The Complete Guide to Ad Creative

Strong ad creative is one of the most important tools in the marketer’s toolkit, affecting everything from TV to mobile ads

Strong ad creative is, and will continue to be, a fundamental concept that plays a pivotal role in captivating and engaging audiences. But what is ad creative? Ad creative is the art and science of crafting compelling content that resonates with consumers, drives brand awareness, and ultimately influences their purchasing decisions. It encompasses a wide range of elements, from eye-catching visuals and persuasive copy to innovative concepts and compelling narratives.

Understanding Creative Services in the Advertising Landscape

Ad creative service providers are firms that use strategies and techniques to create impactful advertising, with a primary focus on crafting a comprehensive creative strategy tailored to a specific target audience. These services leverage various advertising platforms like social media, online advertising, and television advertising, utilizing eye-catching visuals and engaging copywriting to connect with consumers effectively.

Website Design

There are several types of ad creative services, and website design, which serves as a vital element of a brand's online presence, is a major player. A well-designed website ensures brand consistency, user-friendliness, and adaptability across devices. 

Mobile App Design

Mobile app design is another crucial service, providing businesses with a personalized means to meet customer expectations and foster engagement. Logo and branding services emphasize the importance of visual elements, color, and font choices in conveying a brand's personality and values.

Video Production

The power of high-quality video production in the digital age is emphasized, with various video styles available, including explainer, testimonial, brand, tutorial, and animated videos. Investing in video production is an effective way to engage audiences and raise a brand's profile.

Art and Illustration

Lastly, the use of art and illustration is highlighted as a unique approach to capturing consumer attention in a saturated market, enabling brands to convey authenticity and personalized experiences.

To learn more about creative services, read Understanding Creative Services in the Advertising Landscape.

The Value of Creative Consulting Services

Creative consulting is a specialized form of consultancy that provides strategic guidance and innovative solutions to enhance advertising campaigns. These services use design thinking and customer experience knowledge to offer expertise in areas such as graphic design and digital marketing. Creative consultants work closely with clients to identify opportunities, implement design-driven solutions, and refine growth strategies, ultimately positioning businesses for success.

Hiring a creative consultant is recommended in several scenarios, including when businesses aim to innovate, improve user and customer experience, or compete in highly competitive industries. The expertise of creative consultants in design thinking and market trends can provide valuable insights and strategies.

The benefits of creative consulting are multifaceted. These consultants are pros at capturing the attention of target audiences by creating customized design solutions that resonate with consumers and increase brand awareness. Additionally, they drive profitability by identifying opportunities for business optimization, customer experience improvements, and sales growth.

5 Creative Consulting Services

• IDEO: A globally recognized design and innovation company with a unique "design thinking" approach, serving clients like Apple and Coca-Cola.
• R/GA: A consultancy with offices around the globe, known for its expertise in digital experiences, brand design, and consulting.
• Innosight: A growth strategy and innovation consulting company with offices in multiple countries helping clients navigate complex business landscapes.
• Fantasy Interactive: A digital experience agency with a focus on user-centric design that has worked for clients such as Tesla and Netflix.
• Code and Theory: A digital-first creative agency with a strong reputation for transformative technology solutions and integrated marketing strategies.

To read more about why you should consider enlisting the help of a creative consulting service, read 5 Creative Consulting Services to Give Your Brand a Boost.

How Performance Marketing Can Use Video Creative

Video creative is a key component of video advertising, encompassing visual and auditory elements used to engage and persuade viewers. It combines images, text, music, voiceovers, and special effects to convey a message effectively and capture an audience's attention.

Playing a crucial role in performance marketing, video creative benefits campaigns in various ways. First, it grabs attention by creating captivating content in the increasingly competitive digital landscape. It conveys the message clearly and concisely, highlighting product features and benefits. Video creative also drives engagement through interactive elements, like calls-to-action (CTAs), and builds brand awareness by consistently presenting visual brand elements. Ultimately, it plays a vital role in driving conversions by showcasing product value and persuading viewers to take desired actions.

