The evolution of creative
Before moving on to some of the winners and losers of social media creative, let's consider the bigger picture.
As creative has made the pilgrimage from broadcast, print, and out of home to digital and social media, progressive creative teams have forced themselves to think less in terms of filling the media buys they've been handed by buyers and planners, and instead to think much more strategically earlier on in the lifecycle of a campaign or program. The creative germ still comes after brand objectives are established, but it often follows these questions: What's the most cost-effective media mix to accomplish the brand goals? How can we build creative concepts around them? To what extent can we successfully execute this unique creative message?
Bill Bernbach said, "Properly practiced, creativity must result in greater sales more economically achieved. Properly practiced, creativity can lift your claims out of the swamp of sameness and make them accepted, believed, persuasive, urgent." In this recession-riddled economy, there isn't a client out there that isn't demanding "greater sales more economically achieved." Social media is no exception, and that's where the creativity comes in.
When considering social media, consider your specific goals. Branding, brand awareness, customer service, increased trial or sales -- these are not specific enough. Dig deeper. If you were spending $5 million on a TV buy and half a million on production, your brief would have very specific goals, your messaging would (should!) be very single focused. The same applies here. Why wouldn't it? For example, imagine that brand awareness in the Midwest is 30 points behind that in the South, where the product originates. We need to up awareness and recall in target demographics by 10. And we're going to do it for a fraction of that aforementioned $5 million. We're just not going to get it done temporarily during a six week heavy-up.
Here are some basic tips to consider before getting started:
- You are about to start or join a conversation. You better be bringing something of value to that conversation.
- A social media campaign must have legs. You can't create a presence then abandon it.
- Have very specific and measurable goals. "Testing the waters" is akin to being partially pregnant; if you've taken the step beyond listening and are engaging people, you're in and you better know what you're doing.
- Every social media program or campaign ought to be unique. Facebook and Twitter might be two very common channels, but it's how you use them where the creativity comes in.
To really understand the value of creative, look at these four examples of how compelling creative (or lack thereof) makes the difference between success and failure.
