Creative Advertising Strategy: Application of the Planning Cycle

This article discusses the application of the planning cycle in creative advertising strategy for Crumpler bags. The advertising problem, objectives, target consumer, unique selling proposition, product benefits, and promise to the consumer are explored. The article also covers the target competition, positioning, single-minded proposition, tone of the advertisement, brand character, and creative strategy statement.

Running Head: STRATEGIES FOR CREATIVE ADVERTISING
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Creative Advertising Strategy: Application of the Planning Cycle
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Course Title
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1. THE PRODUCT
Crumpler bags.
2. PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Crumpler bags are affordable, durable and practical bags that can be used in various
ways. Bikers, students and photographers use Crumpler bags to carry their day-to-day
instruments.
3. THE ADVERTISING PROBLEM
3.1. Crumpler’s Product Pricing is Unaffordable for the Low Class Consumer
For a typical low class consumer, Crumpler’s products are quite expensive and
unaffordable. The low class consumer with less disposable income will, therefore, opt to get
more affordable products compared to Crumpler’s products.
3.2. The location of the Crumpler Stores is Inhibitive
Crumpler’s stores are not evenly distributed throughout Australia’s cities. Additionally,
Crumpler’s products are not well stocked in Australia’s major supermarkets. As a result, most
consumers with no fast accessibility to Crumpler stores opt for different brands’ products.
4. ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES:
4.1. Gain Traction by Appealing to Consumers’ Emotions
Emotions play an integral role in the establishment of strong, long-term relationships
with the consumers, and the general public. To reinforce one’s brand, it is crucial to put more

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focus on establishing and strengthening bonds with the consumers, instead of only striving to
drive sales. Creating and strengthening bonds requires the brand to appeal to the audience’s
emotions and their thoughts. The bonds created between brands and consumers will aid the
company in thriving in the industry for a long term (Patel & Puri, 2018).
4.2. Creation of Awareness and Informing the Audience of the Brand
This campaign’s chief objective is to increase the Crumpler brand’s awareness in the
target audience. Additionally, the campaign shall aim at informing the market of all the benefits
of using products from Crumpler over all other competing brands. To effectively achieve the
aforementioned objectives, the campaign shall need an impactful, persuasive but still compelling
brand image accompanied by a campaign slogan. In this case, by Crumpler reassuring the
audience of the safety of using their bags especially to their spinal health, the consumers will be
more loyal to the Crumpler brand.
5. TARGET CONSUMER
5.1. Consumer Insight
When accurately and carefully compiled, consumer insights can make a customer feel
like they have been into a company’s boardroom in the midst of the key company stakeholders
and in making important brand decisions (Klepic, 2014). For most backpackers, students, bikers
and photographers who use Crumpler bags in Australia, Crumpler is among the top brands of
choice to buy bags from (Lovelace, 2012). When asked about the reasons for their decisions,
most consumers cited comfort when carrying loads as the biggest reason. Other consumers were
more attracted to the brand due to factors such as the durability of the bags. Additionally, a

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considerable percentage of consumers preferred to carry loads in bags that would not cause
injuries to their spines.
6. UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION OR DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
Backpacks provide one of multiple forms of carrying loads manually, which is versatile
and is commonly used by hikers, backpackers, soldiers, bikers and school-going children
(Mwaka, Munabi, Buwembo, Kukkiriza, & Ochieng, 2014). Crumpler offers durable, practical
and comfortable bags that were originally designed for bikers, but presently, they are widely
used by photographers, and adventurers (Crumpler, 2018).
According to a study conducted by Trinity Health Sciences in Dublin, there is a huge
concern regarding the negative effects of uncomfortable bags on the spine development. The
effects of uncomfortable bags are especially more tremendous to school-going children of ages
12-14 years old (Australian Spinal Research Foundation, 2017).
Backpacking is an apt way of loading the spine symmetrically and closely. Needless to
say, it should also be maintaining stability of the backpacker (Brackley, Stevenson, &
Selinger, 2009). Nevertheless, musculoskeletal issues that come along with the use of
backpacks have become a huge concern in students using backpacks (Talbott, Bhattacharya,
Davis, Shukla, & Levin, 2009).). The combination of the effects of carrying loads that are heavy,
wrong positioning of the load on the body, the distribution of the load, and the shape of the load
carried in the bag were hypothesized as the key contributing factors to the musculoskeletal
problems experienced by backpackers (Bettany-Saltikov, Warren, & Stamp, 2008).

