The Creativity concept has often been compared with the concept of God. Reading this line, most of you must be relating to the fact that the comparison is because both deal with creation. If you think so, then you are only partially right, because beside the creation part, both these concepts are very hard to define. Creativity means differently to different people. Creativity in a majority of creative fields like music, writing, poetry, dance, painting, sculpting etc. is concerned with the self impression of the artist. Creativity in advertising is directly proportional to your imagination. The more you put your imagination to work, the more creative you are likely to be. It is basically an art of putting ideas, things and associations in some new, unexplored or novel way. Determining which ads are creative and which are not is very subjective. It is subject to perception and opinions than mere facts. Creativity is all about being inventive, original and imaginative, but the fact of the matter is that it cannot be limited by a definition. Therefore, coming to some agreement on what is a creative ad will always be difficult. However, we are enumerating some basic parameters below: Few fundamental parameters are:- ?There should be some charade of newness, innovative and pioneering thoughts or originality to make it different from the rest, if not outstanding. ?The ultimate aim should be brand connect. It should be able to weave the brand into the advertising story intrinsically and effortlessly. ?It is much better if it seems positive and useful to the people involved. ?If it can also ‘Trigger’ and 'Persuade' the people involved, then it is creativity at its best. A Good Creative Ad must attempt to be: · Observable – The Ad should stand apart, breaking through all the clutter · Pertinent – Should connect with target audience’s needs & wants · Idiosyncratic – Should be different from the competition and refreshing in nature- both in content and form. · Identifiable – Should Integrate branding clearly and visibly · Convincing - The promise, reason or logic should be compelling · Indelible – Should leave a lasting impression · Credible - Make believable, not unreal promises. Thumb Rule -Creativity in advertising should work towards building brand identity and brand preference. THE CREATIVE PROCESS One of the primary tasks in chalking out the creative strategy is to finalize the core brand story around which the entire advertising will be created. This is basically the process of translating the brand proposition (key message) into its 'consumer friendly' version. The strategy should be such that there should be some compelling and enticing elements. It should have that one word, emotion, experience which will catch the consumer's key expectation from the category in a way that will compel him or her to not only to sit up and notice the brand, but also to desire and own it. The next step which follows is exploring ‘theme’ in its various contexts in the consumer's life and lifestyle and based on that; generate as many suitable advertising ideas as possible. A variety of idea-generating techniques like brainstorming, role-playing the consumer etc. are used to arrive at the possible ideas. Post this; the generated ideas are then gauged to arrive at the ones that sound propitious and convincing. Only the short listed idea(s) are then evolved further and developed into ad campaign using audio-visual and text imagery and presentation. While short listing promising ideas often the focus is on, if possible, to crack the Big Idea. A big idea' has the potential to present the brand in such a manner so that it gets registered in consumer's mind not only for a short span of time but for a long time. A ' big idea' can often propel the brand into the highest orbit of the category. It is able to do so because it works like a 'magnet' in drawing consumer’s attention and feelings towards the brand advertising and the brand. Often the big idea lies in showing the consumers the 'magic mirror' where they can see their desired self image. What makes an idea BIG? ?Your idea should have the potential to present the brand to the consumer in the most compelling and inspiring way. ?The idea should also have the potential to keep inspiring the consumers consistently for a long period of time. That can only happen if it can meaningfully connect and promise to fulfill the most important and relevant need the consumer has. ?The idea should be able to position the brand in consumer's life in a natural and memorable way. This way, the consumer can relate to it easily ?The idea should be easily adoptable and extendable to various media and marketing mix elements. Here goes few of big advertising ideas which stand tall and strike your mind immediately:- McDonald’s- ‘I’m lovin’ it’ Nokia – ‘Connecting People’ Nike- ‘Just Do it' Ceat – ‘Born Tough’ LG – ‘Digitally Yours’ Canon – ‘Delighting You Always’ SONY- ‘Like. No. Other.’ Amul- 'Utterly butterly delicious' Fevikwik ‘Chutki mein chipkaye' .
