What's the big idea? (part 2)

The advertising industry is a fickle one. With a myriad of breakthroughs in technology and production, innovative new contenders stepping up to the plate at a time where budgets are monitored more closely than ever, as creatives we are forced to keep pushing our thinking to new heights.

This is not only to avoid the hammer if clients are forced to make budget cuts, but in a saturated market, it's the only way that our adverts can stand out from the clutter.

Ours is also an industry that has eyes everywhere. No idea is right or wrong. Everything is subjective. Far from just reviewing our work with human.kind's creative directors and clients - which, let's be honest, can be terrifying in its own right - we are reviewing it with the world. Wowing your own bosses and powers that be, while personally rewarding, is just the beginning. You then need to put your work out there for a plethora of critics to see, and harsh ones at that. And you need to impress. Because not only do your ads need to inform or entertain, they need to reap results that transcend simply making people laugh or cry.

Base it on insight

All of this is preamble to the point I am trying to make, and one I touched on in the last article. How do you conceptualise a successful idea that leads to a successful solution? An idea that merges entertainment with information? An idea that becomes a solution to a problem? An idea that causes action? The answer: base it on insight.

This is logical, and it has been said a million times before, but it is true: creativity in advertising is nothing without logic.

Insight is the understanding of a complex situation, or an understanding of the motivations behind one's thoughts or behaviour.

It makes sense then, that a concept based on insight will be effective in one way or another. The success of advertising, as we know, is evaluated in multiple measures. But, regardless of whether you are looking at increasing sales, establishing or strengthening a brand image or retaining brand loyalty, if your idea is rooted in a human insight, it should resonate with the target audience in a way that will elicit either an emotional or a behavioural response.

Connect, inspire, motivate

Sometimes the insight is based on what people find funny or sad, which enables the advert, and in turn the brand, to relate to the consumer on a personal level.
Sometimes it is an insight into behavioural patterns and emotional cues that allows us as advertisers to choose the right medium, the right time and the right place to most effectively speak to our target audience and influence consumer behaviour. And sometimes, the insight is just a completely random human observation that resonates with the audience, and allows us to establish a relationship with our audience by forming a strong, relatable and likeable brand personality.

Whatever the insight, if your work is based on one, you're that much closer to understanding your desired audience and producing work that will, in some way, connect with, inspire or motivate them.

Insight is not a new revelation by any means, but when briefs have piled up, deadlines are looming, and morale is low, it is the simple things that are overlooked. An insight in itself - the one this piece is based on.

For more:

• Bizcommunity: What's the big idea? (part 1) by Tamlyn McPherson