Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Advertising & PR as a carrer

In advertising, campaigns are created to convince consumers to purchase or use certain products. Campaigns are launched on television, billboards, radio, and internet. The advertisements are created to enhance the public’s perception and to get people excited about a product. Working in public relations generally entails the management of product perception, appearance of brochures, speeches, and crises for companies, non-profit organizations, and governments. Often advertising and public relations job responsibilities overlap similar tasks are required. Numerous organizations are claiming to be “strategic marketing communications consultants,” offering both advertising and public relations services.
People skills are essential in advertising and public relations careers. Jobs in these fields require close association with clients that are often demanding and difficult to work with.Stress levels soar in advertising and PR careers due to continuous deadlines. Late nights and weekends are often spent working to meet upcoming deadlines.To acquire an entry level job in advertising or PR, strong copy-writing skills are needed. Excellent communication skills and good presentation ability are essential to succeed in the industry. Workers must be persuasive and flexible.Creativity is the key to success in advertising. An advertiser who can create messages that the consumer remembers will be successful in the industry. Because there are more advertisers than advertising jobs, the industry is highly competitive. Workers need to complete an internship which generally provides no pay. Despite no income, internships are beneficial for experience and help get you into the advertising field.
Those interested in advertising and PR must be willing to start working in basic, entry-level positions and try to work their way up.Starting pay in advertising is usually low due to high numbers of people wanting to work in the industry. The more experience someone has in the industry, the better chances they have for salary increase.Experienced advertisers are getting opportunities to work on global campaigns. Companies are expanding worldwide increasing global career options in the industry.With the popularity of the internet continuing to grow, the advertising industry is gaining new opportunities selling, designing, and arranging advertising online.In the advertising industry, it is important to be effective working both individually and as part of a team. Opportunities arise in both areas.
Advertising and Public Relations Job and Employment Opportunities

Advertising Media Planners decide the distribution of television, newspaper, radio, and magazine advertisements for each campaign. They are responsible for making many choises affecting the delivery of the campaign message to the consumer. They are well informed about the different types of media and demographics they reach. After considering the advantages and disadvantages of the various media types, the media traffic personnel purchases space and time in the types of media that will most effectively deliver the campaign.

Copywriters, illustrators, and creative individuals create the actual writing and illustrating of advertisements. They are responsible for drawing storyboards, writing copy, designing headlines and body copy, and sometimes taking part in the actual formation of advertisements.
Production Managers are in charge of the actual physical advertisements. Working in cooperation with exterior advertising producers, production managers guarantee that each advertisement is finished successfully. They are employed in-house or often work for production houses that contract services.

Directors of Advertising and/or Public Relations are in charge of everything in advertising or public relations excluding sales. Directors manage the planning, production, creation, and budgeting of campaigns. The director of advertising and director of public relations are usually two different positions, but both maintain comparable job responsibilities. The size of the company or organization a director works for determines the scope of their duties.

Public Relations Specialists manage an organization’s public relations. Their job is parallel to an account executive in advertising. Specialists make sure programs are created to match public attitudes, ensuring an organization is publicly embraced. Specialists can either work for an agency or in-house.

An account executive manages the entire account. They determine and communicate the customer’s advertising needs to the rest of the agency. Account executives also organize the creation, planning, implementing, and producing of ad campaigns.

Jargon Buster : Advertising Media Planning

“Media planning” is the process of selecting time and space in various media for advertising in order to accomplish marketing objectives. Media planners often use three terms in describing a planning process: objectives, strategy and tactics.

A media objective states what the planner wishes to accomplish. It is usually specified in terms of the target audience, reach, and frequency. The target audience is often defined by demographics, product usage and psychographics.

Reach refers to the unduplicated proportion of an audience that is exposed to a media schedule (not necessarily to the advertising message) at least once during a designated time period (usually four weeks).

Frequency refers to the number of times within a given period of time an audience is exposed to a media schedule. A frequency of 3.0, for example, means that the target audience is exposed to a media schedule three times during a given period of time. Of course, not all audience members are exposed exactly three times; some may be exposed more than three times and some less.

