Here’s a little mind exercise for you – what was the last creative ad campaign you remember? Try replaying the ad in your head. All right, now that you’re sort of reacquainted with it, why do you think it stuck with you? If you guessed that it considered the following factors – timeliness, proximity, cultural sensitivity in advertising, originality, cost and reach then you’re right. All these factors play an important role in devising a great creative campaign.
Timeliness
A great example of timeliness is how many brands used a certain event to roll out reactive campaigns was Southeast Asian brands reacting to the “Crispy Rendang” saga back in 2018.
Just a bit of background, on Masterchef UK, Malaysian-born contestant Zaleha Kadir Olpin served Chicken Rendang alongside her Nasi Lemak to Judge Gregg Wallace, who then complained that the skin was not crispy and it therefore isin’t a good rendition of the dish.
Local brands released many cheeky social media campaigns riding on the wave of publicity, poking fun as well as showing their take on the Southeast Asian dish. Ikea Singapore also published a campaign about their pans being able to take everything except crispy rendang and how they were selling rendang chicken wings.
Relatability
Creative campaigns often do well because of how well the audiences can relate to the campaign. Do they speak in terms of emotions, do they validate the audience’s hopes and dreams, acknowledge fears, or make the audience go “a-ha” or “wow”?
Being able to create relatable ads such as the McDonald’s Ramadan campaign, showing kindness in the form of a Muslim man spreading the cheer and spirit of Ramadan to others while going through his day as a McDelivery driver, while fasting.
Credit: https://www.facebook.com/mcdsg/videos/10214931730703025/
Creative campaigns that connect via emotions and inspire are always remembered long after the words spoken are forgotten.
Sensitivity issues
Emotional intelligence or sensitivity is especially important in this day and age. Words have to be carefully thought through before facing the public because offence can be forgiven if said wrongly but not if it was done out of ignorance. Multiculturalism advertising is acknowledging different people from different backgrounds, so always remember to research cultural norms and to ask ever in doubt. Don’t repeat the same mistake that Nets and Mediacorp did by making this racially insensitive ad.
Originality
Signs of originality:
- Damn, that sounds like a great idea
- Crap, why didn’t i think of that before
- That’s a new way of looking at things
- Wah, confirm win Cannes Lion eh
- This sounds like a pencil idea
You get what I mean right. Originality can be a new way of looking at things or even a new creative direction. If you’re having a hard time coming with something new, here are some innovative practices you can try out! Otherwise, don’t give up hope and continue looking for inspiration in your daily life.
Cost and reach
What gets your ad eyeballs other than having a great campaign go viral? It’s your paid media that goes into seeding your campaign into the various channels that your consumers use. Relative to the campaign budget and production value, your budget for paid media should be reflective of the amount spent on your production to be able to give your campaign a run for its money. In simpler terms, give value by allocating a bigger budget to a high production short film or a smaller budget to a simple social media campaign.
All in all, there are many factors to think about when devising a creative campaign. Do remember to challenge the norms and the way you see things for newer perspectives when coming up with new creative campaigns. Drop us a message if you want to know another 5 aspects to consider about your paid media budget or what creative campaigns are great during this period!
