insomnia cookies creative development

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT RESEARCHCHRIS HOOPES | SEAN PEPLEY

Introduction

In 2002, Seth Berkowitz started baking cookies out of his University of Pennsylvania dorm room for students that were up late studying. This was the birth of Insomnia Cookies. Today Insomnia Cookies has over twenty locations across the United States. In Philadelphia alone, there are three storefronts and two food trucks. Insomnia Cookies “delivers our fresh baked cookies, brownies, and frozen desserts to your door seven days a week!” The minimum order for delivery is only six dollars, making Insomnia Cookies an excellent choice for late night munchies.

After conducting primary research, we noticed that Insomnia Cookies risks failing to make an emotional connection with their target audience. At the present, the company appears to do no advertising. Yes, they had rave reviews on Yelp and UrbanSpoon, but is it possible that this might be because there aren’t any alternatives? Perhaps the reason a lot of people ordered Insomnia Cookies is because it is one of the only late night options. In the future, more and more late night options might appear, so Insomnia Cookies should seek a more concrete connection with their consumers.

As the food truck scene continues to grow in popularity, Insomnia Cookies will only continue to face more competition as the frequency of food trucks appear. If Insomnia Cookies wants to hold and grow its current market, they must have more of a brand connection with their audience.

The Strategy

Through qualitative research, we learned that late-night snacking habits are rooted in nostalgia. When dealing with stress, participants said that they looked back to the carefree days of their youth. As a child, they said, they were ignorant to the potential harms of certain foods. This explains why cookies, chips, and ice cream are all popular late-night snacks. Insomnia Cookies should position future advertising around this fact.

The Creative Briefing

After our initial research, we partnered with art direction students who used their design skills to bring our strategy to life. Midway through the semester we met up with our young designers and told them what we were looking for in terms of our strategy. After our meetings, they were free to make a design according to our brief. Each student was tasked with making us a print advertisement and another advertisement extension.

Research Goal

After receiving our advertisements from the art direction students, we conducted our creative development research. The research we conducted attempted to find the weaknesses and strengths of each advertisement we received. We wanted to find out what advertisements best displayed the message we stressed to the art direction students.

Methodology

For our creative development we conducted two forms of research. For our quantitative study we created an online survey using Qualtrics. We found respondents through email and social medias. In total we received forty-nine responses. The only qualifications for the survey was that you had to be a college student. For our Qualitative study we conducted six in-depth interviews. This allowed us to talk to Insomnia Cookies’ target market so we could uncover the consumer’s insights.

Preliminary Analysis

A few weeks after we presenting the creative brief, it was the creatives turn to show off. We sat back while they demonstrated their artistic prowess. Here are our initial thoughts about their creative executions:

Strengths: Follows our creative recommendations for childhood nostalgia Weaknesses: Unclear concept doesn’t show product.

Strengths: Clean and simple designWeaknesses: Small logo and confusion with what is on the spoon (ice cream or cookie dough?)

Strengths: Only ad that clearly shows products Insomnia sells

Weaknesses: Doesn’t follow our recommendation to appeal to childhood nostalgia

Strengths: Aesthetically pleasing and alludes to a popular childhood tale.Weaknesses: Copy heavy and the logo is too small.

The ResultsAs part of our creative development research, we asked people if they were familiar with Insomnia Cookies.

Out of thirty-three respondents only four were unfamiliar with Insomnia Cookies. Insomnia's problem isn't a lack of awareness, but rather the lack of an emotional appeal that is necessary to ensure a connection with a brand. Ideally, the creative concepts would help remedy this.

There’s Never a Wrong Time for a Cookie

Key FindingsPrint“Seems tailored to a younger audience; Insomnia Cookies is for college [students]”

This advertisement received had a wide array of receptions, to say the least. Some survey participants enjoyed the animation style, believing it to allude to cartoons of years gone by. However, others thought it was too juvenile, one participant stated, “I think the visual appeal is lacking. It annoys me more than anything.” The copy also wasn’t spared by participants who claimed “The copy is weak” and “I get [the concept], but it isn’t witty or funny. Furthermore, when participants were asked to rank a scale from 1-5 (1 being disagree; 5 being agree) how likely they were to purchase Insomnia Cookies after viewing this ad, they responded with an average of 2.85, the lowest of all campaigns.

