HOW TO GENERATE IDEAS - part 01

All advertising ideas fall into one of these three categories. They will either show :
1. What happens with the product
2. What happens without the product
3. What happens with and without the product - in the same ad.

Getting those ideas doesn't always have to be a mystical process, as some of the world's most respected creative leaders can prove. And while the creative process itself can be deconstructed into four stages - preparation, incubation, illumination and verification - the way we interrelate, overlap and repeat the various stages will stamp our ideas with our own creative DNA.

I. Start with the end first
"If you don't know where you're going, all roads will take you there. So I always start at the end and work my way back," explains Horton. "Say I want to draw a straight line between here and point X. If I start here I could end up anywhere. It's better if I go to point X and just work back. My endings will invariably be the truth: the line with the symbol born out of that truth. It opens the way for the most fantastic creativity. All you have to do is finish at X; so you can excite us with where you start, how you start. A lot of creative people in my experience have had an idea, but couldn't quite finish it. But if they had known where they were finishing, they could have started anywhere ..."

Dawson also starts with the end line, or at least a rough line, first. "I would always try to start by summing up something different about the product or service, and they work back. If you can't get the line, you probably start attacking if from the wrong end, which means having an idea from something that can be related to the product. The problem is, you are likely to end up with something that isn't absolutely relevant. " If it's just a funny, or a different, or a curious idea, he warns, it will usually require manipulation to marry it with the key thought. Dawson needs information; without it, trying to conjure ideas out of nothing means that the blank sheet of paper will stay blank a lot longer. He goes swimming at lunchtime to find ideas; he counts the tiles in the pool and things slip into place. He works alone. "I don't believe Picasso came up with an idea for a picture with somebody else, or that Mozart came up with an idea for a symphony with somebody else. Ideas can only come into one person's brain at a time."

Delbridge starts with a line. "And I'll hone and hone that line until I've got something really sharp, and then I'll spring off that into a myriad of possible visual interpretations. I rarely have a visual idea first. The line encapsulates the positioning I want; it forces me intellectually to see it so singly, so clearly, but the line itself may not even appear in the final commercial."

Newman says great lines are now more important than ever. "the 'slogan' was actually a Highland war cry. A great slogan can do more than neatly distil essence of an organisation; We try harder. It can do more than get a product into the vernacular. A diamond is forever. If it's potent enough, a great slogan can actually drive the culture of an entire company. Just do it. Our client, Toyota Australia, has the value of their slogan - Oh what a feeling - listed on their balance sheet for many millions. Interestingly, Toyota is probably Australia's most creatively awarded campaign of the last ten years." Newman points to his campaign them for the NRMA, a road service and insurance organisation. "Claiming the high ground generic of 'help' was strategically important, but it didn't come alive for me until I turned it into the simple branding mnemonic of the letters H-E-L-P always being spelt out after the name N-R-M-A." Getting into the vernacular, becoming part of popular culture, is what every campaign should aim for, says Newman. "I think 'Make it famous' should be a mandatory on every creative brief." Newman's discipline is that the idea should be reducible to a poster. "A sentence and a visual idea. Of course, the commercial might develop that visual idea into a multi-layered story, but if the thought can be reduced to a handful of nut hard words and a single unmoving visual, then at least you know you've got a real idea and not just an execution or not just a joke."

II. Find a moment
"I've never tried to solve a problem the same way twice," expains McBride. "Sometimes, by accident, the structure or the logic could be similiar to other campaigns I've worked on, but the truth is always about boiling things down, trying to make them simple, and finding yourself inside of a moment."

III. Is there an idea in the strategy ?
"Distil the strategy and treat it like a poster" is Whybin's advice. "In many ways, it's no different to the print medium. You've got to put down, in a square, the most succinct distillation of the proposition. And the greatest way you can do it is without any words, just a picture. The picture should distil the strategy and the proposition. I start that way, doing a poster first." Once you distil the strategy, Whybin says the ad will just drop into place. "Pull your ideas from within the brands." It helps, Whybin says if you can visualise the product in your mind and see the idea coming out of it. That way, you can sense whether the idea belongs inherently to the brand, or is just an unrelated or generic graft. "A lot of people try to grab at creative ideas, they're battling all the time, but actually I think there's quite a logical order to it. In many ways, it's not creative at all, it's quite rational. You keep working until the left side of the brain and the right side of the brain click together, and then you start to build emotion into that." Once he gets the idea, Whybin can see the whole commercial straightaway. He then works on the compression of the argument.

