Kousaridas Apostolos

Creative Strategy
INTRODUCTION
One of the most important components of an integrated marketing communications
program is the advertising message. It is obvious that there are a myriad of ways to
convey an advertising message. However, underlying all of these messages is a
creative strategy that involves determining what the advertising message will say or
communicate and creative tactics dealing with how the message strategy will
be implemented or executed.
APPEALS AND EXECUTION STYLES
Advertising Appeals
The advertising appeal refers to the basis or approach used in the advertisement to
elicit some consumer response or to influence their feelings toward the product,
service, or cause. At the broadest level, these approaches can be broken down into
two categories or classes which are informational/rational appeals and emotional
appeals.
Informational/rational appeals

Focuses on the consumers practical, functional, or utilitarian need for the

product or service

Emphasizes the features or benefits

Messages emphasize facts and logic

Includes:
1. Feature appeals
2. Competitive advantage appeals
3. Favorable price appeals
4. News appeals
5. Product/service popularity appeals
Emotional appeals
These types of appeals relate to consumers' social and/or psychological needs for
purchasing a product or service. Emotional appeals have become very popular in
advertising as marketers recognize that many purchase decisions are made on the
basis of feelings and emotions since rational, functional-based differentiation is often
very difficult.

Another reason for using emotional appeals is to influence consumers' interpretations

of their product usage experience through the use of transformational advertising.
This type of advertising creates feelings, images, meanings and beliefs about the
product or service that may be activated when the consumer uses it and thus
"transforms" their interpretation of the usage experience.
1. Combining rational and emotional appealsmany purchase decisions are
made on the basis of both rational and emotional motives. Thus rational and
emotional appeals may be combined in the advertisement to attempt to
influence both types of purchase motives.
2. Additional types of appealsOther appeal types that are discussed in the text
include reminder advertising and teaser advertising.
Advertising ExecutionCreative execution
This refers to the manner in which an advertising appeal is carried out or presented.
A particular advertising appeal can be executed in a variety of ways and a particular
means of execution can be applied to a variety of advertising appeals. Some of the
more commonly used execution techniques include:
1. Straight-sell or factual messagethis type of execution relies on a
straightforward presentation of information about the product or service such
as specific attributes or benefits.
2. Scientific/technical evidencea variation of the straight sell where scientific
or technical evidence or information is presented in the ad to support a claim.
3. Demonstrationthis type of execution is designed to illustrate the key
advantages or benefits of a product or service by showing it in actual use or in
some contrived or staged situation.
4. Comparisonthis type of execution involves a direct or indirect comparison of
a brand against the competition.
5. Testimonialsmany advertisers present their advertising messages in the
form of a testimonial whereby a person speak on behalf of the product or
service based on his or her personal use of and/or experiences with it.
6. Slice of lifethis type of execution is often based on a problem/solution type
of format. The ad attempts to portray a real-life situation involving a problem,
conflict or situation consumers may face in their daily lives.
7. Animationthis technique used animated characters or scenes drawn by
artists or on computer. Animation is often used as an execution technique for
advertising targeted at children.
8. Personality symbolthis type of execution involves the use of a central
character or personality symbol to deliver the advertising message and with
which the product or service can be identified.
9. Imagerythis type of appeal is used when the goal is to encourage
consumers to associate the brand with the symbols, characters, and/or
situation shown in the ad
10. Dramatizationthis execution technique creates a suspenseful situation or
scenario in the form of a short story. Dramatizations often use the
problem/solution approach as they show how the advertised brand can help
resolve a problem.
11. Humorhumor can be used as the basis for an advertising appeal. However,
humor can also be used as a way of executing the message and presenting
other types of advertising appeals.
12. Combinationsmany of these execution techniques can be combined in
presenting an advertising message.
CREATIVE TACTICS

Once the creative approach, type of appeal, and execution style has been
determined, attention turns to creating the actual advertisement. The design and
production of an advertising message involves a number of activities such as writing
copy, developing illustrations and other visual elements of the ad and bringing all of
the pieces together in a finished product.
Creative tactics for print advertisingthere are three basic components of a print
ad including the headline, body copy, and the visual elements or illustrations. These
elements are brought together through a layout.
1. Headlinesthe headline refers to the words in the leading position of the
advertisementthose that are likely to be read first or are positioned to draw
the most attention.
Direct headlines straightforward and informative in terms of the message
presented
Indirect headlinesprovoke curiosity and intrigue by using questions,
challenges, provocations, and other methods
2. Subheadsmany ads also contain a main headline and one or more
secondary headlines or subheads. These subheads usually appear in a
smaller type size than the main headline and are generally larger the type
size used for the body copy.
3. Body copythe main text portion of a print ad is referred to as the body copy.
Body copy content depends on the type of advertising appeal and/or
execution style being used.
4. Visual elementsanother major component of a print ad is the visual
elements or illustrations. Visual components often dominate print advertising
and play a very important role in determining effectiveness.
5. Layouta layout refers to the physical arrangement of the various parts of
the ad including the headline, subheads, illustrations, body copy and any
identifying marks.
Creative Tactics for TelevisionAs with print ads, television commercials have
several components which must work together to create the right impact and
communicate the advertiser's message.
1. Videothe video or visual elements are what is seen on the television screen.
Decisions have to be made regarding the main focus of the visual such as the
product, the presenter, action sequences, lighting graphics, color and other
factors.
2. Audiothe audio portion of a commercial includes several elements such as
voice, music and sound effects. Voices may be heard in several ways such as
through the direct presentation of a spokesperson or as a dialogue or
conversation among people in the commercial. A common method for presenting
the audio portion of a commercial is through a voice-over whereby the message
is delivered or action on the screen is narrated by the voice of an announcer who
is not visible.

3. Musica very important part of many television commercials is music which

plays various roles and functions such as providing a pleasant background or
helping create the appropriate mood or setting
4. Planning and production of television commercialsthe various elements of a
television commercial are brought together in a document known as a script
which is a written version of a commercial that provides a detail description of its
video and audio content. The script indicates the various audio components of
the commercial such as the copy to be spoken by voices, music and sound
effects. The video portion of the script provides the visual plan of the commercial.
Once the client approves the storyboard, the commercial is ready to move to the
production phase. The production process for a commercial actually involves
three phases:
Preproduction all the work and activities that occur before the actual filming
of a commercial.
Production the period during which the commercial is filmed or videotaped
and recorded.
Postproduction activities and work that occur after the commercial has been
filmed and recorded.