How to apply the three theories of advertising creativity?

William Bernbach, a famous advertising guru, once said: “Creativity is the soul of advertising, and it is the activity that gives advertising spirit and life.”

The importance of creativity in advertising has been repeatedly confirmed to this day: among the overwhelming number of advertisements, only a small part can truly attract the attention of consumers, trigger their inner resonance, leave a deep impression in their minds, and ultimately achieve the marketing purpose of the advertisement; and these touching advertisements all have unique creative points, either the originality of the expression method (such as Pechoin’s "1931" long picture advertisement), or the originality of the communication method (such as NetEase Cloud Music spreading music reviews all over the subway), or the originality of creative ideas (such as the reverse thinking of the classic XO beer advertisement).

It can be said that advertising is inseparable from creativity, but it is difficult for advertisers to come up with a good idea. Whether it is a brainstorming session of a group of people or the deep thinking of one person, creativity requires not only inspiration but also certain theoretical methods to guide it. The advertising creative theory system that has been continuously practiced, demonstrated and summarized by predecessors, including USP theory, brand image theory, positioning theory, resonance theory, ROI theory , etc., can better inspire advertisers' inspiration and help them find the entry point for creation.

Today, I will focus on analyzing how to use the three major theories of " USP theory", "brand image theory" and "resonance theory" to create advertising creativity.

1. USP Theory

The USP theory , or “Unique Selling Proposition” , was proposed by Rosser Reeves, a famous American advertiser, in the early 1950s. The core of this theory mainly includes three aspects: clear concepts, unique propositions, and strong sales power .

Among them, the concept of clarity means that the product's benefit points, that is, the functions or benefits of the goods, are extracted in the advertising creativity, which can give consumers a very clear benefit promise (for example, the anti-caries effect of toothpaste can make consumers have healthy teeth); the claim of uniqueness means that the product benefit points advocated by the advertisement are unique and special , which other competitors cannot provide or have not yet proposed (for example, the advertising claim of "Nongfu Spring is a little sweet" makes it stand out from the crowd); strong sales power means that the unique claim must be able to promote sales, so it should be concentrated and powerful, which can attract and impress consumers, arouse and stimulate their consumption desire and ultimately lead to purchases.

For example, Mars M&M's classic advertisement , Melts in Your Mouth not in Your Hand, adopted the USP theory. The creator of the advertisement, Rosser Reeves, noticed that M&M's was the only chocolate bean in the United States at that time that was coated with sugar. It was resistant to high temperatures and not easy to melt, which was the most unique advantage of the product itself (uniqueness claim) that no other brand of chocolate beans had. From this, they came up with the advertising idea of ​​"melts in your mouth, not in your hand" (a clear concept) , and repeatedly put the advertisement on television. During this period, Mars also hired someone to write two jokes to promote the product. These two-pronged approach quickly made M&M's a household name.

Mars M&M's Chocolate Beans

To sum up, under the guidance of USP theory, there are two main points in the ideas of advertising creativity:

1. Find the core appeal of the product in terms of function or utility, and then extend this core function point into a valuable product concept through creativity, which is equivalent to clearly telling consumers "what functions my product has and what benefits it can bring to you" . The way of presentation can be a simple sentence or a complete artistic conception, which can enable consumers to recognize and associate the product/brand.

2. No matter how many different versions of the advertisement are created, the same sales proposition must always be emphasized in the advertisement , and the advertisement must be exposed continuously and repeatedly so that this proposition can penetrate into the hearts of consumers. For example, Head & Shoulders has always emphasized its "anti-dandruff" function, and Bawang's "anti-hair loss" proposition has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Their advertisements have been broadcast in countless versions, and the appeal points conveyed by the advertisements have not changed.

2. Brand Image Theory

Brand Image Theory , referred to as BI theory , was proposed by advertising guru David Ogilvy in the mid-1960s and is a very important part of advertising creative strategy theory. This theory has four main points:

1. Creating an image for a brand is the primary purpose of advertising;
2. Any advertisement is a long-term investment in the brand;
3. It is much more important to portray the brand image than to emphasize the specific functional features of the product;
4. Advertisements should pay particular attention to using images to meet their psychological needs.

Nowadays, product homogeneity is becoming more and more serious . It is difficult to distinguish the same type of products in terms of specific functions. At the same time, consumers are increasingly inclined to be emotional when choosing products. A very simple example is that when we go to the supermarket to buy toothpaste, we don’t compare every brand of toothpaste, because toothpastes with the same function (such as whitening) have similar ingredients, and it is difficult for consumers to find the subtle differences between them; therefore, we will not compare each brand one by one, but directly choose to buy the brand we usually use or frequently use, or the first brand that comes to our mind. This requires creating differentiation between brands at a deeper level.

