Cross-media communication and the creative concept

1. Cross-media communication and the creative concept Hoorcollege marketing communication blok 4 week 2

2. Learning goals • By the end of the colleges and reading you should • Know what a consumer insight is and why this is important to marketing communication • Be able to define integrated marketing communications • Have a working definition of a “cross media” communication • Understand and be in a position to use the steps in developing effective marketing communication • Be in a position to develop a creative concept

3. Agenda • Consumer insight and marketing communications • Integrated marketing communications (IMC) • What is “cross-media” communication? • The creative concept - the basis of the campaign • Summary

4. Consumer insight and marketing communications

5. The communications loop

6. Important stuff to remember when developing communications • Know your audience (target customer) • Send a clear message • What do you want to say? • KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) • Understand the communications process • What are the barriers to communication? • The question is how do we do this in practice?

7. Consumers do not buy products • A golden rule of marketing is that consumers do not buy products or services… • They buy solutions to problems they have • In marketing jargon: They buy benefits • For example: • A person that has just moved house and has to put up shelves does not buy a drill • They buy holes in the wall that allow them to put up shelves • A parent does not buy a game for their children for a long journey • They buy peace and quiet during the journey

8. However most problems have more than one solution ???

9. Before they buy your solution the consumer wants to know…“What’s in it for me?”

10. Customer insights • A consumer insight is a deep understanding of a problem from the perspective of the consumer • A unique insight creates a strong competitive advantage as it differentiates your offer more effectively • It helps the customer see “what’s in it for me?”

11. Customer insight example:Wisk USA (Omo) • USA is P&G’s home market Ariel is the market leader • Unilever HQ wanted market growth • No new product • No TV • This can be a brand manager’s nightmare! • What did the brand manager do?

12. What happened? • The brand manager did what every marketer should do when faced with a problem… • Listen to the customer (user):

13. The insight • Their research showed that many mothers were worried about that their children did not play outside enough • This insight was the basis of their communication campaign Go Ahead. Get Dirty • This insight allowed them to grow by 12% in a tough market

14. Internet Activity

15. Internet Activity

16. One global idea…many executions Taiwan Brazil Canada UK S.Africa Chile Ecuador Turkey Thailand Pakistan India

17. Using consumer insights • A consumer insight is often be the basis of the whole marketing mix • Therefore it can also be the basis of your marketing communications • Your campaign ultimately aims to show the customer “what’s in it for them” • This can be done by developing integrated marketing communications

18. Integrated marketing communications (IMC)

19. What is Integrated Marketing Communications? • Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is simply the idea that an organization carefully integrates all its communications channels to deliver a clear, consistent and compelling message to its target customer(s) • By integrating all the elements of it communication it builds a strong brand identity and consistently shows the target customer “what’s in it for them” • Communication here is meant in a broad sense to include • The message • Communication channels • Imagery, visual look and feel and tone of voice • The idea of consumer touch points

20. IMC - Kotler’s view

21. An alternative view of IMC:The IMC circle Consistent, clear and compelling company and product messages Source: Pickton, D. & Broderick, A., 2005. Integrated Marketing Communications 2nd Ed., Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.

22. What is “cross-media” communication?

23. Cross-media hype or something different? • In recent years the term cross-media communication has become popular within the marketing communications world • Some regard it as the solution to the noise in marketing communication • Others see it as just a hype and no different from IMC • However, it is not even clear what cross-media communication is

24. What is cross-media communication? • “By definition cross-media publishing is the publishing of a message or communication via multiple media outlets including printed media, electronic media and the Internet” Source: Barb Pellow, Rochester Institute of Technology (http://shopnews.suiteshoponline.com/tips/200651723435.htm, visited 04/02/2007)

25. What is cross-media communication? • “Crossmedia communication is communication where the storyline will invite the receiver to cross-over from one medium to the next. Making it possible to transform from one-dimensional communication (sender -> receiver(s)) to multi-dimensional communication (sender(s) <-> receiver(s)). Good crossmedia communication will enhance the value of communication: The level and depth of (message) involvement will be more personal and therefore more relevant and powerful. Financial profits can be gained through equal or decreasing costs for the same communication effects with single medium communication. It is possible to shift costs for communicating from the sender to the receiver if the story is attractive enough for the receiver to want to interact with it.” Source: Monique de Haas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossmedia, visited 04/02/2007)

26. What is cross-media communication? • “Dat de definitie van crossmedia onderdeel vormt van een actueel debat waarover nog geen consensus is uitgesproken moge duidelijk zijn. De pioniers op dit gebied zijn het lang niet eens met elkaar, maar dat kan ook niet anders want binnen crossmedia werken verschillende disciplines met elkaar samen en benaderen zij het fenomeen vanuit het eigen perspectief.” Source: Indira Reynaert (http://crossmediaforum.web-log.nl/log/3481353, visited 04/02/2007)

27. It isn’t very clear is it? • The problem is that cross-media communication seems to be based on an old idea (IMC) but with a new twist (IAM) • It is perhaps just IMC with “go-faster stripes” • For the purposes of this blok I will give you a working definition

28. A working definition of cross-media communication • Cross-media communication is a communication campaign that: • Is based on a customer insight • Tries to sell a solution to a problem the customer has by using “story” • Uses more than one medium and integrates these media • Encourages the target group to move between media in a natural way via the story • Involves the target group in the campaign (is interactive) making it more personal and therefore impactful • The interaction is synchronous (close to real-time) not asynchronous

29. The creative concept - the basis of the campaign

30. The creative concept (a.k.a. big idea, creative theme, creative idea) • The creative concept is vehicle you use to show your target customer “what’s in it for them” • It is the message or the underlying idea you use for a specific campaign • A creative concept should be “media neutral” • A creative concept should “have legs” • It should be flexible enough to use across different media • It should be usable across more than one campaign

31. Creative concept: One view

32. Executing the creative concept • This usually involves developing a creative appeal (often the slogan) • This is about phrasing the message in a way that appeals to the target audience • Let them see what’s in it for them • Two main dimensions to this phrasing • Rational / emotional appeals • Product / customer orientated appeals

33. Rational / emotional appeals • Rational appeals • Logical argument that tries to persuade the customer to act in a certain way • On their own rational appeals do not usually hold attention in consumer markets • But they may work in some B2B markets • Emotional appeals • Appealing to the emotions of the customer to reinforce the rational appeal • Not just concerned with facts, but also feelings

34. Types of emotional appeal • Negative • Fear is the main one • E.g. Toilet cleaners • Need to be used carefully • Positive • Happiness • Enjoyment • Freedom • Love • Self-fulfilment • Humour • Sex • Etc., etc…

35. Product / customer orientated appeals • Product appeals • Focus on product features and/or attributes and stress why they are important to the target audience • Customer orientated appeals • Stress on personal gains through the use of the product

36. Most creative appeals combine dimensions • Rational / Product • Rational / Consumer • Emotional / Product • Emotional / Consumer • Important to ensure the message is not made too complex • Always refer back to your knowledge of the target audience when trying to decide which way you want to appeal to them • Choose the approach that works best for them • E.g. Do not use humour if it is inappropriate (this happens a lot with British agencies)

37. Creative appeal dimensions

38. Example of creative concept: Amstel Bier

39. Summary • Marketing communication is about showing the target customer “what’s in it for them” • To be effective it should be created as an integrated marketing communication campaign to deliver a clear, consistent and compelling message • Cross-media communication is a form of IMC with a stronger emphasis on story and interaction • A good campaign should be based on a creative concept that appeals to the target group and shows them “what’s in it for them”