Scripts

Unit 5
5.1 (I = Interviewer, MR = Marco Rimini)
I: What are the key elements of a really good advertising campaign?
MR: When I answer the question of what [’s] really makes a good advertising campaign, I always
go back to the beginning and ask the question, what is the person who’s paying for the campaign
trying to achieve? What is that person’s objectives, what is it that person wants to happen as a
result of spending money on this advertising campaign? So in order to decide whether it is good
or bad, it is first of all most important to understand what it is that the campaign must try and
achieve. Some people might say, well that’s obvious – to sell more goods, to sell more services, to
sell more bottles of Coca-Cola or jeans – and often, of course, it is simply to sell more of a
product. But not always. Sometimes it is to change the image of a company. Sometimes it is to
change people’s views of an issue. Sometimes it is to get people to drink less alcohol, to do up
their seat belts, to change the way in which they use energy. So a good or bad advertising
campaign depends on what it is there to achieve.
5.2 (I = Interviewer, MR = Marco Rimini)
I: Can you take us through the typical planning and launch stages of a campaign?
MR: So, when we look at the different stages of a campaign, we tend to start always with the
briefing. The first stage is to identify the brief from the client and to agree the brief with the
client. It is at this stage that we tend to agree the objectives I referred to earlier – what will make
the client happy after this campaign has been aired?
The second stage is then to take that brief and articulate it for the people in our organisations
who have to make recommendations and have ideas about the campaign itself. At this stage, we
brief creative people to come up with ideas and media people to ask, to have ideas about which
channels those ideas will be seen in.
The third stage will be the presentation of those ideas to the client. There is then some debate …
that debate process can go on for quite a long time until there’s agreement. At that point of
agreement, we get into the execution phase. The execution phase is where we then produce the
creative material and buy the space and the places in the channels of distribution for that
material.
5.3 (I = Interviewer, MR = Marco Rimini)
I: Can you give us an example of a successful new media campaign?
MR: One of the most successful new media campaigns, from one of the clients that uses new
media best, is Nike. Nike, of course, have a young audience who are very literate about the new
media and therefore live their lives in that media. And so rather than simply use advertising on
television to talk to this youthful audience, what Nike does is they start seeding viral campaigns.
And viral campaigns are pieces of film or pieces of content which they hope will be picked up by
individuals who see it – perhaps on YouTube – and passed on to their friends with comments to
say, ‘Look at this piece of film. Isn’t it fantastic?’
Perhaps the most famous piece of Nike viral was Ronaldinho, the footballer, appearing to be able
to, er, lob the ball directly onto the goalpost – er, goal bar – and it bouncing back to him, ten
times – a piece of outrageous skill which is just about believable, and then the viral campaign
actually became about was it real or was it faked? So it was not only an entertaining piece of film,
but it generated its own PR, public-relations exercise, it generated its own gossip on the web. The
answer was, it was fake.
5.4
1 Could I have your attention, please? Right, good morning, everyone. On behalf of Alpha
Advertising, I’d like to welcome you. My name’s Marc Hayward, I’m Creative Director. This
morning, I’d like to outline the campaign concept we’ve developed for you. I’ve divided my
presentation into three parts. Firstly, I’ll give you the background to the campaign. Secondly, I’ll
discuss the target markets. Finally, I’ll talk you through the media we plan to use. I’d be grateful if
you could leave any questions to the end. So, first of all, let me give you some of the background
to the campaign we’ve developed for.
2 Right, let’s get started. Hi, everyone, I’m Marc Hayward. As you may know, I’m Creative
Director of Alpha Advertising. Great to see you all. Anyway, I’m here to tell you about the ideas
we’ve come up with for the ad campaign. My talk is in three parts. I’ll start with the background
to the campaign, move on to the target markets, and finish with the media we plan to use. If
there’s anything you’re not clear about, feel free to stop me and ask any questions. Right, so, the
background to the campaign is that we will ...
5.5
… and particularly in Germany, where this is very important. Just to give you a specific example: if
you look at the next slide, we can see from the chart that the key age group is 18 to 25, but that
this will become less, not more, important as the product matures in the market. As I say, this is
reflected across all the markets.
Right, that’s all I have to say about the target markets. Let’s now move on to the final part, and
the media we plan to use. We’ll start in a month’s time with a viral campaign on the Internet to
generate interest, of which more later. Then there is the new TV commercial, which I’ll be
showing you in the form of a storyboard at the end of the presentation. Finally, we intend to use
images from the commercial for outdoor advertising on hoardings and public transport. This will
be linked to a co-ordinated press campaign, starting in June. So, to sum up, then, before we go to
the storyboard: the key points again are that firstly, the product already has wide appeal, so
we’re really just developing the brand and trying to keep it fresh. Secondly, that we will need to
bear in mind the younger sections of the market for the future; and finally, the key to getting the
campaign started is the viral advertising campaign. Thank you very much. Now, are there any
questions?

Case Study
Tony Page is an independent consultant who teaches, writes about, and facilitates change in
companies, government, and public services around the world. He works with the leaders of large
organizations on subjects including strategy, leadership behavior, culture, and organization
development.
Case study commentary (I=Interviewer, TP= Tony Page)
I: Tony, what are the necessary elements of a good advertising proposal?
TP: Well, a good advertising proposal knows its objective, its audience and its message －
although the message may not be obvious. In fact, in the best adverts, the message comes as a
surprise. For example, there's an advertisement whose objective is to change the behaviour of
the public in respect of smoking－in other words, to stop people smoking. And this advert has a
child describing, lovingly, her mother. Only in the final frame of the advertisement do you see
that her mother has died of cancer.
I: What advice would you give to people preparing an effective advertising presentation?
TP: For a really effective advertising presentation, how you engage your audience is the key. You
mustn’t overload them; you mustn’t rush them. I actually ask people to turn off the PowerPoint,
as we noticed this so often kills the energy of the audience. And that seems to be a key, you
know. If we can get people speaking directly, using only a flipchart, asking questions, getting
discussion going, then we get the most effective presentations.
I: Which points would you focus on in each of the three presentations?
TP: Well, in the case of Panther Air, we have a new airline. We have an audience of middle-aged
business executives who want to feel special and in control. We have an airline that wants to get
customers coming back time and time again. Let's imagine an advertisement where there is a
contrast being queuing in a normal airport situation and the ease and luxury of being in the ‘on
demand’ charter.
In the case of Safe Haven, we have a downtown city centre hotel. We could imagine a couple, an
attractive couple, stepping out of a busy street scene and opening the doors to a new world
inside the hotel with a range of restaurants, a well-equipped gym and all sorts of luxuries.
Actually though, that's a scenario of a TV advertisement and it's unlikely in difficult economic
conditions that a hotel company is going to be able to afford the time on TV. So we would need to
look at alternatives－newspapers and the Internet.
In the case of the E-book, this is a difficult device to sell, because people who like to read books
like to handle books. And they're being invited here to handle something which is a strange piece
of new technology. A way through, though, would be to use something called celebrity
endorsement. What this means is we have someone who's famous, like George Clooney or Nicole
Kidman, using the device and sending a message that this is fashionable, this is up to date, and
this is useful.