Creativity in Advertising: Eyebrows, Greek Banquets

Advertising, it may be a form of audio or visual that is usually paid for, specifically to inform or influence the public. It can also make people aware of your product you are selling or the service that you have.

Marketers believe that advertising is part of promotion. You need to advertise to create brand awareness. You need to advertise because it is part of branding. You need to create a brand identity that will identify your product and this identity will differentiate your product from other products.

Creativity is an important component of advertising. According to Albert Einstein, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” With the lack of imagination, it would be impossible to envision the future, to engage creativity and to explore ideas.

Creativity in advertisements can make a person stop on what he/she is doing and pays attention to it. Every day we are bombarded with so many advertisements that are designed to grab our attention. A 2009 Cadbury’s advertisement where two little kids whose eyebrows were jumping was viewed over 4million times on YouTube within the first three weeks of being released. Cadbury wanted the advertisement to go viral like the Gorilla one that had been so successful. To describe the sequence of events, there is an acronym used in marketing and advertising called AIDA. The acronym AIDA stands for: Attention – Interest – Desire - Action. The television commercial was really effective because the advertisement can grab the attention of the viewers; it creates interest with the viewers because at first they were curious on what is the commercial all about; the noticeable “purple” color of the Cadbury brand has always been their main differentiator so it creates brand awareness and lastly, it is how do people go to different stores to buy Cadbury that will give them the feeling of satisfaction and joy. Amazing how this television commercial can grab the attention of million people with the Cadbury’s creativeness.

On the other hand, there was a technique of memorizing called Method of Loci that has to do with places. This method was used by an ancient Greek poet, Simonides of Ceos. Through the method of loci, you can improve your memory by creating vivid experiences as you move from different places. Each one of us has a limitless memory capacity. We tend to forget what we are memorizing, what we are talking about or sometimes what we are doing. In advertising, creativity is an aid to memorability. Sometimes when you wake up in the morning there is a song playing in your head and it keeps on running on your mind all day. For example, the song “Despacito”. We kept on singing Despacito because of its catchy melody and lyrics. We assume that “Despacito” means “desperate” but Despacito actually translates into “slowly”. It really proves that music has the ability to leave an indelible mark in our minds. The song Despacito has more than 3 billion views and became the most watched YouTube video of all time. Justin wasn’t able to sing the Spanish parts of Despacito but the song has become such a big hit because of him. Sound is extremely useful for advertising. The melody, the use of words and the different languages like what they have used in the song Despacito, it’s possible to bring arguments and induce emotions to the listeners.

Another role of creativity—advertisements encourage people to try different brands. Schramm’s Model of Communication is about the process between a sender and a receiver. Just like in advertising, there are people who create advertisements, people who view and watch different ads and there is a medium through which the message can be transmitted. Like for example, there are commercials promoting whitening and anti-aging soaps. And by making it seem pretty and cool, this advertisement would likely boost their curiosity which makes them try the product. Research says that when people watch more television, they are likely to want and try different brands. Curiosity is about what we know and what we want to know. Especially the teenagers, they are searching for their own identity. Most of the time their classmates or friends would say that “Kailangan mo ng ganito para maging cool ka.”. Teenagers then would buy expensive products just to prove to everyone that they are cool and to make themselves fit in a “high-class society’ they want to belong. They always think that “More yaman, dagdag ego.”

Creative advertising may also associate specific emotions with brands. Food ads are doing a great job in getting our attention. Photographers are doing their best in taking and editing pictures to make the food look as mouth-watering as it can possibly be. But in reality, you will be surprised because the food that you have seen in television or internet is different. Creativity in advertising really attracts people’s attention. It encourages us to buy something even at a later date or even though it’s expensive. Another thing is that, most of the companies have focused on creating inspirational ads like Jollibee. Have you seen their television commercials last February? Jollibee released three videos that went viral. The videos are based on true Filipino stories and highly relatable. It’s like you’re watching a telenovela in a span of few minutes. This kind of advertisement was really creative because of the tragic endings and plot-twists. Jollibee needs to stop with the love commercials before they change their chicken joy to chicken feels.

Advertising agencies are rewarded as well for excellence in advertising creativity. Hundreds of creativity excellence awards are given each year to the most creative and outstanding advertisements. The world’s most creative ads are celebrated annually at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the most awaited event in the communications world.