ADV 390 Exam #2
what are the 3 perspectives of brand equity?
financial, brand extensions, and consumer based perspective
wordmark
freestanding word or multiletter abbreviation
What is anesis
greek meaning loosen or soften -start with a lofty, dignified statement and let it go downhill
Trademarks do not protect...
headlines, copy, phrases, descriptions of a product
Pictorial
illustrated symbols or recognizable things (starbucks)
ADV-ESE (DS)
instead, write the way people talk, eliminate cliches and useless phrases
Financial (Brand Equity)
intangible asset -can it be sold or leased -companies will pay you to use your brand name to sell their product (jack daniel's)
Brand equity
intangible assets -everything that adds value to the brand
mandatories (copy)
legal stuff or anything else required
wimpy words (ds)
use an active voice whenever possible
poor grammar (ds)
watch for errors in spelling, punctuation
Deadwood (ds)
weed out weak, redundant, unneccessary words and phrases
What is the purpose of a body copy?
• "No one reads the copy" o Almost true o Only 3-5% read it o Those who do read it are highly interested Product Creative execution
Where does a good ad start
• A concept with an unexpected, engaging, relevant visual and/or headline • Visual? Product Shot o With a great headline, sometimes all you need is a product shot o Get past a product shot if you can • Visual? Product in Use o Still expected, keep pushing • Product As A Solution • Visual Metaphors
Point of design principles
• Advertising designers follow these principles on every project • Conscious or not • Not always possible to apply all principles equally • Principles can contradict • Depends on purpose of the ad • Final thought: each ad has a piece of designers personality which cannot be distilled as a "principle"
What to do when you're stuck
• Be someone different • Look closer to home • Brain freeze can be caused by a blank piece of paper • Hit the books • Find you happy place • Walk away
how do we proceed?
• Creative Strategy-> Creative Concepts-> Executions OR • Creative Strategy ->Executions-> Creative Concepts
What do you do before you start to write a body copy?
• Embrace your brand's voice (it's often different from your own) • You brand's voice is reflected in your creative strategy under "Tone" • It needs to continue from the headline and visual into the body copy and on through the tagline
What is the purpose of layouts
• Get an idea on paper • Communicate your concept to different audience • Key Terms: Loose and tight (how close) o Loose o Tight
how doe come up with concept
• Go back to the creative gods • James Webb Young Process • Like washing a pig, messy, has no rules, etc. • The accordion analogy
What is the bottom line of brainstorming?
favors first idea because of fixation
taglines (copy)
final thought; how we want to be thought of
relationship between headlines and visuals
1. harmony (EX> Slipper Bread "Bake easier at home") 2. Synergy 3. surprises 4. sometime one or the other has to do more than half the work -sometimes visual -sometimes headline
Consumer based perspective (Brand equity)
-built over a long time -association with the brand (favorable, strong, unique) -associations can change over time (chipotle=ecoli/bland queso, not as popular anymore)
when don't you do a campaign?
-can't afford it -low frequency media buy
why is a single creative strategy important?
-continuity -image -memorability -relieve bordem
key terms of creative concepts
-creative strategy -creative concept -execution
What are the two principles of brainstorming
-deferment of judgement -extended search
B Ch. 5: explanation (tagline)
-explain the campaign idea -if you covered up the tagline, you probably wouldn't understand the idea ex. stella artois "bottle cap"
Brand equity: product name
-intrinsically linked with equity (starbucks example) -Existing products rarely change names (except the ISIS vending machine incident)
mental pinball
-keep bouncing, rephrasing -don't stay in one place too long
logo considerations
-keep it simple -act as a depictor -unique -be compatible with image -flexible
Strong brand equity leads to...
