How to do ads

Neil French
Worldwide Creative Director
Ogilvy & Mather

“ I turn to simplicity ;
I turn again to purity. ”
Genghis Khan, 1221

The first and greatest of all the Khans, the conquerors of Asia, the Middle East, Russia, and much of
Europe, had these words engraved on a simple stone pillar, as a sort of spiritual signpost for his
followers.
There is no better advice for anyone bent on conquering a market, a business, or a people.
‘Keep it simple, stupid,’ is a somewhat less inspiring phrase, but although simplicity is a much-
preached virtue, nowhere is it less well-practised than in advertising. We tend to be masters of
linguistic obfuscation. (See ?)
So, the aim of this little book is to return us to the basics of our business, and to enable us to spend
more time producing great work for our clients, and less time talking about it.

The simple object of all business is to make money. And contrary to general appearances, an
advertising agency is no exception.
An agency’s biggest overhead is its people. That is as it should be. The better the people, the better the
advertising. Also, the better the advertising, the higher their cost : It goes with the territory.
Thus, the key to an agency’s profitability is the efficient use of its people.
O&M has some of the best in the business, and, on the face of it, should be extremely successful and
profitable.
If that profitability is less than it should be, it can only be due to an inefficient use of people.
And frequently, that inefficiency is traceable solely to having to do the same job twice… or more.
As soon as any job has to be re-done, then the agency starts losing money. With margins as tight as
they are, this can be disastrous.
Thus, the object of the exercise is to get it right first time.

To get it right, you need only two things :

A simple, inspiring strategy and brief.

The time in which to do the work properly.
And they must come in that order.
 THE PAPERWORK

The Strategy.
Marketing is war.
So the first thing you need is a strategy. A strategy is a Master-Plan : How you’re going to win the
war.
There will be battles and skirmishes along the way, and these will be covered by the individual job
briefs, but they will, as always be governed by the goal described in the strategy.
No client, no brand, no product, no service, can be without a strategy.
It is the first, and easily the most important document you’ll ever produce. Once it is approved, it
should be laminated, and circulated to every individual who will thereafter be involved in its
implementation.
A strategy will save vast amounts of time in future briefing, because the basic aims, structures, and
objectives will have been pre-defined.
It should be simple, well-written, and contain insights that will inspire the creative team to greatness.
It need not be complicated or difficult for the account-teams to produce, in the first place. Its strength
will be its simplicity, its clarity, and its truth.
It cannot be imposed. It must be discussed with, and approved by, the creative team, as well as by the
client.
It cannot be hurried.
Here’s how it’s done.

THE ADVERTISING STRATEGY

Brand Definition
If the brand already exists, it may well have a ‘personality’.. Is there a simple, picturesque way of
describing it?
[e.g. Pepsi-Cola ; young ; challenging ; the rebel.]

The Role of Advertising

What are we trying to achieve? Do be realistic here. Don’t over-promise. Don’t expect advertising
alone to create sales. (Unless it’s direct-selling).
Advertising is but one part of the marketing mix, along with distribution, pricing and the rest.
We are, here, concerned only with advertising.
Be realistic.

Competition
Who is competing with our brand? Who else is after the consumer’s dollar? Think carefully about
this. There may be ‘hidden’ competitors.
If, for example, the product is a beer, then ‘all other beers’ is the pat answer. But what about wine?
Spirits? Coolers? Fizzies? Water? Think a bit. There may be an opportunity lurking among those
hidden competitors.
This is the most under-thought, and least researched part of the average strategy.
Remember that whatever we say, whatever we say, we shall be saying it amid a cacophony of rival
claims. So first, list the rivals, and most importantly, try to define their claims, and the manner of their
advertising. There’s no point in being the same as a competitor; we’re looking for an edge. This
section will help us find it.

Note
That last section is the one most frequently in need of update, as competitors are entering and leaving
the fray, and when their advertising messages change.