However, participants claimed that this campaign had the 2nd highest level of nostalgia, beaten only by “Licking the Spoon.” Likewise, the ad ranked 2nd after survey participants were asked to rank all the campaigns from 1-4.

Advertisement ExtensionsMultiple interviewees stated that they liked being able to actually see the product and the visual evoked a desire for cookies. However, this extension was criticized for not playing off the message of the initial concept

RecommendationsThere is a childhood appeal is this ad, but it is too juvenile for the college market. Design should be reworked with a college angle and integrate a picture of the product.

Licking the Spoon

Key FindingsPrint“I don’t understand it, does Insomnia Cookies also sell Ice cream?”

Insomnia Cookies does sell ice cream, but that’s entirely coincidental. Above all other campaigns, this one came under the most scrutiny visually. Some weren’t familiar with the act of licking the spoon, suggesting that the concept might be too high context. One survey participant stated “I'm so sick of phallic symbols being used for [advertising],” raising concerns that this might carry an unintended innuendo.

On the positive side, this rated the highest in terms of survey participants being likely to purchase Insomnia Cookies after viewing this concept. This ad was ranked the highest in nostalgia and “[being] for someone like me.” This ad was also the favorite

Advertisement ExtensionsReactions to the extension were generally favorable. One interviewee stated that they thought bookmarks are a unique platform for advertising and another said that they’re, “always looking for a bookmark.

RecommendationsMake it clearer that the cookie dough is cookie dough. Write new copy that lowers the context required to understand the concept of licking the spoon.

Late Night Stories

Key Findings Print“There is too much copy going on here.”

Most participants thought this advertisement was aesthetically pleasing. The play on the tale the man on the moon was generally well received. This advertisement also induced some nostalgia. Only six respondents said it didn’t give them some sense of nostalgia. Interviewees also seemed to agree that the night sky was an excellent setting for this advertisement.

The biggest complaint was that there was too much copy. “It was a strain to read that much,” said one participant, echoing the common issue. The copy reflected the childhood nostalgia strategy, but to participants, it was simply too much to read.

Advertisement ExtensionsThe bookmarks were all received very well. Many people said that they have never seen a company advertise on a bookmark and they thought it was very clever; especially for the Insomnia Cookies brand.

RecommendationsReduce the amount of copy and increase the size of the Insomnia Cookie logo.

Wake Up Your Sweet Tooth

Key Findings Print“It is nice, but I wouldn’t really buy a cookie because of it.”Most respondents described the print advertisement as eye catching, but some indicated that it wouldn't drive them to make a purchase. Out of thirty responses, only three people agreed that this advertisement would make them want to buy Insomnia Cookies. Only four people mostly agreed that the print advertisement aroused any sense of nostalgia and none completely agreed.

Several participants said that they liked the fact that they could see all the products in the advertisement. Interviewees didn’t know what Insomnia Cookies offered besides cookies. Comments on the visuals were across the board, but some respondents offered intensely positive reactions. One participant said, “I saw the cookie right away and I thought, 'Dang! I need to wake up my sweet tooth right now.' “

Advertisement Extensions The idea behind the extension is that customers would bring an “A” assignment into Insomnia Cookies and receive a sticker to put on a piece of school equipment. Almost all of the people I interviewed said they wouldn’t be willing to put the sticker on their school stuff or laptop. Most interviewees said that they didn’t think students would actually bring their graded work in for the exchange.

RecommendationsKeep the images of the products, but rework concept to better reflect childhood nostalgia.

Creative Development Summary

Adherence to StrategyMore so than anything else, it is important that the concepts tie back to the strategy of relating to childhood nostalgia. Despite being subject to much scrutiny by survey participants, “Licking the Spoon” had the highest nostalgia ranking.

Likability:The concepts wouldn’t be effective if the target market didn’t appreciate them. At the end of our survey participants were asked to rank the 4 concepts from their favorite to least favorite. “Licking the Spoon” was ranked the highest with an average of 1.94 and “Late Night Stories” a distant second with 2.45.

