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Part Five Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Program
Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
Exhibit 8-10 United
Technologies “punks” ad is
an excellent example of a
big idea in business-tobusiness
advertising
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
8. Creative Strategy:
Planning and Development
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
Of course, the real challenge to the creative team is coming up with the big
idea to use in the ad. Many products and services offer virtually nothing unique,
and it can be difficult to find something interesting to say about them. The late
David Ogilvy, generally considered one of the most creative advertising copywriters
ever to work in the business, has stated:
I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea. I am supposed to
be one of the more fertile inventors of big ideas, but in my long career as a copywriter
I have not had more than 20, if that. 29
While really great ideas in advertising are difficult to come by, there are
many big ideas that became the basis of very creative, successful advertising
campaigns. Classic examples include “We try harder,” which positioned Avis as
the underdog car-rental company that provided better service than Hertz; the
“Pepsi generation” theme and subsequent variations like “the taste of a new
generation” and “GenerationNext”; the “Be all you can be” theme used in
recruitment ads for the U.S. Army; and Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” which featured
the late, gravelly voiced Clara Peller delivering the classic line that helped
make the fast-food chain a household name. More recent big ideas that have resulted
in effective advertising campaigns include the “Intel inside” campaign for Intel microprocessors
that go in personal computers; Nike’s “Just do it”; the “It keeps going and
going” theme for Energizer batteries, featuring the pink bunny; and the “Like a rock”
theme for Chevrolet trucks.
Big ideas are important in business-to-business advertising as well. For example,
United Technologies Corp., a company that provides high-technology products to
aerospace and building-systems industries throughout the world, recently began a
major advertising campaign to increase awareness of the firm and its various subsidiaries.
One of the first advertisements in the campaign was the eye-catching ad
shown in Exhibit 8-10, which uses the headline “the punks who killed heavy metal,”
with the headline atop of what vaguely looks like a movie blood splotch. The copy
explains that the punks are actually scientists (notice the white pocket protectors)
from the company’s research center and touts their role in developing metal
foams—materials much lighter than traditional metals—that will help make a variety
of UTC products, from helicopters to jet engines to elevators, lighter and more
economical to operate. The ad was very effective in cutting through the clutter of
corporate advertising in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and
BusinessWeek.
It is difficult to pinpoint the inspiration for a big idea or to teach advertising people
how to find one. However, several approaches can guide the creative team’s search for
a major selling idea and offer solutions for developing effective advertising. Some of
the best-known approaches follow:
• Using a unique selling proposition.
• Creating a brand image.
• Finding the inherent drama.
• Positioning.
Unique Selling Proposition The concept of the unique selling proposition
(USP) was developed by Rosser Reeves, former chair of the Ted Bates agency, and is
described in his influential book Reality in Advertising. Reeves noted three characteristics
of unique selling propositions:
1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not
just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say
to each reader: “Buy this product and you will get this benefit.”
2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer. It
must be unique either in the brand or in the claim.
3. The proposition must be strong enough to move the mass millions, that is, pull
over new customers to your brand. 30