A frequency distribution shows how many audience members are exposed at each level of frequency. With a frequency distribution, a media planner can determine effective frequency and effective reach.

Effective frequency is defined as the level of frequency that is necessary to achieve the desired communication goals.

Effective reach is the reach at the level of effective frequency. Gross rating points (GRPs) are the product of reach and frequency, representing the total gross delivery of a media schedule to the target audience.

A media strategy specifies the means for achieving the media objectives. A strategic decision is how to allocate the media budget geographically; that is, deciding in which markets to advertise and how much to spend in each of these markets.

In making these decisions, the media planner is guided by past sales and market shares of a brand in different markets as well as future expectations. Category and brand development indices are often used for these purposes.

A defensive media strategy allocates more money in a market where sales are high, whereas an offensive strategy allocates more money in a market where sales are low but there is potential to grow.

Media class strategy refers to the allocation of the budget to different media classes. Budget allocation in media classes focuses on matching media audiences with the target audience in addition to creative considerations. For instance, television may be the best media class if both audio and video are present in a commercial, while magazines may be more effective if detailed copy is required.

The third strategic decision involves advertising scheduling over a campaign period. “Continuity” refers to advertising on a regular and constant basis throughout the campaign period. “Flighting” means advertising intermittently, a period of advertising followed by a period of no advertising at all. “Pulsing” is a combination of both continuity and flighting, periodically building high levels of advertising on the top of lower yet continuous levels of advertising. The seasonality of sales often guides scheduling of advertising.

Media tactics consist primarily of the activities of selecting media vehicles in the most cost-effective manner to ensure the successful execution of media strategies. Among the criteria for selecting media vehicles are target audience delivery, cost efficiency, the editorial environment, advertising clutter, reproduction quality, and ad positions with the vehicle. Media planning software is often used along with media cost data and audience information to select and compare media vehicles. Contingency plans are often created to meet unexpected changes in the marketplace.

Media plans are implemented through media buyers. Media buyers are professionals who are knowledgeable in estimating media costs and skillful in negotiating rates.

Different media vehicles have different rate cards and discount policies. Some may offer added values such as combination rates, merchandising, and event marketing. Faced with such a complicated media environment, media buyers need creative ways of calculating and comparing media costs. Many media vehicles are flexible in terms of pricing and a savvy negotiator can purchase the same space or time at a much lower price than others even when all contract terms are equal. Media buyers also monitor the implementation of a media plan to assure its value is fully realized.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

IIMC Entrance Test Question Paper RTV-2005

IIMC ENTRANCE EXAMINATION 2005

PG Diploma Courses in Radio & TV Journalism

Full Marks 85 Time 2 hours

Answer all questions

1. Select any two from the following and answer each in 200 words (2*7.5)

· Role of broadcast in Tsunami disaster
· Sting operations by TV Channels
· Broadband services
· Contribution of FM & Community Radio in Broadcasting

2. Select any two from the following and answer each in 200 words (2*7.5)

· WTO’s Geneva Conference –2004
· SAARC Summit in Islamabad 2004
· Visit of Japanese PM to India
· Athens Olympics 2004

3. Select any two from the following and answer each in 200 words (2*7.5)

· VAT
· Meningitis
· President rule in Bihar
· Dandi March 2005

4. Review two of the following in 200 words each: (2*10)

· A TV programme you have seen recently
· A Radio programme you have listen completely
· A feature film seen by you
· An advertisement on TV or Radio

5. Write in 20 words each on the following:(4*2.5)

· Narayan Karthikeyan
· NHRC
· CAT
· TRAI

6. Why were following in news? Describe in 20 words each.(4*2.5)
· Tony Bair
· Purnendu Chatarjee
· Anil & Mukesh Ambani
· Paul Allen