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Recent research also shows that there have been multiple attempts to study the impacts of
these factors on the spinal wellbeing of adult backpackers. The maximum loads of weight
recommended, ranges from 25% to around 40% of the individual’s body weight (Bettany-
Saltikov et al., 2008). Most of these studies of the impacts of load carriage have been carried
out purposefully for improving the techniques of carrying loads and the safety during load
carriage (Chansirinukor, Wilson, Grimmer, & Dansie 2011).
7. PRODUCT BENEFITS
7.1. Reasons why consumers prefer comfortable backpacks
Reports from studies show that around 70% of students showed discomfort when
carrying their bags. These extremely high proportions of continuous discomfort are quite similar
to the 74.4% of the findings by Sheir-Neiss et al., (2013). Due to this discomfort experienced by
backpackers, most consumers prefer comfortable backpacks and will opt to purchase bags that
are comfortable and suitable for their needs (Chiropractors’ Association of Australia, 2011).
8. PROMISE TO THE CONSUMER
8.1. Why customers should buy Crumpler’s bags?
The durability, practicality and comfort provided by Crumpler bags attract a wide range
of clientele. Crumpler has gained a cult-like global following of consumers who understand the
quality of the bags. From adventurers to riders, Crumpler has a huge client base that is
increasingly getting larger and this can be attributed to the quality of the bags (David, 2013).
9. REASON WHY THIS BENEFIT IS POSSIBLE

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9.1. Customer Psychology
i.) The Mind of the Customer
Consumers are largely driven by research. When they resolve to reach out to a product
from a particular company, they must have already done adequate research regarding that
specific product (Patel & Puri, 2018). Therefore, for businesses to succeed, it is imperative for
them to empower their customers with sufficient information and knowledge on pertinent topics.
For instance, Crumpler will most definitely achieve their success by making the information on
the research by the Australian Spinal Research Foundation on the impact of the comfort of the
backpack to the carrier, to their audiences.
10. TARGET COMPETITION
10.1. Top Tier Brands as Competitors
The existence of more popular and top brands in the Australian market is a huge setback
to Crumpler. Due to the competition from these top brands, Crumpler is forced to share their
market-reach and clientele with the brands.
11. POSITIONING
Essentially, the concept of the big idea shall be solely to show that Crumpler is actually
considerate of their consumers’ health. Therefore, the biggest and most critical part of the
campaign shall be a TV commercial in partnership with the Australian Research Foundation and
the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia. The premise of the commercial is to get the audience
to understand that using Crumpler’s products is tested and proved to be the safest way for
carrying loads on consumers’ backs.

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The campaign shall entail a few professional chiropractors confirming and reassuring the
audience on the benefits of using bags that are comfortable such as the ones produced by
Crumpler. The 45-second TV commercial shall have the professionals listing a few benefits of
using the brand since it is market tested and proved to be safe for the carriers. Finally, the big
idea shall entail showing its support to the individuals with spinal deformations and other
physical complexities that could have otherwise been avoided by taking good care of their spinal
health. Donating to the Spinal Research foundation would be the most effective way to prove the
brand’s deep interest towards positively impacting their consumers’ spinal health.
11.1. Rationalization of the Positioning Idea
The concept of the big idea endeavors to appeal to the consumers’ emotions. Since
emotions play an integral role in the decisions made by consumers (Penz & Hogg, 2011), the
consumers would like to be associated with a brand that is proved to be socially conscious and
actually considerate of their customers’ health. This campaign will also challenge the perception
that all companies are greedy and only seek to profit regardless of the users’ views and opinions.
By appealing to the emotions of the audience, the brand shall gain the consumers’ trust and
affection, thus creating a solid and indestructible bond which would later translate into sales.
12. SINGLE-MINDED PROPOSITION
a.) Stand for a Meaningful Course in the Society
The public would like to be only associated with a brand that they share similar values
with (Ciotti, 2018). In fact, the individuals that confirmed having a strong relationship with a
certain brand, about 64% of them cited “shared values” as the major reason for the involvement

