Don Draper said a lot of stuff, Mad Men ran for 7 Seasons and 92 Episodes, so as the lead character you’d imagine the man had quite a few lines to say. One line in particular has been quoted time and again, in the pilot episode when he is pitching an idea to Lucky Strike he says “advertising is based on one thing, Happiness!”
Now, far be it for me to disagree with this seminal character, but…I do.
What Advertising, or Creative should be based on, is insight!
Now here’s the thing, a strong insight doesn’t live in the description of the target audience; Information like “Women aged between 35-44, earning €50K a year, living in an urban area who are health conscious and quality focused” isn’t going to inspire creativity in anybody. An insight needs to conjure up one woman, this woman, who she is, what she believes, what exactly is her problem and how can the product be her saviour?
Here is my favourite example of how insight conquers all from Pampers Dry Nights.
Back when disposable nappies became the be all and end all for parents, all the major nappy brands advertised based on the product’s physical benefits – comfort for your baby, stretch for the perfect fit, absorbency to combat wetness. Phrases like ‘moisture lock’ and ‘dry bums’ promised parents the absolute best for their little bundles of joy, which is exactly what they wanted…but was it exactly what parents needed?
Hell, no!
Every parent (in theory) wants the best for their baby, but in reality, what every parent needs, (and as Mother of Two I can attest to this one) is a good night’s sleep!
After my second was born, I would have sold my soul to the devil for a solid 8 hours, (I didn’t obviously!) I did however sell my soul to Pampers Dry Nights because they were the ones who understood me! They knew that I was striving to be the best Mom I could be, but that that wasn’t possible on night after night of broken sleep.
So Pampers, without anything much different to say from a product perspective relative to their competitor brands, promised me that their nappies would keep my baby dry all night long so that they would sleep and therefor I could sleep.
A strong, human insight is the first and arguably the most essential step in the creative process.
Case Closed.
… except not quite! Join us throughout the month of March where we will be examining the creative process, how to overcome the Killers of Creativity, why creativity is so important and much more!
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