The Three Levels of Creative Concepting

John Konecny – Senior Art Director

When putting together a design, zooming in can help the artist work out the finer details, while zooming out is the best way to see the piece in its full context. They serve different functions, but both are important for achieving the best results. The same is true when collecting input for a design concept.

Audiences, like ogres and onions, have layers. A good designer understands that creating compelling visuals that influence behaviors requires appealing to its viewers on multiple levels, from zooming in on familiar brand elements to zooming out on the psychological traits that make up the human experience.

Level 1: Consistency

The most granular and most important element of a design concept is brand consistency. Change can be exciting, especially when a marketer comes up with an innovative new way to present the brand, but it also has to make sense. There are times when a new concept necessitates a rebrand, whether the company is moving into a new vertical, being acquired or simply repositioning to meet market needs. However, this is often done at the expense of the existing brand reputation. Branding powerhouses like Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple that serve as examples of effective campaigns all have one thing in common: consistency. Nike logos and advertising from 60 years ago are still identifiable as the brand we know today. There has been a gradual evolution of the logo and other elements to match the times and its changing product line, but Nike stays Nike.

Brands looking to achieve similar success in their audiences should stick to this principle. Like Nike, the visuals should be distinguishable, engaging and modern while still maintaining a recognizable presence. This is especially challenging for brands with several products or companies under the same umbrella, but sticking to logos, fonts and other basic components still leaves a lot of room for individualized campaigns.

Level 2: Community

Developing the messaging for those individualized campaigns starts with a deep understanding of the audience. Who is the campaign for? This question should be answered in as much detail as possible, going beyond the high-level demographic information. Veterinary equipment, for example, is not marketed to pet owners, other equipment manufacturers or even most of the clinic staff. Clinic leadership makes purchasing decisions, and campaigns should be run in a way that is most appealing to them.

Knowing the audience also includes knowing what they know. This is especially important in B2B, where designers are often creating concepts targeting an expert audience. Both the visuals and voice in the campaigns must be at or above their level; a generalized approach that appeals to a wide audience will likely not produce results.

Level 3: Connection

While the general populous may not understand the specifics of what a B2B ad is selling, there are universally appealing principles that can make it more enticing. When a designer zooms all the way out to see what speaks to the population, some visuals evoke the same reaction across the board. Think of all the best Super Bowl ads of the past decade. For most people, their favorite ads have nothing to do with the product being sold and everything to do with the emotions they felt. Campaigns that trigger emotional reactions, such as tears or laughter, are much more impactful. Though not true for every industry, moving people to tears with a B2B ad is generally not in line with its goals and objectives. However, humor is more adaptable. A well-executed visual gag or clever tagline that pairs well with the campaign’s key messaging is a surefire step towards a memorable ad.

This connection to human psychology is also important when balancing written and visual content. People relied on vision to receive and process information long before written or spoken language was invented, and we are still much more reactive to optical stimuli. A picture of a snake with its fangs bared is going to evoke much more fear than the words “a snake with its fangs bared.” Once that impact has been made, the copy on the ad can help support with additional details that would be harder to convey through pictures, such as how to avoid being bitten by the snake, what to do if you are bitten, etc.

If an ad is just consistent, audiences will find it forgettable. If it’s just memorable, audiences won’t connect it to a brand’s existing identity. Building the perfect concept means delivering on all three levels to create recognizable, audience-specific, impactful ads.