How To Make Your Ad Campaign Creatively Effective
Both clients and advertising agencies need to be aligned on the same page and work closely to achieve this objective. Else, your ad campaign will end up looking like 90% of the advertising campaigns that get churned out every year – trash! And you can’t just blame the agency for it. Clients too are equally responsible for the mess. So if you want your ad campaign to be memorable, it needs to be creatively effective. Here are a few things that can help you get there: Be single-minded. While writing a brief, clients need to identify what is the one thing that makes their product or service so unique. Something that your brand can own. What’s the single minded proposition (It can’t be yeh bhi, woh bhi, kuch bhi) that the agency can use as a springboard to develop a sharp ad campaign. Creative thinking starts with single-mindedness. If the brief fails to do that then the agency will have to probe the client further. Set up an informal meeting over coffee or a beer and have a chat a about it. Discuss the objective of the communication, see what the competition is up to, figure out what will help your brand stand out in the marketplace. Is it insightful? Let the ad campaign emerge from a life truth that your audience can relate to. Make that deeper connection inspired from life experiences. Because then, it won’t look like you’re trying to sell and you’ll end up engaging and entertaining your audience who will sit up and take notice effortlessly. Always look for a universal idea that can cut across all audiences. Especially in a country like India, which is very diverse in terms of culture and way of life too. If you don’t engage your audience they will switch off. So make every penny spent on media count. Leave no room for clutter. How often we have seen billboards and print ads that are so cluttered that it badly needs deep cleaning services (Yes, what we do at our homes and offices just before Diwali). The ads are filled with so many unnecessary things that customers end up losing interest and don’t even bother see the ad. Because they don’t know where to look. If you want the attention of your customers then keep the artwork clean, simple and minimal. The thumb rule here is that the communicate should fit on the back of the visiting card. If it does then it’s not good enough to go on an ad. If not, then you need to go back to the drawing board. Focus on detailing. A well-designed ad layout adds more appeal and enhances the experience for the viewer. It’s also true that it does take time to create stunning layouts. So plan well in advance and avoid last minute job. Copywriting too plays a pivotal role here. Every brand has a unique tone of voice. You need to identify what will be the tone of voice for your band. This is also the time when the art directors and copywriters need to stick together and plan the execution completely. A lot goes into making of a successful ad campaign. Every brief is a new beginning and it brings along a new opportunity to create something out-of-the-box. Positive intention, passion and enthusiasm to create a great campaign is what drives every client and ad agency. It’s what makes each day exciting to push the boundaries. Lastly, don’t forget to pop the bubbly and celebrate the success of your ad campaign. Because you are only as good as their last campaign. Cheers!
The Secret Ingredient of B2B marketing
B2B products aren’t perceived to be simple or easily understood by the common man. B2B companies tend to focus only on their products or services and not the company image or brand identity as they feel a lack of connect with the masses. Companies who choose to focus on creating a brand aren’t sure how to go about either. We helped one such B2B company create a strong brand identity across multiple points and simplify what they sell. Company MK Ingredients & Specialities Products Speciality ingredients and chemicals with applications in food and nutrition industry as well as many others like automobile, paints, pharma, home and personal care etc. The Story We created consistent and impactful communication across mediums. Starting from the logo to simplifying the products, we translated the brand essence to the extreme end user and business partners. Offline to Online For the upcoming expo MK was a part of, we started pushing out communication on their LinkedIn page making it easy for business partners and associates to locate them in a cluttered expo. Brand Assets We recreated their brochures to ensure a distinguishing presence during the event. The brochures are being used by the sales force and it continues to create the desired impact. Establishing credibility of 17+ years of expertise. The secret ingredient of a B2B company, like MK, is to simplify and translate what they mean to the world. Bridging the gap between their offline initiatives and the digital mediums further help building a consistent brand identity.
