creative concept customized to the business’s brand.
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Click Here
© 2015 Cox Media
Good Creative: On-Air

8. INVESTING IN QUALITY: THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING CONTENT
Better on-air creative will typically feature these elements:
• A more compelling concept behind the message, such as the use of humor or more
advanced storytelling;
• Video, often showing the business’s location and employees, but also using stock video;
• More sophisticated graphics; and
• Professional music and voice-over.
Adding video and movement to the ad’s creative makes it more engaging than the “good”
ad. Creative at this level enables an ad to convey more details about the business, as well as
include specific calls to action.
However, this type of ad may look and feel similar to many local ads, making it harder for
the ad to stand out among the competition.
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Better Creative: On-Air
Click Here
© 2015 Cox Media

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INVESTING IN QUALITY: THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING CONTENT
The best creative goes above and beyond what is used in “better” creative.
Specifically, more attention is paid to developing a unique and original creative concept. At
the heart of the creative concept are ideas that work across platforms to tell a story — to make
viewers feel an emotion.
Consider the “best” example, which you can view below. The copy and the visual story work
together to convey the idea that the young man loves his car, and that the bank makes this
relationship possible. The commercial is richly produced with careful lighting, but it is the
idea that ultimately resonates. The greater sophistication of “best” creative makes such ads
more memorable than ads at the other two levels.
Because a “best” ad is typically part of a series of ads,
the business has an opportunity to develop variations
on a theme, keeping the ad campaign fresh and
interesting while still reinforcing the core brand
message. For example, your business might
develop seasonal ads to take advantage of key
times of year, or develop ads that appeal to a
variety of target demographics by using slightly
different messages.
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Click Here
© 2015 Cox Media
Best Creative: On-Air

10. 10
Quality creative in the online space is critical to the success of your advertising. This
is especially important if your schedule includes a site or ad network that places
advertisements below the fold, or places advertisements from many different businesses
on one page. Unlike television where your business will be the only one speaking to the
consumer during your thirty-second commercial, online advertising competes for space
amongst your competitors as well as the content the site’s audience is there to consume.
Savvy advertisers know that clicks on banner ads are an impulse reaction to creative and
invest wisely to ensure their online message is a strong representation of their brand.
Good online creative will typically feature these elements:
For online creative to be compelling, it must be designed for the platform. Many businesses
try to cut corners with their online advertisements by repurposing their print ads into banner
ads. Good online advertising recognizes that consumer behavior is different online than it is
when reading a magazine or newspaper and makes adjustments. Good ads:
• Take the user right to the information they are looking for without additional clicks to
learn more about the information promoted in the ad
• Include a strong call to action (Click Here or Start Now) or a URL, never a phone number
• Are often static banner ads of multiple sizes to “place” on a variety of websites
• Always supports the brand by using company
logo or imagery
good
© 2015 Cox Media
Good, Better, Best: Online
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Better online creative will typically feature these elements:
Better online creative reflects many of the foundational concepts represented in “good.” In
addition, this level of execution gives careful consideration to the landing page that the ad
redirects to and ensures the creative elements on the landing page are reflected in physical
characteristics of the ad itself. Features of “BETTER” online ads may include:
• In-banner video or simple animation
• Additional links or social media icons
• Countdown tickers or urgent calls to action
• Lead-generating forms
The best creative goes above and beyond what is used in better creative.
In addition to many of the key points of “good” and “better,” “best” online ads utilize
advanced practices to integrate the ad into an interactive component of an advertiser’s
campaign. “Best” ads offer the highest level of user interaction and can be tailor made to
suit the business objective. Customized animation, expanding ads or advanced in-banner
video features are common at this level. Those who invest at the “best” level also carefully
consider creative testing strategies like performance metrics, A-B copy or ad testing, and
premium flighting to ensure the return on their investment and gain insights for use with
future campaigns.
11© 2015 Cox Media
Good, Better, Best: Online
better best

12. As you work with your creative and media consultants to develop your advertising creative,
always keep in mind how you want your business to look to potential customers. What
image do you want to portray?
In many cases, your business will get the best return on investment by developing a
campaign that incorporates ads at all three levels. For example, suppose you have a new
business that is launching its first ad campaign, and you want to convey a message of
quality and professionalism. Your creative and media consultants may recommend the
following strategy:
You might develop a “good” ad that is intended to run quickly and get the word out
about your products and services immediately. This could also promote a specific
event, such as your business’s grand opening.
You might then follow up with “better” ads that include more specific offers and calls
to action. These help build on the awareness generated by your “good” ad, while
providing more detail and further enhancing your business image.
Finally, you might develop a series of “best” ads that will run on an ongoing basis, and
are designed to help create and maintain a positive perception of your brand. Building
your brand helps keep your business top-of-mind when prospective customers
are searching for the types of products or services you sell, and develops lasting
relationships with customers.
Once your business has developed quality creative, it can and should be repurposed
across a variety of advertising platforms. In fact, doing so is a smart way to drive home
a cohesive brand message for your business. Your creative and media consultants
can help you determine how best to use your creative across multiple platforms to
reinforce your brand, thus maximizing your advertising budget and your results.
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Bringing It All Together
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Once you have decided to invest in advertising your business, make the most of your
return on that investment by investing in your creative, too. Smart business owners pay
as much attention to the quality of their creative as to
their ad schedule. Trying to save money by
skimping on creative can hurt your
business’s image — and its sales — in
the long run. Instead, partner with
a creative production team to take
advantage of their expertise. Share
with them your goals for your business
and your advertising campaign.
They can help you develop quality
creative that fits your budget, builds
your business’s brand and helps
your business thrive and grow.
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Conclusion
© 2015 Cox Media

14. INVESTING IN QUALITY: THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING CONTENT
Resources
1
Minnium, P. It’s the Creative, Stupid: 3 Reasons Why Ad Creative Trumps Technology
Every Time, 4 Feb, 2015, Marketing Land, http://marketingland.com/its-the-creative-stu-
pid-3-reasons-why-ad-creative-trumps-technology-every-time-115591
2
Laboratory of Advertising Performance Report 5262, McGraw-Hill Research, http://
printinthemix.com/Fastfacts/Show/128.
3
Creativity in Advertising: When It Works and When It Doesn’t, Werner Reinartz and
Peter Saffert, Harvard Business Review, http://hbr.org/2013/06/creativity-in-advertising-
when-it-works-and-when-it-doesnt/ar/1
4
comScore ARS Research Highlights Importance of Advertising Creative in Building
Brand Sales, http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2010/10/comScore_
ARS_Research_Highlights_Importance_of_Advertising_Creative_in_Building_Brand_Sales
5
How Do You Market to Millennials? Sam Sanders and Chloe Prasinos, NPR Morning
Edition, 24 February, 2015, http://www.npr.org/2015/02/24/388592666/how-do-you-
market-to-millennials
About
Cox Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Communications Inc., partners with both local and
national advertisers for marketing success, offering advanced cable and digital advertising products
in 20 markets across the United States. In addition to proven media solutions, Cox Media offers
consultative insights to help clients reach their audiences more effectively and efficiently. From broad
reach, highly rated programs to lasersharp targeting of specific audiences, Cox Media is focused on
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14© 2015 Cox Media