RESEARCH before getting CREATIVE

In week 3 of this module we focused on how crucial it is to carry out investigative research before getting creative.

I realised that if we don't make a point of researching what products are currently available within the market for each market segment, we are actually making it harder for ourselves to identify potential gaps in the market.

The type of research we must carry out must be a combination of internal and external research.

In a recent the lecture, the history of Sainsbury's television advertisement campaigns proved to be a perfect example of not 'researching before getting creative.'  The case study highlights how essential it is to 'get to know' the audience you want to target.

In 1999, Sainsbury's endorsed John Cleese to become the face of their television campaign. The result: SALES DROPPED.  The slogan for the advert was ''Value to shout about'' -with Cleese seen shouting at a Sainsbury's employee. 

What had gone wrong!? -The problem didn't lie with John Cleese, as he played his character perfectly, the PROBLEM was that Sainsbury's hadn't thought thoroughly about how they wanted their segment to view Sainsbury's as a supermarket.

In my opinion, Sainbury's mocked themselves as a supermarket in the advertisement.  They didn't focus on the benefits of shopping in their supermarket, instead they portrayed their staff as inexperienced and unintelligent.  John Cleese is seen being incredibly rude to the young naive employee.  He takes complete control of the advertisement and take the spotlight off Sainsbury's completely.

However in 2000, Jamie Oliver became the face of Sainsburies through an endorsement deal worth £2 million/year!

The adverts with Jamie Oliver brought Sainsburies back to life with the slogan ''making life taste better''.  The main difference between the advert featuring Cleese and the adverts featuring Oliver are that Oliver highlights the great taste and focuses on the quality of the food from Sainsbury's.  The adverts tend to show family dinnertimes/BBQS (depending on the season) with Oliver and Sainsbury's produce taking centre stage.

Spending a lot on advertising does not guarantee success, as proved by the advertisement featuring John Cleese.  The clarity of the advertising message is key.  The advertising message needs to have thought, in order to impact the desired target audience.  The advertisements featuring Oliver are meaningful, distinctive and believable.  These factors are why they are a success.

After 11 years, the partnership between Oliver and Sainsbury's will come to and end, the final advert will be for Christmas 2011.

This case study really stuck out for me.  It proved that things can go wrong if you do not have the correct research.  I have realised that it's important to understand that advertising is a communication task.  Adverts need to effectively inform their target audience about their product AND persuade them to switch to their specific brand.