STEP 1
List six emotional benefits people might feel when using your product or interacting with your brand. Think about your product’s heritage, usage occasions with the strongest emotional story, or the mannerisms of the type of people who flock to it.
Next, throw those six benefits up against those of your top competitors and shortlist the three most unique benefits to your brand. Narrow it down to the single most powerful, peculiar benefit that can be dramatised—visually or through character, cinematically.
STEP 2
Is it character-driven? Write with actors in mind. When you have a face in mind, it makes the writing braver. It will get funnier. You know they can make it work. Two options for that:
Create a scenario around the emotional benefit and pour your character(s) into it.
Create a character and let their need and narrative emerge in the context of your benefit.
Is it non-character-driven? More of a visual approach? Knowing your brand’s stance would be a strong starting point for tone. What does it stand for? Are you going for heartfelt, a dose of humour, or satire? Perhaps all. Aim for three or four different scenarios. Funny isn’t easy, but remember, when we were confined to a 30-second window, humour was often the best way to go because you didn’t have time to build up a poignant, emotional connection. Think about the Old Spice spots from 2010—they started a wave of advertising comedy that inspired brands like Kenzo, Snickers, and Burger King, delighting audiences so much that it coined the phrase “oddvertising.” It worked. Brilliantly.
You’ve got a very limited time frame to capture your audience, and you need to get your message across quickly. Don’t get wrapped up in long sentences. Keep things short and punchy. A few subtle facial expressions can replace pages of words. If your writing feels awkward or stilted, just keep going. Writing isn’t a laser maze; if you make one mistake, it won’t set off any alarms. For a 30-second spot, this is more like an act of coordination in a tight space. The more you do it, the easier it gets.
PACE
So you’ve got the dramatic element. You have your narrative. This is the thrust that will drive your story to its conclusion. Now, what is the pace that weaves the whole thing together? (And feel free to start here. There is no right or wrong order.)
Is the pace music-driven? (Ovo Energy)
Does it erupt in a sudden detonation of energy?
Is it more of a subtle approach? (Cog)
A CHECKLIST
Advertising at its best is fun. It is the land of the brave. A Creative Director (CD) at a good advertising agency will always be open to new ideas and experimentation. So don’t worry if your spot feels a little weird or too leftfield. Great CDs are always fascinated by new approaches to work. They want to work with people with enquiring minds. And their counterpart, Strategists like myself, know that great work will only materialise in the presence of strong and confident creative people. On the whole—if we are doing our job well—we’ll keep young creatives on a remarkably loose leash to allow freedom of thought in the creative process. But before you knock on our door, here are a few things we’ll most likely be looking for:
The most relevant idea wins.
The most attention-seizing idea wins.
The most life-affirming, uplifting, memorable, and shareable idea wins.
The most unique and original idea wins.
The most groundbreaking idea wins.
The rest is just noise.
So, does your spot have the potential to become a cultural touchpoint?