Understandability:Advertisements can be on strategy, but still lose their message in translation to the consumers. Participants indicated that “Licking the Spoon” was the least understandable, but scores for all concepts indicated that there were no serious issues in understanding. However, comments for several of the concepts suggested that there was confusion when participants interpreted the ads. “Licking the Spoon” was subjected to most of these comments, as expected, but “Late Night Stories” also had its fair share.

Overall Recommendations

After reviewing all of available research and data, our team agreed that “Licking The Spoon” was the most effective campaign. It was the best received in our six in-depth interviews, and it also rated as the most nostalgic advertisement. These advertisements have the best chance at making an emotional connection with college students and late night studiers.

There are a couple of changes we are suggesting be made to this concept. We are tasking the creative with coming up with a way to make it more obvious that it is cookie dough on the spoon. Too many respondents were confused by the mystery substance. The other suggestion is to make the logo bigger on the advertisement. At it’s current size, consumers might miss the logo and not even realize it's an Insomnia Cookie advertisement.

By following these steps, we can ensure that this advertisement resonates with consumers emotionally and therefore helps facilitate a relationship with the brand.

We would like to thank Jennifer Freeman, Kathy Mueller, and the art direction students for your participation and guidance.

Appendix

Chris Hoopes and Sean Pepley

Account Planning: Creative brief

Professor Freeman

5 March 2013

Objective:

Insomnia cookies is chain of stores and mobile bakeries that was founded in 2003 at University ofPennsylvania. The chain quickly grew to include 30+ stores and trucks, most of which are located on or near college campuses. They deliver until the early morning with most stores delivering until 3am.

Insomnia Cookies wants to be the ideal late-night snack that not only satisfies your sweet tooth, but enables you to remember the freshly baked cookies of your youth.

Key Business Issue:

Insomnia Cookies, while owning a large portion of the late-night snack market, isn’t sure how their brand appeals to consumers. They are lacking an emotional appeal.

Who are we targeting:

Whether cramming for a econ exam or putting the final touches on a sociology term paper, the target market is accustomed to late nights. In dealing with this stress, they will often turn to snacking. They might even be relatively healthy, but willing to compromise their habits after spending 6 hours in the library.

What change will help:

Taking an emotional approach towards positioning Insomnia Cookies will ensure that consumers become more invested in the brand.

What is the catalyst that will simulate this change?

Research has shown that consumer snacking habits correlate with childhood experiences. Craving sweet snacks may be the consumer hearkening back to the care-free days of adolescence.

Why might they believe it?

1.) Every order of Insomnia Cookies is freshly made just like those that are fondly remembered inconsumers’ childhoods.

2.) Nostalgic items that pair well with warm cookies are available for sale too (milk & ice-cream)

Tone and Brand Character:

Nostalgic

Homemade

Care-free

Mandatories:

Insomnia Cookies logo

Contact information

Chris Hoopes and Sean PepleyQualitative Advertising ResearchProfessor FreemanApril 10, 2013

Insomnia Cookie IDI Guide

Qualifications:1- Must be a college student2- Must be a late night snacker

Screener questions:1- Are you in college? What college do you attend?2- How often do you order food past midnight?3- Do you prefer studying in the morning or late at night?

Introduction: Congratulations, you are qualified to continue with the interview. I will be conducting this interview to gain an expanded understanding about your habits and attitude towards late night snacking.. For complete accuracy, I will be recording your answers. Please note you reserve the right to withdraw from the interview at any time.

Personal InformationTell me about yourself

-Friends, family, where you live, who you live withWhere do you live?

-On campus, off campus, in the city, out of the cityWhat is your home like?

-Apartment, house, Dorm, number of roommates, social?What is your major?What year are you?

-Freshman, sophomore, junior, seniorDo you enjoy your time at Temple?

Studying HabitsWould you call yourself a good student?Where do you do most of your work?

-Home, tech center, library, etc.Do you prefer doing your work in the morning, or at night?Do you find yourself talking breaks in between your work?Do you snack on food while you work?

-What do you snack on?How much time do you spend out of class doing work?

Snacking HabitsDo you enjoy snacking (do you have a sweet tooth?)When do you do most of your snacking?

-Morning, afternoon, nightWhat makes you want to snack besides hunger?

-Stress, homework, friends, alcohol, etc.What do you snack on?Do you often get food delivered?

