Digital Creative 1

Welcome to the DMA’s Creative Certification Course

Part One

Evalua&ng Crea&ve Wed., Oct. 16, 2013 — 1:00 to 4:30 pm

Presented by Alan Rosenspan • Nancy Harhut • Carol Worthington-Levy

Want to reach any of us?

Alan Rosenspan: [email protected]

Nancy Harhut: [email protected]

Carol Worthington-Levy

[email protected]

You’ll also find us in LinkedIn!

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•  How to Evaluate Creative

•  How to Get Great Print Work

•  How to Get Great Digital Work

•  Questions & Answers throughout, breaks as needed

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Scope of the Course

Alan Rosenspan

  Creative director in three countries, for O&M and Digitas

  My teams have won over 100 Awards – including 20 DMA Echo Awards for results.

  More importantly, a working creative director and direct marketing consultant

  Client list has included American Express, Ancestry.com, Bank of America, Capital One, Embrace Home Loans, Humana, HSBC, Life Line Screening, Oreck, Princess Lines, Scotts Lawn Service, Viking River Cruises, many others

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Nancy Harhut •  Chief Crea<ve Officer, Wilde Agency

•  Decidedly strategy-‐minded, results-‐oriented

•  Na<onally recognized for best-‐in-‐class crea<ve.

•  She and her teams have won over 150 awards for direct marke<ng effec<veness.

•  More than 20 years of senior crea<ve management experience honed Digitas

•  Clients have included Dell, IBM, Novar<s, House of Seagram, Bank of America, AT&T, American Express, Sheraton, GM, and more. She’s an in-‐demand speaker at DMA and other marke<ng conferences.

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  Wears three hats – Design/art director, writer and creative director/consultant for hire

  A stickler for responsive creative: has read it all, tested it all, and even attended a seminar in Switzerland to learn what will encourage response… or crush it!

  Was a business partner in a multichannel marketing agency, which she and partners sold to Merkle in 2010

  Possibly one of the only 8-time individual DMA Echo winner in 3 categories: Mail, Catalog and Online/digital

  Clients: AAA Auto Clubs, 5.11 Tac<cal, Adventures Cross Country teen travel, Allstate, Wine of the Month Club, Jacuzzi, Niman Ranch premium meats, Comcast, American Isuzu, Intuit, BMW, Dish, DHC Cosme<cs, Hewle[-‐Packard, and more

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We’re in the trenches,

just like you!

  We are all working creative directors and direct marketing consultants

  We are all teachers and students of direct

marketing   We all believe in great creative work

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Who are you? •  You want to learn more about how to develop

winning creative

•  You want be a better manager and motivator of your team or your agency

•  You want to be able to better evaluate creative before investing a lot of time and money

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Introductions •  Your name and what you do

•  You biggest challenge…

•  What makes you unique?

“I think I am the only person in this room who…”

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Before we begin… •  Judgment call

•  The truth about evaluating creative…

•  Backgrounds and introductions

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What do you think?

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What do you think? •  What’s your overall reaction?

•  Do you think it will work?

•  What do you like?

•  What do you think might be improved, or what would you do different?

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The Truth about Evaluating Creative

•  You are an excellent judge of creative

•  You are intuitive and thoughtful…

•  …when you stop to actually think about it in a critical way

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Our goals for this creative

certificate program Help you discover…   How to get the best creative work

  What to look for; what to watch out for

  Provide a Checklist for “How to Evaluate Creative”

  Offer ideas for how to motivate people to do their best work for you.

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Section 1:

How to Get The Best Creative Work

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•  How can you tell if it will work in advance?

•  How to give useful and welcome feedback

•  Timing & Budget Questions

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First, a definition   What is the best creative work?

  You’re not looking for work that makes you laugh, or may win an award show

  You’re looking for creative work that’s going to generate response

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•  Does it have to be new?

•  Does it have to be different?

•  What are some signs of good creative?

