Great Creative By Taren Grom Creating GREAT CREATIVE In this agency roundtable, creative experts provide their insights on the key ingredients that make up a great creative ad — that creative “something else” — how the creative process has changed as a result of increasing media channels, and where they draw creative inspiration. he Creative Key Elements makes people want to engage. So that some- insight; a real, definable point of differentia- thing else becomes the sum of all the parts tion; relevance to the target audience; one big T One marketing expert has stated working together to create a presence that idea; brilliant headline; killer image; great de- that in addition to hard work, there are usually demands attention and makes the audience sign; engaging user experience; unique use of four key elements in a great ad: a disruptive feel something. selected media; and campaign flexibility across and relevant visual, strong brand identifi- multiple channels. cation, a brilliant headline, and “something JACK HYNDMAN The something else is simplicity. Charles else.” Industry creative experts discuss what Head of Creative, Fingerpaint Mingus said that “making the simple com- they believe are the key elements in a great ad plicated is commonplace; making the compli- and provide what they believe is that some- The key elements of a great ad are one great cated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativ- thing else. ity.” Complexity is the necessary input to the Advertising is an art form, PharmaVOICEcreative process; simplicity is the output — it NORBERT DE LACLOS has to be in order for ideas and brands to break Chief Creative Officer, Natrel and like any other art through in today’s cluttered media landscape. form, we have to factor in The way information has permeated the intangible element of STEVE HAMBURG our lives from all sides, breakthrough that makes people want Partner, Chief Creative Officer, Calcium creative is more important than ever to engage. before. And customers — patients and First and foremost, a great ad is powered by an clinicians — are bombarded across a va- LOUIS MASSAIA enormous idea, and such ideas are generated riety of medical content channels every Palio, an inVentiv Health as a result of insight, intellect, imagina- day. With so much information out tion, and, yes, inspiration. A great ad company there, the risk of the audience tuning rewires the way we think. It delivers out or turning away has increased sig- a cognitive jolt and gets our neurons nificantly. That said, if the client/agency team firing in new and interesting ways. A has pushed the brand to a truly compelling great ad surprises us, wakes us up out place and it is firmly established in the mar- of our slumbers, and makes us pay ket, we don’t necessarily need the “something attention and take notice, which is else.” The key challenge at that point is main- no small feat in this distracted age taining brand consistency and exploring new of ours. channels. It’s at launch that the “something A great ad works holistically, else” may be needed. with all the constituent parts work- ing together in a kind of organic LOUIS MASSAIA harmony. This makes a great ad a Executive CreativeCompliments Director, Palio, an living and breathing thing. You inVentiv Health company can’t alter one element without fun- damentally changing the whole en- I believe that the something else comes down chilada. It’s possible to have brilliant to whether or not the ad is capable of captur- copy and brilliant design without ing a feeling. That’s the magic factor, and it having a great ad. Why? Because (c) PharmaLinx LLC. Rights do not include promotional use. For distribution or printing rights, contact [email protected] separates the good from the great. Advertising it’s not the individual elements but is an art form, and like any other art form, we the interaction between elements that have to factor in the intangible element that can give an ad the pulse of greatness. 16 March 2016 PharmaVOICE Great Creative Great creative excites us by taking us to a new place. And that, I believe, is the “some- thing else” variable. Has the ad transported us to new feelings, thoughts, and perceptions? Has it given us a new and memorable expe- rience? Has it expanded our cultural vocab- A great ad is powered by an ulary? Great creative does more than entice enormous idea, and such ideas and engage; it rewards and enriches. It tells a are generated as a result of powerful story that we can powerfully relate to because, on some level, the story is about us. insight, intellect, imagination, and, yes, inspiration. RICHARD CAMPBELL Partner, MRB Partners STEVE HAMBURG Calcium First, there needs to be a clear attitude. Brand personalities are often created by