Target Market
The essential here is to paint a word-sketch of the person at whom our advertising will be aimed.
Make him or her real. Don’t just make a demographic list. Do you know someone is this group? Tell
us about them, their attitudes, habits, prejudices, likes and dislikes. Advertising isn’t aimed at
circulations or audiences, or target market groups. Every advertisement is aimed at one person: the
woman holding the magazine, the man in front of the T.V. … although they may well be surrounded
by people, we are talking only to one individual. OK?

Where are we?

Now we’ve got a picture of our consumer, what does he think about our brand right now? His
attitudes will be formed and coloured by received information, like gossip, the opinions of others, and
by his observation of the brand’s previous ads. If he’s a lapsed customer, his opinions will be most
strongly affected by his past personal experience.
So, what does he honestly think about the brand? Put this in real everyday street language, not
advertising jargon. When you’ve finished, read it out aloud, to a colleague. You’ll know if it sounds
‘wrong’.
And, equally as importantly, what are his opinions about our competitors’ brands? About their
advertising, even: Does it grab him? If not, why not?

Note 1:
This is where the bad news comes out. Pity the poor account people who have to ask their client to
sign-off on a strategy that defines their brand as a loser, for whatever reason. But if we side-step the
truth at this stage, we shall do ourselves and our clients the most terrible disservice.
Thus, if you can get third-person, honest, documented research, at this stage, it’s far more valuable
than anything you might feel instinctively. But if instinct is all you’ve got, stick it in, and be prepared
to argue your case logically.

Note 2:
Please bear in mind that this is your target consumer profile, not a casting brief. He doesn’t have to
appear in the ads.

Where are we going?

Now that we know him so well, how do we want this consumer to react after he has seen our ads?
(NOT, please, after he’s bought the product!)
How will we have altered his opinion?
Again, be reasonable. Don’t claim that a few ads can change someone’s life. Don’t catch the client’s
enthusiasm: This product, to the client, is his life: His home, marriage, kids’ education, retirement, all
depend upon it. To the consumer, it’s probably irrelevant, at best. You have to reconcile these two
positions at this stage.
On top of that, the client will believe that spending the vast budget alone will result in a buying frenzy
for his baby.
He must be brought gently back the reality that his ads will be seen along with everyone else’s, and
that, thus, he will need a breakthrough idea, and an exceptional execution, to make even the minutest
dent in the steely disinterest of the consumer.
Advertising has huge power: The power to move the hand of the consumer six inches one way or the
other, in a supermarket.
Under physical threat, our consumer would probably refuse to do so. But we, who will never meet
her, can persuade at long distance.
The key to that gentle persuasion must be a single, simple, memorable image, or idea; one that will cut
through clutter … The idea encapsulated in our strategy.

The Button
Press this, and whammo!
This is the key. The single, brilliant, simple something that will bring about the change in the
consumer’s opinion about the brand.
It can be a rational fact: If we really have a single reason why we can claim a better product, we’d be
mad not to tell the world: The Better Mousetrap Ploy.
It may be a benefit common to every product in the category, but one so obvious that our competition
omitted to notice or to mention it. If we grab it, and own it, then we win, they lose, and even more
fun, it will infuriate them!
It may be solely an emotional reason. There may be no rational reason for the consumer to choose our
brand above all the others.
In this case, by knowing our consumer really well, we can choose a corner of his psyche, and make it
our own. But be very careful in this area. No brand, for instance, can own ‘mother-love’. It’s just too
big, too basic; and in trying for too much, we can end up with nothing. Our efforts will be generic,
and we’ll help the category, maybe, but not ourselves specifically. But we can own one marvellous
facet of mother-love, if we look closely. That could be our button.
Of course, in some cases the advertising itself becomes the product. The ads have such power, that
they define the target consumer’s relationship with the brand so utterly, that the consumer buys the
ads.
Yet every example of even this pinnacle of persuasion can be traced back to the strategy.
The key to this section may well be found in past advertising. Somewhere in that product’s history
may be lurking a phrase or visual that entered the consumer’s own life-map, and is just waiting to be
unearthed.
But in defining this benefit, proposition, USP, whatever you call it, it’s The Button; you must be
single-minded.
One only, please.
No and. No withs. No linguistic concoctions, attempting to hide the fact that you couldn’t make your
mind up.
The consumer is a much put-upon soul: You’re one yourself. You don’t have time to decipher multi-
proposition messages. One single thought, expressed simply, entertainingly, and originally, is the
most you can be expected to ingest.
Support
Prove it.
If the Button is a rational fact, this is easy. You support your contention with proof, and this is where
it belongs. All of the information that led you to The Button will go here – but do, please, précis it;
don’t just attach a half-brick of research waffle. Anything that could be the basis of an ad goes here,
but none of it has to go in.
Don’t include anything that doesn’t have a positive bearing on The Button. It will confuse the
creatives, and may be an indication that you’ve chosen the wrong button altogether.
If you’re talking a non-rational Button, this is where you list all the research, all the factual
archaeology that led you to your conclusion.
However, while trying not to clutter up this section with irrelevancies, try not to leave out anything
remotely relevant.
Because, more often than not, the gem of a creative idea is squatting somewhere in this section,
absent-mindedly picking its nose, and gazing into the middle distance, unaware of its impending
stardom.
Not easy, this. Sorry.