IIMC Entrance Test Question Paper-EJ/HJ 2005

IIMC ENTRANCE EXAMINATION 2005


PG Diploma Courses in English /Hindi Journalism


Full Marks 85 Time 2 hours
Answer all questions

1. Write notes on any two within 200 words (2*7.5)

  • UN seat for India
  • EDUSAT
  • Global efforts to combat terrorism
  • India in the emerging world order
  • Best news source foe you and why?
  • Impact of economic reforms in our country


2. Write about 100 words each on any three.(3*5)

  • Cartosat –1
  • Cyber-media
  • Meningitis
  • My favorite news paperCommonwealth games



3. Name the author of the following (5*1)

  • Chandalika
  • A passage to India
  • Godaan
  • Kamayani
  • Khak-I-Dil


4. Why were following in news? Describe in 50 words each.(5*3)

  • Tony Bair
  • Anil & Mukesh Ambani
  • Purnendu Chatarjee
  • Narayan Kaethikeyan
  • India American Gopal Khanna



5. Write about in 20 words each on the following:(5*2)

  • WTO
  • VAT
  • TRAI
  • NHRC
  • CAT


6. What do the following stands for (5*1)

  • ABU
  • AP
  • CAPART
  • DNA
  • ICRISAT

7. Write about in 20 words each on the following (10*1)

  • OPEC
  • NAM
  • The Commonwealth
  • IBRD
  • FAO
  • UNCTAD
  • UNDP
  • UNESCO
  • NATO
  • Amnesty International



8.Attempt any two in 200 words each (2*5)

  • Write a review of a TV programme
  • Why do you want o training in journalism?
  • Which newspaper you like the most & why?
  • Article/book that you read as a school student left a lasting impression on you?

Thursday, April 13, 2006

ASCI takes action against 11 advertisers for misleading ads

Withdrawal and modification is the name of the game for the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). In a circular issued recently, ASCI has taken action against 11 advertisers on grounds of being either misleading, unsubstantiated or objectionable. This is based on the complaints that were upheld by the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) for the period October to December 2005.

Of the ads that were complained against, as many as seven have been withdrawn. These include Yum Restaurants (Freshizza), created by JWT and objected on the grounds of being misleading due to its claim ‘our dough is fresh and not made in the factory unlike others’. The second TVC withdrawn, again on the ground of being ‘misleading by gross exaggeration’, is that of ITC Ltd’s Sunfeast Milky Magic Biscuits, which was created by FCB Ulka.

Hidesign’s ad for its leather bag was under scrutiny on the ground that the ad was likely to cause widespread offence, particularly to women, and was hence withdrawn. The ad created by Triton for United Breweries’ Sand Piper Malt Beverage was withdrawn as the ‘Ad could suggest to consumers that it is an Ad for the liquor brand and that if it wasn’t for a liquor product, there wasn’t enough data to substantiate that’.

Similarly, Pripha Pharma’s ad has been discontinued as the ad’s claim that the Prince Pharma research team concluded that MIGRO – 2 is a proven successful remedy for migraine is not substantiated. Two other ads that haven’t been on air after coming under the scanner are Gillette India’s Duracell Batteries. The radio spot was created by O&M and the main point of contention was the usage of Amitabh Bachchan’s voice. Since Bachchan is the brand ambassador for Eveready, ASCI considered it a misleading ad by implication – that the product is being recommended by an identifiable celebrity and took unfair advantage of the goodwill acquired by another advertiser’s advertising campaign.

Yet another one hit on similar lines is ITC’s Mangaldeep 5-in-1 Agarbatti ads – again created by O&M. The complaint was that the ad was not just denigrating another product, but it was similar to that of the complainant’s TVC and hence, suggested plagiarism. However, CCI didn’t uphold the latter half of the complaint. The TVC nonetheless hasn’t been on air since.

Two ads that were complained about but didn’t see any action taken since one was a one-off ad and in the case of the second, the campaign had concluded, were that of Hotel NKM’s Grand. In this case, too, the advertiser took advantage of the goodwill acquired by another advertiser’s advertising campaign and that since the ad was too similar to another advertiser’s earlier run campaign, Hotel NKM’s Grand ad did become a case of plagiarism.

