Distinguish your campaigns from the competition with a creative strategy

WHY GO FOR IT

effectix-expanzia

We'll help you increase the performance and effectiveness of your campaigns

Higher brand knowledge

Creative advertising is more memorable and lasting.

Campaign effectiveness

Lower media costs and faster growing fan base.

Long-term relationship

Brand knowledge, brand loyalty and perceived quality also affects value for the customer.

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Communication strategy

Creative strategy is an important part of communication strategy. The result is a creative, the part that:

  • it is almost instantly visible or hearable and builds the final impression your brand will leave
  • it affects brand knowledge, campaign effectiveness, customer relationship and therefore profitability.

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Creative and profitability

There is a relationship between advertising creativity and profitability. Creativity is one of the biggest determinants of ad profitability, although opinions on the impact of creativity on sales volumes and campaign effectiveness varies. In general we can say, that weak creative leads to weak increase in sales and therefore increase is usually assigned to the media. And it works the other way around. When the creative is strong - the increase in sales is higher and the media affects it less. The media have an important role in campaigns today more than ever before. In fact, the influence of the media has increased on sales from 15 % to 36 % over the last 15 years.

 

More into the creative or more into the media?

From the creative point of view, more effective campaigns are:

  • different from the competition,
  • provide an unforgettable experience,
  • create a relationship with the target group through strong emotions,
  • the „story” is believable
  • focus is on the high degree of visual execution.
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From a strategist's point of view, even creative average or even below average campaigns can succeed if you have a huge media budget. Brand building in the form of constant repetition can ensure the first place in communication (Alza).

Assuming that marketing communication carries only a simple message, all other creatives are useless tinsel. The key in this case is to „have a sufficient budget" for the media.

Creative doesn´t have to be the holy grail of marketing effectiveness, but it would be good to know the benefits that creating a creative strategy brings.

 

WE WILL ADVISE YOU

 

An effective process for creating a creative strategy


Brief

Creating an advertising campaign without a creative strategy is like shooting blanks. Our preparation of a creative strategy always starts with a brief. The brief clearly shows where you are, where your competition is, who your customer is, what is the message, where you want to go (goals), how you can get there, but also includes the constraints (schedule, budget, etc.). Brief is an important part of a creative strategy because without clearly defined goals, there is no way to measure success.


Analysis

The process of creating a creative strategy also includes an analytical part. Not only the analysis of the product, service itself, but also the competition, market and trends are important. It is equally important to be able to decipher the results of your last campaign and to examine them, to find out what worked and what did not. The results of analyzes are often new creative solutions that are based not only on emotions, but also on logic and facts.


Insights

To interpret the message correctly, it is important to know the insights arising from the surveys. If you define the target group as „a downtown man from 20 to 60 years old", it won't help you with the creation of ideas. But once you know who this man is, what his preferences are at the product, and you show him the situation from his own point of view, you have won. When a creative is based on real insights, the campaign works like a refrigerator – when you open it, it lights up.


Creating concepts

The job of a creative is to come up with idea that no one came up with in the situation that everyone knows. Ads that we enjoy the most are based on strong insights.

This is followed by the development of creative ideas and the creation of the concepts in collaboration with the graphic designers, the copywriters and the producers who can „materialize" the idea into specific visuals, videos and texts.

 

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One idea can have hundreds of designs, so while you design it, you always need to keep the target group in mind and focus on the right emotion that hits desired goals at its best. Because if the audience doesn't get the message in a way that bonds them emotionally, everything else is useless. We are human and we succeed in emotional connection. If the connection is missing, the message will disappear in a number of other messages.

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Recommendations for creating a creative strategy

1. longevity

Never settle for a first – hand and short – term idea. Short – term ideas are about 50 % less effective and offer minor from the full potential of the insight. Short – term ideas puts boundaries on the brand's ability to resonate. On the other hand, lasting campaigns are a driving force for efficiency with huge performance multipliers.

2. insights

Don't solve the product – solve the insight. To understand the message, it is important to know the insights arising from the surveys. You need to know what people are doing with the product and show them the situation from their own point of view. And then the customer can say: „This brand can identify with my needs, know how to live my life, and know exactly why and when I need to buy their products.”

3. credible stories

Put the mirror in front of the consumer, but in a way that he will not take it personally. If it's our job to convince people, it's important to make them believe in our story. And people believe in what they are willing to identify with the most. Show them what they know, what they have experienced, or what they are currently affected by.

4. sustainability

Create a „sustainable" concept that lasts for years. For the past few years, creative competitions have been won by opposite campaigns: short – term, momentary, using the current moment. Due to the brand's knowledge, impact creative does not work in the long run. An example of an effective sustainable concept that works even after 10 years are ads for COOP Jednota.

5. onion concept

Create an „onion” concept and work out several levels that unite the message.

6. message

Refresh the message from time to time – give it a new additional meaning.

7. consistency

Consistency and fluent device (brand signal). Two things that are related and affect efficiency in the long run. Communication must be consistent. Fluent Devices (color, mascot, pattern, packaging, shape – for example a Coca-Cola bottle, sonic branding!) are multi – purpose, efficient and they can drive brands much longer than most campaigns.

8. visual beauty

Visual attractiveness is a must. But beware the internet is full of nice things. It's not enough to make it „nice”. It also needs an idea, a story, something that can be followed up in the future. Otherwise it will be dusty like most campaigns that were „just nice”.

9. exceptionality

Originality – be unique! Don't do just what your competition does. Ask yourself this question: How far can we move the communication to be more effective than competitor´s communication?

10. unusualness

Don't be afraid of bizarre shots or unusual scenes, place the product where no one would normally look for it… (cell phone to washing machine)

11. authenticity

Be believable. No one wants to see american cliché smiles or unconvincing statements from company representatives. Show people for example the story of a satisfied customer.

12. relevance

Try to stay relevant to the product, the service or the brand. Try not to wander too much from the message in the creative, otherwise it may happen that the emotion, the story, everything will be, the customer will remember the ad, but will not know what product or service it was.

13. make a statement

Don't be afraid to stand out from the crowd. The communication must be strong, and be able to hit the most of the audience.