Big Stick’s approach to marketing and advertising has always been based on delivering impact. The basic principle being that if your target audience don’t notice your Advert, Website, Email or any other marketing material’ then you’re wasting time AND money.

AIDA Advertising that delivers ‘More bang for your buck’

By using creative imagery and irresistible headline messages Big Stick has achieved significant results on behalf of our clients, up to 30% increase in sales for some of our clients. Big Stick has also won awards for it’s advertising campaigns and not just industry awards but awards allied to reader awareness and sales.

AIDA

The basic theory behind any ad’ is to create;   Attention    Interest    Desire    Action

To achieve this successfully you need to know the single message or USP (unique selling point) that will influence your target audience to act. You also need to be aware of any barriers to sale (if your product has been compared unfavourable to a competitor for example or if there is a false perception of your service, which is damaging sales)Having established the right message (and the right target audience!) it is key that the message and image work together and are both focused on the customers needs. Identifying the barriers to sales and the key sales message or USP can make all the difference to the response of your advertising.

Give me the freedom of a tight brief!!

To ensure you have the right information to brief an agency complete the briefing form attached, which will give you the opportunity to profile your target audience and identify the USP. Then simply call Big Stick and we will be happy to chat through a marketing strategy to help you create a highly effective Advertising campaign.

BIG STICK BRIEFING DOCUMENT PDF DOWNLOAD

Cohesive activity

An individual ad’, however impact ful will rarely work as a one off.
Figures suggest it takes 7 opportunities to view before your ad’ is seen/registered by it’s target audience. By building a cohesive campaign, involving a spread of media and support activity, your campaign results can be enhanced significantly.

A few advertising examples…
Here are a few ad’s for you to view, click on them to read the full case history

Poster Advertising- deliver one message well.

For poster advertising, it is sensible to remember the old sporting adage, that if I throw ten tennis balls to you simultaneously, you will almost certainly drop them all-if I throw just one, then it will be easily caught.

It is a similar approach on poster advertising. It is a large format but not usually in a place where it can be read in detail (there are exceptions ie tube posters) consequently , a poster needs to deliver one message clearly so the reader can ‘catch’ your drift quickly and be curious enough to want to know more (and will then perhaps visit the website link on your poster!)

So simplicity of message is the key and again stick to the most compelling customer focused message. If this single message pervades all your marketing vehicles then, your customer will learn your key message and it will influence their purchasing decision.

Don’t we all now acknowledge VW cars as being reliable?

Below are some recycling posters for local councils; for the full case history click on the image…

Direct mail

Direct mail is the best pound-for-pound method for targeting a large audience. With the right data, message and creative idea, direct mail can be a powerful marketing tool, which can deliver a substantial return on investment.

Direct mail has changed dramatically over recent years, the advances in profiling has increased penetration considerably. Profiling is now so specific you can ‘break down’ your target audience based on a whole host of criteria including; post code, socio economic status, number of children, interests and activities.

So the potential to pin down your audience and speak to them at length via your direct mail message is huge. Of course none of us like to receive inappropriate, badly targeted or downright dull direct mail but if it has useful information/benefits, is entertainingly presented with a clear call to action and an alluring offer then, your response figures can be between 2-5% (depending on market and type of product or service)

Marketing mix

Again DM is one element of your marketing mix- product, targeting, timing, frequency, creative and the ‘offer’ are all factors, which will affect response. Often a client implements a one off mailing to a ‘cold’ list and is then despondent when the dramatic results they had hoped for are not realised. But Direct mail can be a highly effective marketing tool, it is delivered direct to the decision maker, it is in a format which allows a potentially lengthy ‘sell’ of your product and service with all the necessary explanation and it can elicit a positive response quickly and is entirely measurable. Consequently Direct mail can be a potent weapon in your marketing armoury.