Driving consumer loyalty, the Indian way
ChallengeChanging landscape of the telecom sector in India in the last 1-2 years has forced players to think of consumer loyalty more than ever. For internet service providers (ISPs), pricing and speed have been crucial factors to add and retain consumers. So, ISPs relooked at their broadband plans to be in the game. Challenge Changing landscape of the telecom sector in India in the last 1-2 years has forced players to think of consumer loyalty more than ever. For internet service providers (ISPs), pricing and speed have been crucial factors to add and retain consumers. So, ISPs relooked at their broadband plans to be in the game. Tikona laid down its broadband plans keeping the price factor in mind. All these plans had a clear price advantage if the consumer would sign up for long validity plans like 6 or 12 months. For e.g. in case of the 10 Mbps plans*, if a consumer switched from a monthly to an annual subscription, he would end up enjoying 17 months of usage @Rs.600 per month instead of 12 months usage @Rs.849 per month. This was clearly a huge upside to showcase if customers opted for long validity plans. Upgrading existing monthly subscribers to long term commitments was a challenge we were poised with. Solution Calculations are boring, but savings are not. So, we delved to understand what drives the Indian consumers. We identified some core hooks of the Indian mindset and began exploring how to develop them in a language that an average Indian speaks and visuals that one can relate to. We designed an emailer campaign which would be sustained, consistent and would connect with various facets of the Indian mindset. Jugaad Nothing can describe the Indian mindset better. Always on the lookout for solutions through quick fixes or Jugaads, we would love a simple Jugaad to save on bills. Lambi Soch Think long term, think binoculars. Depicting measurable benefits using binoculars and measuring scale drives home the message. More for Less Unbelievable Truth - Pay less and still get more. Clear benefit illustrated using decreasing size of money bags. Savings Cut the bill short, literally. And using ‘Save Like a Boss’ to create a punch to convey the message.
Think the unthinkable. Do the undoable.
Ever seen an ostrich fly? Well, Samsung made it possible. With the help of VR, an ostrich does the unimaginable. Leo Burnett Chicago makes an ostrich believe that it can spread its wings and fly. Samsung’s ‘ostrich’ commercial is brilliantly directed by Matthijis Van Heinjningen and took home seven prestigious Lions Awards for its creative excellence. Now, here’s some food for thought for small brands: don’t waste time thinking that it can’t be done. Instead, start believing that it can be done. Wake up and smell the coffee. Small brands often operate from the mindset that they don’t stand a chance against the big boys. And that’s because they believe that. They allow themselves to be bullied. Create your own path to market and sell differently. You don’t need a big budget to shatter that mindset. Just give yourself the chance to believe that ‘it can be done.’ Small businesses need to think differently in terms of strategy. They need to be agile, sprint-ready and creatively compete with their big competitors. Be innovative – do things that haven’t been done before. Push the bar. Take risks. Because it can be done, yes it can be done. This also gives the agency the opportunity to create campaigns that truly make a difference by creating disruptive and result-oriented campaigns. After the debacle of Note 7, Samsung deep dives into the basic human urge to strive for the extra-ordinary by demonstrating the company’s commitment to break boundaries and do the incredible. #DoWhatYouCant
Farewell to the forest. Farewell to our future. Farewell to mankind. Farewell to our planet.
Our actions are going to haunt our future generation. This film is a testimony that time is running out. We have to make a choice that’ll allow our future generation to co-exist with nature. We can’t survive alone. This Unilever film scares the living daylights out of you. [tatsu_section padding= "90px 0% 90px 0%"][tatsu_row layout= "1/1"][tatsu_column layout= "1/1"][tatsu_video source= "youtube" url= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTQXnFsAFXI" animation_type= "fadeIn"][/tatsu_video][/tatsu_column][/tatsu_row][/tatsu_section][tatsu_section padding= "90px 0% 90px 0%"][tatsu_row layout= "1/1"][tatsu_column layout= "1/1"][tatsu_text max_width= "" wrap_alignment= "center" animation_type= "fadeIn"] It holds the mirror in front of us, telling us that we need to take responsibility of our actions. Now. Not later. DAVID Buenos Aires, in collaboration with Ogilvy & Mather London, created the film, Farewell to the Forest. What a beautiful concept of showing the plight of a ‘Treefugee’. Farewell to the forest dramatizes the truth that rainforests are no longer the safest place on Earth for trees anymore. Who would have thought so? Well, with 36 football pitches being cleared every minute says it all. Deforestration is nothing but Dehumanisation. Take climate action and sign the Unilever & WWF pledge today to help protect one million trees. For every signature, Unilever and WWF will help protect a tree on your behalf. Let’s build a bright future for our children and generations to come. Click on the link below to know more… https://brightfuture.unilever.com/stories/430791/We-re-not-ready-to-say-farewell-to-our-forests.aspx
No McWhopper for now. Well tried Burger King.