Musts
First and foremost, remember that, if the brand already has a personality (see the Brand Definition)
then your strategy, your Button, and your ads, must always look like part of the family.
If the brand is failing, because of weakness in its existing Brand Personality, that will form the core
of the strategy.
If not, the Brand must be protected.
For example, a few years ago, the Guinness advertising changed, from the personality of
‘goodness’ (executed as strength building, and physically macho) to a far more modern
‘quirky’ (executed in a ‘cultist’ and visually-odd manner.)
Thus, in principle, every Guinness ad must reflect the new positioning, not the old one. If you can’t
make this work, it’s conceivable that the brand has a ‘personality’ only in the client’s mind, and that
the consumer is utterly confused; or more likely, doesn’t give a toss, and is ignoring the brand. In this
case, some hard talking has to be done by the account group, at the highest level, or we’ll all be
wasting our time.
You can only build on solid foundations, and brand-building is no exception. Get this right, before
you begin thinking ads.
The only other ‘musts’ are corporate colours, typefaces, house-styles, logos, and the like, and they,
along with censorship guidelines, do not belong in this strategy, essentially, but in each individual job
brief. For the sake of brevity, and bearing in mind the role of this document, stick ‘em in here if it
makes life easier.

That is your strategy.

It is immutable, and there is no reason to repeat it in future briefs.
Any variation that does appear in a brief must be leapt-upon, and and should be discussed most
seriously. If the variation is judged to be valid, then the strategy must be re-written and re-approved.
For the sake of affirmation, at least, the strategy should be reviewed at six month intervals. This must
be done by, and only by, the lead office, in all cases where the client appears in more than one market,
and always must be agreed by both the Account Director and the Creative Director.
And, of course, by the client.
The Brief.
If the strategy is simple, inspiring, and truly insightful, mere briefing is a piece of cake.
In principle.
The trick to bringing about breakthrough work is to make the strategy so simple, and so ‘to-the-
point’, that even a creative can’t fail to see the signpost.
Once you have the great strategy, the brief need only be a detailed call-for-action. No more, or less,
than that.
It is a work requisition: Thus, our system combines the brief and work requisition in one simple form.
What a brief is not is a call for lots of ideas, so that the account group can pick the one they fancy;
usually the line of least resistance.
What a brief is is the blueprint, from which a brilliant, glittering idea will emerge.
First time of asking.
If the work is boring, predictable, ordinary and jaded, and is on brief and on strategy, the fault must
lie with the progenitors of the initial strategic input.
If the work is exciting, relevant, unique, on brief and on strategy, a large portion of credit must go, by
definition, to those same folk.
Garbage In; Garbage Out. And Genius In; Genius Out.
If the input is inspiring, the ads will also be inspiring. And if they’re not, you should fire the creative
team.

