Whoare you trying to reach?
Whatdo you want to tell that potential customer?
Whenis the best time to reach your customer?
Wherewill you find your customer?
Whyshould your customer believe you?
The right strategy, communicated clearly, will be effective. The execution does not necessarily have to be great; it just needs to clearly communicate the strategy.
Conversely, you can have the greatest execution in the world—it can be recognized for its humor, cleverness, et cetera—
but if the strategy is wrong, it will fail. A good execution cannot save a bad strategy.
Only after you get the strategy right should you worry about the execution. The key to great advertising is to first find the right strategy and then execute that strategy in a superior way. The result is advertising that hits a home run.
In my opinion, one of the great advertising campaigns of all time was the Lite Beer by Miller campaign, where former professional athletes were presented in various scenarios which always resulted in the jocks arguing over whether Miller Lite is better because it “tastes great” or because it is “less filling.”
What made this advertising campaign so great was that it combined a truly innovative strategy with memorable, yet endearing, execution.
At the time Lite Beer by Miller arrived on the scene, light beer—that is, beer with fewer calories—was perceived by most beer drinkers as “diet beer.” Miller reoriented the category by positioning Lite beer as the beer for big beer drinkers. Because Lite beer had fewer calories, the serious beer drinker didn’t get full so fast, and thereby was able to drink more beer. To relieve concerns about the reduced-calorie beer tasting weaker, the advertising assured beer drinkers that the taste was as good as regular beer. Hence the theme line: “Tastes great. Less filling.”
The execution was equally brilliant. By featuring ex-professional athletes to whom serious beer drinkers could relate, the campaign became a cultural icon and ran for years.
UNDERDOGADVERTISING
Eventually, Miller became tired of the “tastes great—
less filling” strategy, and introduced a new campaign targeting the next generation of beer drinkers: Generation X. The new campaign featured farcical situations that would be considered humorous by Gen Xers, always stamped by the same
“Commercials by Dick.” (“Dick” was the mythical advertising guy who was supposed to be responsible for the ads.) However, the commercials never sold the benefits of Lite Beer by Miller. In fact, they never really sold anything.
The campaign was cheered by the advertising industry. It won virtually every advertising award possible. However, sales declined. And Dick soon went away. While I don’t know all the factors that contributed to the sales decline, it’s a safe bet that a weak creative strategy for the “Dick” spots had something to do with it.
So, what goes into a creative strategy? Here are some elements you should consider:
Who are you talking to?
Do you have an idea who is the most likely person to respond to your offer? If not, your current customer base can give you a clue. Chances are the people who will respond to your advertising message are pretty similar to those who are already buying your product. So, who are your best customers and what are they like? There are probably a lot more people out there who are just like your best existing customers, and therefore more likely to be open to your product. The better you can define the prospects you want to target, the better you will be able to craft an advertising message that strikes a responsive chord with your customer. (We’ll talk more about this in chapter seven.)
PRINCIPLE#3: STRATEGYBEFOREEXECUTION
What are your competitors saying?
Who are the key companies/brands/services that compete with you for the same customer? Look at their advertising. Study their message and how they are saying it. To be noticed by your customers, your advertising message must be different from that of your competitors. And you can’t make sure your message is different, unless you know what your competitors are saying.
(This will be discussed in more detail in chapter eight.) How is your product positioned in the marketplace?
Can you express in a single thought or idea something that sets you apart from your competitors? (We’ll cover this question more in chapter fifteen.)
What is the key benefit your product delivers?
There is a huge difference between features and benefits.
Features are the attributes or characteristics your product has.
Benefits relate more to your customer—what he or she gets out of buying and using your product. A Corvette has a 405-horsepower engine with sequential fuel injection—that’s a feature. The fact that the driver gets a buzz from the car’s 0–60 mph acceleration in five seconds is a benefit (at least it is if you like to drive fast). As you think about your advertising message, think about it from your customer’s perspective. Try to identify one key benefit, which is the “hot button” or “triggering device” to positive consumer reaction.
What is the key objection you must overcome in order to make a sale?
For every purchase decision, no matter how big or small, your customer weighs the risk and rewards tied to that purchase. If UNDERDOGADVERTISING
the reward is big enough, he will take the risk. And if you know what that risk is, you can frame your sales message to help your customer see why the reward you are promising is worth the risk he perceives. Once you identify the primary reason why a positive purchasing decision might not be made, you are in a position to address your customer’s key objection in your advertising.
PRINCIPLE#3: STRATEGYBEFOREEXECUTION