Advertising Specialists
Devise and coordinate advertising campaigns that encourage consumers to purchase particular goods and services.
Launch is on Friday
You are an advertising specialist at a small agency, coordinating a campaign for a local client that must go live on Friday. It is Wednesday morning. The photos are done, the media is booked and the launch cannot move. Three things go wrong in a row, and each one wants an answer from you.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
The boss has just seen the poster and wants the headline changed to 'Instantly cures your tiredness'. He says it's what customers want to hear. We need it back by tonight.
Make the change tonight, because the client is paying for the campaign, the boss has the final say, and it is only a few words
The poster goes out with a claim you cannot support. If a customer complains, the client and the agency both have to answer for it. The client's wishes do not override the rules.
Explain why the line is risky, then offer two alternatives that keep the energy but make a claim you can stand behind
Zac checks with his boss and calls back, relieved. One of your alternatives is chosen. Good advertising persuades without promising what it cannot deliver.
Say it cannot be done and ask Zac to talk to his boss about why
You are right about the problem, but you have handed the hard conversation to the wrong person. Zac is stuck in the middle and the clock keeps ticking.
The photographer's shoot ran over and the final images won't arrive until Thursday night. If I wait, I only have a few hours to build every ad. Can we use the rough shots, or push the launch a day?
Push the launch a day, since quality matters more than the date
The ads will look better, but the media slots are booked, a few sites cannot move and the client was promised Friday. Quality matters, though so does what has already been agreed.
Use the rough shots across the board so you can keep to the schedule, and hope the client does not notice the difference
The ads go out on time but look uneven, and the client notices. You have traded the look of the whole campaign for one date.
Ask the photographer for the best finished images first, build the main ads first and tell the client the plan
Priti builds the biggest placements first and the smaller ones follow. Zac hears the plan early and is calm about it. A plan the client already knows is easier to keep.
I've written something I think is much funnier than the brief. It's a bit rude about a competitor, but I think it would really get noticed. Can we pitch it to the client as the main idea?
Pitch it as the main idea, because a bold idea is what gets a campaign noticed
The client likes the laugh, but a rival's lawyer would not. Attacking a named competitor can cause trouble that a joke is not worth, and the launch is only two days away.
Praise the idea, then reshape it so the humour stays but the competitor is not named
Callie is pleased her spark is kept. The new version is still funny and safe, and the client loves it. Encouraging new people while keeping the work sound is part of leading a team.
Tell Callie to stick to the brief and not waste time on ideas outside it
The campaign stays safe, but Callie goes quiet. Teams get their best ideas from people who feel free to try. A kind steer is better than a closed door.
How it went
On Friday morning the campaign goes live. It is not exactly what anyone first imagined, but it is honest, bright and on time. Advertising is creative work with real rules and real deadlines, and much of the job is keeping people on the same page. Does that sound like your kind of busy?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The sofa that was not the softest in Australia
A fictional case set in a small advertising agency, three days before a big campaign goes live.
The situation
Mei Lin was the account lead at Tern and Tide Creative. Her client, a family furniture store, loved the new campaign, but the owner wanted the headline to say they sold the softest sofas in Australia. Mei Lin knew the claim could not be proven and that advertising rules require claims to be backed up. The shoot was done, the media was booked and the owner was proud of the line. She had to tell him it could not go out.
What they did
Mei Lin did not just say no. She asked the owner what he was really proud of, and he talked about the store's habit of letting customers try sofas for as long as they wanted. She brought the team a new line built on that truth. She explained why the original claim was risky, in plain words, and showed him two alternatives that were honest and memorable. The designers reworked the layouts overnight.
How it turned out
The owner chose the new line, which turned out to be easier to remember than the old one. The campaign launched on time. Mei Lin kept a note of the conversation, and the agency added a habit of asking for proof early in every project.
What would you do?
- Why do you think Mei Lin asked what the owner was proud of?
- What is the difference between a bold claim and a misleading one?
- Would you enjoy turning a client's idea into something that works?