Advice on each question

⦁ What is being advertised?
Briefly describe the brand name, the concept and the sector. The branding must be original: you cannot advertise an existing brand. You must create the brand name, the logo and the visual identity. You may advertise anything that can be advertised: it could be a charity, a running shoe, a political party seeking re-election, a new digital app, a video game, a government social marketing campaign, a brand of bubble tea, a retail brand, a fragrance, a university, a holiday destination or tour company, a new movie or book, a car, grooming or beauty products, a razor, shower gel, hair spray, or anything else. It can be a service, a product, an experience, a non-profit.

The genre is up to you- this could, for example, be a short, snappy 20 second TV ad, or a longer (up to 2 minutes) piece conceived as influencer content, a piece of content advertising or sponsored content, or as brand building informational or entertainment content for social media or video sharing. It can be an animation, a scripted scene with actors, a montage of filmic scenes with a voiceover, a straight-to-camera monologue. It can have a jingle, scenes of packaging, logo, or anything else that you feel will be useful.

⦁ What is the problem that this ad will help to solve?
If there isn’t a problem that advertising can help to solve, then an ad campaign won’t help the client. Therefore, it is good discipline to articulate the problem that is being addressed with this video. You can invent the business context for this, and the problem can be conceived any way you wish. It could be a new brand launch that addresses a gap in the market: it might be an established brand that is repositioning to reach a new or larger consumer segment.

If it is a public service ad, then it might be needed to address rates of cigarette smoking, car accidents, gambling addiction, educational achievement etc. As an example, a UK supermarket chain wanted to increase their sales by £3 billion. To solve the problem they decided to launch an advertising campaign promoting new cooking ingredients and recipes, to encourage existing customers to spend one or two pounds more each time they shop.

⦁ What is the advertising strategy?
The advertising strategy should be expressed in two ways. Firstly, it refers to what the client needs to achieve, their overall objective (as regards goals such as increased user engagement, wider audience reach, % market share, penetration of a new market, increased fan base, or simply clicks, shares and likes…). Secondly, it needs to connect with question 7 so that the client can see exactly how the individual video ad can create an emotional /psychological /behavioural change in the viewer/user that will help to drive the overall objective.

NB “raising awareness” is not a strategy, it’s a cliché. Every ad is designed to be seen and to make the brand more famous. Awareness is a neutral state- being aware does not imply action. The ad strategy should make the viewer think, feel or do something differently. Similarly, “raising sales” is obvious- every ad is designed to do this, in the long term. The strategy refers to what the ad will do to make increased sales, or increased awareness of the brand, more likely. “Using influencers” is not a strategy, influencers are a medium. Well-expressed advertising strategies are succinct, specific, and concrete.