Innovation is the most important ingredient. Without a great idea, you have nothing, and you can’t fix a bad idea. No matter how much money you throw at it, it remains a bad idea.

Then the quality of execution matters – it’s one thing having an idea, but it takes a lot to do it properly. There are three words for would-be winners; relevance, relevance, and relevance.

First, you’ve got to be relevant to the audience. Second, you’ve got to be relevant to the brand. And third, you’ve got to be relevant to the chosen medium. And you can’t just tick these three boxes. It’s important to get the mix right.

Here are five secrets of great advertising:

  • Innovation;
  • Quality of execution;
  • Relevance to the audience;
  • Relevance to the brand; and
  • Relevance to the medium.

Far from being under threat, advertising has never seen a more exciting period. The more challenging advertising becomes with all the additional media competing for attention, the more creativity matters.

To really master advertising, as with most creative pursuits, you’re going to have to work a bit harder. To be effective, great advertising doesn’t need to be pretty. It doesn’t even need to be visual. It certainly doesn’t need to be expensive.

What it does need – and here’s the real secret – is a quality of unexpectedness. Advertising that is memorable and truly delights the audience is unpredictable, a little out-there, and somewhat crazy.

Purchase decisions are often based on emotion, not logic. It’s the role of advertisers to sway those emotions in favour of your product. In fact, humour is really good at delivering a compelling message, and anytime people share your advertising, you’re onto a winner. Think KFC’s man meals, think Chicken Licken’s kung fu fried chicken; both Grand Prix winners at the Loerie Awards in 2016.

Advertising needs to be everywhere the customers are, and today’s customers are in wildly different places. Our attention is divided by multiple platforms, and it’s very difficult to attract our focus. This means that brands need to work a great deal harder to engage with us, putting award-winning creativity front and centre for the foreseeable future.

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