-more predictable income -increased cash flow, less promo money neeeded -asset that can be sold or leased
B Ch. 5: Proposition (tagline)
-no frills tagline-approximated repetition of the proposition ex. fast, juicy, long-lasting
Different headline approach
-not a comprehensive list, many more 1. Competitive Advertising 2. Anesis 3. Fear 4. News 5. Simile ("it's like...") 6. Humor 7. Social Anxiety 8. Questions 9. Testimonials 10. Made Up Testimonials 11. Empathy 12. Embrace your shortcomings 13. Twist a familiar phrase
B. Ch.5: The dying tagline
-o recent decline of remarkable, memorable, and sustainable taglines o theories behind this includes increases in: ▪ mergers and takeovers, resulting in greater campaign "reappraisals" ▪ industry politics, causing a rise in account power over creative power (and therefore an undermining of copywriters and their craft) ▪ demand from clients for concepts that look like finished ads (the contradictory "finished roughs"), leaving less time to spend on the initial idea ▪ young teams who are more concerned with winning awards in the short term than selling brands in the long term o many successful visual campaigns, but how far are we prepared to go down this visual route? hopefully advertising doesn't look like one big "moodboard"
Trademarks protect..
-product names -logos -trade characters (flow, geico gecco)
The wordless logo trend
-sometimes symbols look better, evoke a reaction more quickly, playing in different industries, cross borders more easily
B Ch. 5: summation (tagline)
-sums up campaign -natural progression of the message being communicated
What elements hold a campaign together?
-theme: sell same ft. and benefits -visuals: same artistic decision -words: format
What are the elements of copy?
1. headlines 2. subheads 3. body copy 4. captions 5. taglines 6. display type 7. mandatories
what are the four guidelines of brainstorming?
1. no criticism 2. freewheeling is welcome 3. hitch hike on ideas 4. go for quantity
What are the deadly sins
1. ADV-ESE 2. Bad Tastes 3. Deadwood 4. Generic Benefits 5. Laundry Lists 6. poor grammar 7. Wimpy words
3 main ideas to deliver message
1. Headlines 2. Visuals 3. Taglines • Three of them work together, the quicker the better • DO NOT rely on body copy
Ways to come up with ideas?
1. brainstorming 2.mind maps 3. attack approach 4. mental pinball
B Ch. 5: types of taglines
1. summation 2. explanation 3. proposition 4. Brand or umbrella 5. Invisible
BOOK
BOOK
creative concept
DEFINITION: bigger than individual headline or visual; Central theme that all the ads in campaign are built upon Single minded, narrowly focused Unique, fresh and insightful "Legs" Find human truth about your product -varies greatly from academic view to agency creatives
What is the starting points for naming products?
Descriptive -Cinnamon toast crunch, toys r us Benefit -what do i get out of it -brawny (strong) Personification -Real people: burt's bees, Hewlett Packard, Betty Crocker, Peter Pan Geographic -Fujifilm (Japan), Boston Market, Johnsonville (Wisconsin) Made-up -Verizon, Acceleron, carmex -You get to create what a word from scratch
Designs need to..
To plan and fashion artistically and skillfully Communicate creative concept quickly/effectively Visually pleasing
Bad tastes (DS)
Watch for sexist, racist, offensive language that feels wrong
What are the 4 kinds of logos?