committee and stretched in contradictory directions: e.g., a warm-and-fuzzy revolutionary. By contrast, a finely drawn brand personality focuses creative to understand what you’re offering energy and results in work that connects with but also care that it’s worth their customers. Second, there has to be a relentless interest. A former colleague called Great ads evoke an focus on a single strategic benefit. Even a this characteristic resonance — not echo of emotional world full of feature geeks wants to know how a bad way to express it. identification in the a product improves lives. Single-mindedness viewer. is its own reward: By saying one thing well, BENTON INGERSOLL it’s easier for the audience to remember it. Co-founder and Content BENTON INGERSOLL Third, there must be a tight fit between copy Director, Minds + Assembly Minds + Assembly and art. Make one say something that the other doesn’t, and copy and art will say more Déjà vu is the missing element. together than either alone. It’s an additive ef- Great ads evoke an echo of emo- fect. The moments effort for viewers to put the tional identification in the viewer.PharmaVOICE pieces together and “get it” provides a small You feel deep down inside that reward that makes the story more memorable. you’ve felt or known whatever the The something else is making the audience ad is conveying and that gives you care. More than just being comprehended, a thrill, which then ofbecomes asso- the story has to engage the customers’ hearts ciated with the brand. As for the and minds to compel behavior. People have other pieces — visual, brand ID, and headline GRAHAM MILLS — those may be elements of great advertising, Global Chief Creative Officer, Digitas but they don’t have to all be present. In fact, Health LifeBrands, Publicis Life Brands, and there’s such a thing as too much of a good Heartbeat Ideas thing. A super-clever headline paired with a super-clever visual is often super-annoying. What I look for is a sense of connection and The last thing is that execution itself, the pho- identifying a purpose between the brand and tography or illustration, the type design and the audience. Today, as brands become bigger layout, can easily win the day. than advertising, it’s about feeding a long con- nection, such as how does this brand fit into a STEPHEN NEALE patient’s life. How does it make a difference? Senior VP, Executive Creative Director, How does the story fit into a patient’s journey? AbelsonTaylor We’re not selling graham crackers; there has to be that connection. To us, a great ad must meet five criteria: it The other thing I look for is simplicity. gets the message across quickly, it evokes a Sometimes I think we are coaxed into telling strong emotion, it’s campaign-able, it’s rele- overly complicated stories. It’s better to figure We’re using our creativeCompliments abilities vant, and it’s distinct or breaks through the out what the one thing is that needs to be said for the greater good — promoting visual clutter. We think that engagement is and say that and then let the other stuff be products that are saving or improving the je ne sais quoi, the critical element that el- discovered as people engage with the brand. lives. That in itself, is inspiring. evates great ad campaigns today. This critical element gets viewers to become participants. AMY HANSEN STEPHEN NEALE It moves them beyond the words and pictures, Senior VP, Creative Director, HCB Health (c) PharmaLinx LLC. Rights do not include promotional use. For distribution or printing rights, contact [email protected] AbelsonTaylor and regardless of the medium — print, digital, broadcast — gives them a reason to act and No matter how much new technology and return, ultimately becoming loyalists. media mess with the definition of an ad, one PharmaVOICE March 2016 17 Great Creative thing remains the same: it requires great forms. There has to be a virility to it, if you ative. Experientially speaking, a website is perseverance to push through the mediocre, will, to make an ad truly great. very different from a print ad, a TV campaign the see-say, the overdone, the obvious, the very different from an electronic sales aid. To self-serving, the self-doubt, the judgment, the The Creative Process maximize creative effectiveness, we must have panic attacks, and the sheer exhaustion that a deep understanding of what makes each me- threaten greatness. We hold in our imagina- With so many media — print, TV, digi- dium tick — or click — and a strong ability to tion the power to move people, to give them tal, social, etc. — available today for message tailor our creative expression to fit the unique chills or goose bumps; to touch their hearts delivery, our agency experts discuss how the properties of different mediums.