How do you learn creative ideas for building new advertisements? How would you go about it? For us, the answer is pretty simple. We learn best by studying and analyzing awesome advertisement design examples and then applying the best of the best ideas we’ve found. In this blog, we will illustrate 13 important design elements of our favorite Budweiser ad examples.
And there are many creative advertisements to choose from aren’t there?
Budweiser ad.
The secret of all effective advertising is not the creation of new and tricky words and pictures, but one of putting familiar words and pictures into new relationships.
– Leo Burnett
Check out our thoughts on creative marketing.
Your expectations are not guarantees. Positive thinking doesn’t guarantee results, all it offers is something better than negative thinking. Did you win? A far better question to ask yourself is, “what did you learn?”
Learning compounds. Usually more reliably than winning does. So learn from these Budweiser design examples and you will find them useful next time you need to design an advertisement.
Related: Brilliant Advertisements to Rise Above the Noise
Here are 13 design elements we gleaned from a study of many, many Budweiser advertising examples. But don’t be fooled. They are not all equal in effectiveness, so we put them in order of importance. Let’s get started:
Budweiser ad … emotional influence and persuasion
Budweiser puppy love that was, by most accounts, the biggest winner from the 2014 Super Bowl. There are no better means of influence or the power of persuasion than emotion. Hands down the best, in our opinion.
And Budweiser has been the master for a long time now. You will find the use of emotion in most of their commercials.
Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the experiences are important to remember. Check out this ad here.
There are eight basic, universal emotions – joy, surprise, anticipation, acceptance, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust. Successful appeals to these basic emotions consolidate stories and the desired calls to action in the lasting memories of audiences.
This puppy love commercial focuses on emotional appeal in grand fashion. It is a great example of a successful advertisement design.
One of my favorite experts in the field of creative advertising is Edward Bouches and Creativity Unbound. You’ll find lots of good examples and case studies to learn from in his blog.
Budweiser Superbowl commercials … tell a story
A good story has a beginning where a sympathetic character encounters a complicating situation, a middle where the character confronts and attempts to resolve the situation, and an end where the outcome is revealed. It does not interpret or explain the action in the story for the audience.
You will see many stories in Budweiser commercials. Here is a remarkable one about a baby Clydesdale. They don’t get much better than this.
Baby Clydesdale
Budweiser ad … coordinate identifiable music
A great ad design element is to match what viewers see with what they hear. Just like the use of emotion, Budweiser is a master of the use of music.
Check out this recent Budweiser commercial for great coordinated music and video:
And another one … Puppy love
This music selection in this commercial was so popular that Budweiser released a video of the group doing it. You can check it out here.
Grab viewers’ attention
Interesting information gets and holds attention. Keep in mind that people don’t read ads … they read what interests them. Be different and avoid normalcy at all costs. Stand out is the mantra. It’s OK to be controversial and to create conversation through the ‘buzz’. Headlines are the first place for attention.
I saw this commercial on the day that it aired. Since then I’ve not taken it for anything more than what I hope a corporation like Budweiser / Anheuser-Busch would have intended it to be. I couldn’t care less about accusations of financial intent & exploitation, Ad critics, or opinions on the product itself. It’s simply a meaningful tribute to those that lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
Define the value proposition
A unique selling point that truly discriminates you from your competition is vital. It is essential that you give your customers reasons to select you. Paint the picture of value … make the value stand out. You won’t find many Budweiser commercials emphasizing value propositions though. Here is one that does … showing that their beer is brewed the hard way and is Beechwood aged. Check it out here.
Don’t need to say much as the video does the talking. Powerful.
Visual elements
Use pictures/visuals to convey the message much better than words. “Seeing is believing” and “actions speak louder than words” are two common sayings that reflect a bias and preference for visual presentation.
Next time you go out, be sure to make a plan to get home safely. Your friends are counting on you. Enjoy Budweiser responsibly.
#FriendsAreWaiting
That’s why it said, “For some, the waiting never ended”. For some doggies, their owners never return due to driving drunk or being hit by someone driving drunk. That’s why it’s such a powerful commercial. They promote their beer and the “drink (and make decisions afterward) responsibly” message.
Consider the end state values of customers
Focus on customer needs end state and not the means. The end state is the only priority.
This is another of Budweiser’s great stories, in this case about the lost puppy. Grabs and holds your attention until the end, when you can know the ending.
Make simple messages
Make the message as clean and simple as possible. You cannot overachieve on the simplicity of the message. A message that the reader will quickly understand.
Emotion is key to the Young Clydesdale ad
Superb visuals and visuals so simple that you quickly grasp them and don’t lose interest. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words. And the music has a way to keep you tied in.
Creating customer interest does not get any simpler than this, does it? A very simple, yet entertaining design, don’t you think? And the real message at the end that is very soft not selling.
Be unique
Showing social responsibility as a business is an awesome way to be unique. Check out this commercial on Epic Lyfts home.
Be relevant to your target market
Keep in mind that one message does not fit all.
You should start you thinking with knowing your target market. Here the target market is millennials that love to socialize. Nothing better than a beer and a burger with friends is there? Notice the focus on the subtle emotion to deliver the persuasion. Certainly relevant to this target market, isn’t it?
Picture of value
Using a great visual to show the picture of value … food and a Bud. An awesome way to create persuasion.
The bottom line
There is a reason why some change leaders succeed while others fail. At some point everybody needs to decide whether they would rather make a point or make a difference and, in the end, those that prevail choose the latter.
You just can’t say it. You have to get people to say it to each other.
– James Farley, CMO Ford
It is not what advertising does with the consumer; it is what the consumer does after reading the advertisement. So after looking over these enablers … how much have you learned?
Need some help in capturing more customers from your advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your customers?
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Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
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Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your advertising design?
Do you have a lesson about making your innovation better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
A How-To Guidebook for Creating Winning Advertising
Brilliant Advertisements to Rise Above the Noise
The State Farm ‘Jake’ Commercial … No Art of Persuasion
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