Wordmarks, letterform, pictorial, abstract
campaign
a series of ads with the same creative strategy and similar creative executions
Stages of layout: Thumbnails
a. Aka Thumbs b. Audience? CW and AD c. Not actual size, can have several on page d. Roughly indicate placement of elements e. Just communicate concept f. Store a lot of raw ideas g. Very "loose"
Principles of design: harmony (unity)
a. All of the elements tie together and appear related b. Consistency of shape, size, texture, color, etc. c. Font choice d. Other way to create harmony i. Borders, boxes ii. White spaces iii. 3 point layout approach
principles of design: movement (sequence)
a. Arrange elements to move the readers' eyes through the ad b. Chaos=bad c. Lead your reader d. Place items in the path of normal eye movement (left to right, top to bottom in western culture) e. Blazing new trails i. Leading the eye is crucial ii. Arrows or dotted lines iii. Positioning of text iv. Angle elements v. Play off the size and color of elements
principles of design: proportion
a. Arranging one or more elements on a page b. Arrange elements so the viewer does not see obvious mathematical relationships c. Divide ad into fifths d. Unequal dimension and distances make for the best - or at least the most lively - design in advertising
Stages of layout: roughs
a. Audience? Creative Director b. One to a page, bigger, but still loose c. CW/AD present best 4-5 ads or campaign ideas d. CD decides which ads "work" e. CD gives additional direction f. Barry book presents with this style of roughs (focus on idea of ad not aesthetics yet) g. Why roughs now? i. CS can visualize from something loose ii. CD has trust in team to make it look good iii. CD can provide input at early stage
principles of design: balance
a. Formal: elements arranged symmetrically; vertical line down center of ad=equal portions of items on each side i. Presents material in easy to follow way ii. Can be static b. Informal: elements arranged asymmetrically i. Achieve optical balance ii. Line down center of ad=there should be equal weights of elements on each side iii. More freedom to create original design
Stages of layout: Comp
a. Short for comprehensive, but no one uses that b. Audience? Client c. Tightest of them all d. Characteristics: i. Artists draws visual or photograph is scanned ii. Copy is set to size and typeface iii. Expensive and time consuming iv. As close to finish ad as possible e. Why Comps now? i. Most clients can't visualize from something loose ii. Especially at the highest levels iii. New campaigns need to be tight iv. New business pitches need to be tight
Stages of layout: Next audience= account management team
a. Still roughs, but tighter b. Tighter? i. Done to finished size ii. Headline approximates typeface iii. Art is tighter iv. Color v. Body copy indicated to approximate length and size with lines or "greeked type" c. Why tighter roughs now? i. To sell an idea to account team ii. AEs not as good as visualizing final product iii. Allows AEs input early
principles of design: contrast
a. What drives the ad?? b. Decide what the most important element is c. Look for ways to focus on that item d. Emphasis on Item: i. Move it away from clutter ii. Change its shape iii. Make it bigger, bolder, more colorful iv. All emphasis is no emphasis e. Test of Contrast: i. Turn away ii. Quick glance back...where does eye go? iii. What do you see first? iv. Test on other people
Brand extensions (Brand Equity)
additional items from a brand -zippo lighter> zippo perfume -nike>nike deodorant
display type (copy)
anything that didnt fit elsewhere in the ad
Taglines
baselines/slogan
body copy (copy)
big area of words
something that creatives contribute to are _____ than individual ads and campaigns
bigger
Words
can be playful, ironic, sarcastic, have rythm and soul, well-written words can mess with you
Not all ads are...
conceptual
letterform
cromprised single letter (facebook, honda)
Abstract
doesnt represent anything recognizable (mercedes)
laundry lists (ds)
dont just list the feature after feature, make it important to audience
subheads (copy)
explain the headline; long copy ad-break it up into topics
What is the process of creative concepts and idea generation
fact finding> key insight > creative strategy
what does brand equity include (value)
loyal customers, brands, symbols, and slogans; patents, trademarks, channel relationships; image, personality, identity, attitudes, familiarity, association, and name awareness
Mind maps
mapping apps available for free
headline (copy)
most read verbal element
brand
name or symbol used to identify the source of a product
B. Ch. 5: Final Tagline
o "Tweaked" or "revised" version of the working tagline ▪ Doesn't always mean fewer lines ▪ It means it's the best solution that sums up the campaign thought the best ● Ex. MasterCard - there are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCardTend to be as short and catchy as possible o Avoid clichéd, "addy" taglines - they must mean something o Trying to write a working line or a tagline, make a list
Brainstorming
o Batten, Barton, Durstine, and Osborn (BBDO) • One of the best known creative problem-solving techniques • Osborn cites success after success • Debate and criticism encourages creativity • No hard evidence brainstorming produces more "rare" ideas