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Does it have to be new?

•  Not for the sake of being new

•  New in this category

•  It must be relevant to the product and the market

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Does it have to be different?

•  Not for the sake of being different

•  Good creative should tell you something you don’t know…

•  …or make you think of something in

a new or different way

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•  But it should never, ever take away from the message

•  Or worse, send the wrong message

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Crea<ve Challenge: Sell auto insurance

to an affinity group

Nancy presents a Big Idea:

Crea<ve Challenge: Sell auto insurance to an affinity group that was so

unresponsive the program was about to be cancelled

New Agency

Our First Assignment

Probably also our last

Product: Na<onwide Auto Insurance

Affinity group target: Members of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)

Goal:

1. Generate quotes 2. Generate sales

HRC -‐ Human Rights Campaign

Largest LGBT equal rights advocacy group and poli<cal lobbying organiza<on in the U.S.

LGBT= Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered

Sales Proposi&on

Get HRC discount when you get Na<onwide auto insurance

Plus get Na<onwide’s great service

and prices

Barriers Na<onwide is not a low-‐cost op<on

HRC discount is small

Historically unresponsive target

Iner<a-‐ only switch if bad claims experience/price hike

Compe<tors cite specific savings amounts

10¢/piece – and reflect new “Join the Na<on” branding

Barriers But wait, there’s more…

Could not acknowledge target was an HRC member

Not allowed to use HRC name/logo on OE

Other insurers had much more trac<on with LGBT community

The Solu&on? “Slide in under the radar” package

Cast doubt on other insurer’s commitment to the cause

Prove NW is a genuine HRC supporter Highlight many discounts available + proac<ve

checkups Signed by NW exec who’s also an HRC member

Did it work?

56% liq over the control

Client wrote: “Wilde Agency’s crea:ve was able to break through to the point where we WENT FROM SHUTTING DOWN OUR MAIL PROGRAM TO ADDING EXTRA MAILINGS NOT PREVIOUSLY BUDGETED.”

2013 ECHO Award winner

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The state of the Wine-‐By-‐Mail industry

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Carol and Alan’s Big Idea:

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Which OE do you think was the winner?

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Le[er copy: friendly, “I’m like you” approach What do you do if you buy wine, and you don’t like it? You can’t get your money back. We taste over 300 wines to make sure it’s great. I never sell wine I don’t like.

1700 Views! 1700 views in the first couple of hours! Over 3000 total views, and over 700 cases of wine sold .

7 Key Elements to Look For

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1. Does a Big Idea Burst Through?

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The first question to ask of any direct mail piece, advertisement or press release

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“Without a big idea, your advertising will pass like a ship in the night.” -David Ogilvy

“In direct marketing, the ship will sink.”

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Why are big ideas so important?

  A big idea cuts through the clutter

  A big idea can multiply your success 10 times over

  You only need one

  It costs more to do a bad idea than to do a big idea

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What is an Idea, anyway?

  An idea is a change

  “I have an idea; let’s do things the way we’ve always done them before!”

  The bigger the change, the bigger the idea

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Letter to Ministers in Germany

  They were concerned about declining church attendance

  They wanted to “wake up” ministers – and invite

them to a discussion about the problems   They used a very simple letter – with just one

sentence!

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How do you know if it’s a big idea?

  Is it a new idea? Or new in this category?   Is it relevant to the product?

  Does it make you think? Not “what are they talking about?” but about your relationships, your job, your

life, your future…

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How do you know if it’s a big idea?

  Does it make you feel? Emotion is stronger than logic

  Is it credible? Do you believe it?

  Does it stand out from others in it’s category?

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2. Does a single-minded message come through?

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  People have a hard time “getting” even one thing

  It’s not because they’re dumb; they’re

just busy

  Make sure your message breaks through the clutter – by focusing on one message

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The “Bed of Nails” Approach

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3. Is the Creative Focused on People?

