Common mistakes from last week's assignment:
1. Mistaking a product benefit for a line of copy.
An ad for Metra cannot have "We get you there on time" as a headline with only a picture of a train and a logo to supplement it. It's like an ad for Nike showing a picture of someone jogging with "Very comfortable shoes" as the headline. Do not expect facts to speak for themselves. It's your job to use facts as a tool to evoke an emotion - to persuade.
2. Repetition of headlines.
If you write a headline, please don't submit five other ads with the same headline slightly reworded.
If you're going to reword a headline, don't submit 5 other versions of it.
Submitting 5 other version of a headline won't make me like it better.
Don't reword a headline five times and submit it as five different ads.
Please refrain from rewriting 5 different headlines, only to repeat them multiple times in your ads.
Same goes for layouts.
3. Not recognizing / exploring a fertile area.
Most of you touched on some very interesting ideas. But then you let them die by not exploring other executions. If you think you've found an interesting voice, a unique perspective, or a big, unexpected idea, you have to chase it. That means doing multiple executions. That means doing a lot of work.
4. Not thinking in campaigns.
Seldom will you have an ad that works better as a one-off than as a campaign. You need to start thinking in 3's and 4's and 5's. You should try to group your ads in terms of campaigns. If an ad isn't working as a campaign, chances are it isn't a big idea to begin with.
5. Working as individuals instead of as teams.
If you're going to work in teams (which you are for this week's assignment) you need to make a united effort. Most of what I saw last week looked like two individuals who just happened to clip their work together. Think together. Communicate with each other. Execute together.
