As the world of marketing communications has become more tactically complex, the strategy behind the work has suffered. Most ads aren't good. They don't achieve the results that the company desires. They end up costing precious time and money. Neither you nor the target like to look at them either. Humanity has been creating marketing communications for over 8000 years. You would think people would be good at this by now.
The problem is people aren't good at it. Rather, as technology has improved, people have become better at learning just how bad they are. As brands are able to test more efficiently, they are witnessing less effective and even ineffective advertising. As brands have become able to produce spots more effectively, they're seeing more rounds of development that increase costs. And, as brands continue to recognize the value of clear marketing communications, the client-agency relationship has continued to deteriorate. A vicious cycle is upon us where brands are spending large sums of money to learn that the advertising was ineffective; rather than fix the problems, they simply repeat―we are in our very own version of "Groundhog's Day."
This book is designed to give readers the tools they need to achieve meaningful improvement in their communications now and in the future. This book seeks to break the cycle of ineffective strategy and creative and help brands steer their marketing communications towards meaningful results and success. In the Creative Brief Blueprint, Kevin McTigue and Derek Rucker merge decades of academic insights and practical experience to offer an approachable and actionable guide to crafting successful communications strategy. This strategy is brought to life via a concise and precise "creative brief" that acts as the blueprint for creative work.
In each chapter, the authors explain a particular part of the brief, review the value of the brief element to both clients and agencies, identify why brands fail and how to succeed, and answer common queries with regard to myths, misconceptions, and other questions.
Tactics will continue to evolve at a rapid pace, but the need for sound strategy is present now more than ever. This book gives readers the tools they need to achieve meaningful improvement in their communications now and in the future.
Kevin McTigue is a clinical associate professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. His career spans more than twenty years in teaching, consulting, brand management, and advertising for some of the world's most famous brands. He has written or evaluated hundreds of creative briefs for everything from social media for a children's hospital to Super Bowl ads.
Dr. Derek Rucker holds the Sandy & Morton Goldman Professorship of Entrepreneurial Studies in Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management. Trained as a social psychologist, he focuses broadly on consumer behavior with an emphasis on advertising, persuasion, social hierarchy, and compensatory consumption. He has contributed to more than 130academic publications and his research has been covered in major media outlets such as the New York Times, Time magazine, and ABC News.