The second one here was the Air-India ad about special fares to the US, the UK and Europe. The ad was misleading since the charges advertised varied considerably from the actual charges. The advertiser has assured appropriate modification of the ad in future.

Among the ads that were modified are Vellore Institute of Technology’s ad on the first Indian University to get British accreditation and Johnson & Johnson’s Stayfree Secure Dry. Elegant Publicities has created the first ad. Responding to the charge of being misleading, the ad was changed and the advertiser provided additional information.

In regards to the second, which was a McCann Erickson creation, the TVC was modified on the charge of being an unsubstantiated ad.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Something For Aspirant of Journalism Courses :2

Concepts of News/Journalism

DEFNITION OF NEWS

News is a report of any current event, idea or problem which interest large number of people BUT it acquires different meanings and concepts in different political, economic and socio-cultural environment.

ELEMENTS OF NEWS

A News report must answer following questions:

WHO
WHAT
WHEN
WHERE
WHY
HOW
CREDIBILITY

Principles to be observed while reporting an event or editing news report

Accuracy
Fairness
Balance
Attribution
Objectivity


NEWSWORTHINESS

How to decide newsworthiness of an event, idea or problem (Evaluating information or any information package)

Audience
Impact
Proximity
Timeliness
Prominence (Size)
Context
Policy Parameters
Specific Informational Value
Unusualness

STRUCTURE OF A NEWS STORY

INTRO
EXPLANATORY DETAILS
DESCRIPTIVE DETAILS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ETC.
(In order of descending importance)

Various Types of Journalistic Writings

FACTS
ANALYSIS
VIEWS

Ø News item
Ø News Report
Ø News Analysis
Ø Interpretative Reporting
Ø Feature/Featured Reporting
Ø Interview
Ø Commentary
Ø Article
Ø Editorial
Ø Profile, Review, Review Article etc.


Functions of Media

Information
Education
Entertainment
Agenda Setting

Three streams of new media


News- “Page One” journalism
Entertainment – “Page Three” journalism
Education- “Page Seven journalism”


Emergence of infotainment

Commercialization of Media
News: Product
Media as a Profit making business venture
Reader/ Viewer/Listener as Consumer

Information +Entertainment

Combining Factors:

MARKET
INVESTORS
ADVERTISERS

MARKET DRIVEN MEDIA: some key elements

PRIMARY PURPOSE OF NEWS IS TO EMPOWER PUBLIC BY MAXIMIZING ITS UNDERSTANDING OF CURRENT ISSUES AND EVENTS THAT SHAPE ITS ENVIRONMENT. ONCE NEWS IS TREATED AS COMMODITY LOSE ITS INFORMATIONAL VALUE

Profit
Competition
Winning Audience Game

Entertainment becomes dominant replacing informational value of news which in turn might encourage ignorance at the Cost of UNDERSTANDING


MARKET JOURNALISM GATHERS AN AUDIENCE NOT TO INFORM BUT TO SELL IT TO ADVERTISERS. FEW POWERFUL CORPORATIONS WIN AND PUBLIC LOSES
-BEN BAGDIKIAN, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

COUNTER POINT

MARKET CONTAINS ADEQUATE SAFEGUARDS AGANST ABUSE
-PHILIP MAYER, UNIV. OF NORHT, COROLINA
For citizens and information consumers, it is important to develop the skill of detecting bias: Concepts of “misinformed consumer” and “informed citizen” (Consumer and citizen are one and the same but role differs)

Dominant Models in Today’s Journalism

The Watchdog
CNN Effect
News Management
Thought control
Manufacturing Consent
Mutual Exploitation

Two Major Streams in Journalism

Episodic Journalism
Thematic Journalism

Ø Reporting Event: What was happening
Ø Reporting the process that goes into happening of the event
Ø Explain why it was happening

Role of News Media

How things work
How things are supposed to work
How things normally work

The investigative process

Ø Tip –Tipsters
Ø Formation of story idea
Ø Formulation of the problem
Ø Preliminary research feasibility study
Ø Plan of action-Synopsis
Ø Minimum and maximum story

