We are often asked by our clients in strategy reviews: “Is it time for a new creative?” This is a sensible question to ask at regular intervals, but getting the right balance in frequency of creative refresh is important. Leaving the same creative on air for too long may create wear out. If done too frequently (whilst the creative is still generating a strong response rate), advertisers run the risk of losing consistency and wasting marketing budget which could instead be deployed against media spend.
The efficiency/effectiveness life span of a creative will largely depend on the sector, product (and development thereof), simplicity of message and shifts within marketplace. For instance, a credit card company that has recently added a “quick check” function will likely see the desired ROI from updating the creative to reflect this.
That said, assessing the need for a new creative is relatively straightforward, by asking the following questions:
• Has the response rate of my current creative declined?
• Has my product’s marketplace changed significantly, or are there any economic changes which impact on sales?
• Do I have any new features or benefits of my product/service which need to be communicated?
For a real-life example, let’s look at how our prescription delivery client Pharmacy2U used a creative refresh to increase penetration of their app, and increase response rates.
Despite a successful run from their previous creative, declining response rates across previously strongly performing elements of the plan led the client to call a creative pitch.
It was important to consider what had changed in the 18 months since the previous creative was made, that could be important to prospective patients. The client had invested significantly in their app, with the intention of making the customer journey even more simplistic. The new creative was a great time to showcase this. With an older audience skew, it was also imperative the advert didn’t alienate older audiences who weren’t as digitally savvy.
P2U worked closely with the creative agency to deliver a brief which highlighted all the key features and benefits of the app, highlighting how this could help to improve ease of repeat prescription management. This included:
• Key imagery showing how the app was easy to use and sent handy reminders
• Voiceover referencing the app throughout the ad
• An end frame featuring the app store logos, and a call to action to “DOWNLOAD THE APP”, or “FIND US ONLINE TODAY”. This ensured we were attracting both smartphone users and those with a desktop preference.
The results
The tweaks made to the creative had an astounding impact on performance. Most significantly, was the impact on proportion of apps for new downloads. Versus the previous month’s TV campaign, we also saw:
• 35% reduction in the cost per new registration
• 158% increase in app downloads
Read more information on our TV services.
