WHY IS STRATEGY IMPORTANT IN ADVERTISING?

Creative strategy is the intentional and strategic approach a company takes in developing and implementing steps that will ensure and support the business’ growth (Lake). Almost every advertising campaign begins with some sort of game plan in order to successfully persuade a customer to purchase a product or service. As advertisers, strategy is important because it helps pin-point the right audience and communicate the right message. 

Strategy for advertisers is like a runner stretching before a race. Prior to the race, many runners tend to train for weeks or even months leading up to their big run. They have a plan months ahead of time to build endurance, flexibility, and strength. They know what to do in order to successfully complete this race. Planning this is important because a runner wouldn’t want to attempt the race with shortened and tightened muscles because that would result in a poor performance and/or injury. Similarly, an advertiser cannot simply run by the seat of their own pants and put on an advertising campaign without any prior strategies or blueprints. In advertising, it is crucial to have a plan-of-action or else the project would not be nearly as successful. The advertising campaign itself is distinct from the strategy, but the strategy is meant to guide implementation (ASANA).

Strategy is important in advertising because it helps target the right audience. This is an essential component in planning for anything and where the importance of strategy is obvious. An advertiser uses strategic planning in order to classify the right audience and furthermore be able to establish the right voice and tone for that particular target. 

With that being said, after using strategy to establish that voice, an advertiser is able to communicate the right message. In this step, an advertiser can strategically use surveys or interviews to accumulate some thoughts and be able to craft the appropriate message for the target audience. With this insight and strategy, an advertiser is able to easily generate a message that appeals to their desired audience.