Advertising is also culture, but with business mixed in. Most would call it popular culture. After all, an advertising campaign is artwork on behalf of someone – an organization, a company, or similar.

The work of creatives, strategists and analysts at the advertising agency is often to shape or change attitudes. As a marketer, my point is that we can add the knowledge that is lacking to make people understand the offer better – be it a product, a service or an idea. That is a professional way of changing an attitude – to discover the misunderstandings or the gaps that enable the agency and the marketer to find the group of potential customers who did not know what they were missing out on.

This is where advertising becomes communication with more interaction.

What’s In It For Me?

Campaigns or long-term marketing plans build brand values with impact, creates awareness for key messages or simply push short term sales.

Sometimes a campaign is used to make a statement, and from history we know that ad campaigns often has shaped habits, lifestyles and dreams – if the audience finds it convincing. The target group will always ask: What’s in it for me?

The Expertise And The Ethics

All of us want stakeholders and prospects to buy into what we say. Having pride in the profession of communication, it is nice to follow both code of conducts and ethics as well as a using a solid know-how in the techniques and crafts of designing copy, artwork, strategy and tech. The agency adapts the tone of voice and create ideas, concepts and artwork fit for the message, the target group and the brand values of the client who ultimately has a plan of increasing profits.

Creatives and strategists often have a sensitive fingerspitzgefül for contemporary attitudes, just like analysts or those of us who involve market research and field studies in our work. So by watching campaigns, you will get a nice feel for the ideas, ideals and opinions at the time. Some made a success, some did not.

Make It Or Break It

A couple of years ago, the advertising campaign from Volvo Trucks featuring Van Damme in split between two, heavy, moving trucks was presented as a success story in numbers. The name of the campaign was Epic Split, of course! That balance between two horsepowered, moving forces is impressive as is the numbers of the campaign. Now don’t try this at home!