Despite the fact that Pippo Baudo is still hosting his show on RAI, Duran Duran is still recording albums and Giorgio Mastrota is still selling pots and pans and mattresses in his infomercials, we must admit the, by now, the world is changed. Including advertising.
Fifty years have passed since the arrival of television, more than one hundred from that of television and five centuries from the invention of printing, so it's inevitable that the trusted laws of traditional communication are beginning to lose their punch.
So, if everything's changing, why don't we change, too?
Our Mission
communicating from another point of view.
Our Vision
interpreting the world of communications in our own way.
Our Dream
To be as capable as adults and as foolish as children.
Where everyone sees a white zebra with black stripes, we see a black zebra with white stripes.
We are new advertising agency and our core business is:
Buzz, viral and tribal marketing
User Generated Content, social networking and community management
Guerrilla marketing
Ambient marketing
Experiential marketing
Unconventional events
We think that consumers don't want to be the targets of brand strategies anymore. They want to interact with them. They are intelligent and technologically advanced with little disposable time. They want marketing that pays greater respect and attention to their time.
Our approach is no longer “towards the consumer” but “with the consumer”, so that consumers and brand cooperate in the same process. We believe that businesses must take the consumers into consideration, not to influence them, but to learn from them.
WHAT IS IT ?
In this step you will find information about the Brand Builder, who is asking you to propose a Solution for the challenge. He introduces himself (as a Brand of course :) The more you understand about the Brand, the more chances you have to create what is wanted.
IMPORTANT: There is a possibility that the Brand Builder prefers not to disclose who he is, usually for confidentiality reasons. Such Briefs will be published in an anonymous way. In this case the Brand Builder will say as much as he feels comfortable saying.
Here are two EXAMPLES
In case there is no problem with disclosing the identity (VISIBLE):
“NMN -No More Nicotine- is a Brand that promises to counteract the damages to the skin that can be caused by smoking. NMN is distributed in pharmacies and drugstores and its price positioning is middle-high; it is mainly promoted through professional endorsement and is not massively advertised.”
In case the Brand doesn’t want to disclose his identity (ANONYMOUS):
“Brand counteracting the damages to skin caused by smoking. Its products are distributed in pharmacies and drugstores with a middle-high price positioning; they are mainly promoted through professional endorsement and are not massively advertised.”
In summary: Who is your client (in a visible or “anonymous” way :)
We are looking for a creative identity for our unconventional agency.
We are looking for our name, our pay-off and our logo. And we want to do it with the biggest creative department in the world.
WHAT IS IT ?
This is the task the Brand Builder asks you to accomplish. If you don’t understand it, you are completely out of luck !
EXAMPLE
“We ask the Creators to develop a print advertising campaign in order to increase Brand’s visibility. It will be used in national magazines this spring.”
In summary: It’s the objective of the client, therefore your objective too !
Our clients are sophisticated companies who understand how communications have changed and are ready to change.
WHAT IS IT?
People that the Brand Builder wants you to entertain and persuade to think, feel or do something using your creation. Usually you will read about their age, sex, social level and behaviors. You should always keep that information in mind while creating, as the target audience is the final recipient of what you create.
EXAMPLE
“Smoking girls and women who would like to quit smoking but can’t. Usually health-conscious adults who care about their looks. They feel guilty about smoking because they know it is harmful. They read books about it. This is a real problem for them: it’s like “My brain wants something, but my body acts of its own accord”. They don’t relate to my brand, they are just waiting for a trustworthy “helping hand”.
In summary: Get under their skin !
We want to make the unconventional a philosophy, a foundation and a goal to be achieved. We don't want to limit ourselves to using the new unconventional marketing techniques (viral, guerrilla, etc.), but we don't want to conventionalize all the services of an advertising agency.
WHAT IS IT?
The thing that the Brand Builder wants to make the target audience think/feel/do because of your creation.
Here are some very concrete examples:
∞ Some things people can think/feel:
- There is a new Brand (or product or idea or...) out there
- This Brand is better than the alternatives or than it used to be
- This Brand is worth paying more for
∞ Some things people can do:
- Start buying the Brand’s products
- Buy the Brand more often
- Stock more products of the Brand in their outlets
The above written examples are very concrete whilst often the proposition of the Brief is emotional. That’s even better as it can be more inspiring!
EXAMPLE
“We’d like to encourage smokers to use NMN in order to minimize the damage to their health while they are keeping giving up smoking (especially if they’ve already tried and failed before).”
In summary: Get inside their brain !
Because we must resign ourselves to the fact that the world has changed. Including advertising.
WHAT IS IT?
This is the key to achieving the objective. It is what supports the proposition and makes it believable. Usually it is a rational statement.
EXAMPLE
“Every cigarette you smoke is causing damage to your appearance. A recent study took several pairs of identical twins where one twin was a lifelong smoker and the other had never smoked. The smokers’ skin was a quarter thinner than that of non-smokers, and in some cases there were differences of up to 40%. NMN contains thinning-blocking anti-oxidants which counteract the effect of nicotine on the skin.”
In summary: You are looking for arguments? You’ll find them here!
Key words that characterize our unconventional brand:
transparent, flexible, alternative, international, innovative, diverse, evolved, nice, friendly, ingenious, brilliant and ethical.
WHAT IS IT?
It’s who the Brand is. Yes... who!
Treat the Brand as a human being, as it has its own personality. To know the personality of the “client” is fundamental in order to provide a tailor-made job. So, read carefully the listed adjectives...
EXAMPLE
“Scientific, trustworthy, result-oriented, ‘a party’ to achieve your goals.”
In summary: Imagine the live person !
The logo, name and pay-off will obviously be present in all coordinated corporate-image materials and in all self-promotional communications.
WHAT IS IT?
A list of places (or media, or things) where the target audience will see the outcome of your creation. In this step sometimes the Brand will also acknowledge you how much he plans to invest into production. This information will give you an insight whether to create a BIG project or make it small... :)
EXAMPLE
“This campaign is going to appear in lifestyle- and health-focused women magazines of New Zealand, during the spring of 2009. We plan to invest 500,000 USD, which means approximately buying 100 single pages.”
In summary: Consider the medium !
Proposals can be presented in the following formats: JPG/PSD/EPS/PDF
In addition to the monetary prize being offered, the winner of the tender will also be offered a 3-month internship at our agency (so long as the creative person matches the required profile, i.e., just starting their career and interested in our business).
If the Brand has preferences or technical requirements that your Solution has to match, you will find them here.
Here are some items that you may find in this section:
∞ Guidelines or mandatory inclusions (do’s and/or don’ts)
∞ Business objectives
∞ Market and competitors overview
∞ Good and bad samples
Depending on the Brief, you may also find some files attached with a logo, pictures of product(s), a template that you should use in order to submit your ideas, or any other file that the Brand wants to share with you. So, study the attachments before starting creating.
In summary: Anything else you need to know (not written in the 7 steps before) !
