Creating Advertisements 1

Creating Advertisements 1
Having discussed the market and marketing and the research associated with marketing operations, we are now in a position to discuss the communication component of marketing or advertisements. How are advertisements created? What goes into the making of an effective advertisement? What are the disciplines and the kind of mind required to create effective advertisements?
After looking at the links, most of you would probably first clicked here first. This is the area, which appeals to most people wanting to enter the advertising profession. It conjures up pictures of a world of glamour and glitter; of the esoteric few, in which you can give full rein to what you believe to be your unrecognized creative talent, and so on. This is understandable, because everyone of us believes that one has an element of creativity which just needs an opportunity" to find an avenue for expression and then universal recognition. From the world of creativity of advertising a far more esoteric world, a far more glamorous world, a far more exciting world, where money flows like water, is expected to open up for you.
Creativity in advertising is a highly specialized area. It involves the creation of the most effective message to motivate a consumer to buy a particular product or service, not once, but again and again. This means the creation of such messages year after year, often for the same product or service in the face of increasing competition. It is also the most challenging. With the growing proliferation of and possibilities offered by the electronic audio-visual media, there are openings for a wide variety of skills and talents for creative expression of ideas. This is possibly the most talent-intensive area of advertising, demanding training in and a total grasp of various specialized areas of mass communication. Training, however, can only help sharpen and give a direction to inherent talent or flair. It should be obvious from the fact that this chapter is placed after eight chapters discussing various aspects of advertising and marketing, that here there is no free play for imagination and creativity. The concept of the free market does not operate in this area; instead, the actual market disciplines creativity. Imagination and innovative ideas have to serve the demands of the communication needs of the market, the product or the service.
An advertisement whatever the medium for which it is created-visual or audio-visual is not the result of the imagination or inventiveness of a single individual. In an advertising agency, a creative team prepares advertisements or persuasive communication or creatively interprets the advertising objective that is derived from the marketing objective. Thus it is the market, and the product in relation to it, which provides the seed for the creative inspiration to flower. In a sense, from the very beginning, creativity in advertising is tainted with the environment of the market place, the very mundane issues of profit. At the entrance to the studio of an advertising agency should be written the following: "All who enter here leave behind all dreams of an unfettered expression of your creative talent or genius."
Once again to begin at the beginning: What is creativity? The dictionary meaning of the word is "inventive, imaginative, showing imagination as well as native skill." The two fundamental aspects are imagination and creative skill. Creativity is a combination of imagination and natural skill. If these two elements are there, these can be sharpened through training and observation and of course, experience.
How does the creative process work? How are products of the imagination born and given physical shape? Very little is really known about it. This is true even of a writer or a painter or of all the creators of art. One -could possibly say that the essence of creativity or the creative process is the interaction, even a kind of conflict, between the creator and the external reality. A creative person is constantly trying to absorb and rise above the external reality and is in the process influencing it and being influenced by it. In the crucible of the creative mind the external reality is transformed into something different, without losing its basic features. This is what appeals to the viewer, listener or reader. Under the influence of a creative work we begin to look at the external reality from a different angle, as also our relationship with it. We are even motivated at times to change the external reality.
About good writing, it has been said: "Knowledge is the foundation and source of good writing." If this is true of good writing, particularly creative writing in general, it is more so of persuasive and motivational communication concerned with people. Knowledge is much more than book knowledge. Primarily, it is knowledge of people, their social and cultural world and their behavior within this world of theirs. We talk of the individual will, but it is molded by society. It is, however, true, that once molded, the individual will can transcend the limitations of existing society and even transform it. This is a continuing process. Exposure to varied experiences of life enriches creative talent. In reality creativity feeds on such experience. This is true of every creative person. Other inputs to creativity include interests and wide reading in a variety of subjects. One must have a deep interest in and be a perceptive observer of the social scene. Above all, a creative person is highly sensitive to people's feelings and moods, their wants, fears, hopes, aspirations. This is most vital for a creative communicator with the objective of moving people into action. Creative persons must be able to probe the depths of the mind of their audience. This is because all the driving forces of an action of every individual pass through his or her brain and transform themselves into motivations to drive him or her into action. External stimuli can trigger this unconscious motivation.
For creative marketing communication, this is not enough because it is creativity within a specific framework. It is concerned with people in relati6n to specific products or services in a specific marketing situation. Mere exposure to a variety of experiences or knowledge is not enough. You have to saturate yourself with all the relevant information. This would involve understanding of people in a particular context, as buyers of a particular product or service and their behavior pattern in relation to it, particularly the circumstances under or environment in which they best absorb ideas. You have to combine your understanding of the people, of a particular segment of society, at a given moment of time and in space, with the deepest possible knowledge of the product or service. You have to relate these two understandings. An advertisement is a creative interpretation of this knowledge. The creative process in advertising does not begin with an idea or a concept and then attempt to fit in knowledge about people and products and services into it. It is the result of a profound and infinite interaction between such knowledge and the creative mind. In the non-commercial field of creativity such interaction can often find spontaneous expression. Sometimes one has to wait for an inspiration. In advertising there is no room for spontaneity or the time to wait for an inspiration. One has always to work against time.
Creativity in advertising is facing a major challenge today. The demands on it are not only appreciation by the consumers, but their acceptance of the credibility of the benefits offered by the particular brand. The challenge has become more acute because differentiations between brands are narrowing. In reality, quality-wise, there is practically no difference between different brands of high-priced textiles, for example. It is no longer enough for the words and the visuals to describe the benefits to be derived from the product or service most forcefully. The consumer has to be involved and drawn into the environment created by the advertisement. The consumer must be compelled to identify with the environment and the product or service or associate with it as part of the aspiration for a particular lifestyle.

