E=mc2

Last week I wrote about putting the pieces together in terms of communication and continuity. This week I want to tackle the formula to what makes your advert more than just an advert. What turns it into
a campaign…

Loosely, a campaign is a much more wholistic approach to your external marketing. Typically it will contain more than one medium that is attempting to portray a single message. A simple example would be a TV commercial that has a brochure or press advert that matches the creative used in the TVC – models, scene, products, style etc.

A combination will essentially produce a campaign but to see real results, it needs careful strategic consideration.

Great campaigns take planning and structure with everyone having a clear vision as to what the campaign’s outcomes are to be. Therefore it’s as important for your front line team to be involved and on-board with your campaign as it is for the top level executives or owners. Campaigns are won and lost on the front line.

BankWest probably exhibited one of the best examples in recent years with the ” Harry’s listening” campaign. Great creative. Fantastic teaser campaign. Clever use of media. Strong strategic basis. Zero ground level support.

You see it all came undone on the front line. The service basis within the branch simply couldn’t live the message. Here was a campaign that sought to lift consumers expectations of service only to find them crushed when they visited a branch. In fact I even recall an acquaintance telling me that they had to go to an opposition bank down the road for a pen to fill in the customer feedback form! That’s death-by-campaign material.

So ensuring your people can translate and live the message is an important aspect, but again, it’s simply one part of a much bigger equation.

You have to balance out the formula in terms of your media mix, ROI, sales tools, training, creative content and the overall strategic direction. It’s not just a matter of having a flashy TV commercial with matching business cards. A campaign needs to add up.

Take a look at some of our campaigns in our gallery. Some have been much more strategically based than others. Some we have had more input on than others but it will give you a broad scope on what is required creatively to build a campaign. In most cases, many, many hours have been spent in the depths of the Jack in the box studio working on the direction and the message. The creative is simply the final execution.

Much like Einstein’s equation, the maths behind the equation is essential in creating the formula itself…but it’s all anyone remembers…