c3PR - Mar Junge

Taking the time to develop a creative platform will help confirm the key message, tone, design direction, and benefits to be promoted to the target audience. The information allows us to focus on the MESSAGE before considering individual design elements.

In addition, completing the creative platform will save you time and money in revisions. For example, if an idea, headline, or concept is weak, it will reveal its weakness before the design stage. On the other hand, an idea that passes the creative platform test can only improve with professional art direction. Answering the following 12 questions will get your creative project off on the right foot.

The Product

1. What major problem does the consumer have that your product/service can solve? Or what major opportunity exists?
2. What is the most important thing that your product/service will do for the consumer? [Primary benefit] Give a reason why your product/s or service can offer this benefit by adding “because” to end of your statement.
3. Do you have evidence to support this claim? What materials will be provided to make the customer benefit believable?
4. Are there any secondary benefits?

The Competition

5. Who are your principal competitors? (Names and website addresses.)
6. How does your product/service differ from your competitors? What does your product offer that theirs does not? Explain (or attach samples of) efforts made by competitors for a similar product/service.
7. In addition to listing the tangible characteristics compared to your brand, explain how your target audience sees each brand. Describe any advertising messages used currently or recently for your brand and competing brands. What executions by the competitor/s do you think are worth considering?

The Audience

8. What is the demographic or psychographic profile, age, income, education, or experience that brings your target audience to life? If there are several audiences, please rank in importance. Please be as specific as possible. For example, the market for home purification products may be homeowners 25+, but response will be much better if the advertising/ marketing is targeted to a more focused group: i.e., women over 35 with children, a pet and a household income of $50,000 or more.
9. Is there a customer profile that differs from your answer above? If so, please explain.
10. What is the current audience perception of your organization, services and/or products? What is the level of awareness? What are their current feelings or experience?

The Campaign

11. What are the marketing materials supposed to accomplish in terms of what the consumer THINKS, FEELS or DOES? Do you simply want to make the consumer aware of the brand (THINK)? Are you trying to change consumers’ attitudes toward the brand (FEEL)? Do you want the consumer to seek additional information by calling a toll-free number or visiting a Web site (DO)?
12. Do you have a preference for the selling style and advertising appeal? (Soft vs. hard sell, romance, excitement, relaxation, humor, pure tech)

Summary

The purpose of this ______________________ [ad, direct mail series, campaign, article, email, brochure, etc.] is to____________________________
[inform, convince, persuade, entertain, scare, concern, etc.] the _____________ [target audience] to/that ________________________[the action or change of mind we want to create in the target audience] because ___________________ [the primary reason they should do or think what we want them to.]

About the author:
Mar Junge has helped scores of Silicon Valley companies with their marketing and public relations campaigns since founding c3PR in 1982. A prolific writer and thought leader, her original and ghostwritten articles have been published in more than 50 industry publications. To contact Mar, email her or call 408-730-8506.