The Creative "ROI"
To paraphrase the words of Keith Reinhard, long-time CEO of DDB Worldwide: Today, more than ever, if marketing communication is not relevant, it has no purpose. If it is not original, it will attract no attention. If it does not strike with impact, it will make no lasting impression. In the DDB approach to developing message strategies, the initials ROI (for relevant, original, impact) are equated with the financial investment made by clients in marketing communication. To be effective, the message strategies must also deliver bottom-line ROI (return on investment).
Relevant messages that speak to the head and the heart connect with the target audience on a personal level. The message strategies that really ignite consumer responses, however, contain the big O—the originality dimension in Reinhard's ROI formula. The originality factor first springs to life in the "big idea." How this creative concept is developed and executed determines to a great extent how effective the ultimate brand messages stemming from the message strategies will be in having an impact.
Linda Kaplan Thaler, head of the Kaplan Thaler Group, explains, "Advertising awards are nice, but the real victory is making a dent in the culture-part of what we call our Big Bang philosophy. It's why our AFLAC duck is an answer in the Times crossword puzzle, there's a greeting card about our Herbal Essences organic experiences, and Saturday Night Live does send-ups of both of them."
