How to create advertising people talk about
One clear idea, a role for the audience and a connection to the product. A small cafe example.
Advertising can be memorable without a huge screen in the city centre. Start with a question: what could someone explain about our idea in one sentence?
The cafe example below is fictional. It illustrates a process, not the results of a completed campaign. The cover is an illustration too.
Start with the task
“Make something viral” is hard to turn into a useful brief. “Introduce our new breakfast to people working in nearby offices” gives you an audience, a location and a reason to act. Choose one next step: visit, try the food, save the address or invite a colleague.
Find an observation people recognise
Suppose people nearby often skip breakfast before work. Invite them to write their most ridiculous morning excuse on a card: “I did not eat because I was looking for my other sock.” With permission, selected lines become small posters in the cafe. The back of the card carries breakfast hours, the address and a menu QR code. Participation connects to the product.
This is a hypothesis. Talk to guests before launch to find out whether the situation feels familiar and whether they would participate.
Keep the business in the idea
Check that the brand is visible, the offer is clear and the next step is easy. If someone remembers the joke but cannot explain the offer, strengthen the connection. In this example, the QR code opens the breakfast section directly, with hours, prices and directions.
Run a small pilot
Start with a few materials and a short agreed period. Clarify participation rules, staff responsibilities, poster placement and permission to use submitted lines. Printing a large run before testing the idea increases the cost of being wrong.
Budget separately for design, printing, staff and any gifts. Manufacturing costs are only part of the campaign budget.
Decide what to measure
Before launch, choose observable actions: visits through a dedicated link, breakfast enquiries or redemptions of an offer. Give staff a simple way to record enquiries. Mentions and discussion can indicate interest, but do not prove sales. Compare actual enquiries and orders against costs and the starting situation.
A worksheet for your idea
- Who is the promotion for?
- Which familiar situation does it use?
- What does the person do?
- How does the product take part?
- Where does the next step lead?
- Which materials and people are needed?
- What will you measure?
If the idea takes more than a few sentences to explain, simplify the mechanism first. Expensive visuals cannot replace a clear offer.