Our goal as advertising students is to land a job promoting brands and launching campaigns for various companies. First, however, we are tasked with executing the ultimate campaign: selling ourselves. Just as a campaign consists of multiple advertisements, we must present ourselves as the entire package: a package full of invaluable skills that companies cannot afford to reject.
The advertising industry is crazy-competitive, and personally, I am scared to death about getting a job after college. Nothing guarantees a job: not a spotless GPA, not a multitude of extracurricular involvement, not even a collection of career-related internships. That is why it is essential to approach opportunities with the right attitude and a strong work ethic. Gaining career-related experience through clubs and internships is necessary to getting a job. Because so many people do this, however, it may be difficult to stand out from the crowd. This is where personality comes into play. Besides having natural talent, be passionate about what you are doing. The advertising industry is filled with passionate people: people who breathe copywriting, eat design, and sleep media. These people are not working – they do not simply have a job. These people are living their dream and doing what they love. Employers seek individuals with similar passion. Advertising students should be dedicated to their studies and take pride in their work. They should not simply try to pass a class but rather try to enhance their knowledge and fill their desire for advertising-related activities. Do not look for a job; look for a position to free your passion. In addition to passion, you should have a strong work ethic. Do not shy away from challenges, reject intimidating tasks, or half-ass what you do. My cousin told me, “Never accept a job where you are qualified for more than 60% of the work.” In every position, you should strive to learn and expand your skills. When an assignment needs completing, step up and fulfill it to the best of your abilities. A project is rarely perfect, and you should never stop working until you attain that level of flawlessness. This is something I strive to do in all my work, whether it is designing an ad, making a commercial, or devising clever placements for promotional materials. One of the greatest compliments I have received came from my mom when she said, “Kristin, I don’t think ‘good enough’ is in your vocabulary.” While this statement certainly filled me with pride, it more importantly fueled me with motivation to prove this true. Employers will search for hardworking, passionate people. Although I glossed over experiences earlier, gaining practical knowledge and skills is essential to any job. Join clubs, find internships, and work hard in class. Expand your horizons and take on roles outside of exactly what you want to do; maybe you will love it, maybe you will hate it. No matter what, you will learn the different roles of people with which you will work, and a general understanding of their jobs will help immensely. Secure these positions by building a portfolio of your very best work. Sell your executions by explaining the idea, highlighting the theme, and letting your passion show. Make it memorable, but more importantly, make it you.
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Advertising is all about branding. As one of the four main functions of advertising, building brand involves establishing an image for a company in the minds of consumers. Companies not only want to create favorable impressions, but they also want consumers to associate certain ideas or themes with their brands. For example, Nike brands itself as a company providing sports apparel, equipment, and accessories to hard-working, dedicated athletes. People around the world can match the phrase “Just do it” with the Nike brand, and consumers associate long hours spent practicing, always pushing further and further with Nike. These perceptions are carefully shaped by the Nike organization through the way it presents itself in advertisements. The company has a specific image it wants to maintain, and it uses advertisements to relay this image to consumers. In order to do this effectively, Nike must have continuity through its advertisement campaigns.
According to Advertising Creative: Strategy, Copy, Design, “Continuity within a campaign means the various components of the campaign have enough commonality that the reader/viewer/listener should perceive a common theme and unified message.” This does not mean the same copy is used in every ad nor is the same design repeated across media; rather, all elements of a campaign should work toward a common objective, address a defined target audience, and maintain an overall unified idea. This includes all print ads, radio ads, TV ads, online ads, and out-of-home ads. Additionally, continuity should extend to other elements of a campaign, such as public relations efforts and direct marketing materials. The importance of continuity in campaigns is immense. A series of unrelated ads does little to build brand because consumers are unable to determine what image a company is trying to portray. Often, lack of continuity occurs when the original idea is weak. The overall theme of a campaign must meet two criteria to be truly successful: repeatability and extendability. Repeatability involves creating multiple ad executions for the same media from the same idea. For example, the Got milk? campaign features multiple print ads created from the same theme. Extendability, then, refers to creating ad executions for different media. The Got milk? campaign once again provides examples of this as it was extended to TV, Internet, and out-of-home advertising media. Overall, continuity plays a big role in a company’s brand. It determines what the company can and cannot do. For example, when the well-known toothpaste company Colgate launched a new product line of frozen dinners, consumers were unable to get past the idea of Colgate as a toothpaste company. Because Colgate had branded itself as a toothpaste company, this break in continuity caused the product line to fail. This example highlights how continuity affects not only a campaign, but also the overall brand. It affects product development, marketing, social causes supported by a company, and more. When