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One of the great secrets...   Most companies focus on their

products...or worse, themselves

  The best companies focus on their prospects and customers

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Ancestry.com   The world’s largest genealogy

company

  Has access to over 3 billion records, and will help you search

  Their most successful direct mail and e-mail

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But make them look good

  Don’t show your prospects as “dumb”

  Don’t make fun of them…

  Make them into heroes – like Kodak

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4. Does it have an arresting Visual?

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The Power of Visual Thinking

  People remember less than 10% of what they’re told (and it’s always the wrong 10%)

  “Follow my directions carefully”

  People remember more than 50% of what they see

  They even make it up - to fill in the gaps

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  Show and tell

  Show me what you’ve got

  Show me what you’re made of

  “Show me the money”

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Imagine a Harley Davidson Motorcycle parked inside a great

cathedral The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

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The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

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5. Does it have a compelling headline?

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Headlines are Critical

  They should have your key benefit in them

  80% of people read that – and nothing else

  Subject line in e-mail even more important     Johnson box serves the same purpose

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WFNX – 101.7

•  Alternative Rock Station in Boston

•  How can they capture the tone of their station in a billboard?

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6. Is it involving?

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What Barnes & Nobles knows

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3 Proven Ways to Involve People in your

Advertising   Ask questions or quiz them

  Use an involvement device

  Use the word “you” – a lot

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6. Is it “campaignable?”

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“Campaignable?”

  Is it just a one-shot, or can you build a long term campaign around it?

  Does it easily lend itself to other media?

  A big idea can last for years…

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  Antwerp Zoo in Belgium was looking to boost attendance

  Their elephant got pregnant

  Send out a birth announcement?

  …or create a campaign?

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  Multi-media campaign started right after conception

  Turned all of Belgium into proud parents   Millions of people followed her 22 month

development from inception to birth – including her first ultrasound photograph!

Congratulations, it’s an elephant!

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  Kai-‐Mook became the first elephant born on the internet on May 17, 2009 – weighing a healthy 100 kilograms.

  Zoo a[endance more than doubled – over 300,000 new visitors

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Absolut Best Campaign

  First ad appeared in 1980; still going strong 1500+ ads later

  Created by Geoff Hayes of TBWA   Ads have become collector’s items; thousands of people write in

requesting their favorite

  Rolled out “In an Absolute World” in 2007

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Judge for yourself:

Do these upcoming examples meet that list of criteria?...

•  Big idea •  Single-‐minded message •  Focused on people •  Arres<ng visual •  Compelling headline •  Involving •  Campaignable

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Comcast … see if this mailer meets the criteria

•  Single-‐minded message •  Focused on people •  Arres<ng visual •  Compelling headline •  Involving •  Campaignable

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Home entertainment: Comcast

•  VIP invita<on gets a[en<on

•  They flip it over…

Call now and save with Comcast: 1-800-381-4460

Film Festival CommitteePO Box 5147San Ramon, CA 94583

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPermit No. 657

Sacramento, CA

Place: Your Place

Time: Whenever

Audience: You and a few hand-picked guests

It’s the World’s Most Exclusive Film FestivalCall now to R.S.V.P. 1-800-381-4460

You’re invited to the world’s most exclusive film festival.

V.I.P. PASS ENCLOSED

Stephen Maxwell-Levy12345 South Steiner StreetApt. ANiceplace, CA 98765-4321

Make it a double feature with Comcast High-Speed Internet.All the speed you need to download film clips or tunes, watch movie previews or music videos, even play online games. Includes security tools from McAfee® designed to keep your online experience safe and virtually free from viruses and annoying pop-ups . . . a $115 value, yours free!

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Home entertainment: Comcast

•  Concept: you can have your own private film fes<val in your home — how??...




