Fall 2006: by Brent Banda

Creativity Can Sell

Have you ever watched an interesting TV commercial and one minute later forgot what was being sold? Creativity used effectively in advertising is more than artwork. It is a tool for breaking through advertising clutter and educating your potential customers on your product. However, for creativity to be effective as a selling tool, some core principles must be followed.

Have a Purpose
The graphic design studio or advertising agency you are using will need to know who your target market is and what you want to tell these potential customers. As basic as this may be, most businesses at some time have used advertising that presents the wrong message or focuses on the wrong audience.

Creativity must do more than get the attention of your audience. It must reinforce what makes you unique.

Here is a basic example. Perhaps you wish to promote your RV dealership's wide selection of used RVs to young families who are enjoying an RV lifestyle for the first time. Without this information, the graphic designer will need to rely on his or her own past experience with RVs to develop the ad. You may very well end up with an ad targeting senior citizens who are current RV owners and wish to upgrade to a new luxury model. This would not help your dealership sell more used RVs. A little direction goes a long way.

Walk in Your Customer's Shoes
It doesn't matter if you find your own company's advertisements interesting. If you are selling clothing to teenagers, you obviously need to understand the nuances in teen culture that affect what they find interesting. Develop the ad to appeal to your customer, not yourself.

Effective graphic designers think like the people for whom they're designing advertisements. They walk a mile in this target market's shoes before a creative approach is developed. The designer should know what motivates this person to make a purchase - what purpose customers would have to use the product, how they feel about the purchase, and how they feel about peers watching them use the product. Each of these three issues will vary in importance with different industries but they should all be considered when determining what will help make a product appealing to a customer.

In our RV example, perhaps the primary motivation of first time RV owners is to enjoy family time and to revisit their own childhood memories of camping. The emotional aspect of how first time RV owners feel about their purchase is a strong foundation with which to build an appealing creative message. You need to understand the customer to sell to the customer.

Tie In Your Key Message
The tricky step where most advertising fails is in the actual use of the creative idea.

Your creative concept must drive home the reason people would buy from you. It must do more than get the attention of your audience. It must reinforce what makes you unique.

Years ago I saw a TV ad promoting Saturn cars. A young lady calmly approached a salesman and explained she had lost her job and was no longer able to purchase her new car. The salesman was supportive in his response. The next scene showed the same lady walking into the dealership again and proudly explaining she was now ready to purchase her car. The sales representative just smiled in a way that said 'I knew you could do it'. This commercial did a fantastic job of illustrating Saturn's unique sales experience, the company's core benefit.

When planning your advertising, consider how you can make your ad more effective. A slightly different twist on a traditional message may be helpful - if it catches the attention of your audience and drives home your message in a memorable way.

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