executed properly, continuity can launch a brand to success. For an advertising enthusiast, few things are more exhilarating than the discovery of a well placed, brilliantly executed out-of-home advertisement. It’s those ads executed from a stroke of creative genius that give you chills and fuel aspirations to someday produce an equally enticing ad. Out-of-home advertisements provide far more potential for creativity than ads in traditional media, and they often achieve better success in standing out from the thousands of other ads we see each day. Defined as all advertising that is seen outside the home but is not in the point-of-sale category, out-of-home advertising can range from billboards to posters at bus stations, signs in airport terminals to 3D displays at a shopping mall. Besides offering plenty of room for creativity, out-of-home advertising has several advantages. First, it can be flexible in regard to location, timing, structure, and dimension. Second, it can create high-impact among viewers. Finally, it is ideal for establishing brand image, building rapid awareness, and reinforcing brand personality. Although billboards hold a special place in my heart, this transit advertisement was the one that really caught my eye. Promoting its animal-themed programming, the National Geographic Channel placed this ad on the side of a public transport bus. Whenever someone boarded the bus, the shark would open its mouth and appear to eat the passenger. By using proper design principles, this ad attracts attention and creates interest among viewers. This ad is highly effective because it capitalizes upon many of the opportunities provided by out-of-home advertising. The large audience it reaches is extended by its ability to move around the city and expose itself to more people. The shocking design makes it even more impactful than typical transit advertisements. Additionally, it follows the rules to keeping copy to a minimum so as to quickly convey the concept. Finally, the ad succeeds in building brand by creating a design highly relevant to the company and by repeating “National Geographic Channel” twice. Overall, this ad perfectly exemplifies the immense creative opportunities provided by out-of-home advertising. If the great execution isn’t enough to give you chills, maybe stepping into the mouth of a giant shark just might do it instead. As an aspiring creative advertiser, I could talk about design all day long. Line weight, negative space, font leading…yeah, that’s the good stuff. Adobe Illustrator and InDesign make the perfect best friends, and Photoshop is – of course – always welcome to the party. To be effective, an advertisement must follow a few basic principles of design. By doing this, the ad will unite the visuals with the copy and attract the attention of viewers. When properly executed, the design can convey messages and emotions all by itself. Appearing in the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Seventeen Magazine, this ad for UGG® Australia succeeds in fulfilling the basic design principles of repetition, contrast, and alignment. Despite every shoe being unique, the repetition of boots, moccasins, and slippers creates an intriguing rhythm that draws the viewer through the ad and unifies the overall message. The contrast of the dark shoes and the light background really highlights the product and puts an emphasis upon what the ad is trying to sell. Although the center alignment of the visual and the type may seem boring at first, its actual strength becomes apparent upon extended viewing. Because the Christmas tree lacks a definite outline, it must appear in its entirety on the page for the viewer to understand; the “tree” may not be moved to the side and extend beyond the page border. This then requires the text to be center aligned so as to create a balanced piece. As a typography nerd that has had dreams (both good and bad) about fonts, I cannot discuss this ad without addressing the issue of its text design. The thin, sans-serif font of the headline struggles to stand out from the background. If the goal was to keep from overshadowing the visual, the designer could almost get away with it; however, the bold, thick strokes of “Nordstrom” ruin this. Not only does it compete with the boots, but it also competes with the headline. I believe the overall design would be improved if “Nordstrom” was presented in the same font as the headline and at a smaller size. Actions speak louder than words. Images, too, can speak louder than words. Images convey messages, thoughts, and feelings in a way that words just cannot achieve. In advertising, this means that television can succeed in areas where radio falls short. Don’t get me wrong; radio ads can be highly effective. They easily target segmented markets, promote both regional and national brands, and reach consumers at no cost to them. However, radio ads are limited solely to audio and therefore require great creativity when promoting a very visual product. When a product is better at being viewed than described, television advertising is the best route. Fossil, an authentic leather goods designer, creates products to be viewed. Fossil watches, handbags, jewelry, and other products are designed with great detail in mind, a fact that becomes apparent only under close examination. Since the rise of cell phones, watchmakers have feared for their sales. With watches remaining Fossil’s primary product, this threat extends to its brand. In response to this concern, Fossil’s most effective route in broadcast advertising would be via television. Ads presenting images of the watch can highlight the features of Fossil watches without a long narration of descriptions. In this case, Fossil could follow the maxim, “Show, don’t tell.” Paired with the right music, close-up images of different parts of Fossil watches could elicit emotional responses from viewers. These ads could convey feelings of quality, desire, and authenticity, without ever saying a single word. Television ads such as these would fit in with Fossil’s current brand image and advertising efforts. Fossil strays on the side of simplicity when it comes to words in its promotional materials. Fossil products, packaging, and advertisements usually feature interesting graphics with very few words; often, “Fossil” may be the