Ogilvy's internal training on advertising creativity

In "Creativity is just incomprehensible? In the article "I learned something after seeing the Wonderbra advertisement", we mentioned the five exits of the creative maze. Only when our thinking is not restricted can the level of creativity continue to upgrade.

In addition to the five exits, From Ugly Duckling to Swan is also a way to evaluate the level of creativity .

I was inspired by this and always use it as a goal to measure the work at hand. This was proposed by the creative director of Ogilvy Asia Pacific. He used a very vivid analogy: a newly-conceived idea is often inconspicuous, like an ugly duckling. Only through persistent cultivation can it be transformed into a beautiful white swan.

But unfortunately, I didn’t see this point of view until I had been working in this field for many years, and it felt like I had suddenly become enlightened. It is rare to find a book written by an international senior person that can explain the principles of creativity so thoroughly using such simple language. If I had seen this a few years earlier, I might have avoided a lot of detours.

Therefore, over the years, I have spared no effort to recommend this concise and useful book to students studying advertising. The ugly duckling's point of view also confirms my experience in the industry: good ideas cannot come easily, but require persistent efforts before they can be seen one day. As a professional, you cannot be satisfied with the ugly duckling-style expression. Only by getting rid of the temptation of old concepts can the next Super Idea be born.

The book "The Ugly Duckling: Ogilvy's Creative Perspective" (CITIC Press, 2009) includes a large number of wonderful cases, but it is very different from other similar advertising works. In other words, the greatest value of this book lies in: it presents the "primary state" and "advanced state" of creative works respectively, allowing us to see the comparison between the two levels of creativity at a glance.

Here, I have selected a few works recommended in the book and will explain them in depth from my perspective. In each group of cases, on the left is the prototype of the idea, that is, the plain-looking "ugly duckling" ; and on the right is the idea that has been optimized and can be called a "white swan" .

In toothpaste ads, how to show the firmness and strength of teeth? In the picture on the left, a young man has a ferocious face and his mouth is wide open, revealing two rows of shining sharp teeth. This idea compares people to wild beasts. It is an easy and common idea.

On the right, the composition is extremely simple, with only a corkscrew, but it gives people a strong visual shock: because the teeth of this corkscrew are actually replaced by human teeth! What it means is that after using this tooth-strengthening toothpaste, your teeth will be as sharp as a bottle opener, and can open any food, whether it is raw or cold, and you can eat anything. This is a "swan-level" idea that is both reasonable and unexpected.

This group is an advertisement for Guinness. In the first picture, we can see from the big screen in the stadium that a player set a world record in javelin because he drank GUINNESS. But this creative approach is too logical to be too surprising.

The effect of the picture below is different: it is still on the field, but the referee was hit by a javelin and fell to the ground. What happened? According to the analysis of the picture, the referee was far away from the best performance area for javelin and it was impossible for him to be hit. If he was really hit, it must be that the athlete drank beer and performed exceptionally well, which led to this incredible scene. Obviously, the second idea is more impactful, after all, human life is at stake. This also reflects the unconventional brand personality of GUINNESS dark beer.

These are two public service announcements calling for an end to domestic violence and the protection of children. The only difference between the two is the location of the text. In the picture on the left, the text is at the very bottom of the picture and is easily overlooked. In the picture on the right, the text is moved directly under the child's eyes, forming the shape of a "black eye".

This small change has a two-pronged effect. It not only draws everyone's attention to the tragic situation of child abuse, but also makes people interested in reading the text carefully. It can be called a "swan-level" creative idea.

Let’s take a look at another set of posters for pure water. In order to highlight the purity of the water, the first photo is presented through an almost transparent bottle, but half of the bottle is still vaguely visible. In the second photo, the entire bottle body is removed, allowing it to blend completely with the background, leaving only the bottle cap that is impossible to see through and the wrapping paper on the bottle, highlighting how transparent the water is! The creative level of these two pictures is immediately apparent.

Next, let’s take a look at a group of advertisements for correction pens. The one on the left is a picture of an empty trash can, and the copy tells you: With a correction pen, you never have to throw away waste paper again. The one on the right is obviously more impressive. It simply adds the copy on the correction pen (just like the trademark text on the correction pen), and even saves the space for the advertising title.

Its advantage is that it can make the suspense created by the picture stronger and arouse the reader's curiosity to delve into the product information below the picture. We have said in previous content that the best copywriting is no copywriting. This ad is close to that standard.

Careful readers may have discovered that the "swan-level" creativity mentioned here is actually like the fourth and fifth exits of creativity mentioned by Dr. Richard ("Is Creativity Just Incomprehensible?"). The common feature of the two is that they are extremely difficult to create. But it is precisely because of this that our creative work can encounter more surprises and fun.

I emphasize this repeatedly because I hope everyone will not be satisfied with their own flashes of inspiration, because the first few creative ideas we can think of have already been thought of by others. Only by thinking diligently and never being satisfied can you have the opportunity to discover the fifth outlet for creativity and transform from an "ugly duckling" into the most beautiful "white swan".