-If yes, what?What services do you use to get food delivered (if yes to previous)?

-Grubhub, phone, internetDo you often take-out food?

-if yes, what?What is your favorite thing to snack on and why?

Print AdsShow Print Ad #1 then take it awayWhat can you tell me about the print ad I just showed you?

-What did you get out of it for the short time I showed you?What emotions did the ad portray?Give back adDo you think this ad is appealing to late night studiers?

-Why?Does the ad give you a sense of childhood nostalgia?Is the ad leaving anything to be desired?What does the ad remind you of?

Show Print Ad #2 then take it awayWhat can you tell me about the print ad I just showed you?


-Why?Does the ad give you a sense of childhood nostalgia?Is the ad leaving anything to be desired?What does the ad remind you of?____________________________________________________________________________Show Print Ad #3 then take it awayWhat can you tell me about the print ad I just showed you?

-What did you get out of it for the short time I showed you?What emotions did the ad portrayGive back adDo you think this ad is appealing to late night studiers?

-Why?

Does the ad give you a sense of childhood nostalgia?Is the ad leaving anything to be desired?What does the ad remind you of?

Show Print Ad #4 then take it awayWhat can you tell me about the print ad I just showed you?


-Why?Does the ad give you a sense of childhood nostalgia?Is the ad leaving anything to be desired?What does the ad remind you of?____________________________________________________________________________Show Print Ad #5 then take it awayWhat can you tell me about the print ad I just showed you?


-Why?Does the ad give you a sense of childhood nostalgia?Is the ad leaving anything to be desired?What does the ad remind you of?____________________________________________________________________________Show ExtensionsDo you think these would be a smart way to advertise to college students?

-Why?Do you use bookmarkers/stickers?Have you seen other companies advertise on bookmarkers/stickers?

Initial Report

Last Modified: 05/06/2013

1. Are you?

# Answer Response %1 Male 20 40%2 Female 30 60%

Total 50 100%

Statistic ValueMin Value 1Max Value 2Mean 1.60Variance 0.24Standard Deviation 0.49Total Responses 50

2. Are you familiar with Insomnia Cookies?

# Answer Response %1 Yes 39 78%2 No 11 22%

Total 50 100%


3. Are you currently a college student?

# Answer Response %1 Yes 38 76%2 No 12 24%

Total 50 100%


4. Were you able to understand this ad?

# Question Disagree Mostly Disagree

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

Mostly Agree

Agree Total Responses

Mean

1 Do you agree?

0 2 1 13 21 37 4.43

Statistic Do you agree?Min Value 2Max Value 5Mean 4.43Variance 0.64Standard Deviation 0.80Total Responses 37

5. Do you feel this ad is...



Mostly Agree


Mean

1 Annoying 11 6 14 4 1 36 2.392 Amusing 1 6 10 14 6 37 3.493 Engaging 2 9 11 12 2 36 3.084 Stimulating 5 13 12 4 2 36 2.585 Meaningful 4 5 14 12 1 36 3.036 Exciting 5 12 15 3 1 36 2.537 Trustworthy 4 4 19 5 4 36 3.038 Nostalgic 2 6 6 17 6 37 3.519 Believable 3 3 7 17 7 37 3.5910 Unique 6 3 8 13 7 37 3.3211 For

Somebody Like Me

9 10 8 7 2 36 2.53

Statistic Annoying

Amusing

Engaging

Stimulating

Meaningful

Exciting

Trustworthy

Nostalgic

Believable

Unique

For Somebody Like Me

Min Value

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Max Value

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Mean 2.39 3.49 3.08 2.58 3.03 2.53 3.03 3.51 3.59 3.32

