Advertising is very expensive when not effective

We are in a society saturated with advertising messages, where it is increasingly difficult to surprise and attract users to consume a certain product or service, not to mention the difficulty of creating loyalty to a brand.

The agencies strive to try to create original and surprising ads, because that is what the client (the company) expects to see. In this exercise, some agencies, especially renowned ones, become only worry about making advertisements that are mere creative pirouettes with no other purpose than competing in the Cannes Lions Festival or the Clio Awards, forgetting that their real objective is to answer to the need of their client to position its brand or promote its products/services to increase its sales, that is, maximize the return of its investment.

If investing in advertising is already expensive for a company, doing it so for the glory of the agency and not selling more, is a bad business.

Originality against effectiveness

Certainly, attracting attention, seducing, impacting, surprising, are intrinsic objectives to advertising, but the purpose must always be the same: to sell more, to increase the visibility and the recognition of the brand.

How many times have we seen ads on TV from which we remember every detail … except the brand that intended to advertise. Who does not remember the famous “Hi, I’m Edu, Merry Christmas”? However, does anyone remember what telephone company announced it? … Good slogan, but it is just that, or in other cases, a spectacular staging that prevents remember who paid that ad and what it intended to convey.

A good ad integrates images that are related to the concept of the product, along with a message that describes the features and benefits it offers. Only in this way will the images be prevented from distorting reality and generating confusion.

Only when the brand and its associated values ​​are intimately linked to these ads that are on everyone’s lips and have many “likes” in Social Networks, does the “fireworks” make sense to impregnate them in our memory and mobilize consumers to the purchase action.

The “briefing”, the essential starting point

The “briefing” is that document that includes all the aspects that must be taken into account in order to create an advertising piece that fully responds to the company’s objectives. It analyzes the market, the competition, the specifications and benefits offered by the product or service, the target audience, the degree of knowledge of the brand and its current visibility, etc.

At the same time, the agency and the client define which the ad’s aim is and how it will gather the inputs of the “briefing”. Of course, the choice of the medium is critical: an advertisement on TV, in press, outdoors or on the Internet will not be the same. The coherence of the ad with respect to the product and the context in which it is to be developed are fundamental, since it must prevail over creativity and wit in the realization of the advertisement to avoid that, if it is missing, the advertisement will cause confusion in the public and damage the campaign and the brand.

Creativity and design are then working together to try to propose to the client two or three options that meet its expectations, and justify how the creative part (images/sounds) and the message convey the concepts and values desired.

Ad validation

The agency has the task of explaining the advertisement to the client, showing how, through a certain staging or history, the defined objectives are transmitted (brand image, promotion of a product …).

In addition, it is convenient to test the advertisement with the target audience to which it is addressed to assess their reaction and their understanding of the message. Without being infallible, this feedback gives us a lot of information about the suitability of the creativity and the chosen format, the credibility of the content, the ease of understanding/assimilation, the identification with the product and the brand, and the immediate and short-term recall. In any case, we must be convinced that, as a minimum, the ad attracts attention from the beginning, generates an emotion and lasts in our memory.

At the right time and place

The moment we launch our campaign is a determining factor in its success. The target audience can be more receptive if they have already heard about our brand, or have tried the product, or received some information through another channel, etc. It influences the impact that the ad will have at a specific moment, because it has a lot to do with the expectation that we may have generated prior to the ad.

Likewise, the election of the media in which the advertising message will appear must take into consideration the needs, preferences and habits of our target audience (the more affinity the consumer has to the channels chosen, the greater influence they will have on him/her).

Finally, the periodic repetition of the ad is vital for reminding the ad, hence we must bear in mind that the investment in advertising should allow us to sustain the campaign over time.

More quality is not always more cost

Good quality advertising does not necessarily imply more cost, but the elements used for its execution are of good quality. For example, in print advertising use an appropriate paper, an elaborate design; in a TV ad take care of the lighting, the backgrounds, the attire of the protagonists; on radio, take care that the volume of the music does not mask the phrase, and if possible a specific created melody; in Social Networks simple images, without mixing too many graphics with images, with short messages, etc.

If our advertising is of good quality, we send the message that our business or product is also of good quality; but on the other hand, if our advertising is of poor quality, we send the image of a poor and careless business or product.

In the end, if we make an advertising piece based on these mentioned factors, it is easier to maintain or increase the credibility and facilitate a preference towards the brand.