Is Your Advertising Working as Hard as It Could?

Is Your Advertising Working as Hard as It Could?

If you frequently advertise, you no doubt have a good idea of which ads work and which ads don't by comparing sales levels after advertisements have run. You likely have adjusted your advertising based on these observed sales results, and will continue to do so. However, it may take quite some time for your advertisements to improve to the point where your advertising campaigns are working as hard as they could be. Advertising testing can expedite the process of optimizing your advertising efforts, allowing you to maximize sales as quickly as possible.

Advertising testing can tell you the following:

• To what extent does an ad convince people to buy my product/service?


• What does the ad to enhance my company's image?


• What percentage of people notice my ad?


• What do people recall about my company and its products/services after reading my ad?


• What percentage can recall the name of my company?


• Is there anything about my ad that is difficult to believe?


• What components of my ad are working?


• What components need to be improved or eliminated?

Advertising testing is best done inconspicuously. It is important that respondents not know that they involved in an advertising test when they are first exposed to an advertisement in a test. This mirrors the manner in which consumers/customers typically are exposed to advertising.

Dealing with Newspaper Advertising

Dealing with Newspaper Advertising
With newspaper advertising [and with all other types of media], Consistent Advertising = Familiarity = Trust = Customers. People won’t buy from you until they trust you.
Trust and confidence take time to build up. To be successful with newspaper advertising, you need persistence, patience, and a budget to keep your newspaper advertising running to build that trust.
Your ad should appear in the same place in the newspaper at least weekly for an indefinite period [forever]. Expect to run your newspaper advertising for two months before you see an increase in sales. It takes some time to build trust. And if you quit, you have to start all over again. Don’t waste your money starting a newspaper advertising program if you can’t give it time to work.
Facts about Newspaper Advertising
Fifty-seven percent of adults in the U.S. read a daily newspaper. Sixty-seven percent read a Sunday paper. They spend almost 45 minutes per day reading at least one paper, and over an hour on Sunday.
Newspapers get the biggest share of advertising revenue in this country. Almost 22% of all ad dollars go to newspapers. Over 85% of that money is spent by local advertisers.
There are over 1,600 daily papers in the United States with a circulation approaching 58 million. The are over 7,000 weekly papers with a circulation of over 50 million.
When and Where Your Ad Should Appear
Your newspaper advertising strategy will depend on your type of business. The key question is: “When and where [what newspaper sections on what days] do your customers look for your type of business?"
Here are some general placement guidelines:
1. A smaller advertisement run repeatedly will do better than a larger ad run less often. Familiarity = trust.
2. Shoppers read the Friday, Saturday and Sunday papers to plan their weekend shopping. Saturday is the most important of the three, but Sunday is the most widely read. If you are a retail store, you probably want your newspaper advertising to run on these days.
3. The public knows to read the paper on certain days of the week to get certain information. If your competitors are all running their newspaper advertising on Wednesday in the same section, there is a reason. Shoppers know to look there for information about your type of business.
If you change your ad and your customers don’t recognize it, you will have wasted all of the trust you have built up over time. Many companies never change their basic newspaper advertising design. This is a good strategy as long as the ads are working.
Attention
You will see us repeat this idea over and over. Your ad has a zero percent chance of succeeding if your prospect doesn’t read it.
Attention is everything in newspaper advertising. Don’t be shy. You want the biggest ad that makes economic sense, and the most stunning presentation you can design. Your ad must stand out from [contrast with] all of the others on the page. Conservative ads won’t even get noticed. Think about it.
Direct Response Newspaper Advertising
Once you get their attention, your newspaper advertising needs to motivate your customers to respond now. A direct response ad is written to get attention, interest, desire, and action immediately. Think of it this way: Where will that newspaper be in 24 hours? [In the recycle bin.]
Now, think about that huge mountain of inertia you must overcome with your customers to get action. You want them to take a financial risk, clip your ad, get in their car, drive to your store, deal with your staff, buy your products, carry them home, assemble and install, etc. etc. etc. All they want to do is sit in their chair and peacefully read their newspaper. How are you going to get them to respond?
You use direct response newspaper advertising, and you create professional advertisements using professional marketing techniques.
You need to make your customers squirm, or wince, or laugh, or cry. You need them excited, exhilarated, and ready. Make them feel danger. Fear. Heat. Sex. Hunger. Desire. Stoke them up, and then tell them how to get what they want. Fulfill that desire. Quench that thirst. Eliminate that pain. Easy. Fast. Free.
So, can your diaper delivery service do this?
You'd better, or no one will call. Actually, this may be a bad example, because there is a certain built-in motivation to get someone else to clean your dirty diapers. But no matter what your service or product, you need to build real motivation in your customers if you want them to respond to your newspaper advertising.
More Direct Response Newspaper Advertising
Let's see if we can help you to better recognize effective direct response advertising when [or if] your designer shows it to you.
Direct Response Advertising Example
“Hungry? Try Our .99 Double Cheeseburger”
This ad achieves one-on-one communication, and it motivates the reader to recognize a problem [hunger] by asking a stimulating question.