Therefore, advertising creativity under the guidance of brand image theory should take shaping and maintaining a good brand image as its starting point and end point:

1. Build brand image

Through scientific experiments, investigations, and analyses , based on clear brand positioning, consumer attributes, and consumer impressions of the brand , we use advertising to outline and describe the brand's unique temperament, and input spiritual elements such as national character and social character into it, shaping the brand into a cartoon or real-life image, giving the brand a unique personality. For example: After Marlboro cigarettes changed their positioning to “ladies’ cigarettes”, they successfully created a brand image of the rugged, heroic American Western cowboy by repeatedly emphasizing the masculinity of Marlboro cigarettes in advertisements.

Marlboro cigarettes western cowboy image

2. Deliver brand image

Invite stars and celebrities who match the brand's temperament and concept to shoot brand image advertisements, and carry out extensive publicity through television, the Internet, newspapers, etc. to make the brand image deeply rooted in people's hearts.

3. Maintain brand image

When designing an advertisement, you must consider whether the creative idea of ​​the advertisement is consistent with the brand image and whether it is beneficial to the brand image. You cannot make an advertisement that is inconsistent with the image or even damages the image.

3. Resonance Theory

Resonance theory, which appeared in the 1980s, is one of the most commonly used creative methods in advertising production today. The core proposition of resonance theory is: to show the target consumers' precious and unforgettable life experiences, life experiences and feelings in advertisements, so as to awaken and stimulate their deep memories , and at the same time give the brand specific connotations and symbolic meanings to establish empathy associations among target consumers. To sum it up in one sentence, it is to arouse emotional resonance among consumers through advertising .

The USP theory we mentioned earlier advocates using the specific functional points of the product as advertising appeals , which is more intended to encourage consumers to make rational purchases, while the resonance theory is more inclined towards consumers' emotional consumption. Humans are emotional animals. They all desire warm family affection, romantic love, strong friendship, and a full sense of patriotism. At the same time, they like to reminisce about their lost youth and miss the old days of their childhood. The effects and shocks brought about by the resonance of advertising appeals with people's emotions and experiences are profound and lasting, and can truly touch the hearts of consumers.

At present, there are two aspects of advertising appeals that can easily resonate with consumers:

1. Warm emotions based on family, love, and friendship

People are always full of yearning for beautiful things. These positive, gentle and joyful emotions enable people to directly experience the beauty of love and family. Family affection mainly reflects the blood relationship between family members, including the love between parents and children, brothers and sisters, grandparents and grandchildren, etc.; love includes the feelings between lovers and couples; friendship is reflected in people who have a relationship with each other other than lovers or relatives, and can include the friendship between classmates, colleagues, childhood sweethearts, etc.

In terms of advertising presentation, you can select fragments of life to display , or you can focus on a detail , or describe a certain part , to create or bring out the atmosphere and emotion .

Not long ago, China Merchants Bank’s advertisement “No matter how big the world is, it’s not bigger than a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes” went viral on WeChat Moments . It tells a story about maternal love: a mother gets up in the middle of the night despite the time difference to teach her son on the other side of the ocean how to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes over the phone over and over again, and finally she cooks for him herself and records a teaching video. It only captured a small fragment of life, but one can still feel the parents' selfless love and silent dedication, as well as the son's final understanding, consideration and gratitude towards his parents. The last copy of the advertisement reads, "No matter how big the world is, it is not bigger than a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. When children move into a bigger world, love still follows them." It directly touched the hearts of countless parents and children.

Screenshot of CMB advertisement

2. Nostalgia based on reminiscing about the past

Nostalgia is a common emotion. It is the remembrance of old things, old friends, old homes and past years. Nostalgia is often associated with classics. People often express their nostalgia through songs, movies, TV dramas, photos, poems, essays, architecture, clothing, etc. that reflect the times.

Adding nostalgic elements to advertising creation can awaken and stimulate consumers' deep-seated nostalgia, evoke their collective common memory symbols, generate spiritual resonance, and thus promote consumers' desire to buy. For example, Pechoin’s long-form advertisement “1931” uses a poster that is more than 4 meters long to take us back to old Shanghai in 1931: beautiful female agents wearing cheongsams, foreign buildings, foreign companies, newspaper vendors on the street, grand theaters, large department stores... The strong Republic of China style seems to make consumers feel as if they are there, triggering memories and nostalgia for that era. The nostalgic theme of the advertisement echoes the Pechoin brand which was founded in 1931, which undoubtedly makes consumers associate it with the brand.

Summarize

The article ends here. We have analyzed the USP theory, brand image theory and resonance theory in detail. The creative methods and ideas they provide are different, but they all have strong guidance. As advertisers, we should understand and master these basic theories and apply them to practice to help us create better advertisements.

This article was compiled and published by @草莓君(Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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