The "Silver Lining."

     I do not expect the extensive research process I have described to always be called for or budgeted. But, it is important to be educated about your client before producing creative work on behalf of your client -- trust me, your work will be much better for it.

     Most creative work is an attempt to offer solutions to problems. So, it is only logical to determine what the problems are. It has been said that there aren’t really any problems -- only solutions. But, in order to find solutions you need to find opportunities… and in order to find opportunities, you need to define the problems [it’s a vicious cycle].

   If problems are the “clouds,” opportunities are the “silver linings” (sorry if I’m beating a dead horse). So, the next leg of our journey will be -- you guessed it -- the “Problem/Opportunity Analysis.” (Yeah... I learned that in business school.)

     After doing the research and writing the situation analysis you should be able to make a list of six to eight viable problems that you are facing. This is not as easy as it may seem. I have often asked others (including clients) to give me a list of what they consider to be the marketing problems they are facing. I usually get a mish-mash of convoluted ideas -- you see, the ability to think in a structured, precise and "strategically correct" manner requires experience, discipline and solid facts. [This could answer the time-honored question of why they make you study algebra, calculus and statistics in college.] At any rate, it can be useful to know what your client thinks the problems are -- sometimes they even get it right. ;-)

   Nevertheless, the problem identification component of the strategic plan is crucial. Every strategic decision you make from this point forward is going to hinge on defining the problems clearly and accurately (still beating that dead horse to a pulp.)

     The next task is to turn the problems into a workable list of opportunities. The opportunities will be the beginning of the creative journey -- the building blocks of your creative platform. Opportunities make up the “launching pad” for all subsequent creative decisions -- including defining your target market, your mission, objectives, positioning statement, unique selling proposition, and all the other strategic and tactical factors to consider in writing the “creative brief” – the roadmap for a successful creative journey.

Comments

[Pam McMillen]

Robert,
This is, by far, the most interesting of your blogs....also, your writing makes me look forward to the next one. I am intriqued as to what is coming up.

Thanks,
Pam

[Karen]

You can't find the solution unless you know what the problems are and you must know the problems in order to set the goals. Setting the goals produces avenues for the solutions. Vicious cycle indeed.

You've done an excellent job beating the dead horse.

[Sam Gashton]

If it's a rainy day I like to walk into the backyard in my pajamas* and think just how lucky I am to be alive and able to work and eat and buy low priced imported products from smart people who've really done their research and know from a scientific perspective not just what I want to eat and buy but why and how often. You're right, that's what creativity is all about. I think you are an incredible genius, please, please keep bloggin', the cyberworld needs more clouds with silver linings!

*okay, my underwear, actually

[Josh]

Rob, once again I applaud you for your great work in your journalism. I have never seen any of your video productions, but judging by the quality of your blogs, they will be nothing short of spectacular ;). As for this entry, very nice, I would have never thought of the problem/solution cycle, I don't have clients yet, since im still young, but what you write in this blog will be a big help factor when I do.

Thanks again,

Josh.

[Robert Davis]

Wow...it was awesome and humbling to wake up this morning and read these kind comments. I appreciate it very much and I hope you all find my future blogs to be interesting and helpful.

Sam...thanks for voicing your insight and appreciation for advertising executives. I believe that while the advertising business is often frowned upon, in reality it is largely responsible for raising the standard of living in our society.

[Sam Gashton]

Thank you again for sharing your wealth of information and experience. Yes, I do feel I am better off now than ever before and I am so glad that there are decent American retirees leading the path in these uncertain times. I wish you great success with your journal and I'm looking forward to getting some juicy "behind the scenes" tidbits from your long and distinguished career in advertising. Can I ask a question? Did you ever have a client ask you to put subliminal messages in the photos during retouching? I always wondered about that. When I look at some ads in glossy magazines I feel that some of the imagery is kind of... weird. You know, fingers and fleshy parts that don't quite look like they're in a natural place. Two or three models in funny positions and situations, that sort of thing. Is that part of the creative design and what can you tell us about research done in this area? How effective is it? Sometimes when I have the time, I turn the magazine upside down just to see if I can spot something. I once read a book called "Subliminal Seduction" and the author said advfertisers put dirty words in ice cubes for liquor ads. Was that why the government banned hard liquor ads? Sorry, too many questions, but you've got the answers!

