1. IF THERE IS NO
STRUGGLE,
THERE IS NO
PROGRESS.
Frederick Douglass
February 1818 – February 20, 1895

3. STRATEGY?
THE FOUNDATION of all your wild & crazy creative work
you do. It starts with the product fact from the client and
then must become a creative direction.

4. STRATEGY?
• The difference between a plain fact, a
strategy, a creative direction and the idea.
• How to come up with more and more
strategies.
• then produce a lot of campaigns every time
you get a brief. (they might not all be brilliant BUT they create a
possible environment for a great idea to burst forth!)

5. • Developing different strategiesmap, so
building yourself a nice big mental
is like
that you know where to go.
• Having a strategy or ‘big thought’ is
essential when creating integrated
campaigns.
• it’s the creative superglue that holds
everything together.
• It’s the platform or umbrella thought
explaining EVERYTHING you do.
• Always write your strategy down and put it
up on a wall where you are working

6. HOW A FACT BECOMES A
STRATEGY, THEN A
CREATIVE DIRECTION
AND FINALLY THE IDEA.

7. THE BRIEF
to
THE IDEA
one fact different strategic directions.
then one strategic direction make
some more.
then choose strategic direction
make an ad.

8. single minded promise is:
• This electric toothbrush
cleans teeth better than a
manual toothbrush” This is a fact.
This is not a strategy.
This is not a benefit.
This is a generic for ALL
electric toothbrushes.
This isn’t interesting
to anyone but the client

9. so let’s break
it down:• a) Electric toothbrushes
are better than manual
ones.
• b) The particular electric
toothbrush is better than
any other.
• First find benefits of using an electric toothbrush.
• If THIS brush has anything extra, YOU NEED TO
KNOW ABOUT IT.
• If NOT - then your idea must claim the
creative high-ground.

10. You must create
‘uniqueness’ for your brand
through idea, media, tone,
look, feel etc.
If other brands are
conservative, be more
daring. If everyone’s gone
whacky, then an elegant
campaign might work.
(competitor analysis)

11. STEP ONE:
Think of as many benefits as you can from this fact.
Write them out in a simple, clear way. Do not try and
be clever or witty.
(Write out each one on a separate piece of paper and
stick them up on the wall where you can see them!)
Here, just a few examples…please note how basic
these lines are.
That’s the point.
(2 MINUTES )

12. Have
a better
smile

13. Have Brushing
a better is now less
smile work

14. Have Brushing
a better is now less
smile work
Let’s pick just one of
Visit your these to work with:
dentist
less Visit your dentist less.

15. You need to follow this process with every
strategy you come up with.
Make sure you write down each strategic
direction on a separate piece of paper and
stick it on the wall where you and your
creative partner can clearly see & compare
strategies!
Do not keep strategies in your
head or scrawled in a notebook.
You must focus as a team and have
your action plan mapped out in
front of you.

16. STEP TWO:
Write out each strategic direction in as
many ways as possible.
Approach the same thought from different angles.
This is not about word play, so put that Thesaurus
down! It’s about thinking.
You must think of every possible
consequence or benefit of visiting your
dentist less.
Again, write out each direction on a piece of paper and stick them
under Visit your dentist less. Some possible thoughts….
(2 MINUTES )

17. Visit your dentist
less
Dentists
trying to look
busy /
entertaining
themselves

18. Visit your dentist
less
Dentists Things to do
trying to look while others
busy / are at the
entertaining dentist
themselves

19. Visit your dentist
less
Dentists Things to do
trying to look while others
busy / are at the
entertaining dentist
themselves
You can
now be
friends
with your
dentist

20. Visit your dentist
less
Dentists Things to do
trying to look while others
busy / are at the
entertaining dentist
themselves
You can Dentists
now be need to
friends find other
with your jobs
dentist