PAIDPermit No. 657

Sacramento, CA

Place: Your Place

Time: Whenever








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•  Challenge: Comcast high speed internet might at first not seem like entertainment as much as for email and website access. But Comcast wanted to posi<on it as a way to download movies




PAIDPermit No. 657

Sacramento, CA

Place: Your Place

Time: Whenever








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•  This posi<ons the reader as a VIP when they get Comcast high speed internet

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Did it fit these criteria? Do you think it worked?


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Isuzu B2B mailing: does this meet the criteria too?

•  This Isuzu truck is a huge seller •  It’s especially well sized for two industries: light construc<on, and the food industry

•  Challenges: how to get companies with fleets to consider buying several instead of just one

•  Budget $90,000

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Isuzu Fleet campaign •  Targeted two markets ONLY

•  Created a mailer for each, that is very specific to that industry

•  This one is light construction: This truck can carry “6000 pounds of cement”

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Isuzu Fleet campaign •  This truck can

carry about 6,000 lbs of cement – sized specifically for typical construction load

•  Of course it’s absurd – the box is 12 in. wide

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Isuzu Fleet campaign •  A dimensional package needs all the hardworking elements that tradi<onal flat mail does!

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“500 gallons of Tomato Paste enclosed” •  This one is for the food service industry

•  Typical load for this industry would be 500 gallons of tomato paste

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Sent out 3000 boxes per targeted market

•  Campaign cost $90,000 •  We sold 140 trucks •  Bo[om line -‐ $4.2 million in sales •  New leads generated for future contact •  Huge ROI

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Isuzu B2B fleet mailing: does it meet our criteria?


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One last example: New Pig site re-‐launch

Does it have… •  Single-‐minded message •  Focused on people •  Arres<ng visual •  Compelling headline •  Involving •  Campaignable

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New Pig needed to launch their new and improved website.

•  New Pig has goods to help control chemical and water spills — including the “pig”

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They have developed a kooky persona with catalogs with pigs on them, and their Leak and Spill catalog featuring Sparky, a cartoon pig with a hardhat •  An improved website gives them another

reason to contact customers and get them to re-‐register in the updated system

…so launching the site could not be a dull or pedestrian event…

•  Customer expecta<ons are high – New Pig customers expect to see an event turn into a ‘PIG” event!

•  Step 1 Email…

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Landing page pays off and generates excitement about the new site…

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Catalog wrap is essen<al because many don’t check their email

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Campaign targeted a hardworking audience who loves a humorous break from the serious subject of chemical spills and hazardous waste!

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Mouse pad with contact info

New Pig re-‐launch campaign: does it meet our criteria?

•  Single-‐minded message •  Focused on people •  Arres<ng visual •  Compelling headline •  Engaging •  Campaignable – well, yes, it IS a campaign…

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Make People Do What You Want Them To

(Nancy Harhut on Insider <ps on the power of direct marke<ng crea<ve)

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General adver5sing influences a<tude and awareness over 5me.

Direct marke5ng influences behavior immediately.

Direct Marke&ng

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Targeted Measurable Ac<on-‐oriented (CTA)

Goal

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Get Response (lead gen or sell off page)

Reinforce & extend brand posi<oning

Primary Channels for Today’s Discussion

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Direct mail Email

Offline Advantages

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Tangible Oqen more real estate Less mailbox clu[er 3D = high opening rate

Online Advantages

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Quicker to produce & measure Easier & cheaper to modify between rounds Click to respond OLA = animated, dynamic

How to give yourself an edge

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Study your mailbox/inbox for “repeats”

See what’s proven to work in the marketplace

Read the masters John Caples “Tested Adver<sing Methods” David Ogilvy “Ogilvy on Adver<sing” H.G. Lewis “Effec<ve Email Marke<ng”

Follow the trades

Test, test, test

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Overarching Crea&ve Guidelines


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Get to the point quickly 1 main message

Don’t risk confusing the audience


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Pop the offer And the deadline


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You-‐oriented vs. Us-‐oriented Minimize “we, our, us, my, I, our company”


