A world without creativity is full of crises.
Specially set up a [Reading] section for reading, screening some books worth reading, and providing some summaries. I hope that you have a book on your hand to let the movement of reading continue.
Creation doesn’t practice, after all, it’s empty.
The digital age has greatly increased the importance of creativity in advertising.
But the focus on the word creativity is very few. Few people answered this question positively, even in a creatively driven industry.
What makes the idea bigger? Why is it more important to discuss it in depth now than in the past? What exactly is creativity?
Photo: Airbnb Outdoor Advertising
First, creativity, what is it?
When reading a newspaper, do you need to look back and find your own advertisement? This is a reminder from our group’s predecessor, Messer-Crowser, in 1909 that advertising is only valuable if it attracts your attention.
The famous writer Arthur Kusler defines his creativity in his book The Act of Creation (1964): “In two irrelevant thinking matrices In this, a two-way connection is formed. “Perhaps this is not enough to be a great philosophical idea, but it cannot be denied that this is an outstanding definition. This also shows that Kusler itself is a creative writer.
We might as well restate it: “Combining two unrelated things together in unexpected ways.“
I always feel that this definition is in my mind and I am very helpful when I look at creative works internally. The reason is simple. This definition helps people to distinguish between powerful and weak ideas.
The more original, subtle, fascinating, andThe more creative combinations we participate in, the more likely we are to get our attention, and the more likely it is to be a big idea.
Figure: Arthur Kusler
Arthur Kusler is a philosopher, an instigator, and an advocate I have ever heard of for the best definition of creativity. His interpretation of creativity has become a mirror for my evaluation of works.
Second, the idea of throwing a voice implies a firm tension.
The creativity is precious. In the digital world, it is now obvious that powerful ideas can overcome the noise, defeat the fragmentation, and end a mess. However, the form of creativity is ever-changing. In fact, creativity also has a hierarchy:
1) At the top level, the strategic idea is condescending. This is an idea that identifies a business position and defines a platform for a company or a brand.
2) The second layer, the campaign idea is among them. What is the spindle idea that links all the ways in which the brand is expressed?
3) At the bottom, the excutional idea blooms everywhere. This is the smaller idea that allows content to be presented in a promotional campaign.
In contrast, strategic ideas are longer than event ideas.
Thousands of strategic ideas often imply a certain unyielding tension; activity creativity has an invisible framework that can place an exciting combination of ideas in an orderly manner; while executing ideas, sometimes accidents can occur, often in production stages or ideas Where it is presented – like a child who is mischievous, it is inevitable to deviate from the core idea. At this time, it can only be said that it is necessary to guide the “little people” to go home.
Creativity depends on execution: and the interaction between the two is the second reason for the so-called “big”.
In the case of the great director Alan Parker, even if he is asked to shoot a weak idea (if he is willing to take the film), the result must be impressive. On the contrary, taking a powerful idea to a lame director, it is conceivable that it is a disaster. When evaluating ideas, orderly can be better than empty hands. I always lay out a simpleA practical matrix diagram, also took the opportunity to educate my business team members. Don’t underestimate this simple matrix diagram, I think it has a major impact on the development of personal career.
Figure: Creative and Execution Judgment Matrix
This is a matrix of subjective judgments. For example, I can advertise the commercials of the 2016 Super Bowl, as shown in the figure.
Simple matrix diagrams help evaluate big ideas. The horizontal axis represents the strength of the idea, and the vertical axis represents the merits of execution. You can try to use it to evaluate the “Super Bowl” ad. The ad pays more than $2 million for a period of 30 seconds, so you’ll expect the “Super Bowl” ads to be classified in the top right corner. However, you may be surprised that beautiful productions and stars can’t make up for the vacancy of great ideas. In my opinion, only the ad in the upper right quadrant is worth raising the championship trophy
Simple matrix diagrams help evaluate big ideas. The horizontal axis represents the strength of the idea, and the vertical axis represents the merits of execution. You can try to use it to evaluate the “Super Bowl” ad. The ad pays more than $2 million for a period of 30 seconds, so you’ll expect the “Super Bowl” ads to be classified in the top right corner. However, you may be surprised that beautiful productions and stars can’t make up for the vacancy of great ideas. In my opinion, only the ad in the upper right quadrant is worth raising the championship trophy.