21. Visit your dentist (strategic direction)
less
Dentists Things to do
trying to look while others
busy / are at the
entertaining dentist
themselves
You can Dentists Dentists
now be need to can now
friends find other go on
with your jobs holiday
dentist
(possible creative directions)

22. so STEP 2 turns one strategy into many creative directions.
This way you create a gap for consumers to close.
If they read:
Visit your dentist less: use X
electric toothbrush,
it makes sense, but they don’t get any reward for
closing the creative gap.
There is no creative idea.
You’re not there just
yet…

23. You should also play with different
phrasings of the same thought. This will
lead you down slightly different (or
even very different paths). Still no need
to get witty with words. Keep it simple.
For example:
Dentists are now looking for other jobs versus..

24. For example:
Dentists are now looking for other jobs versus
Dentists are now unsuccessfully looking for other jobs

25. OR
Dentists are bored versus...

26. OR
Dentists are bored versus...
Dentists are taking up new hobbies.

27. STEP
THREE:
Start turning each one of these creative directions into campaigns.
Let’s take just one of those directions and play around.
Your dentist can go on holiday.
You could make a series of dentist postcards so they can write home?
Maybe now they can finally relax on holiday without worrying about patients.
Dentist attending long conferences in exotic locations?
A dentist-only holiday brochure?
Can they go on holiday for longer?

28. STEP
FOUR:
Step 4
Make this idea:
Dentist can now go away for longer
holidays or ‘Conferences’ thanks to Oral B
into a campaign.
(making sure when you draw up roughs or make initial comps you always
include a logo! This will let you know if your idea is really working as an ad).
• Round thoughts off with taglines, art direction etc.
• Make sure you tie it back to the electric
toothbrush.
• Think how you could integrate across media.

29. STEP
FIVE:
Craft your work.
Keeping product tone and brand identity top-of-mind.
Examples of some copy crafting.
Notice the subtle differences in tone.
No wonder 99% of dentists recommend Oral B.
No wonder dentists recommend Oral B.
Oral B. Recommended by dentists. Of course.
Oral B.The only toothbrush recommended by all dentists.
Oral B. Strongly recommended by dentists.
The same goes for art direction & design crafting;
Different fonts, colours, illustrations / photo’s, layout
composition etc....

30. Always ensure you’re selling the electric
toothbrush and not your own cleverness.
Always bring your idea back to the brand.
It’s no use being super funny or smart if
no-one knows what you are selling.

31. STEP
SIX: every direction you
Do the same steps with
come up with
(we only did one!).
Work each one out as many
ways as possible until you strike
gold!

32. SOME STRATEGIC TIPS:
Be very careful of a negative positioning.
Your teeth will rot if you do not use this toothbrush.
Without Oral B, you may never smile again.
…you will end up ugly & lonely.
…you will have expensive visits to the dentists.
…you’ll live in fear of your dentist.
These are pretty funny and give some light relief, but unless you deliver such positionings with
great humour, they could go horribly wrong.
These kinds of positionings are also notoriously hard to sell to clients, which is why you
mostly see them in student books.
I am not saying you may never ever use a negative positioning in a campaign.
You can use a negative selling proposition to shock or scare people. Anti-smoking, abortion,
safe driving etc. it can also be ‘cool’ in sub-cultures to invert norms and make it trendy to be
lonely or ugly or different. Just tread carefully.

33. NEVER PREACH TO CONSUMERS!
For example,
we know what you’re doing wrong
–ja right.
Don’t threaten people into buying things – if
you don’t buy this...

34. Bonus task!
Become a creative detective. Pick any
campaign and backtrack. Try to figure
out, in one simple sentence, the
strategic thought behind the
execution.
This is excellent training to sharpen
your strategic awareness which you
can then apply to your own work.

35. In your creative quest, you are looking
for the ping! moment.
The ping! moment will not come to
you, you need to actively find it.
Strategies keep your brain active and
focused on the job at hand.
They give your brain something to
work from, something to make
strange connections with.

36. und
now das
cool
stuff..