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Appeal to human mo&vators Save $$ Save <me Self-‐improvement Feel special/recognized Look good to others Feel smart Make life easier Discover new things Feel safe


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Benefits not features Displays perfectly on any device – so you can easily read wherever and whenever you want


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Remove risk

Guarantees Free Trials Proof points 3rd party endorsements Tes<monials


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Tailor concept/message to audience Segment and version Personalized and relevant Acknowledge previous behavior


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Know target’s main objec&on and how to overcome it

Build in your best sales argument


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Persuade vs. entertain You have seconds to capture a[en<on

Clarity trumps cute and clever


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Strong CTAs Visually prominent

Repeated

Make ordering easy

The Secret to Getting Great Creative

  Creative people always have choices. They can’t always

decide what they will work on; but they can always decide how much of their effort and heart they will put into their work.

  Your goal is to make them want to go that extra step for your projects, your product , your company – and of course, for you.

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Where the Best Creative Work Begins

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Briefly speaking •  Successful creative starts with a well thought-

out brief or Creative Strategy Form

•  It doesn’t end there – but it starts there

•  The more time and effort you put into your brief – the more likely you are to get effective work

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The Briefing Meeting •  A brief should never simply be handed-out

or e-mailed.

•  It should be an interactive process; with the final brief emerging from the meeting

•  You need to encourage comments and questions – and get the answers as soon as possible

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Your Role in Briefing Creative

  To initiate the project and provide the information necessary to complete it

  To be an “expert” on your business; or to get the answers they need before the work is completed

  To be open to new ideas and solutions

  To give constructive and specific feedback to help improve the work (when necessary)

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Not Your Role   To dictate the work

  To withhold information or fail to provide it on a timely basis

  To not have the answers   To create false deadlines or emergencies

  To abuse creatives in any way, shape or form

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The Role of Creatives   To represent the consumer’s point-of-view

  To be an “expert” on their business – advertising and direct marketing

  …and to become an “expert” on the clients business

  To come up with big ideas

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Not the Role of Creatives   To give the client only what they asked for…

  To postpone the work and do a last-minute scramble

  To give up, or do less than their best

  To think that that account people, or clients, aren’t smart or good at their jobs

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The Death

of an Agency

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The Creative Strategy Form

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  Every company has a different format

  It is a blueprint of the job -- and a contract

  It should be developed, agreed on and signed by everyone involved in the project - particularly the most senior person

  It can be used to evaluate work

  It has to be simple, understandable – not just filled with jargon

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1. Project Description   What are we doing? Why?

2. Objective

  What are we trying to achieve?   What do we want people to do?   Be as specific and realistic as possible

3. Target Audiences

  The more specific, the better

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4. Main message and proof

  What is the single most important reason that someone will buy our product or respond to our mailing?

  Why should anyone believe you…?

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5. Offer   What do they get?   What do they have to do to get it?

6. Key points

  What other benefits do we need to communicate?

7. Ways to Respond   Did we make it easy?   Did we give them a choice?

8. Tone and Manner   Consistent with the product?

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9. Mandatories   Legal, logo, etc.

10. Budget   How much do we have?   Let the value of the customer drive the budget

11. Schedule   How much time is left?!!!!

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Put time on your side…

  You want to give creative people time to do their best…

  ..but you also want your project to stay top-of-mind

  Plus you don’t want them to forget anything, or

worse, do it at the last-minute

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Think in stages

  Ideally, you want them to come back with rough ideas within 5-7 days

  This keeps your project fresh in their minds and motivates them to get started right away

  After this first meeting, you can give them more

time to refine, make changes, add to the mix

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Two questions you must answer

12. What is the target market currently using/doing?   Understand their mindset   Are they using a competitive product? Making do

without?   Why should they switch to yours?

13. “You know you need it when…”   When does someone know they need your product?   Puts you in their shoes   Identifies points of pain   You’re looking for agreement...