“Hungry?” [“Yes”, the reader replies, “That’s me.”] The ad then offers an immediate, highly desirable solution. “Try Our .99 Double Cheeseburger” [problem, solution, value, desire, satisfaction.]
The ad gets visual attention simply by using special fonts. It gets attention, identifies a problem [stimulates interest], creates desire, and demands immediate action.
Notice that this newspaper advertising does not ask the reader to try the product - it tells the reader to try it. And if the reader is actually hungry, this ad can stimulate a physical reaction in their stomach and in their mouth. Using the right colors in the ad will increase this physical reaction. A full color photo of the product could make your stomach grumble. Get the idea?
This deceptively simple newspaper advertising works. It is written to get a response, and it does.
A Direct Response Advertisement:
1. Gets attention through design, ad size, placement, and timing.
2. Stimulates interest by touching on human emotions, desires, and needs.
3. Creates desire by offering solutions [benefits] to emotions, problems, or needs.
4. Gets action by making the solution highly desirable yet affordable and easy.
This is professional newspaper advertising. Use it.
A Warning For Professionals: If you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer, or any professional, and you are thinking: “I want to be very professional in my newspaper advertising. I just want to put my name out there. I don’t want to sell”, then your newspaper advertising costs will be exponentially high [$10 x $10 x $10…]. Your newspaper advertising must be classy and professional, but it also must get attention, spark interest, create desire, and ask for action. And ultimately, it must show a return on your investment. That is what professional direct response ads are designed to do.
Increase Your Response Rate
There is only one way to increase the effectiveness of your newspaper advertising. You have to measure the response rate, and test variations of the ad to improve on that response rate.
You only get what you measure. In one test, some smart marketing pros discovered that just by changing the headline in the ad they got a five-hundred-percent increase in response. 500%! How did they do it? They changed the headline, and measured the results.
So test different headlines, offers, copy, themes, ad sizes, photos, illustrations, and when and where your newspaper advertising runs. Measure the results. It’s worth the work. Here some additional ideas on increasing response:
• Your headline is 70% responsible for the success of your ad. You want it to promise the biggest benefit, or to ask a provocative question. “Loose 10 pounds in 2 weeks” is a benefit promise headline. Your Headline Must Be Great.
• Write a few different strong headlines, and try them out. An improved newspaper advertising headline could triple the response rate to your ad, or more. Same ad - different headline - three times the response. How do you do it? You test different headlines, and measure the response.
• You want your newspaper advertising to awaken strong emotions in your customers. Emotions are triggered by clear and powerful benefits. Give benefits, not features. Touch on human desires and needs, and offer the solution to the problem.
• People will justify their emotional decisions later. Newspaper advertising is not the place for a logical argument or justification. The job of the ad is to get a response.
• Twice as many readers will look at your graphic than will read your headline. By using a graphic or a photo, you are getting the attention of twice as many people with your newspaper advertising.
• 60% of consumers believe ads that offer a money-back guarantee. 57% believe ads that carry an official third party endorsement. 46% of consumers believe claims based on survey results. Use these tools in your newspaper advertising if you can.
• Offer different deals every few weeks. One offer will out-pull the others. This will also help you to get different kinds of customers who respond to different offers.
• Use a time limit for response in your newspaper advertising. Time limits work.
• Offer a limited number of free consultations or special deals per month. “Only the first 50 people….” This gets people to respond now.
• About 1/3 of readers will stop reading your newspaper advertising after the first 50 words. An additional 25% will stop reading after 200 words. Put the benefits up front.
• People believe testimonials. Use them if you can in your newspaper advertising.
• Be careful when measuring the response to your newspaper advertising. Many unpredictable things can go wrong or right that have nothing to do with your ad. Current events, the weather, and competitor actions can help or hurt you in the short run. You may get great placement and a great response, or the exact opposite. Just average it all out. Ask your customers where they saw your ad, and be persistent. Good luck or bad, it’s time and patience that will pay off with your professional newspaper advertising.
• Set goals and measure your progress. Are inquiries becoming clients? What is your return on investment for your newspaper advertising?
• Are you getting repeat business? Find out why customers are, or are not, coming back.
• Are you attracting customers you don’t want? Not every client is profitable or desirable. You may need to modify the offer you are making in your newspaper advertising.
• A half-page advertisement will pull 70% of the business a full-page ad will. A quarter-page ad will pull 50% of a full page. Is the cost difference worth it?
• Tell your customers to respond now. Tell them what to do and how to do it. Make it as simple as possible for them to respond to your newspaper advertising. [Offer credit, discounts, delivery, 800#, web information, directions, map, etc.]
• Response devices work. [Coupons, phone #’s, return cards, directions.] Make sure it is easy for your customers to respond.
• Use the problem – solution format in your newspaper advertising. And always ask questions that get a “Yes, that’s me” reply.
• Buy a bigger ad. Effective newspaper advertising requires space. If you need to include a lot of information in your ad, don’t try to cram it all into a little box.
• Your newspaper advertising also needs to work with the reader's physical eye movements. The point of attraction for the eye, and the subsequent movement or natural reading progression, needs to lead the reader toward the response devise.

