Example Of An Advertising Campaign

As I mentioned above, in this hypothetical example our client is a bank. On the surface a bank offers services such as: checking accounts, loans, safety deposit boxes, brokerage accounts …and a whole host of other services. However, in this advertising campaign exercise I want to focus on using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to develop a marketing campaign that is designed to attract new customers looking to open a saving account.

• Campaign -Encouraging parents to open a savings account for their children.
• Target Audience – Current bank customers who are parents of younger children.
• Media Used – In-branch posters, teller-helpers, statement stuffers, small landing page on website.

Three needs we will engage:

• Safety – I am concerned about child’s financial future.
• Love – I love the kids, so I want to do right and make sure they have a good future. Ties in with ‘duty’.
• Esteem – Maslow discusses two “subsidiary sets” of self-esteem need. “These are, first, the need for strength, for achievement, for adequacy, for confidence in the face of the world, and for independence and freedom. Secondly, we have what we may call the desire for reputation or prestige (defining it as respect or esteem from other people), recognition, attention, importance or appreciation.” It is the first type of esteem – the inner directed – that we will address in our campaign.

Our Target Audience

Next let’s consider our prospect. Although we are aiming at “parents” I find it is more effective for me to envision the actual decision-maker when creating the campaign. I don’t ignore the role of the influencer, but I find it easier to focus on the decision maker. For this campaign, I envision the mother as decision-maker, although I’m sure many fathers walk their kids to the bank to open their first account.

Our mother cares about her child but also knows that it is on her shoulders to take care of the family. Right here we can briefly consider the second half of the esteem need. She is not going to get a ‘pat on the back’ from anybody from opening up an account for her child. It’s one of the thousand little tasks she’ll take on in raising the child that will never draw a compliment.

Because of this they may feel even more alone, even though she has a strong sense of duty associated with the decision. Of course, she is possibly going to look at her friends and family as primary referral sources, but if she is new in town she may not have many strong referrers. Your campaign may be especially effective at parents who have not been in the community a long time.

Here is what you must do:

1. Acknowledge their alone-ness. (Esteem)
2. Acknowledge the importance of the decision. (Esteem)
3. Acknowledge the threat. (Safety)
4. Acknowledge the family (Love)

You need to do this with your:

1. Headline
2. Photo
3. Subhead or Tag Line
4. Body Copy
5. Combination of all of these.

Wow, there’s a lot to a simple ad, isn’t there?

Only if it’s done right. In our next post, we’ll look at some possible headlines, copy and photos.

Craig, What is the right relationship between Story, Benefits and Features?

The FunMarketer answer: Story reinforces you as you market your Company Brand, Benefits (and Features) reinforce the Product.

This might seem academic, but it’s not. Think about it – when you shop at a retail store, you expect that store to treat you a certain way regardless of what you buy. If you are at Wal-Mart, you expect cheap prices, clean stores, smooth checkout and not much else from the staff. If you are at JC Penney, you anticipate that somebody in the sales department will assist you.

It doesn’t matter what product you are buying at Wal-Mart or at JC Penney, you walk in expecting the company’s brand to be stable and aligned with what you’ve previously experienced. Story should always reinforce the brand. That’s why the combination of photos and headlines or imagery surrounding the customer in retail is so important. It is also why it is beyond Herculean for a retailer to occupy both the Upscale and the Discount position. It is nearly impossible for the imagery in the store to shoulder these two loads at the same time.

But when you are buying a product, you need to immediately convey what that product will do for the customer. Quick – parade your benefits out there: fast, front and center. Don’t assume listing the features will be sufficient. Computer and tech products are especially guilty of this. Processor speed, ram, etc – just listing all that in a long litany of features won’t convince anybody. If that new Model 500 processor is 50% faster than the old Model 400, announce that fact after you scream: “Get your work done in 1/2 the time!”

Hint – The photo/headline combinations Marketing Hawks dreams up each week for FunMarketer are intended to jumpstart your creative mind for either story or benefits. You can use these suggestions as a launchpad for ideas to enhance and reflect your brand, or that latest product you are pushing.

Call me for more ideas at 402-423-2444 or email me at funmarketer@marketinghawks.com

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Here’s one that will work well for just about anything you are selling to families – from food to fashion.

Photo: Istock #4669594

Headline: Swing into Fall with Savings from Acme! This week only, 10% off…

FunMarketer Tip of The Week

Sometimes a bit of creative help is as close as your kitchen’s pantry. Need marketing ideas for an ad or campaign? Go grab some inspiration from some of the best packaging around – the cans. Just look at how little space these marketers have to work with – and how much they pack in. Pull down three or four cans – and drink in some inspiration. Hey, don’t forget the generic ’store-brands’. Plus, your writing might even become more honed by learning the importance of brevity. Why?

People who create graphics and words for the cans often must condense benefits into just one or two words. Look at the phrase: “Packed Fresh”. If you were writing copy for the internet or a print ad – maybe even a coupon – you would write: “Packed fresh so you enjoy the good health you deserve.”

Brevity works. Try it.

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“Heavenly”. Wow, talk about a phrase that is malleable. You can run with cloud images, food images, happy close-ups with eyes shut and smiles and faces uplifted in anticipation or enjoyment.

It’s one of the best one-word sentences you can end an ad with. And, if you’re clever enough, you can create a little mini-story around it.

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert