What does ‘creativity’ mean in advertising?

Creativity in advertising does not happen in a vacuum. Productive uniqueness and imagination are valuable in all areas, even those that relate to such usual managerial tasks as the planning as well as the organisation of advertising departments in addition to the establishment of controls.

The creative process is not a scientific procedure

Instead, it develops from insight or inspiration. Nevertheless, creativity in advertising must not only produce unique as well as interesting results, but it must also produce beneficial solutions to real problems.

Baker describes the notion of ‘creativity’ like a pyramid which is divided into three sections.

1. Advertising creativity often takes off from a base of a methodical accumulation of facts as well as analysis.
2. The second phase symbolises processing or analysis.
3. The third part—the idea—is the result of creative

What are the four steps in the creative process?

English sociologist, Graham Walls, defined the four steps in the creative process:

• Step 1 Preparation – Gathering background information needed to solve the problem through research and study.
• Step 2 Incubation – Getting away and letting ideas develop.
• Step 3 Illumination – Seeing the light or solution.
• Step 4 Verification – Refining and polishing the idea and seeing if it is an appropriate solution.

As with all advertising and marketing, the process begins with a strategy. The strategy is the formulation of a marketing message that communicates the benefit or problem-solution characteristics of the product or, alternative the service, to the market.

The message must be consumer-oriented in meeting consumer requirements or wants. In addition, it must offer the desired consumer benefit. If it doesn’t, even a superb advertising strategy will not succeed. This means that the advertising message must be the correct one which, when projected to the correct audience at the right time, will bring the anticipated results.

How to formulate an advertising or marketing strategy

The following principles (guidelines) are to be kept in mind while formulating the advertising or marketing strategy:

• The consumer benefit must be clearly related to the particular features of the product. This strategy would distinguish the product from the competitors’.
• The correct type of media should be chosen for the product/service advertising for proper as well as effective communication.
• The benefit offered to the consumer must be wanted by the consumers. The product features offered must be what the consumer wants and not what the manufacturer thinks that the consumer wants.
• The advertising message must be clear in that the product offered will answer a consumer problem and fulfil a consumer need or offer a consumer benefit. The benefit must be clearly communicated.

Creativity is divergent thinking. Put another way, it is the capacity to find unusual and nonobvious solutions to a problem. Advertising creativity is the ability to develop fresh, unique as well as appropriate ideas which can be utilised as solutions to communication problems. To be appropriate as well as effective, a creative idea must be pertinent to the target audience.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

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