Allocating Advertising Dollars for Advertising Research

Allocating Advertising Dollars for Advertising Research

One of the challenges facing marketers is how to afford to test advertising. It is human nature that, given a finite advertising budget, all advertising dollars should be spent producing and placing/airing an ad or commercial. Unfortunately, by definition, half of all advertisements produced are below average. Many ads do nothing positive either in terms of selling product or boosting corporate image. A large company can easily rack up production costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and media costs in the millions. The numbers are smaller for small and mid-size businesses, but still large enough to be scary when one considers that all this money has potentially been thrown away. If you fail to test an ad and it turns out to be one of the many sub-par ads in existence today, how much money was saved by not testing?

A good rule of thumb is to spend 10% to 15% of your advertising dollars in ad testing. This percentage should be somewhat smaller for large ad budgets, and somewhat greater for small ones. It also is wise to keep some funds in reserve for additional production costs, just in case testing shows an ad to be a dog. If the ad passes with flying colors, you can spend the money on additional GRPs.

The Importance of Research in the Copywriting Process

Written by: Eric Brantner


The man many consider to be the greatest ad man of all time, David Ogilvy, used to always preach the importance of conducting thorough research before writing a single word of copy. Research is the best foundation for coming up with profitable ideas and the right angle for your copy. Without it, you’re like a blindfolded drunk trying to throw a bull’s-eye while playing darts at the local bar.

Because this is an SEO/Internet marketing blog, I’m only going to discuss the importance of research as it relates to writing your website copy.

• Understanding your product—You’d be surprised how many companies have a skewed view of their product. Either they think it’s way more impressive than it really is (because they’re biased) or they don’t truly understand which features/benefits their target audience cares about. In Ogilvy’s book Ogilvy on Advertising, he discusses an advertising campaign he created to increase tourism to Britain. One prominent British government official told Ogilvy he should feature trout fishing in his ads to the U.S. market. Ogilvy responded by pointing out that research indicated there were 49 other benefits of traveling to Britain that interested Americans more than trout fishing. Know the true appeal of your product!

• Analyzing the competition—A careful study of your competition is a crucial step to take before writing your web copy for several reasons. First, you need to identify exactly who your competitors are. Next, you need to know what their online presence consists of. In other words, are they active in social media? Have they optimized their website? Lastly, you need to examine their actual website copy. What benefit are they playing up? Who do they seem to be speaking to? What’s their USP? Knowing all of this will help you create the right angle for your copy.

• Getting to know your target audience—I’ve said more than my fair share on identifying your target audience, so I won’t bore you with more details.

• Keyword research—Effective keyword research is the gateway for bringing qualified traffic to your website. When doing your keyword research, you should not only determine the common search queries related to your products and services, but you should also try to identify keyword opportunities your competition is overlooking. Remember, SEO isn’t a one-time process. Keyword research is something your should be doing on a regular basis to ensure your search engine presence is at its maximum potential.

• Web usability research—When it comes to writing for the web, Jakob Nielsen is the chief authority on usability. Spend time browsing through his web usability studies so you can make certain your copy is getting read (or scanned) and your readers are taking action.

How much research did you do before you wrote your web copy?