How Brands Create Engaging Advertisements

Posted on Feb 25 2016 - 4:12pm by Editorial Staff

Brand Promotion

How do brands create engaging advertisements? Well, if you’re reading this article, that question’s probably crossed your mind already. Whether or not it has, though, sit down: the answer to that question is a long one, and it’ll require us to take a look at advertising moors new and old. 

What makes an effective advertisement?

To understand what makes a brand’s advertisements tick, you need to understand advertising itself. If you can say something good, make a good advertisement, then all you really need to do – in theory – is tie that into the brand. As for what makes a good advertisement…

Strong, driving, competitive ideas

For a recent example in the UK, you don’t need to look further than First Utility. Their TV ad campaign, launched at the start of 2016, is using extremely powerful invective.

It proposes a spoof company, HD Electricity, that uses unicorn horns to make food cook faster, lamps shine brighter, and all that stuff. Then it closes by mocking the idea, and noting that all electricity is the same – why pay more?

Why, indeed. Any telly ad can reach television screens, but it’s ads like this one that reach consumers. Why is that?

Married messages

First, though, there’s something that ought to be noted. Earlier in the article, you might’ve noticed that saying tying an already good advertisement into a brand is all you need to do… “in theory”. In practice, unless an advertisement is made with the brand already in mind, it’s not going to be as effective. An advertisement can claim that the product works, that it’s amazing, that 99% of its users love it… but what then?

An effective advertisement answers questions, too. It takes concerns the viewer already has and makes them a selling point. Look at First Utility’s recent ad campaign: people are dissatisfied with the amount they pay for electricity. Some of them might even have thought the things First Energy’s ads are saying. And putting so much money not just on selling your product, but on challenging its industry? Well, that’s effective.

The lofty power of calls to action

There is one thing that stands out in advertisements both good and bad, though. That’s the call to action. A call of action is usually stated – “ask your consultant about this or that today”. And in many cases, that works fine. But there’s just as many where it’s implied.

In the end, what a call to action really is is anything at all that’ll incite people to investigate your product. It can be a challenge, a lavish description, or information on how to get it, but at the end of the day, there’s lots of ways to write a call to action, and it’s completely necessary to have one.

That’s just one key to brand advertisement, and there’s others discussed in this article. It’d take forever to say them all – but hopefully, this has covered the most important ones.

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Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.