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Ideation: The Foundation Of Marketing Creativity
By David Hanson, Pres. H2M
To many people, advertising is played out in the arena known
as “creativity”. The more effective marketing
is begun, however, on the level of ideation. And there is
a big difference between Ideation and Creativity. In marketing,
ideation is the frame upon which all further creative executions
are hung. Here’s an example of how the difference in
the two realms play out in the real world; I’ll use
an example H2M is currently producing for the North Dakota
Lottery. For the coming year, the North Dakota Lottery will
be commencing a series of Top-Of-Mind/promotional television
ads that speak to the brand and individual games offered.
Here's the breakout of creative work based on solid ideation:
Creativity: Camera shows a guy in a pizza shop writing down
an order on the phone. The voice-over tells the audience how
North Dakotans work hard and that Lady Luck works right along
side of us. As the voice-over is spoken, the camera reveals
Lady Luck in the kitchen tossing pizza crusts in her bright
red dress and wearing her tiara and sash.
Ideation: The ideation behind the series is stated in the
words that are actually spoken in the voice-over: "Lady
Luck is living right along side us; she might be closer than
you think." This core ideation sets up innumerable situations
fort more communications. Thusly, the upcoming commercials
feature her in unlikely situations working alongside North
Dakotans in their real jobs and activities; herding cattle
on a cattle ranch, welding, hunting deer in a deer stand,
riding motorcycles with her “gang”, golfing etc.
The IDEATION of a commercial series, no matter if it’s
a television or a print campaign, online, outdoor or whatever
medium us utilized, is the underlying foundation that remains
constant and breeds countless opportunities for CREATIVITY
through individual executions. This is what we in the marketing
business call a campaign that “has legs”. Without
the foundation of ideation, you often end up with what is
called a ‘one-off’–a great single ad without
natural possibilities for more executions based on the same
theme. One-offs often win a lot of awards because they are
either very funny,, built around one gag, but generally don’t
do much for a clients business in the long run. One-offs are
generally the mark of young inexperienced creative writers.
I know, I used to be one. Ideation is also more strongly based
on marketing than the resulting creative executions. Indeed,
ideation is born from the insights gained through intuitive,
research-drenched marketing minds.
A great way to look at your advertising agency’s creative
work is to see if it has “legs.” Don’t be
swayed by a brilliant one-off add. Even though they can be
effective for a burst, you lose the power of long-term branding
consistency. Think of it this way for a quick pulse check:
Your Brand = Consistency. If the proposed creative does not
naturally lend itself for multiple creative executions, let
it go.
Oh, and more thing to watch out for in judging a television
ad script is the one-gag ad that takes too long to develop
and the payoff and connection to the product or service is
only at the very end. Those types of ads can be quite funny
and/or riveting, but once they’ve been viewed, there
is not much reason for the audience to sit through another
playing once they know the one payoff. Experience has taught
us that it’s better to provide a richer environment
throughout
dave@h2m.biz
© 2003-2006 H2M Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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© 2003-2006 H2M Inc. All Rights Reserved
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