When it comes to proven marketing creative, concept development is the linchpin. Whether for a theme, integrated campaign, event or even a one-off online newsletter, the concept is the foundation of creative impact.
In fact, we consider it to be so vital to the success of your marketing campaigns that we spend more time on concepting than any other facet of creative development. It is this process that illuminates your brand interpretation.
The Actionable Theme
The best approach to ensure a consistent marketing experience throughout the year is to begin with an Actionable Theme — a high-level persona and creative approach that will exist in all marketing communications, being interpreted as appropriate for each audience, each touch.
An effective Actionable Theme serves a multitude of purposes, the most essential being to:
• Extend your brand
• Connect with your prospects and customers
• Clearly communicate your intent
This will ensure you continue to build throughout the year — build interest using visual creativity, build recognition with the right message, build equity through consistent application.
So how do we get started?
1. Use what you already know — who you are, what you stand for.
2. Identify the 3 elements of purpose…
a. Strategic. Frame the customer experience through what your product and/or service enables. (Create a vision of what’s possible.)
b. Tactical. Establish flexibility to tell a story to different audiences, with different messages, via different media. (In itself, it must be attention-getting.)
c. Relative. Through its persona, convey a paradigm shift to “things as usual.” (This frames the thematic positioning.)
3. Identify all considerations…
a. Universal — Does it need to survive translation into multiple languages/cultures?
b. Flexible — Will it be used across multiple media, events, industries?
c. Extensible — Does it need to reach prospects and customers? Sales? Employees? Partners?
d. Brand friendly — Actionable Themes by definition must always function alongside your corporate brand.
4. Define the persona
a. Is it human? Animal? Agile? Confident? Savvy? Technical? Controlling? Trustworthy? Soft? Calm? Smooth?
~ The persona should be designed to elicit an emotional response.
We now have a framework. The next steps involve looking at the perception your audiences currently have (and the perception you would like them to have) of your company and your products/services.
The culmination of this research is a brief which your creative team — consisting at minimum of a creative director, art director, Web architect and copywriter — will use as its blueprint for concept development. We of course will apply the Bubbling Beaker test, with the goal of presenting you with three distinct directions and rationales that are sure to cause you hours of debate over which is the best.
These concepts are not to be taken literally, i.e., they are not actual marketing vessels. The Actionable Theme creates a mood, represents an attitude, and establishes a basis for your communications. Once you’ve agreed on your favorite, we will then create the guideline for how to apply this theme to all marketing activities.
Your role is to expect the unexpected. The result is smart, consistent marketing that is sure to deliver results.
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