A few things to remember as you create your advertising campaign:

Advertising goals

This may be a two-part process. One part is to decide what feature you want to emphasize in your campaign. This can be challenging as there are likely numerous things that are great about your product. But what will you choose to emphasize in this specific advertisement? And why?

The second part of this is to consider what you hope to achieve by this campaign. Ultimately we’re hoping the audience will want to buy our product, of course, but by what means will we make this happen? Do we want them to trust our company/ product? Do we want them to think we’re environmentally sound? Do we want to make them laugh and be comfortable with us when they’re ready to buy? Any of these might alter the way we approach our campaign.

Think about the audience and what that means

As we discussed numerous times already this semester, our audience plays a key role in our writing. What pace, humor, or word choice will best suit the needs of this audience? How will knowing the audience and its fears, likes/ dislikes, goals, passions, etc. impact the type of advertising we choose?

Knowing the audience well- and carefully implementing this knowledge in our writing, tone, and approach  will influence the success or failure of our campaign.

Form

The success of our campaign may also be influenced by seemingly basic things like spelling, structure, and format. Be certain that you’re making an effort to understand and implement the correct format for radio versus television writing.

Competition

Remember this product/ service/ company is likely not the only game in town. Who else is seeking to access and win your customers? How have they done so? Have they been successful? What does your company have that they don’t have? These can be the often hidden, but key, elements to a successful advertising campaign.

Finally…

Some other thoughts include the following:

  • Understand the company well, its goals and previous ads
  • Have a strong idea of the financial side
    • This will influence many areas of your work
  • Ask which celebrities might endorse this product
    • How can you use them effectively, and to the greatest benefit?
    • Can your company afford a celebrity?

While this isn’t an exhaustive list, it does provide a good starting point for the successful advertising campaign. Consider your plans for your campaign in light of the aforementioned ideas. Do you need to revise? Now’s the time!