IV. Be a sponge
"Be a sponge," says Fink. "Go and soak up as much information as you can. Read books, read magazines, go to the theatre, go to the cinema, go swimming, go walking, read a book about bringing up a dog, find out about glassblowing. There's a magazine in Britain called Loot, where people put in all their secondhand stuff they want to get rid of; there's everything in there from wardrobes to cars to exhaust kinds of things out there. The internet is like the greatest encyclopedia in the world. There are too many advertising people just stare each other for three weeks. The worst things they can do is look in the award books. All that stuff's been done." The best creative people are engaged in a constant process of observing, storing and connecting. Even a simple walk to work can yield interesting dividends. "I was watching the way everyone else was walking and everyone seemed to be waddling a bit more than usual. I think it was because I was just really concentrating hard on what happens to people''s head whey then walk. They do go up and down. There's a Truffaut movie called Shoot the Pianist. In it, the main character falls in love with this girl and every time he walks with her, they walk absolutely perfectly together so their heads would move up and down together. And then there's a point where they argue, and suddenly their heads are no longer together."

--- to be continued

Magazine Advertising

Magazine Advertising - A Safe Strategy !
Executive Summary by Mike Zhmudikov

Magazine advertising has always been an area where billions of dollars are annually spent and that is not in vain. People like buying magazines as they love glossy and informative sources that can be read absolutely everywhere and anytime. What is so peculiar about magazines?

Colorful spotlights and flashy headlines are always more eye-catching in comparison to the dull black newspaper headlines that definitely look pale and lifeless. The range of topics covered in magazines as well as the niches magazines are attributed to is enormously large. Practically there has not been any human life sphere left that was not mentioned in magazines.

Fishermen have special magazines that are dedicated to fishing tactics, bodybuilders have a wide range of magazines to choose from, scientists have a huge amount of different magazines that are strictly limited to their areas and, of course, fashion and style magazines occupy the top of the pyramid. With the help of professionally created magazine advertisements your business will eventually grow and that is for sure especially if you sell goods and not just provide services. The latter is definitely useful in newspaper advertising. Magazines remain one of the most attractive means of advertising and one should not neglect it.

Magazine Advertising - Tips for Getting the Most For Your Advertising Dollar

Executive Summary by Traci Vanover
Many of the same "print" principles which apply to newspaper advertising also apply to magazine advertising. * Magazines are usually weekly or monthly publications instead of daily.
* Advertising messages are more image-oriented and less price-oriented.
* Advertisements in magazines involve color more often.

The general rule that you can run the same ad 3-5 times within a campaign period before its appeal lessens applies to magazine advertising as well, even with a monthly publication. Because ads in magazines are not immediate, they take more planning. Since the quality of the magazines are superior, the advertising that you generate must be superior as well. There are two categories of magazines: trade magazines and consumer magazines.

Trade magazines are publications that go to certain types of businesses, services, and industries.

Working With An Ad Agency

If you would prefer to purchase space yourself, contact the magazine's advertising department, and request their Media Kit. Sites like Media Bids (http://www.mediabids.com) have recently emerged, and offer small business owners an unprecedented opportunity to obtain space in national, mainstream magazines at a significant savings. The Media Bids site allows users to browse current publication offerings, and also to create auctions, in which publications will "bid" for their business.

Saving Money With Discounted Space
Although most magazines are national in nature, many have regional advertising sections that allow your business to focus on a smaller target area, at a discounted price. Some sophisticated magazines even have demographic editions available, which might also be advantageous.

A little known fact is that all magazine advertising rates are negotiable. Inquire as to special pricing for multiple insertions, advertorial considerations with paid display ads, and remnant space. Remnant space is unsold advertising space that the magazine has leftover as they approach deadline. * Reader Response Cards. Readers fill out a small survey card in the back of the magazine to obtain more information from advertisers. *Special Placement.

