LESSON 2: Ad Backgrounders, Strategies & Creative Briefs

Ad Backgrounders, Strategies & Creative Briefs

Once you have a good idea of your target audience, you can create the foundational documents that will help guide your advertising copy. These include a backgrounder, strategy statement, and creative brief. Do your homework and you’ll set a foundation for copy success.

A backgrounder is a one-page document used to collect information about the client company and its products and services. The information is used to help develop the strategy. It can also include artifact attachments with samples of the client’s current advertising, as well as that of its competitors. A backgrounder may include:

• The company name, location and contact information
• A brief description of who they are and what they do
• A list of their products and/or services
• A website URL
• Company reviews
• Examples of the company’s tagline (slogan)
• Materials that describe the company and its products/services

A strategy is a one-paragraph statement that identifies the basis upon which we expect consumers to purchase our product in preference to the competition. A strategy includes:

• An objective statement — identifies the target audience and provides a clear statement about what you want the advertising to communicate and the benefit it will provide.
• A support statement — is the reason you provide the benefit and provides proof. Support can be: product facts, product benefits, consumer needs, consumer benefits, competitive advantages, positioning opportunities, whatever it takes to solve the problem.
• A statement of tone — is a description of how the advertising should “feel” and the emotion it should convey. It uses adjectives to convey the “selling attitude.”

This is an example of a strategy statement formula for Archway Cookies. Notice how the objective and support statements are linked. One is the claim. The other is the proof.

• Advertising will convince adults who eat cookies that Archway Oatmeal Cookies are uniquely delicious and nutritious. (Objective statement)
• Archway Cookies are made with nutritious oatmeal. They’re naturally low in sodium and fat — they contain no Palm Oil. Archway has many unique varieties. (Support statement)
• Tone will combine the importance of good nutrition with the fun of cookies. (Tone statement)

Here’s another example:

• Advertising will convince automatic dishwasher owners that Cascade provides virtually spotless end results. (Objective statement)
• Support will be virtually spotless end results will be attributed to the sheeting action produced by the Cascade formula. (Support statement)
• Tone will be confident, friendly, and approachable. (Tone statement)

Both examples use the same structure. When creating your strategy statement, you can use this structure to fill in the appropriate answers in the parentheses:

Advertising will [CONVINCE] [TARGET AUDIENCE] that [PRODUCT/SERVICE] is/will [OBJECTIVE].
Support will be [SUPPORT/REASON WHY].
Tone will be [SELLING ATTITUDE ADJECTIVES].

A creative brief is a one-page document that outlines the creative approach and deliverables for a new project. It provides a blueprint for writers and designers to work from to ensure their ads are on strategy. A creative brief answers the following questions:

• Project description: What are you looking to create? What is the problem we’re trying to solve?
• Background: Why are we doing this? Is this request part of a campaign?
• Target audience: Who are we talking to? Describe using demographics & psychographics.
• Communication objectives: What are you hoping to accomplish?
• Key message: What’s the most important thing we want to communicate?
• Value props: What are the 3-5 main proof points that will support the key message?
• Tone & mood: Describe using adjectives (ex. Warm & friendly, educational, humorous, etc.)
• Call-to-action: What action do we want people to take after viewing our ad? (ex. A web address, a phone number, an email)
• Mandatories: What brand guidelines should we be aware of? What must be included (disclaimers, logo, eligibility requirements, etc.)
• Creative considerations: Is there anything we should include or avoid?
• Is this request time-sensitive?
• Approvals: Who needs to approve the ad?