B. Ch. 4: What is a campaign??
o Campaign is a series of ads that make up a concept/idea, i.e., an idea that has more than one execution (typically three or more) -the bigger idea
What is a good headline
o Gains immediate attention o Helps select the right prospects o Leads the reader into the text o Works with the visual and the tagline to deliver the creative strategy
B. Ch. 5: Which comes first?
o No right or wrong order in terms of creative process ▪ End result is what matters o Dave Trott - "An endline/tagline is not the most important part of an ad, but it is the first part" o One alternative "order" lies somewhere in between the two ▪ Start with an idea first, then try to write a "working tagline" that expresses this idea ▪ From there, one starts to brainstorm for more executional ideas that "come off" the working tag ▪ This method adds a bit of "left side of the brain logic" and structure to the typically random collection of "artistic" ideas that arise from the right side during the creative process o Good habit to get into ▪ Helps focus and forces you to define your idea
B Ch. 5: Working tagline v. Final Tagline
o Temporary tagline that is used until the "final" one is conceived o Still function the same way as the final tagline - to express the campaign thought in some way ▪ Can't be an old working line ▪ Can be long sentence as long as it is single-minded o One idea for campaign, ▪ Write down some working taglines as soon as possible - will help define your idea
how to write headlines
o Write a 100 for every good one you write o Not a job for the "I did one I like, I'm done" person Example: Illinois bureau of tourism • Convince people that Illinois is not
captions (copy)
picture captions are the second most read element in ad; great place for info
Generic benefits (DS)
provide the consumer with benefits they understand and appeal to them
keys to memorability
simple, emphasize benefit, challenge consumer, reward to action, quality statement, twist an existing phrase, poetic devices
a good tagline is...
strategic, recall brand names, impact positive feeling about brand, not usable by competition, memorable
The power of brand equity
the golden arch
Why do we have headlines?
to get someone's attention
obtaining photos and illustrations
• Informal relationships with local talent • Through a rep • Through a source book/CD/website o Hire the person that completes your vision for the ad Choose illustrator based on style Choose photographers based on content • Through stock companies o Getty images o The pros and cons of stock Fast Cheap Issues of exclusivity Close, but not exactly what you pictured
What is the structure of a body copy
• Lead/Transition (1st sentence/paragraph) • Body/Sell (Support/proof of why you should believe our position) • Close/Call to Action (tell consumer what you want them to do) • Build theme: o It must be tied to your headline an visual o Establish it early o Maintain it throughout
Why do some clients get roughs instead?
• Tights budgets • Ability to visualize • Extending a current campaign • Some clients are more likely to change elements
attack by approach
• Try personification • Search for visual and verbal metaphors • Hyperbole: obvious and intentional exaggeration • Paradox: statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses possible truth
What is the characteristics of a good body copy
• Write to a single person • Establish a single theme • Tell me something I don't know • Avoid superlatives (excessive, exaggerated claims) • Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs o (You can start a sentence with "and" or "because"; you can have one word sentences, etc.) • Support the unbelievable • Shorter is usually better o Write long, edit ruthlessly
B Ch. 5: Brand or umbrella
● More often client-driven line that sums up the brand, rather than the campaign idea ● More serious, worthy, corporate positioning statement than a tagline - often used for non-advertising purposes ● If applied to advertising campaign, tried to replace the role of the original tagline, or used in addition to tagline ● Can confuse consumer or clutter message ● For a brand tagline to work well, has to be like an "umbrella" - broad enough to encompass current and future ideas for the brand, but not so broad that it dilutes the brand message
B Ch.5: Invisible (tagline)
● Non-existent ● More common within on-shot (one-off) ads than an ad campaign ● Those ads that have such a simple, clear message that the use of a tagline is superfluous ● Client logo will suffice to understand the idea, effectively replacing the function of the "summation" or "explanation" tagline ● Either never existed during the creative process, or may have been an extremely reduced version of a pre-existing tagline to the point of eliminating it completely
