Creative Archives - TMW Business

Standing out. The struggle is real. You only have to look around to see that.

The expected B2B visuals that lack punch. The commoditised offerings that are hard to tell apart.

When it feels like everyone’s saying the same thing, why are people still reluctant to try something different?

Could it be that, while we want to do something different, we’re stuck in old habits? After all, it’s easier to go with the flow than challenge the status quo. I get it. It’s hard to do something different, but it amounts to a crisis of confidence in B2B creativity.

No doubt you’ll recognise the challenges; The abundance of micro differentiators makes it hard to identify a USP. The broadness of audiences makes it difficult to find real insights. And many marketers feel more comfortable reverting to product and service messages. Yes – that’s still a thing.

But one of the biggest issues is process. Getting stakeholders together, aligned and contributing, for one, and getting them to contribute at the right time.

Some stakeholders – technical or product experts – are not experts in communication. Their contribution is most important in the beginning and, arguably, less important when judging the work.

To round off these challenges, there’s also the cultural aspect. Some organisations prefer safe and comfortable. Even their marketers see a departure from the norm, or any talk of creativity, as fluffy.

So, how do you give people the confidence to do something different, or, to be more accurate, something more effective?

For us, the answer lies in human understanding. And the recognition that most human behaviour operates outside of our consciousness.

Science has shown us that human behaviour is not just rational. Buying behaviour is influenced by emotion, memory retrieval and perception.

So, if we want to connect with people, it makes sense to get some help from neuroscience.

For example, if you want to understand what someone will do, just ask them. Right? The problem is, people tell you what they think they will do (or what they think you want to hear), but that’s not necessarily a true reflection of how they actually feel.

Implicit time response testing goes beyond what people say to understand the strength of their emotional conviction. At the simplest level, the faster the response, the easier it was to access from memory – making it more authentic.

Find out more about how that works here >

We’ve been using this type of creative testing to give our clients confidence that their campaign is going to both stand out and drive action. The road to getting there has been smoother too. There’s less subjectivity. And more focus on what’s working for the audience.

Creative testing with implicit research techniques helps brands understand what truly drives customers. It can help measure how the brain is responding, what people like and how they make complex decisions.

At TMW Business, we build our research methodologies to deliver on our brand promise: ideas that move people. This means emotion, motivation and action are all measures of effectiveness.

Because if you can win heads and hearts, you can win business.

Tags: Creative, Testing

Whether you’re a copywriter or an account manager. An MD or an intern. You’ll probably find something similar in your briefs. The little box that says something like:

What is the single most important thing we have to say?

The answer is usually short. A sentence, maybe two.

It’s where creatives get their ideas and how clients measure the work.

Because this Cadbury’s ad might not have made sense on paper, but everyone gets how effortlessly enjoyable eating their chocolate must be.

This Sony Bravia ad might have been a bureaucratic nightmare, but you can imagine the visual experience you’ll get from their TVs.

And this Apple ad might have used actual skinheads, but you can’t help but think maybe a computer is an antidote to dystopia.

Because the ad works as long as the audience gets the message.

So, while this John West ad might be a little silly, you get that they’ll go to great lengths for good salmon.

This Honda ad might have taken ages to pull off, but you can’t miss how well the components of their cars work together.

And this Levi’s ad might be a bit steamy, but you come away knowing that a pair of Levi’s jeans is all you need.

The audience gets the message because the message is clear.

So, these ads might make John Smith’s seem a little rough around the edges, but that’s what they want from their customers, too.

And the message behind this Cravendale ad might be almost identical to the John West one, but at least they filled in the little box in the briefing document.

And these ads for Aldi also advertise their competition, but you know that the only difference is the price.

The message is clear because the client knows what they want to say.

In some famous instances, clients turned their noses up at these ideas. They were too different or too lateral or too, dare I say it, “creative”. But when you weigh them against the brief, there’s no denying these ads do what they’re supposed to – say what the client wants to say.

At TMW Business, where I work, we’re pretty good at finding out what our clients want to say. Then coming up with the best, simplest, most creative way of saying it. From that little box that’s in the brief to the work that ends up on paper or a screen.

Want to talk about briefs and how to fill them? Send me an email at tomr@tmwunlimited.com. I like coming at things from creative angles and don’t mind receiving constructive feedback.

Tags: Briefs, Copy, Creative

The creativity confidence crisis in B2B (and how science can help us crack it)

For us, the answer lies in human understanding. And the recognition that most human behaviour operates outside of our consciousness.

What’s in your briefs?