The Big Idea

"The Big Idea" is your plan to guide your product to success. It is what you will use on that product for a long period of time to make it become more successful. It is a strategy or method that you use to advertise your product.

"An ad idea is visually and verbally expressed through the creation, selection, combination, manipulation, and arrangement of visual and verbal elements and the written copy. A big idea is a solid, creative, on-brand idea that is large enough and flexible enough to be used effectively across media for a period of time."


( Advertising By Design, 2nd Edition. Robin Landa pp. 68).

You need to think of a story behind your product that you want to show through your advertisement. You want to be able to connect with your consumers and tell your story.

"An effective ad is driven by the underlying concept. An advertising idea— or concept—is the creative reasoning behind a solution."



( Advertising By Design, 2nd Edition. Robin Landa pp. 68).

The "Big Idea" I'm going with for Chanel No. 5 fragrance is simplicity. I want the advertisement to be simple and delicate. I feel like Chanel is classic, timeless and iconic, and I don't want to overshadow the fragance or upstage it by having too much going on in the ad. I got this idea through the VW Lemon ad, where they used simplicity to get their point accross. Chanel No. 5 is one of the most classic fragrances, I don't need to use props or make an elaborate ad to tell consumers that. All you need is just a drop of Chanel No. 5 and you're ready for a night out on the town. The fragrance isn't overpowering or strong, so I want the advertisement to say the same by making it simple.


"Essentially, the idea drives your design decisions—how you create, why you select imagery and typefaces or lettering, and the reasoning behind your color palette selection. The idea sets the framework for all your design decisions."


( Advertising By Design, 2nd Edition. Robin Landa pp. 68).