GMA: How To Review An Ad

How To Review An Ad

October 2, 2007

You already have an MBA in advertising.

aka:

First here’s a quick look at my background.

Here are a couple of my most recent campaigns.

So now I’m at Deutsch.

Coor

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Acro

ss M

ultip

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latfo

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ConsumerStrategic

Positioning “The Idea”

Broadcast / Cable TV

Website Development

Design

Print / Flyer

Radio

Outdoor

Online / Direct Response

Local / Grassroots / Viral

Public Relations

°

We are a full-service advertising agency.

PeopleIdeas

Simply said, we connect people with ideas...

For these companies:

What I do at Deutsch

is called many

things.

I just so happen to also have a picture of this guy hitting on my girlfriend.

Thank you for having me.

How is this all going to go down tonight?

• What goes into making an ad– Commercial break

• How you judge an ad– Commercial break

• Why ads are just one piece of the puzzle– Commercial break

• AQ

At the end of all this you should be able to confidently answer:

What do you think is a good (or not so good) ad (right now)?

And why?

Because when P&G, Unilever, J&J, Nike, etc. come interview you for

internships or full-time jobs, this is what they ask.

Section 1: What Goes Into Making An Ad

What is advertising?

Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled by the sponsor.

Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, billboards, OOH, etc.

In 2005, worldwide advertising spending was

$385 billion. It is projected to exceed half-a-trillion

dollars by 2010.

Most of those Companies (brand marketing teams) work with Advertising Agencies to make ads.

Sure there is some separation of duties.

BRAND MARKETER

• Provide the company vision, business background, and product/ service brief.

AD AGENCY• Provide the

advertising expertise, strategic guidance, creative brief, ideas, and executions.

At best, an ad agency should feel like part of

your marketing

team.

You get many dance partners each with his or

her own special moves.

Account Manager Media PlannerCreativeAccount Planner

Together we are your…

1. Strategic Partner

2. Creative Leader

3. Brand Steward

4. Business and Cultural Thinker

5. Measurement and Evaluation Advisor

Team that creates great advertising.

CREATIVE IDEA

STRATEGY

EXECUTION OF IDEA

IN-MARKETPERFORMANCE

PLANNING STAGE

DEVELOPMENT STAGE

EVALUATION STAGE

Campaign Development Life -Cycle

Fig. 1

Great advertising doesn’t just come out of thin air.

There is a process.

On Air/In Books

OptimizationConsumer Research

Internal/Client Review

Creative Development

Creative Brief

OptimizeConsumer Research (if necessary)

ShootFinal Campaign

Decision

A closer look at the creative development stage.

A good creative brief answers these questions:

• Why are we advertising?

• Who are we talking to?

• What do we want to say?

• Why can we say this?

• How should the advertising speak?

• What do want to happen as a result?

A lot more goes into making an ad than you probably expected.

What it is not: What it is:Business objectives

Category knowledge

Target audience insight

Communications strategy

Media strategy

Creative idea and production

Congratulations. You’ve made it through Section 1.

Now it’s time for a quick commercial break with a few of my favorite TV spots.

Leave Nothing

GTA

Three Little Words

Cat Herders

Section 2: How You Judge An Ad

Since this probably won’t cut it in the interview.

It’s all about objectives.

In absence of objectives, take your best guess.

Hint: There are steps before sell more _______.

Ads, like ogres, have layers.

What’s the strategy?

What’s the creative idea?

What are the executional elements?

These can often be nuanced—and nuancing can sometimes save great ideas

Dreams

Starting with the executional elements.

• I like Abe Lincoln…

Peeling back to the creative idea.

• Your dreams miss you.

Getting down to the strategy.

• If you can’t sleep, you can’t dream.

The key is to understand to what you’re reacting.

Likeability

On Briefness

High

Low

Low High

13

4 2

Likeability matters.

Things to consider: “Liking” does not require the ad to be entertaining or humorous. • -Those can in fact backfire.

Extensive research shows that ad-liking is higher where:• -It provides relevant news• -Consumers feel empathy• -It is entertaining in the right way

Ad-liking diminishes where consumers find the ad to be:• -Confusing (e.g. too many scenes)• -Over-familiar (boring)• -Alienating (irrelevant, obnoxious, not believable)

The target matters.

Questions in this area:• Who this ad is designed for? And does it match up with who

the product or service being advertised is designed for?• Is the target only the end user/buyer? What about employees,

the press, the retailers, other stakeholders?• Will this execution appeal to the right audience?

Via David Armano

The message matters.

