How to write a good advertising case analysis? Three simple steps to tell you

During the holidays, a reader asked me a question:

The general meaning is: How to evaluate an advertising case and how to start the analysis?

After a brief communication, I learned that her analysis of the case was too simplistic and one-sided. She tried to apply each knowledge point to interpret it separately, and her understanding of the concepts was not very thorough. So I gave a simple example:

For example, the first P, product. Product does not refer to the word "product". Product is a physical product or service that meets certain needs of consumers, so it will extend to the analysis of consumer needs (Maslow's hierarchy of needs);

The second is the degree to which the product satisfies the needs, that is, the specific performance, such as product packaging design, product positioning, product experience, etc.

There is also the product life cycle, the symbolic meaning of the product...

After a brief exchange, her doubts were somewhat answered. I think there are still many students who are troubled by this problem. I happen to have some thoughts and summaries, so I will write them down and share with you: How to analyze advertising cases?

1. Practice basic skills and learn knowledge thoroughly

Learning professional knowledge well is the basis for understanding cases. If you don’t even know the basic concepts, it is a pipe dream to expect to understand them thoroughly.

In addition, although knowledge points are individual, they are factors that constitute the cognitive system and are related to each other. After understanding individual concepts, we need to find the connections and interactions between them.

For example, the "product" mentioned above. There are many aspects of understanding behind a product, including knowledge from multiple fields such as communication, psychology, advertising, and design. Only by integrating all these contents can we have a more comprehensive understanding of what the product is.

Please refer to this example to connect the knowledge of other concepts without further elaboration.

2. How to start analyzing an advertising case?

Generally speaking, a communication campaign cannot be separated from the scope of Lasswell's "5W Model":

Who (communicator) Says What (what was said: content, form of expression) In Which Channel (through what channel, method) To Whom (audience) With What Effect (what effect, feedback).

However, each element can be studied and analyzed in great detail. For a simple advertising campaign, it is impossible to cover all the elements. Therefore, Master Su Lao concluded that you can usually start from the following three aspects:

1. What is the goal of the advertising campaign?

When doing communication, we must first determine the goal. Generally speaking, there are two goals for advertising:

• Generate exposure;
• Boost sales.

But when it comes to specific activities, there are many more subdivisions, such as: is it to emphasize the characteristics of new products and occupy a place in people's minds, or is it for continuous exposure and strengthening consumer memory; is it to establish emotional resonance with consumers and enhance their love for the brand , or is it for short-term promotion and selling goods as soon as possible...

Before analyzing an advertising campaign, you must first understand its purpose.

2. What are the means to achieve the goal?

That is, the communication theme and form, all perceptible advertising information displayed.

For example, if you use emotional appeals to enhance consumers’ love for the brand, you need to analyze the following points:

(1) Are advertising insights accurate?

Why is she indifferent to you? What is it that she really cares about but doesn't see?

(2) Is the entry point of the content appropriate?

What are you talking to her about? Is she interested in this content?

(3) Is the form of expression appropriate?

Should we use text, pictures, videos or H5? Can this form carry what you want to express?

(4) Did she see it?

What channel did you use? Who did you talk to? What impression does this channel give? Does it match the tone of your content?

(5) How did she feel after seeing it?

Did she react as you expected? If so, what should you do next? If not, how should you deal with it?

After going through this once, you will have a pretty good understanding of the advertising content. This also allows us to know the extent to which this method achieves the goal.

3. To what extent have the goals been achieved?

After the previous analysis, you can find out the reasons whether the goal is achieved.

If expectations were met or even exceeded, what was the reason? What marketing techniques were used? Which link played a key role? Is there anything unique compared to others? What aspects can be learned from?

If not, what went wrong? Go back to that link and then carry out specific research.

In summary, through the analysis of the three aspects of "goal → means → result" , we can get a general understanding of the performance of an advertising campaign, and then we can find the key points to establish our argument and further develop our discussion. Likewise, all analyses should be considered as a whole rather than being separated into individual parts.

3. How to exercise this analytical ability? Said: Efforts are made in ordinary times

I love eating good food and I love making it. When you eat delicious food outside, you will naturally wonder how this dish is made. From the moment it enters your mouth, you will imagine what seasonings are used in this dish, what the production process is, and whether there are any unique cooking methods that you have not tried? Can I do it at home?

Similarly, when you see subway ads, bus stop ads, or even street flyers, you might as well think about this: How does the presentation of this image work? What message did I get from it? Why do this? What is the background and strategy? Did it achieve its intended communication purpose? If you let yourself do it, how can you do it better...

When you really put your mind to observing these things in your daily life, you won’t worry about not having good cases to learn from, and you will also find that many works on the market actually have more or less flaws. Find them out, accumulate and summarize them, and avoid them when you do it yourself.

The above is my brief summary of “How to do a good advertising case analysis”. I hope you can think about it.

Finally, two more words:

Just understand words like " content marketing " and "cross-border marketing". Don't be confused by them. They are only used when writing public relations articles.

If you are committed to advertising and communication, it is best to stay away from such words. Being obsessed with these concepts will not do you any good in your actual operations and may even have a counterproductive effect, making you even less aware of what advertising is all about.

I hope you can learn from your daily life, find some essential rules and connections between all things, and feel that the world in front of you suddenly becomes clearer and clearer.

The author of this article @苏佬师 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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