This week marks the beginning of Semester 2, and to start the term off, we learnt about something slightly different from what we have been doing so far for Visual Communications. This week's lesson was all about learning about Marketing Communications and its components.
Turns out, there are actually many parts and factors to consider when one wants to have effective and efficient marketing communications. I will now be listing down each individual component, as well as what is their main objective.
1) The Agency-The company is obviously what the client will be working with closely to achieve what he wants. There are many components to The Agency, and all of them work together to achieve the most optimal results in favor of the client.
2) Strategy Planner team- who access the target market and does various other important research to better understand the situation and to plan ahead.
3) Account team- This team works closely with the Strategy Planner team, and supervises the processes going on in the agency, and also deals with administrative issues. This team is also mainly responsible for lionizing with the client.
4) Creative Department- deals with ad ideas, art direction and copy-writing,
5) Production department- turns ideas into reality, and has to be able to work under tight deadlines.
6) Media Buying and Planning department- deals with the media to reach intended target audience and negotiate terms and prices for buying and planning.
So as you can see, there is alot of work going on behind closed doors, and that's also what makes learning about Marketing Communications so interesting!
Before The Agency can begin working on a client's project, it first needs to have an idea of who the client is and what he wants to achieve. This necessary information is known best by the client himself, and thus it is no wonder that it is the client that must first hand over the Client Brief to The Agency. Well, to the Account Team, to be precise.
Source: http://yokasara.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/3-client-brief.jpg
The Client Brief is, in summary:
A statement of the problem/opportunity. There is an distinct emphasis on clarity and a clear and precise summary of the brand's current position, its marketing strategy and what it wants to achieve.
Every project has to start with a Client Brief, which clearly states the the objectives of the campaign. A important note to take is that the client should never tell The Agency what to do, but should instead give as much guidance and information as possible in order to arrive at the best possible solution. The Agency's Account Team should in turn pay utmost attention to the Client Brief, and be prepared with their own research and "homework" done prior. Some important components to a good Client Brief include
Where do the clients want to be,
Who do they need to talk to,
What are they doing to get to the point they want to be, etc.
Last but not least, we have the Creative Brief.
The Creative Brief is, in summary:
The beginnings of the creative solution. There's a strong emphasis on crystallising the strategic ideas to provide a platform that will inform and inspire creative ideas.
Source: http://www.mohawkconnects.com/feltandwire/wpcontent/uploads/2011/02/WhoUsesACreativeBrief.jpg
The Creative Brief is done by the Account team and the Strategy Planner team, and is based on the information provided in the Client Brief PLUS the teams' own additional research. This is the information about the all that The Agency has done for the Client over the past few months, and must thus be of utmost perfection, so as to impress the Client, and not to waste everyone's efforts. Some simple tips to a good Creative Brief are simplicity, clarity, problem-solving and agenda-achieving. You must also remember to present your work to the client politely and professionally!
This week's lesson has been very insightful, and opened my eyes to the world of marketing communications. The teacher was clear and easy to understand, and made the whole tutorial interesting with hands-on activities.
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