Best Practices for Video Creative

Best practices for video creative include understanding the target audience, keeping content short and engaging, telling a story, emphasizing product/service benefits, and continuously testing and optimizing.

Additionally, the CTA is a critical part of video ads, and its design should be clear, concise, visually distinct, use action-oriented verbs, provide reasons to act, be placed strategically within the video frame, and be mobile-friendly. Marketers should track and analyze CTA performance to refine design.

Examples of Successful Video Creative

Several examples of excellent video creative include:

• Nike's "Dream Crazy" campaign inspiring viewers to pursue their dreams.
• Dollar Shave Club's witty and straightforward "Our Blades Are F***ing Great" ad.
• Apple's "Shot On iPhone" campaign highlighting the power of user-generated content.
• GoPro's action-packed "The Adventure of Life in 4K" showcasing the capabilities of its cameras.

For more about video creative, read Video Creative: The Performance Marketer's Guide.

Video Services and Ad Production

Video production services encompass the professional offerings of video production companies or agencies, covering all stages of video creation from pre-production to post-production. These services leverage a team of experts in scriptwriting, directing, videography, and editing to bring a client's vision to life for various purposes such as corporate videos, product demos, and promotional campaigns. In today's digital marketing landscape, video services have become essential for reaching wider audiences and effectively conveying messages.

Video services play a pivotal role in performance marketing by creating engaging and captivating content, targeting the right audience, analyzing campaign performance, and providing cost-effective solutions. They enable businesses to capture audience attention, communicate messages effectively, drive engagement, build brand awareness, and boost conversions.

Examples of Video Production Services

Several companies excel in offering video production services, catering to businesses' needs for impactful video campaigns.

• Umault is known for its meticulous approach to client collaboration and expertise in media strategy design.
• DreamTek offers extensive video production and virtual event services with a focus on VR and AR content creation
• Cue is a full-service podcasting agency that also excels in video production, providing comprehensive production strategies and high-quality podcasting and video services.

These companies help businesses create engaging and high-quality video content, making them stand out in the competitive digital marketing landscape.

For more on video production companies, read The 3 Best Video Services to Produce Your Next Ad Spot.

Creative Ads That Show the Potential of CTV

TV creative, and especially Connected TV creative, is making a significant impact on the advertising industry, effectively engaging viewers through innovative techniques and imaginative storytelling.

One standout example is Coca-Cola's use of augmented reality to bring stories to life in viewers' living rooms. This demonstrates the potential of CTV as an advertising platform and the power of creativity in captivating consumers.

Volvo's interactive CTV ad offers an immersive experience, allowing viewers to explore different interactive tabs and view behind-the-scenes content, detailed specifications, and tailored information. This approach engages the audience and invites them to take an active role in their viewing experience.

Meineke's marriage proposal ad establishes an emotional connection by relating a common situation (marriage proposals) to the services the brand offers, positioning Meineke as a helpful partner in car maintenance.

Enbridge's "Rooster" ad effectively communicates the company's commitment to sustainability through a simple and intuitive explanation of renewable energy. The ad showcases how Enbridge supports renewable energy solutions and portrays the company as having the public's best interests in mind. 

These creative CTV ads exemplify the potential for immersive storytelling and emotional engagement in modern advertising.

For more on creative CTV ads, read 3 Creative Ads That Will Make You Fall in Love With CTV All Over Again.

Make tvScientific Your CTV Partner 

tvScientific was co-founded by senior executives with deep roots in search, programmatic advertising, digital media, and ad verification. We think scientifically, and our results are driven by a belief in one simple formula: Trust = Data x Transparency x Control.

With powerful attribution capabilities, real-time reporting, automated optimization, and built-in, always-on testing, we believe that tvScientific provides the most robust, transparent, tailored CTV advertising platform. Once you see it for yourself, we know you will too. Request a demo today.