Formulating Your Effective Advertising Campaign

Eye-catching advertising is a must when you’re attempting to capture even the slightest sliver of interest in today’s “must make it 140 characters or less” attention span-riddled world. Finding the right elements to make your product or brand stand out in a proverbial ocean of sell, sell, sell can be difficult – and this is a gross understatement – but taking a look at some of the best attention-grabbing campaigns to inspire you will definitely help when you’re tasked with creating your own advertisements and marketing collateral.

Before we go any further, let’s get some fundamentals out of the way: A hard and fast rule in this dominion states that if you’re marketing a new product or service, you must launch an ad campaign… if you already have an exciting brand but are launching a new product, then you must concentrate on that particular product. The thing that’s important to remember here is that this product/service must create a need your audience simply cannot ignore – and this is a fundamental key to all successful marketing.

After brainstorming on a particular campaign, your next step should be to organize a press conference or any event that can gather “influencers” who should be alerted to your launch; invite the media, connoisseurs, brand ambassadors, celebrities and any and all influential figures. Once that’s prepared, you can now identify which marketing channel would be best for your product, whether via online or offline paths or both.

1. THE POWER OF CREATIVE VISUALS

The best agencies and designers flex their creative muscles all the time to get messaging right – and, as you will be able to see from the examples we’re going to supply here, the tactics used to deliver these messages varies greatly, though sharing at least one thing in common: Stellar storytelling skills.

Here are some tips when crafting an attention-grabbing creative visual:

• Use Location as Part of Your Design Inspiration – In this intriguing ad from Dubai Dentistry, a modern-day skyline likened after downtown Dubai creates an immediately recognizable viewpoint.

• The same can be said about Kalisun Villas, which used popular geographic references in Greece to form a backdrop for its beautiful properties.

• Juxtapose Imagery to Trick the Eye – Love Agency’s striking “Become Someone Else” campaign for Lithuania’s Mint Vinetu Bookstore blended the faces of readers with sinister-esque book covers.

• Show, Don’t Tell – Here’s a perfect example of this tactic: FedEx turned to DDB Brazil to create a simple but effective campaign using continental maps on buildings to get their message, and their package, across.

• Consider the Individual Parts That Comprise Your Product – Harley Davidson’s Parts and Accessories division had a Cannes Lion-winning print campaign formulated which featured portraits of bike owners created by pieces of dismantled motorcycles.

• Think of Creative Ways to Showcase One Aspect of Your Product (Such as Color) – Serviceplan’s campaign for Faber-Castell color-matched their product (colored pencils) with real-life animals and objects… imagine what YOU could do!

• Play with Proportion – Making ridiculously distorted images of humans and their body parts (like mouths, teeth, and eyes) won’t always be “beautiful,” but they can be eye-catching… and that’s what you want.

• Exaggerate to Communicate Your Message – Exaggeration can make for some interesting concepts; we’ve seen ads wherein a person’s shirt was made so super-white it blocked a shadow.

• Show How to Make Your Customers’ Lives Easier – How does your product make your clients’ lives easier? Show it off in your ad. If it’s the type of product that you can inject some humor into, it’s even better.

Get Creative with the Details – Getting creative with the details can liven up an image that in itself isn’t that interesting.

• Play with the Unexpected – Want an example of the “unexpected”? Creative Directors Sergio Valente and Rodolfo Sampaio of DDB Brazil created an uber-cool campaign for Zoo Safari boasting a clever take on the tagline “Blend In” – other human/animal image mashups in this series that might cause folks to do double-takes include a man morphing into a gorilla and a man blending seamlessly with a tiger!

• Highlight the Problem (With Bonus Points for Bright Colors) – The team at TBWA/ISTANBUL created a bright pink advertisement for IKEA to highlight lack of closet space in order to sell their space-saving solutions…how cool is that?

• Turn to Pop Culture – Who needs a flexible Band-Aid more than scientist Bruce Banner, who inevitably transforms into the giant green Incredible Hulk? Walter Thompson Dubai created an eye-catching advertisement featuring one of our favorite Marvel superheroes and placed an emphasis on making the functional aspect of the product far less boring.

• Choose an Unexpected Visual Perspective – Here’s a good example of what we mean: BBDO Spain placed extinct animals in an auto mechanic garage setting to get the World Wildlife Fund’s message across (“Extinction Can’t Be Fixed”), and the aerial view created a unique perspective.

Believe it or not, this is merely scraping the surface when it comes to setting a brand/product apart visually. Inject some creativity into your ad campaign(s), and watch your creation spring to vivid life.

II. WRITING EFFECTIVE COPY

This is where we’re going to focus on the written end of your ad campaign – the all-important copy. Writing ad copy for pay-per-click activity can be a tough feat, but the good news is that you don’t have to be a super-creative copywriter to whip up competitive ad text. In fact, following a pragmatic approach can be advantageous.

Here are a few simple steps that will help you assess the competitive landscape and write ad copy that will stand out against your competitors’ – regardless of your ad rank.

• Do Some Competitive Research – Do some research to hunt down your real competitors; with paid search, it’s easy to put on blinders and forget who you’re really up against. Don’t take the easy route and assume that your competitors are parallel companies within your space – with PPC, you may actually be facing a whole new crew of competitors.
• Identify Your Differentiating Characteristic – Use the knowledge you’ve amassed by assessing the competition to become the leader of the pack; consider your page-mates’ ad copy and identify a differentiator that will make you stand out. This is the opportunity to sell yourself! Tell the searcher why you are providing them with a better product or deal than your competitors.
• Write a Killer CTA – To complete your ad, include a call-to-action that gives your searchers an incentive to click; you can opt for the standard “buy now,” but if you really want to step it up, consider a more creative alternative.
• Enable Ad Extensions – Once you’ve nailed down your body text, throw in an ad extension or two; these pumps up your ad so they cover a little more real estate on the SERP.
• Check Your Ad Metrics – Your ad may be complete, but don’t wrap it up just yet; let it get a few impressions and then assess your success. It’s tough to predict the performance of a new ad, so ad copy testing is crucial.

If you have a creative ad that you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to contact us.