Adcomm's first two issues Adcomm August 2013 Relaunch issue | Page 22

Branding The Brand Connexion Creative first – medium later Simon Milne of the Brand Connexion is of the opinion that advertisers, generally, make the mistake of choosing the medium before the creative! It is a lot more logical to apply the opposite. Creative Genius H ow many times has it happened that your agency’s or marketing department’s creative geniuses develop a creative that has that WOW factor? It’s simply dazzling! Being the processionals you are, the answer is probably ‘all the time!’. The promobile will take that WOW factor straight to your target audience. Of course that simply isn’t true. However, there is no doubt that many creatives have an element of WOW. Of course they do. You’re impressed, your client’s impressed, it conveys the message (you think) and on computer monitor it appears simply to be ‘perfect’. Losing the effect Sometimes when the campaign is in motion the question arises: why is that WOW effect no longer apparent? “The mistake that many of us make,” says Simon, “is simply that we assume the medium or mediums chosen for the campaign are what will sell the product or brand. We’ve found that, more often than not, deciding which medium/s to use is the first port of call. The creative is then based around those media.” Creative impactful He goes on to say the majority of impact is made by the creative and not the medium per se. “Logic dictates that Doing branding differently takes a little bit of initiative. media chosen should only be selected after the creative Not that easy is complete. A good creative gives the Simon may have a valid point. Of course, what impression a company is a step-ahead of also needs to be taken into account is budget its competitors.” Simon is of the opinion that when the advert is seen by ‘Joe Public’ it must be memorable, easy to understand and make consumers want to act on it. “The creative is responsible for this,” he says. He alludes to outdoor media and says that industry has a long way to go on research with regards to creativity. “If the creatives were done without billboards in mind it may go a long way to improving the current creatives The promobile will, without a doubt, draw we see donning attention to your brand. our skyline.” A combined effort constraints placed on agencies and marketing/ advertising departments. It certainly doesn’t help pulling out all stops on a highly creative angle only to have a severely limited budget to implement the chosen medium. Perhaps this angle is what marketers need to leverage decision-makers opinions? It is interesting to note comment by Ad Outpost CEO Sonnet Swanepoel in an article published in our May 2012 issue We’d love to hear your opinions. (page 22). It reads Please send to [email protected] as follows: “As far as Brand connexion showing they can; with a Ricoff y promotion. creativity is concerned, Sonnet says marketers * Simon Milne can be contacted on 011 791 3107 or e-mailed to: [email protected] feel the industry does not optimise the creative potential available. A number of media owners now work with marketers, advertisers and creative agencies to overcome this. The essence is for media owners to engage with agencies and clients to maximise the effect of out-ofhome space. This can be achieved through correct creatives...” Perhaps by using Simon’s strategy the problems surrounding creatives in the out-of-home space could be more easily tackled. Sanyo Brand activation-drawing the crowds. The promobile a branded vehicle Taking your brand and message to the doorstep of your customer. 22 August/September 2013