CREATING

Overview•Getting Ready to Create

•Creative Briefs

•Effective Messages

•Drafting Materials and Activities

•Concept Testing, Reviews and Pretesting

•Finalizing Designs and Getting Ready for

Production

Developing communication products

combines science and art:

•Science to create concepts, visuals,

and text based on analysis of the

situation (step 1): the people, culture,

existing policies and programs, active

organizations and available

communication channels.

•Art to the creation of products which

evoke emotion, motivate audiences and

fit within the communication strategy

(step 2)

Getting ready to Create

CREATING

Graphic: The Third Step of a Planning Process for SBCC- Creating

Understanding context and refining communication strategy;

•What the audiences already know about the issue

•What could motivate them to act

•What skills would they need to act

•Prevailing norms, attitudes and believes that place them at

risk

•Barriers to their knowledge and practice of change

•Concerns that inhibit action

•Learning styles and media preferences

•Literacy and language abilities

Research Gaps

CREATING

WORKSHEET: Inventory of Existing Materials ; pages 4,5,9-14:http://c-changeprogram.org/sites/default/files/sbcc_module3.pdf

Materials/ activities developed in the past

Ways in which we might adapt or complement what is already developed:

Interpersonal

Community-based

Mass Media

Five parts to a creative briefs:

•Goal and selected audience for the

materials

•Desired changes, barriers, and

communication objectives

•Message brief

•Key content and tone

•Media Mix and other creative

considerations

Creative Briefs

Overview of Creative Brief Template

1. Goal and Audience • Overall aim of the activity

• Selected audience/s

2. Changes, barriers, and communication objective

• Desired changes• Barriers• Communication objectives

3. Message brief • The key promise• The support statement• A call to action• Lasting impression• Perception of someone involved in the

change

4. Key content and tone • Key content to communication in this material

• Tone for this material

5. How this material or activity fits the mix and other creative considerations

• How this material complements or is supported by other materials or activities in the mix

• Other creative considerations and cost.

8

Tips for message tone;

•Emotional appeal geared towards people

who are indifferent towards the topic

•Logical appeal is geared more to opinion

leaders

•Straight forward presentation of facts is

often more effective for message recall than

emotional appeal.

•Humor is most effective with messages that

are already familiar to people, like “use of

condoms”.

Effective messages

• Entertaining, engaging, humorous, or

dramatic messages are more likely to

succeed

• Acknowledging opposing views is

effective when the audience is either

resistant or initially opposed to the

message’s position, when the

audience is highly educated

Effective messages Cont’d

10Effective messages cont’d

Guidelines for Effective Communication

1. Command attention • Does the message stand out? Does your audience think so? Give thought to color and fonts, images music etc.

2. Clarify the message • Is the message simple and direct?

3. Communicate a benefit • What will the audience get for taking action?

4. Consistency counts • Materials and activities convey the same message and become mutually supportive

5. Cater to the heart and head

• Is it better to appeal to the audience’s emotions, intellect or both?

6. Create trust • Does your information come from a source?

7. Call to action • What do you want the audience to do after seeing the communication?

CREATING

Basic Principles of Message Development:

• Keep it simple

• Know (and involve) your audience (early on)

• Invite the audience to “fill the blank” and reach your conclusion on

their own

• Present a solution

•

Drafting Materials and Activities

Tips while doing first draft:

•Present one message per illustration

•Limit the number of concepts per material

•Make material interactive whenever possible

•Leave plenty of empty space

•Arrange messages in a way that is most logical

to the audience

•Use picture illustrations to supplement text

•Choose lettering that is clear and easy to read

• Concept testing comes

before investing time in

fully drafting materials

• A review by partners and

gatekeepers after drafts of

materials

• Pretests and field tests with

audience members after

drafts of materials

Concept Testing, Reviews and Pretesting

14

Checklist: quality messages and

Materials

•Are messages accurate?

•Are messages and materials consistent?

•Are messages clear?

•Are messages and materials relevant to the

audience?

•Are communication channels credible?

•Are messages and materials appealing?

•Are messages and materials sensitive to

gender differences?

Finalizing Designs and Ready for Production

CREATING

Example: Draft Production Timeline