Base building: The Spiral of Research

Ø Written sources
Ø Experts- the sources of knowledge
Ø Sources of experiences
Ø Reportage- Field trips- Observations
Ø Key interviews

Assessment and analysis

· Conclusions
· Outline of story
· Writing and revising
· Hand in before deadline

Objectivity and Bias

Bias is a small word that identifies the collective influences of the entire context of a message


Ø Human communication always takes place in a context

Ø Through a medium, and among individuals and groups

Ø Who are situated historically, politically, economically, and socially

Journalist attempts to be objective by two methods:

Ø Fairness to those concerned with the news

Ø A professional process of information gathering that seeks fairness, completeness, and accuracy


Critical questions for detecting bias

The media applies a narrative structure to ambiguous events in order to create a coherent and causal sense of events

Ø What is the author's / speaker's socio-political position?

Ø Does the speaker have anything to gain personally from delivering the message?

Ø Who is paying for the message? What is the bias of the medium? Who stands to gain?

Ø What sources does the speaker use, and how credible are they? Does the speaker cite statistics? If so, how and who data gathered the data? Are the data being presented fully?
Ø How does the speaker present arguments? Is the message one-sided, or does it include alternative points of view?
Ø If the message includes alternative points of view, how are those views characterized? Does the speaker use positive words and images to describe his/her point of view and negative words and images to describe other points of view?

Kinds of Biases


Commercial bias
Visual bias
Bad news bias
Narrative bias
Status Quo bias
Fairness bias
Glory bias

Dominant Models in Today’s Journalism


The Watchdog
CNN Effect
News Management
Thought control
Manufacturing Consent
Mutual Exploitation

Something For Aspirant of Journalism Courses :1

Some Key Concepts


Journalism: Reporting on government, politics, policies, economics, and other news and issues.

Political Journalism: Reporting on the political process and other government and political entities.

Generate new ideas about scientific reasoning, democracy, and rule by consent of the governed and free criticism of government.

Journalism of Exposure: The process of uncovering information about practices those usually are illegal or unethical.

Objectivity: Looking at a story as though through a perfect lens uncolored by a reporter's thoughts about a subject; trying to view a story from a neutral perspective. Some critics believe pure objectivity is impossible and that fairness and balance are more important.

Narrative Tradition: Journalism as story. Many writers employ fictional techniques in writing nonfiction material.

Knowledge Gap and Media: Some studies show that those with information and access to technology are more likely to increase their knowledge more rapidly than those without access. Technological delivery of information, therefore, can increase the gap between those with information and those without.

Agenda-Setting Research: Media research that seeks to understand the relationship between readers' determination of important issues and politicians' and press's treatment of them. The research focuses not on how media cover an issue but on how they set an agenda through the choice of the issues they cover.

News Values: Newspaper editors and owners try to develop standards of value for determining which events and issues are newsworthy---that is, deserving of being given space in the paper.

Step-by-step guide :How to write a creative brief?

Purpose

State why you are sending out the brief; it is important that consultants know what they are being asked to do.
Example:
The department is seeking proposals from creative agencies to develop a creative strategy which meets the objectives of the X campaign.
This document should be read in conjunction with the communication strategy to ensure agencies understand the context within which the creative strategy will occur.

Background

WHY do you need to undertake this advertising?

Firstly, you need to outline the circumstances that have created the need or the opportunity to advertise the topic in question. For example, the initiative may result from a government decision, from research or statistics, in response to client requests or feedback, form part of a new policy proposal, or be part of a continuing campaign.

It would be useful to identify:

your overall communication strategy and how this campaign fits in;
the research upon which the communication strategy has been based;
competitive activity of which you are aware in the same subject area, whether it is from the private or public sector;
market sector changes of which you are aware that have occurred recently; and
any related campaigns from your department/agency which are recent or ongoing within the same subject area.

Note: You should attach, or make available, all relevant reports, briefs, and relevant communication strategies regarding the above.

