and the winner is?

And the Winner is?

Strategy: A word of military origin, refers to a plan of action to achieve a

particular goal

Creating an Advertising Strategy

My Favorite Strategy Quote

“Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different.”

Michael Porter, Harvard Business School

Homework

Hard Work

IntenseAll the work you do for all your classes now Double itFocused on your brand (every day)Two weeks off vs. four monthsYou’ll take one

ExcitingYou’ll learn things you never knewYou’ll have more fun than you ever

imaginedYou will growYou will become renaissance men and

women (no shit)

Wouldn’t it suck…If you did all that and… Your strategy was boring?Your strategy didn’t break new groundYour strategy didn’t make creative people

say: “I’m so excited to work with this brief!”

Odds Are That Will Happen

Unless You Join Me!

Our PledgeRepeat after me:I will never, ever write a crappy briefI will never, ever let my competition

outwork me…outthink me…outinspire me

And I always will be

I am the Shit!

Tip # 1Imagine (always) that you are the creative

receiving this brief.Does it help or hinder?Is it boring or exciting?Is it clear or muddy?Single-minded or complicated?

Tip #2

Sheehan’s third law will help every step of the way

Tip #3

Simplicity comes from complexity (weird huh?)

Simplicity that does not is called ignorance (or stupidity)

Hunting and gathering

Complexity Transformation Device

This Class in a …

Core QuestionsHow will your product stand out in the

marketplace?

Why should consumers choose it instead of a competing brand?

Page 13 “You can’t locate your target market until

you know what you’re selling exactly, but you can’t know what exactly you ought to promise until you locate a target market and decipher its needs. Nor can you create an effective strategy until you analyze the marketplace positions your client’s competitors occupy and successfully differentiate your client’s product from theirs.”

We are going to know everything there is to know about

The Product

The Consumer

The Marketplace

And I mean everything!

Step One: The Product

Homework

Due Next Class

Two-page summary of everything you know about WD-40

How to LearnFind out what’s in it, how it works, what it

doesCall the 1-800 numberSurf the WebAsk local dealers, merchantsFind out what people think (talk to some

hard core users)Learn who its competitors are and what

they do (think broadly about this one)Visit the factory!

Questions to askWhat is its greatest strength?What do people have against it?Why is this more than a commodity?Who are the competition, exactly?How does it fit into people’s lives (when do

they use it)?

Old and effective

New and effective

Who am I?

Cliff Freeman

“In the greatest, soundest, most creative advertising, the theater revolves around the product… Advertising that isn’t really about the product is almost always self indulgent crap.”

Let’s give these guys some big ideas

StepsProduct insights/competitionTarget/target insight?Sell (proposition)?

What’s wrong with this?

“64 calories of crisp, refreshing beer with a lemonade twist”

StepsProduct insights/competitionTarget/target insight?Sell (proposition)?Creative Twist?

Big Idea of the Day