What is creative strategy development?

CREATIVE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT : -

The creative process of advertising is guided by specific goals and objectives and requires the development of a creative strategy or plan of action for achieving the goal. Creative strategy development actually begins with a thorough assessment of the marketing and promotional situation and a determination of what needs to be communicated to the marketer’s target audience. Creative strategy should, however, also be based on a number of other factors that are stated in the creative or copy platform.

A. Copy Platform : —

A copy platform provides a plan or checklist that is useful in guiding the development of an advertising message or campaign. This document is prepared by the agency team or group assigned to the account and may include creative personnel as well as the account coordinator and representatives from media and research. The advertising manager and/or the marketing and product manager from the client side will also be involved in the process and must approve the copy platform.

B. Advertising Campaigns : —

Most advertisements are part of a series of messages that make up an advertising campaign, which consists of multiple messages, often in a variety of media that center on a single theme or idea. The determination of the central theme, idea, position, or image is a critical part of the creative process as it sets the tone or direction for the development of the individual ads that make up the campaign. IMC Perspective 8-4 discusses how the Miller Brewing Company has been struggling to develop an effective campaign for its Miller Lite beer in recent years.

C. The Search for the Major Selling Idea : —

An important part of creative strategy development is determining the central theme that will become the major selling idea or big idea for the ad campaign. There are several different approaches that can be used for developing major selling ideas and as the basis of creative strategy. Some of the best known and most discussed approaches include:

1. The unique selling proposition : —

This concept, which was mentioned in the opening vignette, is described in Rosser Reeve’s Reality in Advertising. It’s three characteristics include:

• Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer

• The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer

• The proposition must be strong enough to pull over new customers to your brand

2. Creating a brand image : —

Some competing brands are so similar it is difficult to find or create a unique attribute or benefit so the creative strategy is based on the development of a strong, memorable identity for the brand through image advertising.

3. Finding the inherent drama : -

Leo Burnett believed advertising should be based on a foundation of consumer benefits with an emphasis on the dramatic element in expressing these benefits.