Be imaginative
What's the easiest way to end a great ad campaign before it even starts? Take it too seriously. Advertising is not rocket science. You shouldn't need a physical science degree to create or understand an advertisement.
And never, under any circumstances, should you delete an ad because it is not literal enough. On the contrary, if you find that your ads are too verbatim, you should destroy them all and start over.
Are Defective Volkswagens pieces of junk? No, but an ad with the title "Lemon" catches your eye, doesn't it? It makes you want to read the story, which goes on to explain how the particular car shown in the ad would never be driven because VW cares so much that it removes the lemons so you never have a bad car. Think of the opportunity that would have been lost if the folks at Volkswagen had taken that headline too literally.
Think about it from this angle. Why do people read an ad or watch a commercial? Most do so because they find them entertaining and informative. If your ads are just information and not entertainment, you've wasted your budget.
This is not to say that an ad should be created solely for entertainment purposes. Again, a great advertisement is both entertaining and informative. The entertainment value must be derived from a feature of your product or brand. In other words, what you sell must be the star of the show. It sounds simple enough, but it is often difficult to find the right balance. That's what makes advertising so much fun.
How much information does your audience really need? What kind of story will you find fun? These are questions that need to be asked and answered early on so that when an ad or campaign is finally presented to you, you can judge the work according to these predetermined guidelines.
A good campaign will reach your target audience and speak to them on a personal level. This has a valuable effect on your sales and reputation. A great ad campaign will do more than that. You will create a buzz outside of your target audience.
Apple Computer's "1984" commercial was published only once. But it's still one of the most talked about commercials because it was aired on all the major news shows and written in all the major newspapers for weeks and months. And none of this cost Apple anything more than the purchase of a television.
It's worth noting that Apple's Super Bowl commercial helped the company become a household name and generated incredible demand for the new Macintosh computer; however, the ad never showed the product or explained any details about it.
BMW's Mini Cooper was one of the first automobiles to be introduced to the United States without television advertising. Blasphemy! Instead, they bolted the Minis to the roofs of the SUVs and drove them around major cities. They created tongue-in-cheek billboards, interactive print ads, and huge guerilla promotions. Most importantly, they created a waiting list of customers who were eager to get a Mini.
Companies that think big get bigger. It is a self-fulfilling cycle. If you only think like a local operation, you may lose the opportunity to expand regionally, nationally, or even internationally. Your ad campaign should reflect the direction of your business, even if it isn't there yet.
Challenge yourself and your agency to think big. •
This article introduces the third of twelve steps. Challenge yourself, your staff, and your ad agency to revolutionize your ad program. If you missed a previous step, contact the author for a free copy. And remember, every revolution begins with a single step.
