8 advertising creative formulas to turn you into a brainstorming tornado

Our idol David Ogilvy once said: "To attract consumers' attention and get them to buy your products, unless your advertising has a good idea, it will be like a ship quickly swallowed by the night. " This "idea" is what we call creativity.

However, the reality is that after so many brainstorming sessions, even if I am exhausted, I still can’t come up with a good idea. In fact, creativity also has rules to follow. This time, I will present to you eight "creative formulas" . Maybe these templates can save your remaining hair!

When creating an idea for a brand or product, you must first collect various information related to it, such as parameters, functions, features, history, etc. But full understanding is only the basis of creativity. This information cannot be presented directly. However, if this information is presented in an interesting way, it will become very different.

Zoo ads in Slovakia Swipe left and right to see more

For example, the Slovak zoo commercial. Cute animals can make people happy, but the poster did not say it directly. Instead, a group of pictures were made. The adorable animals made all kinds of people "force a smile", which immediately brought people into a fun and imaginative scene . It turns out that the zoo is a good place for "joy".

Many times, a product or service often wants to express an abstract concept, but pale words such as "healthy", "high quality" and "fast" are basically the same as saying nothing. However, if we can use a figurative or symbolic symbol to make an analogy, it will be easy for everyone to have an intuitive feeling.

IKEA discount creative advertisement Swipe left and right to see more

For example, IKEA has a creative campaign that has won many awards. Their products are of good quality and low price, but as time goes by, people no longer have such a strong perception of this. At this time, they made a set of posters, saying that you could buy a chest of drawers with six tubes of toothpaste, a bookshelf with two boxes of pizza, and a bench with three cups of coffee. Amazing: So cheap! This boosted their sales. During the sale, they pulled out a few tubes of toothpaste, spilled a cup of coffee, and told everyone that it was cheaper now.

Everyone is more concerned about things "related to me", and the connection between people is greater than many cold objects. So you can compare the product to an animal or a person , whether it is a good guy or a bad guy, whether it is exaggerated or suspenseful, as long as it can highlight the characteristics of the product.

LAWSON is a convenience store chain that we all know. When it celebrated its 10,000th store, it released a short film called "The Little Story of LAWSON". In the film, there is a man who has been standing silently on the side of the road for no reason. No matter the weather, he is always ready to help others, which reminds people of the persistence of Forrest Gump's spirit. It was not until the end that everyone realized that the man was "LAWSON". This creative advertisement does not have any product placement, but it makes people deeply appreciate the spirit of the enterprise.

Consumers' shopping is often accompanied by various needs, big or small. Sometimes they don't even realize why they want to buy, or no one provides them with a reason to buy. At this time, you can use precise insights and combine them with the characteristics of the product to display or even exaggerate the needs, and then start with the details to make the audience have the psychological suggestion of "I need it".

NIVEA Because life creates wrinkles poster Swipe left and right to see more

For example, when promoting NIVEA men’s skin care products, men are less likely to use skin care products than women, but they are under a lot of pressure in their lives, and the “frowning brow” is their iconic portrayal. So they enlarged the wrinkles on the forehead and made a series of print ads called "Wrinkles are formed because of life". It is estimated that after seeing this idea, women will help men buy the product.

Exaggeration is basically a common creative technique. For example, teeth whitening strips can be removed and the teeth become white, laptops can withstand gunfire, etc. There are also many logistics delivery ads that are delivered as soon as you receive them. Exaggerated effects can leave a deep impression on the product’s features. Whether it’s text, pictures, videos, etc., this is a tried-and-true formula. The exaggerated effect is divided into positive and negative levels, that is, what the results will be if used or not, and many funny elements can also be added.

The Bank of Thailand has an advertisement called "Window of Wishes": a little boy who wants to be an astronaut resists the temptation of play and snacks and finally saves enough money, but finds out at the last minute that prices have increased. Similar to this is the series of advertisements called 7-Up Butterfly Effect, which make people want to watch it again and again.

You can list on paper all the things that can be associated with this product, use your imagination, and then find the one that is the most "unreasonable yet expected" to create some kind of connection between the two . The rule of creativity is to break the rules, but there will always be some connection between the rules.

Mercedes-Benz has a classic advertisement called "Sad Dog". A dog found out that his beloved dog was with another dog. He was heartbroken and decided to run onto the highway to commit suicide. Unexpectedly, the suicide came to an abrupt stop because the Mercedes-Benz's brakes were too good.

Entertainment is now the mainstream, and we can start from certain characteristics of the product and extend it in an artistic way . Because there are so many options for product characteristics and artistic forms, this is a very large collection of creative ideas.

Intel Super Bowl Creative Campaign Swipe left and right to see more

To promote its own drones, Intel had Lady Gaga perform an aerial light show with hundreds of drones at the opening of the Super Bowl. 300 drones filled the sky above the Super Bowl, forming a fluttering American flag that ignited the entire stadium. At the end of the performance, the drones formed the English trademark "Intel".

Make your own brand's products compete with other brands' products to highlight its advantages. If the cooperation is good, this is likely to achieve a "win-win" result.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz 100th Anniversary Ad Swipe left and right to see more

Many people have been flooded with pictures of Mercedes-Benz and BMW. On the occasion of BMW's 100th anniversary, its old rival Mercedes-Benz sent its blessings: "Thanks for 100 years of competition! The 30 years without BMW were a bit boring!" BMW also responded with the same picture: "You were born when I was not yet born, and I was born when you were old." It can be said that this war of words made them really popular.

What is creativity? Kenya Hara once said: A cup is used to hold water. Only by pursuing its original purpose can you not be constrained by current structures and trends. As long as the object you design can hold water, it can be called a cup . The same is true for creative communication. Rules cannot be broken, but they can be constantly re-established.