Previous research

The most successful advertising briefs will always be informed by research specific to the subject and to the campaign. Communications research in particular, will inform any triggers and barriers to hearing the messages, and the required tone and style of delivery most likely to be accepted by the target audience/s. When communications research of this nature informs the brief, creative agencies will be more likely to produce high quality, appropriate creative from the beginning of the process.
Include any research results you have to support the need for, and/or approach to, the communication campaign. This could include:
market research undertaken to inform the development of the policy/program;
market research conducted to inform an earlier campaign on this issue;
market research conducted specifically for your campaign (primary research);
market research from another department on a related issue;
relevant statistics or demographic data; or
analysis of consultative processes.
Attach copies of cited research reports where possible.

Previous communication activities

If you have previously communicated on this subject, provide details of:
the target audiences;
when and how you communicated; and
the effectiveness of this communication campaign.


Aim and objectives

WHY do you want to advertise?
Firstly, identify the main aim of the advertising component of the campaign. This should be done succinctly and to the point. For example, is the advertising to inform, is it a call to action, is it to change or reinforce attitudes, or is it to change behaviour?

Then identify the specific objectives of the campaign. These objectives should reflect the desired advertising outcomes, should be measurable and achievable and should take account of other constraints which influence the strategy (such as the budget and existing infrastructure).
Remember to keep this section realistic and tightly focused.

For example, the aim is to increase awareness of the training and qualification opportunities within the Army amongst 16-24 year olds.

The objectives are to increase recruitment into the Army; increase awareness amongst the secondary audiences; and encourage audiences to search for more information (eg using the allocated phone number or Internet site).

Note: The advertising brief should not introduce objectives not outlined in the communication strategy. However, you might not necessarily wish to just replicate all the objectives found in the strategy. It may be that emphasis is placed on achieving some specific objectives in the advertising component.

Target audiences

WHO do you want to advertise to?
Use any previous research or your own knowledge of the subject matter to help segment your audience in order of priority, particularly if your budget will not allow you to approach everyone of interest.
In priority order you should identify the following groups:

Primary Target Audience – people and groups who will be directly affected by your message or need to be exposed to your message..

Secondary Target Audience – people of less importance who you wish to receive the campaign messages, people who will also benefit from hearing the campaign messages, or people who influence your target audience now or in the future, for example general practitioners.

Stakeholders – other people and groups who might be directly or indirectly involved in, or affected by or with a stake in your campaign.

It is useful if you can describe these groups in terms of their current behaviour, levels of awareness, and knowledge. Having described the current situation you may go on to identify how you want it to change as a result of your campaign.

Always be specific. You should avoid defining your target audience too broadly with statements such as ‘the general public’ as broad approaches are generally unsuccessful.

Note: The advertising brief should not introduce target audiences not identified in the communication strategy. However, you need to consider whether only specific target audiences can be effectively reached by the creative strategy.

Special audiences

Government departments are required to consider Australians who are information-disadvantaged through low income, poor education, and an inadequate knowledge of English, disability, geographical isolation or other reasons.
There are minimum advertising expenditure requirements for reaching people from non-English speaking backgrounds; a minimum of 7.5% of newspaper and radio budgets are to be allocated to advertising in NESB newspapers and radio respectively.

Call to action

WHAT do you want the target audience/s to do as an immediate result of the advertising?
Do any of the target audiences need to respond directly to your campaign? How do you expect them to do this? For example, you may have or intend to have an information telephone line, an Internet site or expect audiences to visit specific offices. (This may be your method of measurement for one or more of the above objectives). These elements then need to be incorporated into the communications.


Key messages

Effective key messages should include details of the program or policy being promoted, the benefits of the initiative for the target audience, and a clear “call to action” outlining what the target audience should do as a result of receiving your messages.
The key messages should encapsulate the purpose of your communication activity in as few words as possible. Key messages do not need to be catchy. They are not the “slogan” or “jingle” for your campaign, or the actual words to be used as your message. There is time later, during campaign development, to mould your message into a form which is appropriate for your audience/s.
For advertising purposes, you should keep key messages to a minimum for effective communication, ie you may have fewer key messages in your advertising brief than in your communication strategy.


