As you may recall, last week we learnt about Marketing Communications, and how the Creative Brief is a important part of it. This week, we are going to take a look at some of the Creative Processes behind a successful Creative Brief.
Source: http://images.mises.org/3461/Figure6.jpg
CREATIVE PROCESS (Part 1)
Creative Team
We'll start off by introducing the team in-charge itself. This group is directly responsible for the origination of advertising ideas and concepts from a Creative Brief supplied by the Strategy Planner and Account Teams (Remember last week?). The members of this team usually consists of a Creative Director, and Art Director and a Copywriter. There can also be some Designers in the team. What do these people do? Why, be creative, of course! They generate relevant ideas, and brainstorm together to solve the Client's problems and achieve his agenda. They are also able to reach their target audience by understanding the consumer behaviour and various media channels available to the advertisers. So as you can see, the Creative Team is like the "Brain" of the Creative Process, and is the key source of creativity for a project.
Source: http://chrissonksen.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/creative-meeting2.png
Direct and Indirect Inspiration
At first glance, you may find this term pretty hard to understand. But in all honesty, it is actually quite a simple process. A key point to take note of is that great ideas are usually not instantaneous. Meaning more often than not, you are not going to be able to settle on a brilliant final plan for the Creative Brief. This is where brainstorming as a group and mind-mapping comes in. Instead of focusing all on the final results, start small ask yourself some simple questions, such as what do you want to achieve, why do you want to achieve this, how to go about achieving this. Basically, the 5 W's and 1 H. Once you have started on these basic questions, you can then proceed to brainstorm for ideas, and another point to take note of is that, like what our lecturer said, do pen down all the ideas that goes through your head, no matter how ridiculous! After all, there is always the possibility that by looking at these initial ideas on paper, you can eventually "layer" them up and link them together to form a grander plan! In short, explore all available options with an open mind.
Source: http://mathieujang.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/inspiration-light-bulb.jpg
Research and Familiarisation
Very simple ideas. Familiarise yourself with the situation and the Client Brief, and do additional research on the task at hand. Some directions you can take include finding out about the Product/Service, the Manufacturer, the Sellers and the Consumer Audience. Also be sure to research on whatever interesting facts there are, that may not be well know by the market. Surprise them, and the Target Audience will be sure to remember the Client the next time they see your ad.
Source: http://spectrumcenter.umich.edu/sites/spectrumcenter.umich.edu/files/field/image/research.png
CREATIVE PROCESS ( Part 2)
Ideas Generation
A Key component of the Creative Process, is none other than the process of creating ideas itself! There are 5 short and proven steps to effective Idea Generation.
Step 1 is to list down any simple idea that may cross your mind as you are pondering over the task (Refer to Direct and Indirect Inspiration). Remember not to judge your own ideas, and truly let your creativity run wild!
Step 2 is to try to incorporate the element of "surprise" into your ideas ( Refer to Research and Familiarisation).
Step 3 is to be observant of human behaviour, such as anticipating how the target audience and the media is going to react to your ideas. Fell free to make use of personal experiences to guide you.
Step 4 is to keep a record of all your ideas and observations so far, as they may all help you to achieve new inspirations.
Step 5, the last step, is to actually test out your ideas in reality. Access and evaluate the results collected, and if the need arises, revisit your idea again. And remember to revise on the Client Brief, always!
Source: http://artpetty.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ideas.jpg
Concept Development
You may ask yourself, "what is the difference between an Idea and an Concept". Well, to put things simply, an Idea mostly exists individually, while a Concept is often a collection of different Ideas in a more complex and interesting way. Basically, Concept Development is the process of generating multiple ideas after an analysis of the task or product. It is important to note that after developing a concept, do make sure that you can represent it in a visual form, such as a diagram, thumbnails or mood board, so as to allow the Creative Director and the rest of the team to better understand your concept.
Source: http://13thirtyone.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/1331Design_ConceptDevelopment_Title.jpg
Copy-writing
Next up on the list is Copy-writing. This is the process of writing text, be it a Media Release or Advertisement, for the purpose of advertising and marketing. The Copywriter is the one who will be putting down the ideas into words, and try to sell them to the target audience and media. Thus, it is important for the copywriter to know the market well, and write in such a way that the recipient can easily understand the concept. Some important tips: Make sure the Headline is big and attractive enough. The text body should also be able to drive the pace and momentum created by the headline. Also remember to use words that an average person can understand. After all, you are not trying to show off your language skills here!
Source: http://www.eacsoft.com/images/seo-copywriting.jpg
Brainstorming
And finally, we have one of the most important skills ever in group work. Brainstorming is when you get together as a group to produce ideas and strategy. In this case, the entire Creative Team gets to work with one another to do this. And as such, it is important to have responsibility to do your share of work, and be able to cooperate with other team members well. Brainstorming is a very efficient tool as well because it helps you to break out of the stale, established ways of thinking, and see things from a new perspective. Moreover, when used as a team, the amount of ideas generated can be so many, such that it increases the richness of the ideas explored, allowing you to find solutions to any problems you may face. Last but not least, it allows team members to bond, and work together in a positive group environment.
Source: http://mindspower.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/brainstorming.jpg
As you can see, this week was really content- heavy. But since I have learnt so many useful terms and techniques to better facilitate my future endeavors, I have absolutely no regrets!
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