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Reviewing the Work

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Best Practices

  Allow them to finish their presentation, before you jump in

  Start by acknowledging how much work has been done, and what you like

  Review the brief to make sure that everything important has been addressed

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Be constructive

  See the big picture first – don’t nitpick

  Never get personal. Not “I don’t like that headline” but “Does this headline have the main benefit?”

  Go through the Checklist with them

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Moving ahead

  Take the time to provide thoughtful, useful feedback

  This is your first exposure to the work; they have been at it for days

  Resist the urge to change for change’s sake

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  Never say “The client will never buy this…”

  Don’t try to anticipate what others will say or think; give your own opinion

  Remember you are all on the same side

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How do you know if it will work

before it goes out?

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“You cannot judge direct marketing.

It judges you.”

- Denny Hatch

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Besides…

  “Creative” packages don’t usually work

  The “ugly” stuff almost always seems to win

  Even the best work seems to produce a disappointingly low response

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How do you know…?

  The only guarantee in direct marketing is a moneyback guarantee

  It can be very surprising what works and what

doesn’t

  However, if you use the following checklist, you will maximize the probability of success

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Checklist

12 questions to ask about any creative execution

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1.  Is it on strategy?

2.  Is it appropriate to the product and the positioning?

3.  Is there a big idea? Does it come through? 4. Does it have a striking visual or

graphic?

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5. Do the offer and main benefits

come through quickly and clearly? 6. Does the offer stand out?

7.   Is it believable? Are claims

supported with facts or testimonials? Is there a guarantee?

8. Does it include a strong call to action in every element?

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9. Does it make you think or make

you feel 10. Will it stand out from others in this

category? 11.   Are all the elements working as

hard as they can for you? 12. The big question:

would you respond?

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These are all the ways to evaluate creative

for regular advertising.

But direct marketing has to work even

harder

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We have to get people to act

  Go to our website

  Call a toll-free number

  Send in an application or response form   Bring something into a store

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1.  It must be 100% absolutely clear •  Above all, it must be clear and easy-

to-understand

•  If people don’t “get it” – you lose

•  You need to be direct in direct marketing

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2. It must have a compelling offer •  “If you want to dramatically improve your

response, you must improve your offer” – Axel Anderson

•  They must know exactly what you want them to do, and how

•  They must have an urgent reason to act now

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3. Credibility is king •  We need to prove what we claim

•  We must use numbers, specifics, facts, lists

•  Testimonials are critical

•  One false note can kill response

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The rest of the Scott’s LawnService

case-history

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What do you think? •  What’s your overall reaction?

•  Which package did you like best?

•  Which do you think worked best?

•  Why?

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We told you that you’re an excellent judge of creative!

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Back to The Big Idea

•  Big ideas are what’s needed to give a product or service an advantage in the marketplace

•  Every good product has a USP – Unique Selling Proposition.

•  This USP is one way to find your way to your Big Idea.

•  For example…

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John Caples encourages a prospect to impress

their friends

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David Ogilvy sparks

intrigue with a plain

white shirt

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Bill Bernbach turns the

tables on big American

cars

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Name some big ideas…

•  Can you name some big ideas that helped a product or service rise above the rest?

•  What comes to mind?

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Workshop segment: Create your OWN big idea

•  Who would want your product or service? •  What are your product’s features and benefits that

make it worth having and using? •  What is your product’s Unique Selling Proposition…

that is, what makes your product different and better than all others?

•  How could you describe or illustrate this to have immediate meaning to your customer?

•  Brainstorm with the person next to you to discuss these questions for 10 minutes each… and then we’ll discuss a few of your ideas.

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Thank you!

Alan Rosenspan, Nancy Harhut &


See you tomorrow at Part 2: Creative Rules that Work for Print

Thursday Oct 17, 2012 — 8:30am - 12:00pm

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Business

Digital Creative 1