only text. Because of this, a radio ad that depends largely upon words would not coincide with Fossil’s brand. Television advertising offers a variety of advantages to companies such as Fossil. While combining sight and sound, TV ads leave great impact on viewers. Additionally, television pulls a large audience, so advertisers can reach a great number of viewers. Because of cable and satellite, television advertising can also offer a segmented group of people with similar characteristics. Fossil could effectively use this to its advantage by studying its potential customers and learning what time they watch TV and which shows they watch. Then, Fossil could create TV commercials to specifically target those interested in its products. EDIT: After writing this post, I came across a few ads made by Fossil. Apparently, the company and I had similar thoughts on the issue, as this video ad almost perfectly executes the ideas I had when writing this post. Check it out below: It takes quite a bit for an ad to really succeed in every aspect, but a recent ad by Origins in the October 2013 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine does exactly that. From its headline right down to its signature, every word strategically reaches its target audience. While many ads receive praise for appealing designs, some of the greatest features lie in the work of the copywriter. With small space in the design and a limited amount of time to catch the viewer’s attention, an ad’s body copy must be informative yet inspirational, persuasive yet pretty. It must be directed towards the individual rather than the masses, and it must highlight both the features and benefits of the product. Origins ad for its skin complexion corrector meets all this criteria and more. It describes the features of the product (such as color correction, antioxidant formula, and hydrating formulas) while informing viewers how these features benefit them (creates radiant looks, neutralizes skin damaging effects of pollution, and preserving youthful looks). In-text sub-headings are used to draw attention and pull viewers into the text. Additionally, it makes use of alliteration (high-tech hero) and rhyme (color corrects and visibly perfects) to spice up the body copy. The text features parallel construction in the sense that each sentence begins with “our” + adjective + noun. Finally, the headline sub-heads involve clever plays on words to entice readers. To me, this ad’s greatest accomplishment is its relevance to the target audience. By reading the text, one can clearly determine exactly whom the ad is trying to reach. This ad and product appeals to a busy working woman in her mid-20s with an active lifestyle that allows limited time for perfecting her image. She is quite intelligent and values hard work, both in a business and a personal setting. This woman is concerned about protecting the environment and leaving a positive impact on those around her. She is critical of claims made by advertising and requires evidence to be persuaded. Her fast-paced, urban lifestyle can be quite stressful, and she worries about the toll it takes on her appearance. By realizing these qualities of members of the target audience, Origins created an ad to appeal directly to such individuals. And to think, it accomplishes all of that in just three sentences of body copy. This is certainly one ad that needs no revisions. Advertising without strategy is like driving without directions; you will never reach your destination without a plan for how to get there. In advertising, we create strategies to achieve our objectives. Do we want our brand to paint a picture of youthfulness and vibrancy in the minds of teenagers? Okay, we will launch a campaign over social media and television with the hottest celebrities using our products. While devising our strategy, we actively search for creative solutions to problems posed by clients. Then, we identify our target’s needs and wants and highlight the features and benefits of our products that satisfy them. Finally, we execute our ad plan to hand-deliver our creative work to our intended audience. Vehicle companies must develop many different strategies in their advertising, as they serve many different target audiences. Toyota has to know how to sell the Tundra to grown men still looking for big toys, the Highlander to busy moms hauling sports equipment across town, and the Prius to nature’s trendy best friends. A car manufacturer that has developed effective strategies for targeting specific potential customers is Chevy. One of Chevy’s longest-lasting and most esteemed trucks is the Silverado. To promote the 2014 line, Chevy launched a new television ad campaign featuring Will Hoge’s song, “Strong.” Chevy was faced with a problem though; many people who may be interested in the Silverado already own a truck. They do not want to part with their current vehicles, but Chevy is encouraging them to upgrade their older trucks. To do this and solve the problem, Chevy created a television ad to connect with viewers on an emotional level. The commercial is successful in doing this through the lyrics of the song, the tone of the music, and the selection of short video clips. It depicts Silverado drivers as not just tough guys, but as strong guys too; physically strong, emotionally strong, and mentally strong. While highlighting family values such as determination and selflessness, it also accurately portrays the long workdays of a farmer. The ad does a great job of connecting with its target audience of 30-40 year old men living in rural areas. Having grown up on a farm myself, I love this commercial as it reminds me of home and represents all the values my parents have always tried to instill in me. I think this emphasizes the successful execution of the ad, as, even though I am outside of the target audience, I can still appreciate it. All in all, the Chevy Silverado “Strong” campaign is a touching commercial that makes its point through its depiction of a strong set of values so rare in advertising today. Check out the short and extended versions below. >>
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Kristin KreherMy happiness comes from meaningful interactions, the outdoors, thrift shops, and saying "thank you." Archives
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