Keep up the good work, Robert- you're the real McCoy!

[Robert Davis]

Yikes...well, first of all, I'm a long way from retirement...and currently under a deadline so I don't have much time right now to respond in great detail. The short answer is "No." I have never been asked to doctor any ads with subliminal messages nor would I do so if asked. Plus, I don't believe there is any solid evidence that subliminal advertising is effective in influencing consumer behavior...

I'm not saying that it never happens, but on the other hand, I believe that there are many myths about the advertising business...and some of these myths serve only to give the industry a bad name. I can hear the black helicopters now...

[Jay Montgomery]

Hey I love this subliminal stuff. I'm an illustrator of all types of work including advertising. If I'm not getting what I'm worth or the client pisses me off, I'll put in some risque scenery or words if you no what mean hidden in the illustration. The art director never catches it. I'm totally kidding of course. I would never do such a thing...unless they told me too. I recall a real Coke poster that was sent out all over before they caught some obscene imagery in the illustrated ice. THIS was due to a joking illustrator. Check it out on snopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/poster.asp

[Sam Gashton]

Sorry, Robert! Please accept my apologies. I'm glad you are still in the game AND can find the time to educate us foolish young'ins. I'll take your word for it that subliminals just don't happen anymore, if they ever did. It does seem that the advertising community gets a bad rap and much of it is undeserved. Though I still enjoy squinting my eyes when
I look at the pictures!

Hey, no rush but what's your take on the usefulness of "product placement" in movies and now television series? At first I thought it was an obvious and blatant commercial intrusion that totally detracted from the artistry of a film, but now that I'm used to seeing it anywhere and everywhere I completely accept it as the new normal and keep enjoying my popcorn. Perhaps this is an example of the careful research and creative genius of advertisers- discovering that certain commercially necessary messages can be multi-tasked by a captive audience, with no ill effect whatsoever. Same thing with sporting events. I used to think that baseball our "National Pastime", was sacred and the ballfield was a special place where men can drink beer in peace and be boys again for 9 innings on a hot summer's day... well the reality is that those days ARE long gone and the folks who might complain about the dozen or so billboards "littering" their stately stadium just can't accept the realities of the marketplace the way ad-savvy businesspeople and their clients do.

This is all very interesting to me and I just want to thank you again for lifting our spirits and giving us the kind of insights that only a true insider such as yourself can provide.

[Robert Davis]

RE: Product placement. A good promotional effort can include many different things...including product placement. One thing I try to do (budget permitting) is to attempt to create an environment where the target market of the product or service advertised feels like the product is all around them...i.e. they see a TV spot...a billboard...transit poster...radio spot...newspaper ad...magazine ad...web banner...in-flight magazine ad, point-of-purchase displays and many other media, including of course product placements and other media. The trick is to be very strategic in finding out specifically what media the target audience will be exposed to. Media planning is all about using media funds in a highly efficient manner to reach a tightly defined target market. Media planning is a highly sophisticated process...with highly sophisticated tools that go far beyond quantitative (Arbitron and Nielson ratings analysis for example) information to very precise qualitative research...(i.e. cluster profiling, lifestyle and behavior research, etc.) I don't want to get into all that too much on this blog though...although I personally believe that media planning is a vital part of the creative process...knowing what types of media will be used will affect the creative decisions of the work itself...

Regarding your baseball analogy. That is a pretty good example of "problem/opportunity analysis." The problem is that people don't want to have their lives "cluttered" with nasty looking signage, billboards and various advertising "nuisances." So if that is the problem...what might the opportunities be? (There will be a quiz, btw. lol.)

