Instead, what I have found to be true, is that it is by sticking to a honed-in process that campaigns truly come to life.
I regularly lead our Crew through our proprietary Strategy School, where (among other things) we talk about campaign building. There's a formula I teach that any business can use to create great campaigns - or at least get them started down the right path.
RISE => Research = Insights = Strategy = Evaluate
Research
It is imperative to start with research. In some cases, your everyday experiences, analysis of sales and customer data, and interactions within your industry constitutes as research. Other times, you'll need to conduct more formal quantitative or qualitative research in order to understand the target audience and business in general.
For example, let’s say you do your due diligence, and look at the data. Your research tells you that sales are down among young adults in urban areas.
Insights
Insight is aboutpulling new information out about your audience. From the research done in the last stage, where can we find new sales? Insights go a layer deeper than statistical research to uncover behavioural patterns.
Following our example case, your research tells you sales are down among young adults and the insight is that young adults view your product as dated -something only for their parents.
This insight is the basis for the Creative Brief.
Strategy
The strategy then solves the problem that was surfaced from the insight. How do you re-position your product to a young adult market and increase sales? The strategy should explore ways to be creative with the 4 P's of marketing as a starting place:
- Can the Product be tweaked? For example: can you make colour adjustments or utilize new printing techniques (such as Coke printing first names on their bottles)?
- Can the Price be altered? Is there a bundle pack opportunity targeted to young adults? Can you create cross-promotional opportunities?
- Can you use Place and distribution more effectively? Can you sell the product at events, kiosks, or use new in-store merchandising strategies through existing channels in order to appeal to young adults?
- Finally, the Promotional strategy kicks in. What is the overarching idea or theme? What design style and communication will resonate? Is it truly memorable? Are there endorsements to use? What channels are the best to communicate the idea? The brainstorms and ideas usually come to life in this section.
Evaluate
After you have a number of different campaign ideas and scenarios on the board, take a step back and evaluate them based on the following criteria.
- Originality: Will it break new ground and/or get noticed in a cluttered environment?
- Equity: Can it become synonymous with the brand and build the business?
- Memorable: Will the Target Audience remember it and will they actually change behaviour or perception based on it?
- Longevity: Can it last for years if needed?
There are numerous ways and methods to create a campaign that wows. This formula can help set a framework to organize your thoughts and enable you to move forward quickly. Good process allows good ideas to RISE.
Have a great day!
Braden