Burger King sent out a proposal for “Peace One Day” to McDonald’s. A proposal to co-create, for the first time ever, just for one day, the McWhopper! Well, if you still don’t know about it, check out for yourself: www.mcwhopper.com (Yeah, seriously!) What a stunt! It was very well done indeed. It totally took McDonald’s by surprise. Y&R in New Zealand, Code & Theory, Alison Brod Public Relations, The David Agency, Rock Orange, Turner Duckworth and Horizon made it all possible for Burger King. It was a crazy idea to pull off. Burger King got a huge mileage out of it. And as we all waited for McDonald’s to respond, we had already started imagining how it would all pan in Atlanta on 21st September 2015. It was truly a mouth-watering proposal for the Big Mac and Whopper fans for sure. Well, but the McWhopper will have to wait for now. McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook turned down the offer. “We love the intention but think our two brands could do something bigger to make a difference," said Easterbrook. "We commit to raise awareness worldwide, perhaps you'll join us in a meaningful global effort?" Easterbrook cheekily added, "P.S. A simple phone call will do next time." McDonald’s has rightfully responded by saying not interested. After all, in all honesty, it doesn’t make the world a better place. Burger King could have thought of something more meaningful by coming together, even if it was just for a day. While it created the buzz, Burger King actually missed out on the opportunity to co-create the McWhopper with McDonald’s to leverage a positive impact, globally. Imagine something that would have put McDonald’s in a spot for saying “no”. Thus creating a win-win situation for Burger King. And more so, showing the world - the power of advertising.
Hail O turned 3. And they did the unthinkable.
Hail O decided to have some fun with their customers on their 3rd Birthday. By putting a 3-year-old behind the wheel – probably the youngest taxi driver you’ve ever met. Twin brothers, Kai and Kal, pleasantly surprised the passengers in Ireland when they scheduled a taxi ride via the Hail O App. https://youtu.be/7NDo_M-ewHs While they appeared to be driving the taxi, they were sitting on the lap of the vehicle’s actual driver, their father, who was disguised as the driver’s seat upholstery. The headrest material over his face was made of a thin mesh that allowed him to see and to give cues to the boys. Guns or Knives, the agency behind this idea, managed the hidden-camera stunt. And guess what, customers were rewarded with Hail O mileage credits and the chance to wins trips based on his the distance traveled using the service. Yet again a brilliant idea backed by the willingness of the client to push the creative boundaries. It beautifully drives home the child-like enthusiasm of Hail O by sharing a light-hearted moment with their customers. It certainly makes you smile and want to be in that taxi.
Cristiano Ronaldo disguises himself and scores for Monster with no paid media.
Imagine Cristiano Ronaldo beefed up with a padded suit, scruffy hair and ratty clothes. Can’t right? Well, that’s exactly how Monster used the world’s highest paid footballer to launch new ROC Live Life Loud brand. Ronaldo in an undesirable avatar doing cool footwork with the ball in downtown Madrid goes unnoticed. https://youtu.be/8H_DSErYUZk Ronaldo prompts onlookers to play on by showing off some fancy tricks. In the end, a kid who’s playing along with the strange-looking man, gets the biggest surprise of his life – a chance to meet Cristiano Ronaldo. The stunned kid received an autographed ball as Ronaldo revealed himself by peeling off the beard and wig. What an ingenious way to launch a brand with no paid media push. It racked up 33 million views in two days with over 900,000 shares, 1.4 million likes and 100,000 comments. In just a week, it had close to 9 million views on YouTube. It was a bold move indeed to disguise the celebrity footballer. Most clients would have refused after paying a hefty price to rope in Ronaldo. The brand definitely got the eyeballs it needed. Simply by breaking the codes of advertising.
No more skipping boring ads. As there won’t be any.
D&AD has launched a browser extension that blocks annoying ads and replaces them with great ones. Yes, you read that right. BETC Paris created and developed the plug-in for D&AD. The Ad Filter automatically replaces boring ads with D&AD winners. https://youtu.be/T4jniN89mnQ It’s a wonderful idea. Boring ads are out so that some really good ones can entertain you and inspire you. Too bad, Cannes missed out on this one. And so did One Show. The idea beautifully promotes D&AD by showcasing D&AD winning ads to people. By blocking out the boring ads, D&AD truly celebrates creativity and also reminds creative thinkers to raise the bar of creativity. Hope the Ad Filter reaches out to many more beyond the creative fraternity. Especially to over 300 million people who use an ad blocking browser extension to remove annoying ads on the Internet. Click on the link below to install the plug-in and enjoy watching ads for a change. http://www.dandad.org/en/ad-filter