The Creative Ad Con

There’s a lot of talk in the advertising business about the value of creativity. I see hundreds of campaigns that are funny. Campaigns that are memorable. Campaigns that are cute. Campaigns that tug at your heartstrings and campaigns that entertain you. That does not mean that any of the campaigns make any money for the clients. Although they may win awards, critical acclaim in the advertising press, and inclusion on a list of the greatest, funniest, most clever, or best ads ever. I always remember that acronym used by the great David Ogilvy INCUS.?

It’s not creative unless it sells.

As we saw in our chapter on big agencies far too many campaigns use sex, shock value, humor, celebrity spokespersons, or puppets to gain the attention they need yet fail to provide the end-user with a single benefit or motivation to buy the product in question.

Campaigns should be out-of-the-box, should cut through the clutter, but they must have some connection to the product they’re trying to sell. It must arouse emotion, provide a benefit or reason for action, and motivate the viewer, reader, or listener to do something. That something should not be to laugh and move on to the next funny ad.?

How do you achieve the state of Nirvana where you grab their attention, connect with their emotions, and motivate them to buy? You do it by making sure that the graphics, copy, tone, story, benefits, offer, and testimonials are all in line with the?audience you’ve targeted and their basic beliefs about what your product offers versus what the competition offers. You ask them to buy and tell them why they should.?

Part of a creative campaign we designed to get lapsed players back in the game. Blending old images with new ones and listing the many benefits of playing like golfers live 5 Years longer and burn 1525 calories a round!?

How many artsy car commercials have you seen where for 28 seconds of the very expensive airtime you have no idea which car or which company is selling what? Then in the last two seconds, a logo shows up, usually with a worthless tagline voiced over. Very esoteric, stylish, and worthless at generating sales.?

You don’t use the same stock art like everyone else. This always amazes me when you see the image on a $50,000 billboard for a multi-million-dollar hospital campaign using the same image as the local chiropractor.

Creativity is very important but if consumers laugh, like the ad, or the agency wins awards, it doesn’t matter, because it’s not creative unless it sells. Few people who make the decisions at YOUR company get this because everyone has their own opinions about what makes great marketing. Those opinions are usually wrong!