Creativity in advertising can be effective but its impact depends on the product category. While creative ads may be more memorable and build buzz, there is no firm evidence they directly increase purchases. Certain categories like soda benefit more from creative ads, while others like shampoo see less impact. Too much creativity could hurt categories used to traditional ads. The type of creativity also matters - originality and elaboration tend to work best. Overall, moderate use of the right kind of creativity is best for most categories.

1. Creativity in Advertising – When it works and
when It doesn’t
by Werner Reinartz and Peter Saffert
Promotional Strategy
Group 1
Samrdhi Ramawat PGP31107 | Arzoo Jain PGP31256 | Sanjay Gupta PGP31263 |
Harsh Chordia PGP31264 | Navi Prasad PGP 31278

2. Creativity in Advertising
Creativity is ability to find unusual and non-obvious solutions to a problem
No firm evidence that creative ads are more effective in influencing purchase behavior
Advantages of Creative Advertising
Memorable
Longer Lasting
Works with less media spending
Builds a fan community faster

3. Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
A battery of measures used to assess individual’s ability for
divergent thinking in business world and in education
The definition of creativity was adapted to “the extent to which
an ad contains brand or executional elements that are different,
novel unusual, original, unique, etc. Thus 5 dimensions of
Communication through Advertising
FLUENCY
Refers to the number of relevant ideas proposed in response to a
given question
ELABORATION
Amount of detail given in a response
RESISTANCE TO PREMATURE CLOSURE
Ability to consider variety of factors
ABSTRACTNESS
The degree to which a slogan or a word moves beyond being a
label for something concrete
ORIGINALITY
Uniqueness of responses

4. An ad comprising of rare or surprising elements or that move away from the obvious and commonplace
1. Originality
1. Is the ad “out of the ordinary”?
2. Does is depart from stereotypical thinking?
3. Is it unique?
Tanishq Remaariage Ad
• Focused on Remarriage (an uncomfortable
subject in India)
• Showed bonding between daughter and
step dad
Ariel Ad #ShareTheLoad
• Showed men washing clothes
• Doing job essentially considered to be done
by women

5. An ad scoring high on flexibility smoothly links the product to a range of different uses or ideas
2. Flexibility
1. Does the ad contain ideas that move from one object to another?
2. Does it contain different ideas?
3. Does it shift from idea to another?
Fortune Ghar ka Khana
• Combines health with home made food
• Shows that home made food may not be
necessarily bad (if we use fortune)
Pantene: Labels Against Women
• Ad highlights double measures against
women in every aspect of public life
• Connects them through rise and shine
campaign

6. Many ads contain unexpected details or extend simple ideas, becoming more intricate & complicated
3. Elaboration
1. Does the ad contain numerous details?
2. Does it extend basic ideas and make them more intricate?
3. Does it contain more details than expected?
Bangalore Police Campaign
• Campaign tagline is “Don’t talk while she is
driving”
• The use of blood elaborates the point
effectively
Anti Tobacco Campaign (Mukesh)
• Ad highlights the condition of mouth cancer
patients through images
• Mukesh is used to elaborate the effect
tobacco chewing can have on your health

7. Blending or connecting normally unrelated objects or ideas
4. Synthesis
1. Does the ad connect objects that are usually unrelated?
2. Does it contain unusual connections?
3. Does it bring unusual items together?
100 Pipers- Be Remembered for
Good
• The campaign connects various aspects
through which we can help the society
• Success is connected to helping the needy

8. Blending or connecting normally unrelated objects or ideas
5. Artistic value
1. Is the ad visually or verbally distinctive?
2. Does it make ideas come to life graphically or verbally?
3. Is it artistic in its production?
Amul Girl
Has clever dialogue
Original color palette
Appealing Visuals

9. Spreading Social Messages

10. Highlighting Corruption

11. Commenting on Politics

12. News and Controversies

13. To Communicating their own
problems 

14. Bridging the divide  Flexibility + Artistic
(less effective)

15. Unusual habits  Flexibility + Synthesis
(less effective)

16. Humor  Originality + Synthesis
(medium effective)

17. Product features  Originality + Elaboration
(highly effective)

18. Result of the Study
CREATIVE ADsNONCREATIVE ADs

19. Result of the Study
2nd Most EffectiveMost Effective

20. Result of the Study

21. Use of Creativity differs by category-
Cola Beverages Perfumes Soap Shampoo
Creativity

22. Creative ads
Nescafe-#ItAllStarts Google- Reunion ad

23. Non Creative ads
Clinic plus Pears soap

24. Creativity is category sensitive
Category 1- Soda, coffee, etc.
• When products are easily understood
• Tied to personal preferences
An out of the ordinary approach can be more effective
in stimulating sales
Category 2- shampoo, perfumes, etc.
• Product- functional and oriented towards clear
consumer goals
Unorthodox approaches are less preferred

25. Is more Creativity Better?
In traditionally low-creativity categories, adding creativity can pay-off
7.63%
0.795%
4.43%
-1.73%
-0.04
-0.02
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
1
Impact on sales*
shaver, coffee
Cola, Yogurt Shampoo, Detergent
Body Lotion, Face Care
Categories usually associated
with highly creative ads- do not
always get a big boost when
more creativity is added
Categories associated with low
creativity – getting creative is
always not a bad idea

26. Measuring campaign effectiveness
Conservative Approach
Conservative
approaches are
leaving money on
the table
Increased
investment will
usually pay for itself
More effective
creative ads will
allow other parts of
the budget to be
reduced
Models used
Hierarchical sales response
model
• Estimates sales impact for
a campaign
Survey approach
• Estimate impact of
particular creative choices