ll advertising begins with a problem.Try this one,for example.The university's dining service is about to invest in a new eatingplace on campus.And what a place!Farraway Hall,home of twojor colleges,is detached from the rest of the large state campuy a steep hill leading to a treacherous six-lane jor thoroughfarerunning through the heart of the city.Named after founding fatherPercy J.Farraway,it's sarcastically called"far away"by students who have to trudgefrom the heart of campus,down the hill,and across the highway to ke their nextclass in a scant fifteen minutes.When you finally find this place,you'd better not be hungry.The only thing onecould call"food"resides under glass in vending chines ensconced in a space called"The Canteen."The limited fare includes soft drinks,candy bars,packaged sand-wiches,and a restricted variety of microwaveable lunch-in-a-bucket"delights.Thisisn't the faculty's first choice for lunch,and the students who patronize the place,with its sixties-style orange booths,do so only out of necessity.Across the broadthoroughfare are two or three typical burger chains,but the lines are long and cross-ing the six lanes of traffic often isn't worth the effort.Enter"Filling Station,"the new food operation that is taking over the space formerlyoccupiedby the vending chines.The orange booths will have to stay until theoperation proves successful,but when students and faculty enter the front area of theformer space,they won't recognize it-and not only because of the name change.that will include an L-shaped serving line offering freshly de sandwiches,salads,soups,chili,soft drinks,coffee and tea,and more.For breakfast,Filling Station willserve bagels,juice,coffee,cereal with milk,and sausage and egg biscuits.It will open2 CHAPTER 1 Solving the Problem,Finding the Differenceat 7:30 A.M.for those with 8:00 A.M.classes and rein open till 4:00 RM.daily forstudents who work in the building's computer labs after classes.After closing time,students will still have access to vending chines at the far end of the facility.Despite the positive changes,the planners know they will need advertising and pro-motion to get Filling Station up and running.And there are problems.First,nobodyknows it's coming.Also,at least 60 percent of the 700 students attending classes inAnd those who do use the vending chines aren't exactly thrilled with the currentofferings.Faculty and staff pop out of the building for lunch,or else they order in orbring a lunch from home,both of which are inconvenient.When faculty and staffleave the building for lunch,they risk losing their parking space;students can't evenpark near the placee changes-among them:addition to the regular kind.Plus ham and cheese and other favorites on breads orcroissant rolls.Soups,chili,salads,sodas,and so on.fee,from 7:30 till 11 A.M.Monday through Friday.In the summer,students can stay cool inside the air conditioned building.classeslab most of the afternoon.the street or driving somewhere and facing a long wait.register,and enjoy.●How to Solve a Problemknows about good design-or the art director-the one with the flair for design whoprobably has a knack for writing great headlines and coming up with great concepts,too-there's much you both need to accomplish.First,be certain the people in theSolving the Problem,Finding the Difference CHAPTER 3building know it's there,that it's different,and that the food is good.While you can'tor three times a week,especially if it's one of those busy days.Faculty can pop downthe hall,buy a sandwich,soup,etc.,and bring it back to their offices.Students caneat in or step outdoors to the groupings of benches and tables that have always beenthere to welcome them.And here's a fact you probably know.Traditional-age college students(18-23)arepart of the"misunderstood generation,"often termed"Generation X."Much as youy be tired of the term,you are a target rket and an important one in the eyes ofand buying habits.You are not all jaded,dazed,and confused.Your feelings about your own destinieay not be what ny think.You're as comfortable surfing the net as surfing chan-nels.You ke consumer decisions in a more straightforward way than your eldersand are attracted by functionality,price,and an element of personal indulgence.Andyou're definitely not on another planet.You're skeptical about much advertising,butlove advertising that is a bit outrageous and seems to be king fun of itself or of theconventions you work so hard to avoid.FromNow that you've got the facts,what do you do next?That's what this book is allInfortionabout:identifying the problem,gathering the facts,and-through a process of criti-to Relevantcal and creative thinking-adding your own insight to create advertising that is notand Unexpectedonly memorable and comnds attention,but also delivers the right message to theConnectionsright aunce in a language they understand and accept.Said another way,good advertising kes relevant and unexpected connections inorder to build a positive relationship between a brand and a prospect.The relevancecomes from the facts,while the unexpected connections are the inspiration of thewriter and art director-the added ingrent that gets the message noticed.A message that has comnded attention is that of McDonald's Arch Deluxe,butsome wonder at what price.By the time you're reading this,you'll know the fate ofthe hamburger from the folks who gave you Ronald McDonald.As one writerobserved,"If they want more s,they're just going to have to find somethingother than burgers to serve them."While the company views this product as a way tosteer more s into what's nominally become a children's restaurant,critics say youcan't change what you are just by adding a new item when the overwhelming igeof your company is something else.They are also wondering whether the sight ofAdvertisers Spend Big to Discover How to Captivate a TargetTn a recent year,advertisers spent approxitely $170 billion to promote goods,Lservices,iges,and institutions.Nearly 23 percent of this figure was spent in