Tone of message

HOW do you want this message to sound?
The style you require may be informal, warm and friendly, authoritative, humorous, conservative or aggressive. To be of real value, advice on such things as tone will be informed by specific communications research.
Example:
The tone of the message should be friendly and informative, while avoiding any rural stereotypes.

Media strategy

You will need to consult with the Australian Government’s master media planning and placement agency in order for them to develop a draft media strategy and plan. These will then need to be attached to the creative brief so that creative material is consistent with the strategy and the available budget.

Geographical areas

WHERE do you envisage this campaign taking place?
You need to identify whether:
this is a national or a local campaign;
there are any geographical constraints; or
certain areas need more weighting than others do.

What is a communication strategy?


A communication strategy provides an essential framework for developing a comprehensive and integrated campaign. It is a plan which outlines the rationale for, and desired outcomes of, your proposed public information campaign. The strategy defines specific objectives to provide a framework within which to formulate strategies and against which to evaluate outcomes.
In the development of the communication strategy, key decisions need to be made about:

  • the range of integrated information activities to be implemented
  • what research the strategy is to be based on
  • how external consultants will be used
  • the roles and responsibilities of all key stakeholders in the strategy
  • the available budget
  • the timeline
  • the evaluation plan.


The communication strategy should clearly articulate how all the various components of the campaign will be co-ordinated and managed to achieve its objectives most efficiently and effectively.

How to Write an Award-Winning, Sales-Kicking Creative Brief

A creative brief is like a road map. A good brief leads to imaginative and persuasive ads. And gets you there quickly.

A bad brief starts you off in the wrong direction. So you have to stop, figure out where the heck you're going, and start again. Or worse, you follow that brief to a town called Bad Adsville.
Most briefs are simply a list of questions. The people writing the brief answer the questions based information about the ad or the campaign to be constructed.

What you want is the flexibility to select questions appropriate to any type of ad or campaign. Direct response or brand building. Integrated campaigns that blend the two. Or questions for highly detailed new business pitches or new product launches. Even quick turn-around newspaper ads.

Therefore, it's wise to avoid writ-in-stone printed briefs precisely because they limit your flexibility. Better to place the brief -- the list of questions -- on your computer or the office network. Then, for each new project, select appropriate questions.

At AdCracker.com we recommend you have access to three briefs: A Quick Brief for simple, fast turn-around projects. A Basic Brief for the bulk of ads or campaigns you produce. And an Advanced Brief for new product launches or new business pitches.

And if you're thinking, "We don't have time to write a brief." Remember that working from verbal input, without a written brief, is how non-professionals waste time and money.
Here's a typical Basic Brief.

Background / Overview:What's the big picture? What's going on in the market? Anything happening with the client side we should know about? Can you summarize the entire brief into one sentence, "Who are we talking to, and what do we want to say?"

What is the objective, the purpose of the ad?A concise statement of the effect the ad should have on consumers. Typically expressed as an action. And frequently focused either on what you want them to think, to feel, or to do.

What do we want to say?What's the single most important thing we can say to achieve the objective? This should be a simple sentence (or sentences) expressing a specific idea (or ideas). Avoid generalities because they result in ambiguous communications.

What are the supporting rational and emotional 'reasons to believe?'List the rational and emotional reasons to for the target market to believe what we want them to believe, and do what we want them to do. Include all the major copy points, in order of relative importance to the consumer. In other words, 'What else can we say to achieve the objective?'
Target audience: who are we talking to?The more precise and detailed the better. Go beyond age and sex to include demographics and psychographics.

Any other important details?Here's where you put all other details, such as information about the offer if it's a direct response ad. Perhaps a description of the brand personality. And any mandatory elements such as the client's logo, address, phone number and so forth.

What do we need and when do we need it?Write information about media, size and color. As well as deadlines for 1) initial creative review of rough sketch ideas, 2) review revised creative, 3) final internal creative presentation, 4) client presentation, 5) material delivered to publication.

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