The brief/work requisition

Essentially, this should be little more than ‘housekeeping’, because all of the information you need
will be incorporated into the strategy.
Remember, you can produce the strategy without any need for creative work, but you cannot institute
a work requisition without a strategy. Simple.
As for filling in all the information headings, it is acceptable to write ‘As strategy’ as long as there is
no variation in fact or detail.
The two headings where variations are most common are:
The Role of Advertising: Is there a more specific task for the advertising in this case? A promotion,
for example.
Musts: Since this is the moment when the actual ads, rather than pure ideas, are to be constructed,
here’s where the corporate house styles, typefaces, logos, legal caveats, addresses, phone
numbers and so on have to be detailed. The fewer, the better, of course, and only those that are
official.. No prejudices, no opinions, and no rumours, please.
If you do write ‘As strategy’, remember that the creative team will work solely and entirely on that
information. You can’t go back later and say ’I forgot to add…’
Essentially, a Work Requisition should be a document to give physical facts and to help the job
through the system, that’s all.
Note: NEVER leave blanks, anywhere on the form. A blank space signifies that the decision is left to
the creative team.
No specified production budget means that there’s an unlimited production budget. It’s no use
complaining ‘they should have used their common sense’, later. If creative people had any common
sense, they’d have been account handlers.
No specified TV-spot time means you could get a three-minute commercial. This may well be a great
idea, but not if the client’s certain to turn it down. By all means, ask for some creative input first, not
after the work begins.
Time-frames must be specified before the form is signed, as must teams who’ll be working on the
job.
NEVER write a.s.a.p… to a creative person, that just means ‘whenever you feel like getting round to
it’.
The forms must be signed, before work starts.

The Timing
Get the brief written and approved well in advance of needing the work. Simple, eh?
And obvious ?
Sadly, the tendency is to get a client’s brief, agree a delivery-date with him, then go back to the office
and start composing the brief for the creative team. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.
The half-arsed ‘tissue brief’ is not the answer. All this does is get the teams off to a false start, giving
the account folk time to write the full brief at leisure, and simultaneously kill all ideas they don’t like,
in advance.
So give a proper, definitive brief, and plenty of time.
Plenty of time is, of course, relative. But all experienced Creative Directors will know what is
reasonable in their markets. They should put their minimum lead-times in writing, so that account and
creative teams are aware, from the start.
It cannot be stressed enough, just how very important time is to the production of a great idea. What
appears to be one of the most brilliant ideas in the history of mass communications, late on a Friday
night, after several days of intense work, frequently turns out to be a large pile of self-indulgent old
poo on a Monday.
And if your client presentation is on Monday morning, you are deep in the same substance.
Always leave time for second thoughts in the first place.
Once work has been turned down – usually because either the brief was wrong, or there wasn’t time
to do it properly, the whole client relationship is at risk.
The client has lost a degree of confidence in his agency, and will be nervous; and ultra-critical of
future work; the creative team is demotivated, and will be inclined to produce ‘safer’ (and thus,
worse) work, in order to get rid of the job; By definition, time has been wasted, money’s being
wasted, and the delivery dates are careering towards us like runaway juggernauts, so the job will be
rushed again, will be worse, and will be turned down…
It’s a terrifying downward spiral that we’ve all been in, one time or another.
So get it right first time.
Note: There is only one way to police this, and that is to make a rule that work does not ever
commence on a job until the brief is approved.
Only when the Creative Director and the Account Director have approved and signed it can the clock
start running.
It’s the Account Director’s responsibility to decide whether or not the client needs to sign the brief,
and it’s the Creative Director’s responsibility to decide on the amount of time his teams will need to
complete the job. Once they’ve signed, they’re committed. The work will be ready for presentation,
and will be on brief, on the agreed date.
The work, being on strategy, on brief, and on time, will be sold.
No excuses, either way.
Remember, very few clients mind being given a slightly extended delivery-date in the first place. No
client ever enjoys having to turn work down, and start the whole process over again.
 THE TWO RULES

NEVER start work on a job unless there exists an approved strategy and a signed brief/work
requisition.
NEVER attempt to produce work in less time than it will take to do it well.

As someone once said, commenting on the declining creative standards in his once-great agency:
‘We gave up wanting it great, and settled for wanting it Tuesday.’