It seems that every three to four years, a flurry of activity occurs within a marketing department, and you hear the battle cry for a creative makeover.  Dutifully, creative directors present the battle plan based on what someone from the executive team has deemed wrong with the existing presentation.  Often, they will point to another brand and say, “Why can’t we look more like them?”  This is not a healthy start.

Do you really need a creative make-over?  Most of the time we are our own worst enemy, and we hear ourselves saying, “It’s getting stale”.  That may be true to your internal team, but is the creative stale to customers?  Are you still getting the intended results? Never change for the sake of change alone.  Change for a reason, and understand what that reason is!

The truth is your creative presentation should always evolve.  As you learn more about your product, your results and your customers, your creative efforts should evolve to reflect that knowledge.  With every piece, you team should scrutinize your creative efforts and ask, “How can we do better?”  If you are diligent in regularly applying a critique process to your work, a makeover is never necessary.  However, let’s assume that you haven’t been critiquing your efforts, and results show that a makeover is necessary.  What are the reasons for the lackluster results?  Consider the four simple roles of direct marketing creative:

1) grab attention, 2) present your brand, 3) efficiently explain your offer and 4) create an easy selling process. 

 It doesn’t matter if you are creating an email, catalog, solo package or web site; the rules are the same.  We all know these four activities are loaded with rules and complexities.  Let’s preview each one, and, as you read, grade your own creative efforts to determine if you are in need of a new battle plan.

GRAB ATTENTION

Why is the average response rate well below 5 percent?  Most likely, it’s because 95 percent of your efforts are immediately discarded.  You know the adage: You have seconds to draw in customers and prospects enough to register in their cognitive systems.  Even then, there must be a spark of interest creating enough recipients.  So, does your piece grab customers by the shoulders and say, “Hey, don’t ignore me!”  Or, is it passive and pretty?  Here are a few questions to consider when grading your ability to grab attention:

• Do you really know what a customer sees first when receiving your piece?  If so, have you done everything within your power to use this element to grab attention?
• Are you photography and graphics powerful?  Have you considered an interesting image, crop, or color?
• Are you using copy that is powerful and relevant to a customer’s world?
• Do recipients immediately know who the piece is from?
• Are you using brand elements that customers immediately recognize? 
• Are you offering solutions to relevant problems? 
• Is your offer clear and compelling?
• Is there a single focus, or have you bombarded them with many messages and images that only confuse and detract?

Once you have the customer’s notice, don’t think the need to grab attention stops on the outside of the envelope or the cover of a catalog.  Every component should engage the reader.  Are you using hot spots effectively?  Are you staging the different components for maximum effect, or - if it’s a catalog - are you pagination to fully take advantage of how customers process information?

PRESENT YOU BRAND

The No.1 reason most companies’ marketing communications are in need of a creative makeover is that they have never fully understood their own brands. 

 It’s impossible for a creative piece to enhance your brand when the designer does not have a clear understanding of what you stand for.  A brand is the customer’s perception of your product or service.  Too many companies think of brand in tactical terms, such as logo, color palette or masthead.  In this scenario, companies tend to flounder for years, changing logos and constantly coming up with new looks.  Your brand, or your reputation, is the most valuable element you own.  Consider the following questions when grading your brand delivery:

• Does your company have an articulated brand promise that identifies what you are able to uniquely deliver?  Does it indicate a specific target audience that can be visually identified?
• Does your creative team understand your promise and use it as a foundation for your creative efforts?
• Is your brand evident throughout your creative efforts?
• Are you using words and images that create an experience reflecting your brand promise?  Is it consistently relevant to your audience?  Have you used non-selling space to editorialize your brand or let others tell you story via testimonials?
• Is your brand image- e.g., the logo, color palette, typography-clearly defined and consistently presented so brand recognition is possible?

EFFECIENTLY EXPLAIN YOUR OFFER

Whether selling a service, product or catalog of products, your creative efforts must clearly and efficiently explain what you are selling.  This includes all of the pertinent need-to-know information, but, more importantly, creative must communicate why the product is special and what higher-order benefit it provides.  All of this information must be conveyed at a glance.  The ultimate crime is to engage customers only to lose them with too much confusing and irrelevant information.

Do you understand how customers process information?  Every format is processed uniquely.  With a catalog, consumers look at the picture first, then the price point, then the body copy.  With a postcard, they are interested in two things: Who is it from, and what’s in it for me?  Even a web site has rules for how a page is processed.  Is your team educated on these rules, and is it taking advantage of them?

Have you used graphic elements and other attention-getting elements to convey features and benefits quickly?  Are they used sparingly so as not to overwhelm the customer?  Does your copy use the same language nuances that customers might use?  If there is a specific offer or incentive associated with your product, do readers see the offer, and does it quickly convey the value?

Lastly, you should always sell a concept, not an item or a series of items.  Ultimately, you are selling a brand; one that customers will come back to repeatedly.  If you are selling products through a catalog, use creative themes that tie back into your brand.  If you are marketing a service, tie selling copy back into your brand promise.

CREATE AN EASY SELLING PROCESS

Have you ever let an outsider order from your direct marketing effort?  It is a cheap and easy exercise and, in most cases quite humbling.  Wouldn’t it be  a crime if your customers were ready to buy but abandoned the process out of frustration?  It happens all the time.  Statistics cite that once consumers set a direct mail piece aside, the rarely go back to it.  Do you consider the following questions when trying to create an easy process?

• How easy is it for customers to find and configure your pricing scheme?  Do you explain and show all options, including shipping variances?
• Do you help customers through the process of “good-better-best” when multiple options are presented?
• Is contact information easily found, especially your company’s customer service number?
• Have you made the ordering process easy to navigate?
• Is your creative presented with “design hygiene” in mind?  Have your overwhelmed the reader with to much color or too many attention-getters?
• Are you using good typography standards, making sure that all type is easy to read and easy to track?
• Have you organized the information in a hierarchy that guides customers to a decision?  Is it clear what copy goes with that image?  Have you used “signposts” like “Steps One, Two, and Three” to guide them through complicated information?

THE VERDICT

The list could go on, but the basic principal is to present the information as clearly as possible.  Present it as if you were trying to sell to a fifth grader-and never assume anything!

So, how did your creative effort stack up?  Perhaps you do not need a creative makeover, but a few tweaks might improve overall response.  Don’t be dismayed.  All creative efforts should be routinely critiqued and tweaked.  Challenge your creative team to look for ways to strengthen each role mentioned above.  If this becomes a part of your culture, you may never need a complete creative makeover again.

 Authored by Lois Boyle-Brayfield (re-printed with permission). 

 Lois Boyle-Brayfield is President and Chief Creative Officer of Mission, Kan. based, direct marketing agency J. Schmid & Associates.