Questions in this area:• Would you say this to your prospect in person?• Is the message from the marketer’s or person’s point-of-view?• Is the benefit clear? Of the product/service? Of the execution?• Did you learn anything/see anything that makes you think

better (differently) about the company/product?

The media matters.

Questions in this area: • Does the media seem like an appropriate place for the ad?• What else about the context of where you’re seeing (or how

your hearing) this ad affects what it makes you think and feel?• Have you see this ad or other parts of the campaign often?• Does the media choice enhance the creative idea?

Without

Possibly the most important question to ask:

Does The Ad Break Through The Clutter? And does it grab your attention?

Does it stand out from other advertising? From other content?

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Source: TGI, 2004

%

“People don’t read advertising. They read what interests them

and sometimes it’s an ad.”

“The adverts are as good as the programmes”

-Howard Gossage

But at the end of the day, you have to ask, Does this ad work?

Questions in this area: • Are the strategy, idea, and execution right for our

target? Are they compelling? • Is there a call to action?• Given you’re already guessing the objectives, how

do you expect this ad to work?

What brands of X can you think of?

Spontaneous brand awareness

Have you heard of Brand Y?Prompted brand awareness

Thinking back to category X,what brands have you seen advertising for?

Spontaneous advertising awareness

Have you seen Brand Y’s advertising?

Prompted advertising awareness

What do you think of brand Y?Brand Image Measures

Have you seen this (unbranded ad)?

Ad recognition

Who was it for?

Branded Ad Recognition

Did you like it?

Likeability

What did you think of it?

Ad Diagnostics

Did it make you want to buy Brand Y?

Persuasion

Often, we track our advertising effectiveness this way…

And get results that look like this.

But truthfully, there is no one, simple, precise way

to measure effectiveness.

Communication Effects Bottom Line Effects

Advertising Tracking Econometrics Sales / purchase dataAd awareness/recall Ex-factory salesAd communication / attitudes Retail panel data(Nielsen)

Consumer panel data (IRI)Brand Equity Tracking Market share dataBrand awareness Penetration data (MRI)Brand image / attitudesClaimed usage / predisposition

There’s a reason Direct Response ads

tend to look different.

Totally awesome. Section 2 is dunzo.

Once again it’s time for a quick break. This time we look at a few ads that broke through and were passed along. They became a media buy multiplier.

Evolution

Experience

Gorilla

Chris C.

Section 3: Why Ads Are Just One Piece Of The Puzzle

Clearly there’s more to advertising than just TV

commercials.

There’s Outdoor.

There’s Online.

There’s Print…

And Posters.

There’s Radio.

There’s even Video Games.

Clearly there’s more to marketing than advertising.

How many ’s is it again?

In Promotion, don’t forget PR.

In the end,it’s the brand that matters.

After all, your job will likely be in Brand Management.

Advertising is a powerful tool to help you build a brand.

Title IX

Well done. We have reached the end of Section 3.

It is time for our final break. It includes a brand anthem, a brand campaign, a piece of soon-to-be branded entertainment, brand ad made by a consumer, and a branded utility.

Grrr

Two Day Rule

So Easy

Live the Flavor

Public Restrooms

Section 4: Any Questions

Appendix

Seth Gaffney BioSeth Gaffney is a Senior Account Planner at Deutsch advertising agency in New York City, where he sets the brand roadmap for companies such as Sheraton and Westin hotels and Olympus cameras. Previously he worked at Fallon in Minneapolis where he led strategy for The Islands Of The Bahamas, Nestlé Purina brands, and Travelers insurance. And he got his start at a small shop, DiMassimo Brand Advertising, where he was a planner for Joseph Abboud men’s fashion, Duvel beer, and the Hard Rock Hotel as well as manager of new business. He actually won this job by working and sleeping there during a competition called Account Executive Survivor—picture The Apprentice with no budget.

Seth graduated cum laude from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in 2003, where he played varsity tennis for one year (until it interfered too much with work), club soccer, and interned at consultancy, Kotler Marketing Group. He is now an Alumni Admissions Interviewer, with which comes no actual power except to scare the living daylights out of prospective students who are smarter than he.

As a native New Yorker, he enjoys living in spaces no bigger than a closet and dodging cabs on his way running to the West Side Highway. He spends his free time traveling, playing sports, watching Brothers & Sisters, and being trendy in general.

You can read more about his Gen GuY life and thoughts at http://elgaffney.blogspot.com.

Places To Find Ads

• Look around you - they’re everywhere.

• Online: Adcritic.com and Adrants.com.

• Creative: www.canneslionslive.com/

• Effective: www.effie.org/

• TV: Coming soon on NBC’s Didja.

Hopefully We’re At Tombs By Now