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with that particular brand. To get the public’s admiration, Crumpler will have to start or support
a course that is of interest to the general public. By being engaged in Corporate Social
Responsibility, the public would want to be involved with the brand.
13. TONE OF THE ADVERTISEMENT
Crumpler gives you so much more for less. They make comfortable and durable bags of
exceptional and impeccable quality. Additionally, Crumpler is a brand that is endorsed by The
Australian Spinal Research Foundation as the best choice for carriage that ensures safety of the
carrier’s spine.
14. BRAND CHARACTER
The Crumpler brand will create the image of one that is considerate of their consumers’
health. Moreover, the consumers will view Crumpler as a socially conscious brand.
15. CREATIVE STRATEGY STATEMENT
Advertising will convince target consumers that Crumpler products are unrivalled
considering all the benefits of using them compared to their competitors. Furthermore, the
customer will feel like they are actually getting quality for their money.

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References
Australian Spinal Research Foundation. (2017). Heavy school bags biggest pain in the
neck. Retrieved from https://spinalresearch.com.au/heavy-school-bags-biggest-
pain-neck/
Bettany-Saltikov, J., Warren, J., and Stamp, M. (2008). Carrying a rucksack on either
shoulder or the back, does it matter? Load induced functional scoliosis in normal
young subject. Stud. Health Technol. Inform., 140: 221-224.
Brackley, H.M., Stevenson, J.M., and Selinger, J.C. (2009). Effect of backpack load
placement on posture and spinal curvature in prepubescent children. Work J.
Prevent. Assessment Rehabilitat., 32: 351-360.
Chansirinukor, W., Wilson, D., Grimmer, K and Dansie, B. (2011): Effects of backpacks on
students: Measurement of cervical and shoulder posture. Australian Journal of
Physiotherapy 47: 110-116.
Chiropractors’ Association of Australia. (2011). Backpack use among Australian school
children. Retrieved from https://chiropractors.asn.au/images/stories/Files/Chiropractic
%20Fact%20Sheets/CAA%20BackPack%20Research%20Summary%20Fact
%20Sheet.pdf

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Ciotti, G. (2018). 10 Ways to convert more customers using psychology. HelpScout.
Retrieved from https://www.helpscout.net/consumer-behavior/
Crumpler. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.crumpler.com/au/
David, J.M. (2013). Know How To Live - Crumpler Opens New Store, Launches New Bags.
Philipines Hardware Zone.com. Retrieved from
https://www.hardwarezone.com.ph/feature-know-how-live-crumpler-opens-new-store-
launches-new-bags
Klepic, J. (2014). What are consumer insights and how do they impact marketing
effectiveness? HuffPost. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jure-
klepic/what-are-consumer-insight_b_5906624.html
Lovelace, S. (2012). Crumpler Bags: Quality Bags and Cases from Down Under. explora.
Retrieved from
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/hands-review/crumpler-bags-
quality-bags-and-cases-down-under.
Mwaka, E., Munabi, G., Buwembo, W., Kukkiriza, J., & Ochieng, J. (2014). Musculoskeletal
pain and school bag use: A cross-sectional study among Ugandan pupils. BMC research
notes. 7. 222. DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-222.
Patel,N. & Puri, R. (2018). The complete guide to understanding consumer psychology.
QuickSprout. Retrieved from https://www.quicksprout.com/the-complete-guide-
to-understand-customer-psychology/
Penz, E., & Hogg, K.M. (2011). The role of mixed emotions in consumer behavior:
Investigating ambivalence in consumers' experiences of approach‐avoidance

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conflicts in online and offline settings. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45 Issue:
1/2, pp.104-132. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1108/03090561111095612
Sheir-Neiss, G., Kruse, R., Rahman, T., Jacobson, L., & Pelli, J. (2013). The association of
backpack use and back pain in adolescents. Spine. 28: 922-930.
Talbott, N., Bhattacharya, A., Davis, K., Shukla, R.,& Levin, L. (2009). School backpacks: It's
more than just a weight problem. Work (Reading, Mass.). 34. 481-94. DOI:
10.3233/WOR-2009-0949.