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October 30, 2012 at 12:45 AM
Remember the last blockbuster ad campaign? A brilliant, creative concept is often at the heart of great marketing. But sometimes the creativity can go too far and what seems like a breakthrough idea leads to a marketing effort that misses its target and confuses its audience.
Here are five signs a new marketing campaign is a little too creative to succeed, and some tips for how to avoid making these mistakes in your own marketing strategy.
1. A mismatch with the brand. Some ideas are very clever and attention-getting but have no relationship to the branding strategy. If an idea doesn’t feel like it’s something your customers would expect to see from your brand—and shaking up their perceptions of your brand isn’t your goal—trust your instincts and ask for another idea.
2. Overshadowing the product. Some creative concepts are so strong that you remember the ad but forget the product. My favorite example is the Kevin Bacon ad for Logitech. The concept—a crazed Kevin Bacon fan played by Kevin Bacon—is hilarious, but the ad fails because the product gets lost. All you remember is Kevin Bacon.
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
3. Genuine weirdness that has to be explained to be understood. Wacky and weird can be very effective in marketing (
4. It’s only great in large sizes. What’s effective in a full-size or full-length ad might not work in a different format. More and more marketing is being viewed on very small screens. Before you sign off on a campaign, ask your agency to show you how the concept will be executed in every format and viewed on every type of device.
5. Burying the call to action. Maybe it’s my bias as a direct marketer, but I can never understand creative approaches that downplay the 