The Campaign Proposal – S.A.D.

Once your CSS is drafted, it’s time to get acquainted with Twin #2: the Campaign Proposal (CP).

The CP is the second twin wonder and it’s exactly what it sounds like: it’s what you propose your campaign will be. The purpose of the Campaign Proposal is to clearly explain to the client what the campaign you’re proposing consists of – before you unveil the creative comps that bring the campaign idea to life.

The CP explains who the campaign is for; what they want that they’re not already getting; how the campaign helps them get what they want (persuading them in the process to try the product/service); when the campaign will be launched and in what media.

In a nutshell, the Campaign Proposal States the main message of the campaign, Articulates the concept (the idea driving the campaign), and Describes how you’ll execute the campaign.

For this reason, the Campaign Proposal is also known as the S.A.D.

S = state the message

A = Articulate the concept

D = Describe how the campaign will be executed

The CP helps you articulate the concept/idea that will drive your campaign to reach your Consumer and help them understand the new Reality that will help them get past any misconception they might have of the brand. Ultimately, the campaign should demonstrate how the brand can help them get/do something that matters to them.

 

Part one of the CP is simply a re-wording or elaboration on the Main Message of your CSS.

STATE the message:

Expand on the Main Message in the CSS. State the Main Message in a slightly different way, and/or elaborate on what you’ve said already. Use plain english.

 

Part two of the CP is the trickiest part.

A good Concept statement is one of the hardest things to write – for good reason. It has a lot of heavy lifting to do and not many words to do it with. The Concept statement must make your core idea clear and compelling. It must identify who the campaign is for, what’s in it for them, how the campaign will help them get it, and ultimately why the campaign will work.

ARTICULATE the concept/idea:

To help my students write their Concept statements, I developed a fill-in-the-blank formula. Think of it as training wheels. Here it is:

Concept statement formula:

The (working title of campaign) is for (type of consumers) who (want X, Y, or Z). The ads will show (kind of visuals/scenarios) that will make it clear (how product X helps them get what matters to them.)

 

Part three of the CP is fairly straightforward.

DESCRIBE the execution:

When the campaign will launch.

In which type of media.

It’s one thing to outline the CP template you will use. In practice, drafting your first CP can be harder than you might think. To help you, I’ve provided an example of the Campaign Proposal for the JFM campaign.

 

STATE the message:

Get eight weeks of dates and get the girl.

 

ARTICULATE the concept:

The Eight Weeks of Sexy campaign is for men searching for their soulmate. The campaign shows how one man – Raul – lands date after date over the span of eight weeks – in his quest to meet his true love.

 

DESCRIBE the execution:

Timing: The campaign launches Dec 26, 2019 – when men are making New Year’s Resolutions – and runs for eight weeks through Valentine’s Day.

Media: MTA Transit Posters inside major NYC subway and Tri-state transit platforms and bus shelters. Billboards in the Tri-state area.

 

Campaign Title

Did you notice that the CP (Campaign Proposal) mentions a campaign title, “Eight Weeks of Sexy”? Coming up with a title for your campaign helps you distill the idea in a few words, which helps you and the Client clearly understand what the campaign Concept is. The campaign title can provide inspo for your campaign’s tagline.

Campaign Concept

Articulate the concept/idea that will drive your campaign to reach your Consumer and help them understand the new Reality that will help them get past any misconception they might have of the brand. Ultimately, the campaign should demonstrate how your brand can help them get/do something that matters to them.

Of course, before you can write a Concept statement, you need to have a Concept. We’ll discuss how to come up with an idea big enough to be called a Concept in the next Chapter. For argument’s sake, let’s pretend that you’ve already written the first draft your Campaign Proposal. Now it’s time to come up with a working Campaign title. This isn’t a title consumers will ever see. It’s a way to refer to the campaign – almost like a social media handle. Keep it short & sweet.

Campaign mood board

Next it’s time to start to imagine the types of images or scenarios our campaign might feature. Collect them from the internet because soon you’ll add them to a campaign moodboard, which you’ll use for inspo as well as to demonstrate your campaign’s look and feel to your client.

Campaign headlines, taglines/hashtags

Once you’ve written your CSS and CP, have come up with a working title for your campaign and compiled a moodboard, it’ll be time to write lots and lots of headlines and taglines/hashtags.

What kind of campaign resulted from this Strategy? How did the student bring his CSS and CP to life in ad comps? Here’s the first of three ad comps. Click here to see the presentation, including ad comps for the JFM CSS and Campaign Proposal.

 

 

 

 

HOMEWORK

CAMPAIGN PROPOSAL DRAFT

You’ve written the first draft of your Poo-Pourri CSS that defines your Consumer, what their (mis)Perception is and the new Reality you want them to know and how you’ll tell them. Now it’s time to move on to your Campaign Proposal for Poo-Pourri

Now it’s time to draft your Campaign Proposal. Use the template. And don’t be surprised if as your write your CP you realize that your CSS doesn’t line up as tightly as it could with your CP. So you decide to revise your CSS. As I said before, strategy is a choice. And the more you think carefully about your Strategy, who it’s for, what matters to them, and what idea will help them understand the new Reality, the more you’ll want to revise what you’ve already done. This is a good thing because: The best writing is rewriting. Elaborate here on this important copy principle.