Blog 10: Just Do it

In chapter seven, Serendipity: “Got Milk?,” Steel presents the entire Got Milk? advertising campaign from start to finish in order to illustrate his points presented earlier in the text. In chapters nineteen and twenty, Bruce discusses briefly putting campaign together and the future of the industry.

            Bruce mentions in chapter nineteen that his mother-in-law would say, “come big or stay home,” and he found this principle to apply well to advertising. In a field that is cluttered with ads everywhere, a campaign must find a way to stand out and go against the main stream. I decided to analyze this principle with a great campaign, “Just Do It.”

            It is hard to imagine brands and not to think of Nike. This brand has positioned itself as number one for so many years; it is definitely hard to imagine when it was not. But back in the 80s, Reebok was giving Nike a run for its money. During this time Reebok was selling more tennis shoes than Nike. And although Nike was catering to almost exclusively marathon runners, they understood the importance of expanding. They needed to come up with a campaign that was revolutionary and that would re-position Nike. The slogan was created and the campaign launched around 1988 and sales increased tremendously.  The appeal that separated Nike from the rest was the slogan that touched a human truth and connected with them emotionally. As humans, we are unsure of the unknown and like to keep things safe and not change. But sometimes in order to grow as person and mature, we have to risk some things, take a chance and just gamble it. Nike understood this and encapsulated the push we sometimes need to grow in a few simple words, “just do it.” That push is what reminds many people from Olympians to middle-school volleyball players, to just take that risk and do it. In a crucial time for its business, Nike was able to push forward and “come big,” instead of “go home.” And its success has demonstrated that drive.

Communication Day 2012

The keynote speaker for UTA's Communication Day 2012 was Jennifer Lanter, Director of Public Information for the Gladney Center for Adoption and co-host of a local radio show. She discussed the importance of creating a brand for yourself and how one should develop it. The most important advice I learned from her was to know your strengths and weaknesses then surround yourself with people who complement them. I believe that it is extremely important to understand your strengths and weaknesses, in order to develop better as a person. This way you can better find your fit in society and become successful at what you do.  

Jennifer Lanter

Blog 9: Absolut-ly Unique

          

  In chapter six, Ten Housewives in Des Moines: The Perils of Researching Rough

Creative Ideas, Steel re-emphasizes the fact that the only opinion that matters is the opinion of the consumer, while he suggests that the most important factor is that whatever form the stimulus material takes, it should be capable of communicating the idea. In chapter ten, Bruce discusses writing strategy and the formats that can be used.

            In chapter 10, Bruce introduces the readers to the BBDO System which consists of: 1. Know your prime prospect, 2. Know your prime prospect’s problem and 4. Break the boredom barrier. Although an emphasis is always placed on obtaining and maintaining the attention of the consumer, I found it interesting that BBDO actually has a step titled, “Break the boredom.” By including this in one of the strategy models, BBDO allows the account planners to be creative and create an idea that could ‘break boredom.’ Therefore I decided to focus my example on this particular part of the BBDO system.

            An interesting ‘boredom-breaking’ strategy I found was that done by the strategists for Absolut Unique Vodka. Bruce mentions that BBDO calls this approach, “imagery that works” and Absolut took this to heart. The account planners/strategists found a “loose-end” and decided to close it. In the alcohol industry every bottle created within that year is exactly the same as the one next to it, it takes years, sometimes decades to do a bottle redesign, well the account planners found this as an opportunity to appeal more to their target audience. They came up with the idea to create a unique pattern to every single bottle produced for the rest of the year, beginning in September.  The idea became that having the same bottle as the guy next door is boring, and having a one-of-kind is fun and refreshing. By introducing the idea that every single bottle is like a fingerprint, none are the same, the planners hoped would appeal to the need of being independent and the feeling of buying a truly special bottle would thrive in the market. 

Blog 8: Cha-cha-Charmin

          

 In chapter five, The Fisherman’s Guide: the Importance of Creative Briefing, Steel describes thoroughly each question presented in the creative brief and the importance of the brief in developing advertising. In chapter nine, Bruce discusses the four basic questions of the brief and how each one relates to the whole brief regardless of the format.   

            A side-note in chapter nine of The Copy Workshop Workbook explains the process of developing the “Got Milk?” campaign by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, which Steel had previously mentioned in his book. I noticed that both mentioned that developing this campaign went from simply stating the obvious to applying it to the consumer’s life. With the principal that some items are obtain more value when we run out of them I decided to create a creative brief for Charmin Tissue Paper.

Creative Brief:                    

Why are we advertising? What do we want people to do as a result of advertising?

            Although Charmin owns about the same market share as its competitors, its share constantly varies since the toilet paper category is highly influenced by couponing and switching between brands is a common practice. With this campaign Charmin attempts to build brand loyalty among its consumers. We want the target audience to choose Charmin over any other brand.

 Who are we talking to?

The primary target audience for Charmin is males and females, ages 20-45 living in suburban and urban areas. This typical buyer is a mother of two elementary-aged children, works part-time, and is on the go. She wants the best for her family and looks for the items within her budget. This buyer is looking at the toilet market to provide her with a long-lasting, soft tissue paper for her family.

What is the key response we want from the advertising?

Get the target audience to think of Charmin when they think of long-lasting, soft toilet paper.

What info might help produce this response?

            Give them information about other consumers utilizing the product and how long-lasting it is.        

                                            

What aspect of the Brand Personality should the advertising express?

  Charmin’s personality is durable, confident, comforting, efficient and strong.  

                                                                                       

What is the key insight?

                                                                                                   

Charmin gives you the durability and comfort your family needs.