Creating Ads

Nurturing creativity

The following draft is from Persuasive Advertising by J. Scott Armstrong. Forthcoming in 2008 from Palgrave Macmillan. This version was updated on January 9, 2008. Please send suggestions to Armstrong@wharton.upenn.edu.

Improving group process

Gaining help from other people

Advertising campaigns typically involve working in groups. This can harm creativity and productivity as shown by previous research. Here are some procedures that can help to improve the creativity of people, to reduce the chances of overlooking important things, and to improve efficiency.

Generating ideas

• Brainstorming(PDF) and Brainwriting
• Checklist to Stimulate Creativity in Advertising (PDF or Excel Worksheet)
• Guidelines for Problem-Solving Meetings (PDF)

Borrowing ideas from great ads

After developing your creative ideas, look at previous campaigns for similar products to find additional ideas or to avoid using ideas that have been used too often.

• Print
  • Adflip - the world's largest archive of classic print ads.
  • Gaslight Archives - print ads from the 1880's to today.
  • Hartman Center (Duke University) - ads from 1850 to the 1950's
  • Ad*Access - Over 7,000 advertisements from 1911 and 1955 in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines
  • Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) - Images arranged by subject (accident, men, real estate, etc.)
• TV Commercials
  • USA Today' s Ad Track Index - shows whether people like specific ads, along with commentary. It does not show ads. The Cinema Library - access to over 450,000 TV commercials.
  • Classic Commercials (About.com) - links to sites devoted to television commercials
  • The Living Room Candidate - TV ads for presidential elections, 1952-2004
  • Superbowl-ads.com - clips with the most popular ads, along with prices and commentary.
  • Adeaters - Search for film advertising from all over the world
  • Like Television Video Download Library - Television shows and commercials
• Other Advertisements
  • IKEA and Goodwill ad , April 25, 2003
  • Medicine and Madison Avenue Project - images and information for about 600 health-related print advertisements from the 1910s through the 1950s.
• Museums
  • Advertising Educational Foundation Museum - Full stories about public service advertising campaigns. Classic campaigns available.
  • Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design - Portland, OR.
  • History of Advertising Trust (HAT), established in 1974 - the best of U.K. advertising.
  • Museum of Advertising Icons

Improving Ideas

• Consensus (PDF)
• Delphi

Implementation

• Time Lines (PDF)

Assessing group process

• Group Functioning Questionnaire (PDF)
• Group Process Checklist (PDF)

Bibliography

• Bibliography for Principles of Advertising (forthcoming, 2007)
• Findings from two studies on what makes for effective TV commercials
  • "Effects of TV Commercial Tactics on Recall, Comprehension, and Persuasion"
  • "Elemints of TV Ads and How They Relate to Persuasion Changes

Other Resources for Developing Campaigns

• Advertising slogans and taglines: see AdSlogans.com
• Sample press release (PDF) Communications are more credible if transmitted by an objective third party
• Website design - Annotated list of five useful books.

Advertising principles

This section provides about 330 principles that can help you to create persuasive ads or to evaluate and improve existing ads.

Summary of advertising principles



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