Day #1: Is Online Driving the Best Creative?

Joseph Jaffe: Let’s get this panel started…

At the AAAA's Media Conference held recently in New Orleans, Carat's David Verklin said that some of the best creative in the entire advertising industry is coming from online right now. Do you agree with this? And if so, point out what online is currently nailing that the other media are not. And if not, why not?

Scott Witt: He's right in asserting that creative online is better; it's better than it has been in a long while. But superlative to other forms? Not as a general rule. Yet. I am seeing more restraint as it relates to technical and animated wizardry -- with a focus on good advertising; messaging which is clear, concise and memorable.

This is best validated by the built-in consumer barometer of interactivity -- measured in consumers having seen your ad and being genuinely interested in learning more about your product.

Online, much like out-of-home, tests the limits of conceptual rigor.

If digital media plans and the targeting they employ are more precise, should not, too, the creative messaging be in like degree?

Mike Yapp: I agree with the notion that online is producing better creative across the board.

Joseph Jaffe: …and coming from a creative director with tenure like yours, that’s a pretty credible affirmation.

Mike Yapp: Good online creative demands more from the creative mind than any other medium.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. Our audience is distinctly different. A television audience wants to be informed or entertained; the online audience, by the very nature of interactivity, informs itself and entertains itself.

2. The online space is so cluttered with what I refer to as "back of the book" advertising that to cut through this clutter is a monumental task.

3. Online is restricted by limited time and file size. Twelve seconds don’t give online creatives the luxury of fully articulating a story or concept like a 30-second commercial does.

Forget the tried-and-true structure of introduction, body copy, conclusion. Good online ad copy has to push conclusion first and then backfill with support copy. Limited file sizes require online creatives to explore a myriad of technical methodologies to create astounding visual effects in a 30k format.

In the offline world, production is almost an afterthought; online it means the difference between a scintillating piece of creative and a disaster.

Mark Silva: In my opinion, online delivered creative is becoming the strongest due to several reasons:

Firstly, traditional creative shops are getting it and delivering ingenious solutions, with online being lead or central to concept success.

Secondly, CMOs and CEOs are realizing that they need online to be part of the mix in order to make their numbers and are funding what are starting to look like real budgets, not just of media but for creative production.

Thirdly, creatives are realizing that if you really want to execute your long-form masterpiece, digital is where it's at, baby! TV is short-form and getting more haiku-like ("see the clever URL...") daily. So we're starting to see better talent come into the channel like we did during the bubble, just more realistic and passionate during this round.

Also, the creative zeitgeist/table stakes prioritizes idea over execution, so we're not tripping over technology and bean counters -- like we may have earlier -- to get to inspired work.

Finally, broadband is driving consumers' expectations and hunger for entertainment online, on their terms and time. And you can't overlook the power of innovation. Thinking about connecting with consumers online -- so that they can feel the power and truth of a message -- means innovating for most shops. Simply by getting out of what they believe to be tried and true formats and into the consumer's skin will necessitate innovative thinking, which is the fuel for inspired creative.

Joseph Jaffe: Mark, you introduce some interesting insights about the online palette really being able to offer more … for example, with respect to talent. I also love the notion of haiku-like URLs … surely one step away from hara-kiri!

Mike, you take an interesting approach in terms of explaining the differences between offline and online from a production perspective. Focusing on online for a moment, what makes a successful piece of creative online?

Mike Yapp: Good online creative requires a non-linear approach to copywriting. In other words, a good online copywriter has to plan that the user is going to approach a website or an ad the way they want to. The interactive aspect must be considered from the inception of the idea, to allow for "non-scripted" interactivity and still get the fundamental message across to the user.

Good online creative must be compelling, cinematic and present to the audience a visual that is decidedly different from other creative on the page. Good online creative must be interactive. If it can be done in a print ad, it's not a successful online execution.

And finally, good online creative must be actionable: it must entice, delight and incite the viewer to action.

Mark Silva: I actually don't believe that online demands more from its creator beyond what traditional creatives have been doing for years: getting in the skin of the consumer; and dramatizing truths about the brand and share values; the endless pursuit of the big idea.

The shift (for those driven by the forces I outlined earlier) is probably better classic planning to understand how their consumers relate to online. When they see how integrated the digital channel is to our consumers' lives, they'll enrich the touches dramatically. The way great traditional creative agencies are handling this shift is -- perhaps a bit reactionary -- by demanding that an idea be presented as anything but a :30 or :60 TV spot. Once over the hump of understanding the digital channel, the creative process is no more demanding, and may be truly inspirational.

Daniel Bernard: As I sat and considered your question, I started thinking about how the online mentality around creative has had the effect of driving new approaches to creative executions in other areas of advertising.

It seems "traditional" is taking a lead from (or at least notice of) digital media. We are seeing executions ranging from web-like deployments on TV: from the characters that "pop-up" on the bottom of your screen alerting you to their upcoming show, to flash-like commercials, to more integrated sponsorships (i.e. AT&T/Cingular -- text your vote for your favorite American Idol).

As consumers have more and more choices, advertising has had to get more innovative. Traditional media is up against an online/digital media culture of the "big idea," of doing what has never been done before, or perfecting what has been done, but taking it to the next level. If we don't have something for you -- we'll come up with something.

We'll leverage our content in new, interesting and compelling ways ... and we'll make it interactive, fun, targeted and measurable. Just when you think the creativity has been exhausted, a new level is reached, somewhere ... and it grows ... is tuned and integrated.

Joseph Jaffe: Daniel, the search for the elusive “big idea” is one of the most important topics on the space right now. I find it very encouraging that -- as a publisher -- you are so bullish about online’s ability to produce the ever-innovating and evolving kinds of creative that break through the clutter on a consistent basis.

Daniel Bernard: To a degree -- we've never left our evangelizing roots -- we still feel we have to do better, do more and prove that digital media is the way to go. To a degree, we've created an expectation that there is always the next "big idea" waiting to happen -- and we have to continually live up to ourselves.... (Of course, we love that... and it drives us to keep going.)

And it's moving beyond online. Enter mobile and iTV and the ability to create campaigns that are truly multi-platform and still interactive: i.e., be sure to text your vote for the next American Idol. Cell charging? -- vote online. While you are there, watch clips online or on your new iTV media center ... don't forget to register for email updates...

Joseph Jaffe: That about wraps up today. Tomorrow we’ll discuss talent and specifically the extent to which we need to loop in our traditional counterparts in our efforts to evolve and mature the online work product.

Joseph Jaffe acts as Editor-at-Large for iMedia Communications. He is President & Founder of jaffe, L.L.C. http://www.getthejuice.com/, a new marketing consulting practice. His book "Life after the 30-second spot" will be released on May 27th (Wiley/Adweek).