Third, advertising creativity, played two roles in the digital age that have never played before.
The factors that lead to creative ignorance are not just poor implementation, but also lack of consistent execution. One of the most award-winning works in the digital age is the Volvo commercial “The Epic Split” (2013), which won the Cannes Creative Festival Award. The film was produced by the Swedish agent Forsman & Bodenfors and starred in the movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme. This film uses the same tricks as the famous universal plastic TV commercials of the 1980s. The film is quite risky and the actor is highly skilled. Both commercials have surpassed expectations and made a lot of surprises.
However, in general, everyone has forgotten that the creative implementation of “squatting” is part of a larger advertising campaign, and the film is just one of them. Other creative implementations, such as a hamster driving a truck, Volvo’s CEO being hooked by a truck, etc., have long been forgotten. Because those films simply cannot express the same ideas, they are not creative at all. To put it bluntly, those are just stunts, not surprises.
I think advertising ideas have played two roles in the digital age that have never been played before.
In addition to the logistics industry, most people are indifferent to trucks. Having said that, more than 85 million viewers saw Shangge Yundun’s “Epic-level squat” as evidence of the accuracy and stability of the Volvo Dynamic Steering System. There are other executive works in this promotion, and a variety of innovations are displayed by lesser people. For example, a Volvo technical director is full of confidence in the product, risking his life and explaining the accuracy of the ground clearance of Volvo’s new truck. Other ads don’t get the attention of “Epic-high-legged”, not because they lack the reputation of Shangge Yundun, but because of the lack of exciting core ideas.
First, advertising ideas become management systems.
In the chaotic world, advertising creativity provides a reference framework for all activities of the brand; like a compass that identifies the direction, all activities can be evaluated, adopted, or even abandoned; also like a visual and physical shell from which Learn how brands and consumers interact. In other words, this can be said to be an editorial role.
Secondly, ad creatives are connectors that connect all other communication skills, even though the current skills are in a redefining phase. My former colleague Brian Collins was originally responsible for Ogilvy’s brand integration team and is now successfully running a personal design company. He once mentioned “branding” as a business commitment and “design” as a performance, and all this isThe company adheres to the evidence of commitment.
The brand is not just a developmental identification or creative advertisement. It is also a tool for shaping business. It is not a superfluous addition to the creation of a snake. In Brian’s eyes, the brand survived in four major regions—culture, environment, products, and people—and thus provided a blueprint that allowed us to design the system and connect all the spaces. When customer and experience-based customer briefings are in hand, we arrange system designers, engineers, and storytellers to work together. Then we use the brand to connect architecture, history, culture and products.
Figure: Native: Asia’s ubiquitous creativity
According to different market surveys, many customers have said in unison that brands are fragmented to varying degrees, disappointing them. Mark Addicks, chief marketing officer at General Mills, complained that marketers “are in a chaotic world. They are eager to order. They urgently need a new rulebook.” Marketers can no longer track customers across a large number of touch points, and they find it increasingly difficult to get a single view of different customer groups.
The digital world is essentially biased towards tactics, and it also likes small and sensitive solutions that keep boiling from bottom to top. However, after summing up, it does not give people insight into the true meaning.
In my opinion, the treatment is simple and simple, that is, excavate the exclusive and exclusive idea, and then squeeze the extract without mercy, never let go.
This article is organized from “Augwei talk about advertising: the mystery of advertising in the digital age”, (English) Yang Ming, copyright belongs to the author and the book, please be sure to indicate the source of the work. The pictures in this article are all from the authorized use of CITIC Publishing Group, a strategic partner of Ogilvy’s Talk Advertising: The Mystery of Advertising in the Digital Age.
Ogway talks about advertising: the mystery of advertising in the digital age
About the author
(英) 杨名皓Miles Young
The former Ogilvy & Mather Global Chairman and CEO, is currently the Dean of the New College of Oxford University.
Content Description
Ogilvy’s global heads share Ogilvy’s experience and methods in depth, and how to solve the problem of communication, marketing and brand dilemma by giants
Ogilvy & Mather Global CEO, “David Ogilvy” in the digital age, 30 years of Ogilvy’s experience is open to the public, telling the secrets of the current top advertising, brand and marketing; analyzing the major issues of the industry, sharing the global advertising company The Group’s long-established market-tested philosophy and methodology.