Television Advertising

Television Advertising
Executive Summary by Steven Chabotte & Alice Ambroce


Broadcasting was originally developed as a means for companies to sell radios. By the late 20's radio advertising had advanced in a dramatic way. The Era of the Single Sponsor

At that time, the number of television sets reached the critical mass necessary to be considered a medium that could reach the masses. As television was a totally new phenomenon - i.e. offering both sound and moving pictures, the advertising industry moved into this arena cautiously as they were not sure what methods would work best to promote their clients products on television. After study and many surveys, the advertising agencies determined that the most effective way to reach consumers with a strong message would be by creating shows that featured a single product or a line of products from a single company.

From this concept arised the typical television shows of the 1950's including such titles as Kraft Television Theater, Colgate Comedy Hour, and Coke Time. As with radio, these television programs were produced by advertising agencies for their clients rather than the studios as is common practice currently.

A solution had to be found if this very powerful advertising medium was to continue to be cost effective for the sponsors.

Enter the Era of Magazine Concept Advertising

By 1960, the magazine concept dominated television advertising, as it has ever since. This evolution of magazine concept advertising is truly the birth of most modern television advertising. The one exception is the infomercial which is really a throwback to the sponsored show model used in the early days of television advertising.

New Wave in Television Advertising

Imagine a brave new world where buying some television time could appeal to different consumer needs by using one ad that is tweaked. By changing voice-overs, scripts, graphic elements or other images, for instance, advertisers could make an ad appeal to teens in one instance and seniors in another. Many marketing executives agree that direct response marketing is the future wave of television advertising.

It is imperative that you track and measure your ad, whether advertising on television, radio or online." Other ads will get customers familiarized with your image which is long term process.

Radio Advertising

The Fundamentals of Direct Response Radio Advertising

Executive Summary by Jeff Small

Whether you own a direct-to-consumer model business, a retail business, a web business, or some combination thereof, direct response radio advertising can help you grow. Throw out all you think you know about advertising, radio advertising, and especially direct response advertising. Concept One: Radio as A Highway From Your Business to Your Potential Customers

Radio Advertising is a Profit-Driver, Not a Cost Center

Direct response radio advertising - by its very definition - is a profit-driver. Profitability is a fundamental aspect of direct response radio advertising.
This fundamental question applies whether your business is a direct response advertising business (which includes radio advertising, print advertising, DRTV, catalog, or internet) or a traditional retailer. 1. Increase price without increasing cost. 2. Increase response rate. Great direct response radio ads significantly enhance the responsiveness of the media dollars spent. Your radio agency's ability to create radio ads that elicit response from your potential customers is a crucial element in direct response radio advertising success.

As a result, testing is a never-ending element in direct response radio advertising efforts. Done correctly, direct response radio advertising is not a cost center, it's a profit center.

Direct response radio advertising does not stand alone in creating a business. Once you understand the fundamentals of radio advertising, you're ready to embark on the process of building a direct response radio advertising campaign. That process involves developing a radio advertising strategy, creating radio ads that drive response, and implementing a radio media plan that delivers your message to the right people for the right cost.

Are You Ready for Direct Response Radio Advertising?


Direct response radio advertising is an amazingly under recognized way to grow a business quickly and profitably. Direct response radio advertising is truly a powerful engine for profitable growth.

Most of the time, radio advertising is not done right. Because the definition of success in direct response radio advertising is acquiring a new customer at a cost that allows for a profitable relationship with that new customer. You can only evaluate advertising performance within the context of your customer lifetime value.

Here's the problem with that statement: Developing a profitable direct response radio advertising campaign isn't something that is accomplished with a "trial". To properly assess the potential for direct response radio advertising to generate profitable new customers for your business, you must approach direct response radio advertising with a testing mindset. Don't go into direct response radio advertising with a "dabble" mindset. Is your business infrastructure set up to support direct response advertising?

That requirement is excellent data collection and transmission to the radio media buying department at your radio agency. You have to test radio.