[Sam Gashton]

Okay, Robert I'll take a swing at that one: If the problem is too much commercial clutter, too many billboards, too much hard sell sponsorship imbedded in the game, then sooner or later maybe someone will come along to charge extra to eliminate all that advertising. Was that not the genesis of HBO? Their payTV business model took a long while to catch on, but thank God it did. HBO now has the resources to further engage their educated, upscale subscribers with quality programming, like "Sopranos", "Real Time with Bill Maher" and "Real Sex" (now that's what I'm talking about!).

HBO's daring vision has had a profound impact on society. It has given budding filmmakers and forward-thinking executives an opportunity to create beautiful, edgy stories that do not cater to traditional media's least common denominator of filth and disgust. (I mean, Fear Factor, yuch!) Who knows, someday HBO might win the exclusive right to televise commercial-free baseball, along with digitally removed billboards in "real-time". Robert, you are so right about this whole systematic approach to creativity. In our glorious free-market, there always is a win-win, especially if there's an educated customer with disposable cash in their pocket.

Hey, what is the "buzz" in the ad community over Tivo and other DVR technologies? I must admit, I'm very proud of my ability to skip over commercials and stop on a dime in time for the next segment of CSI. But this must be a problem for advertsers. I read somewhere that KFC was planting easter eggs or something in their TV spots in an effort to get folks to study their commercials, rather than fast-forward through them. I heard you can win a piece of chicken or something, but I'm thinking if a viewer can afford DVR technology, factory-farmed fare is not on their menu anyway.
What's the opportunity there, I wonder?

[Robert Davis]

My question was from the POV of the advertiser, btw. If the problem is that the target audience is offended by the "clutter" and distraction/intrusiveness of advertising... then IMHO the opportunity is to make the advertising perform...to add artistic value to the advertising. To create advertising that enhances the appearance of the venue... while providing entertainment value in and of itself. To make the experience even more enjoyable than it would be without it. For example, The giant Coke bottle at Turner Field here in Atlanta shoots fireworks everytime the Braves hit a home run. Attractive scoreboards serve as advertising for their sponsors. The "mega-tron" big screens have advertiser sponsored games that involve the audience during the "seventh inning stretch" and other times. Everything is designed to enhance the game...not to detract from it. The audience in turn begins to form positive associations of the advertisers to the game of baseball. Personally, I believe that the advertiser participation in baseball (and other sports) is as much a part of the sport as "hot dogs and bobble heads."

As far as your TIVO question...yes that is certainly a growing concern... as TIVO gains market penetration. But instead of getting into that I will suggest that you search for articles in Advertising Age, ADWEEK Magazine and other industry publications. I'm sure you would also find ample material via google as well.

I will (quickly) say that advertising media buys are based on audience delivery... it also lowers the cost of media availability dramatically (to media consumers). If the media cannot provide the audience, advertisers will not continue to pay premiums for the advertising time and they will look for other ways to reach their audiences (product placements, sponsorships, online, etc.)... and the cost of media entertainment will increase accordingly.

[Sam Gashton]

And even when advertisers are delivered their target audience, they are in for some broadening
challenges.

For instance, I've learned that "media literacy" is all the rage in educational circles, so much so that many school districts fund it heavily and teach it at the earliest grade levels. Poking around the 'net as you suggested, (see links, below) it looks like the cat is very much out of the bag.

There's syllabus designed to challenge youngsters to receive their media messages with a discerning eye and a sense of skepticism- not just traditional television inside and outside the commercial breaks, but advertising and editorial content in magazines, newspapers, online, vending machines and even the goods in that daily advertising delivery system, the U.S. Mail.

They are taught about stealth advertising and packaging, and also about stereotypes imbedded in all that cheery, fun content.

So if yesterday's faux pax was "Chief Knockahoma" dancing it up for the natives, that sizzling Coke can may be the next victim of politically correct pruning.

You are right again Robert! As the world turns, creative types will certainly be put to a new test and I'm sure with your help, they'll find the right measure!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22media+literacy%22+advertising&btnG=Google+Search