2.53

Variance

1.27 1.09 1.05 1.11 1.06 0.88 1.17 1.26 1.30 1.78

1.51

Standard Deviation

1.13 1.04 1.02 1.05 1.03 0.94 1.08 1.12 1.14 1.33

1.23

Total Responses

36 37 36 36 36 36 36 37 37 37 36

6. I'm likely to consider purchasing Insomnia Cookies after viewing this ad



Mostly Agree


Mean

1 Do you agree?

5 12 10 6 4 37 2.78


7. Do you have any specifics comments about this ad?

Text Responsethis makes me more aware of who they are but not their productsI get it, but it isn't that witty and funnyThe fonts are plain and not something that pops out at you.I like the art styleIs the boy trying to get into the cookie jar, make that clearerI like that it accentuated the fact that the person is in college now so their mom is no longer able to monitor their cookie eating habits.Doesn't really catch consumer's eye... Looks like one of those annoying side ads on Yahoo's website.The logo is too small, what's the point? I do not like the art style it was created/drawn in. Very busy background, stick to the kid, counter, and jar with maybe one thing in the background, like the shadow of the mom in a lite doorway looking in.This ad is clever and creative, but it isn't executed as well as it could be. It kind of looks like it was done it Paint in ten minutes, and I don't like where the fonts are placed.the graphics are a little dullThe slogan on the top, it is hard to readIt looks like a third grader made it.Not really geared toward college students, their main target audienceI think the visual appeal is lacking. It annoys me more than anything.It's kind of confusing at firstSame old same old. Also, you only have male or female listed on the survey! Should be inclusiveThe concept is cliche and uninteresting. Moreover the ad isn't relevant to college students.It's cute. But the info stands out the most when it comes to gettting cookies as late as 3am.I just realized that i didn't read the second half until I just looked back at it.The copy is weak. The animation is cute.Seems tailored to a younger audience. Insominia Cookies is for college kids

Statistic ValueTotal Responses 21




Mostly Agree


Mean

1 Do you agree?

1 1 3 13 18 36 4.28





Mostly Agree


Mean


Someone Like Me

4 9 8 9 5 35 3.06

Statistic Annoying

Amusing

Engaging

Stimulating

Meaningful

Exciting

Trustworthy

Nostalgic

Believable

Unique

For Someone Like Me

Min Value

1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1

Max Value

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Mean 2.31 3.51 3.58 3.22 3.50 2.97 3.33 3.44 3.58 3.81 3.06Variance

1.19 0.98 0.94 1.38 0.83 0.94 0.69 1.40 0.94 0.77 1.58

Standard Deviation

1.09 0.99 0.97 1.17 0.91 0.97 0.83 1.18 0.97 0.88 1.26

Total Responses

36 37 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 37 35




Mostly Agree


Mean

1 Do you agree?

3 9 12 10 3 37 3.03



Text ResponseIt looks nice graphically, but other than that is doesn't really invoke any other emotions.Too many words at the bottom. Make it shorter so people can read it.Just not feeling itTO MANY WORDS AND THEN WAY TO HARD TO READI think that there is too much text.Body is too busy, should choose a more modern / simple font.Really, really like, no-- make that love, this moon ad! Just make that damn logo a little bigger!!! What is a matter w/ you ad students!?! You're embarrassing me as a fellow Ad Owl. More important make the moon closer or bigger.Design-wise, this looks really nice. However, you wrote, "As your wraps in their comforting embrace." That's grammatically incorrect and should say, "As you're wrapped in their comforting embrace." Also, the copy at the bottom is too long and too small to make the reader want to read it, and especially to engage in it.too little lettering and too many words at bottomThe paragraph is too long. You need something that is quick and easier to read.It make me think of Dreamworks, but I like that because it reminds me of childhood and cookiesThe copy was a lot to read, normally i won't read itThere is too much copy going on here. For insomnia supposedly being a "break" from busy student's lives, why would they want to take time out of their schedule to read all of that. It would be a much more effective ad with less copy.I like the moon idea & the headline. There's too much body copyHate the copyIt's a more interesting concept than the last one. There is a disconnect between the headline and the body copy.It was a strain to read that muchA lot of copy. A little boring.





Mostly Agree


Mean

1 Do you agree?

1 0 4 6 26 37 4.51





Mostly Agree


Mean


Someone Like Me

2 3 7 12 12 36 3.81

Statistic Annoying

Amusing

Engaging

Stimulating

Meaningful

Exciting

Trustworthy

Nostalgic

Believable

Unique

For Someone Like Me

Min Value

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Max Value

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Mean 1.89 4.08 3.89 3.75 3.69 3.56 3.56 3.97 4.08 4.14 3.81Variance

0.84 0.59 1.13 1.22 1.53 1.05 1.00 1.19 0.91 0.69 1.36

Standard Deviation

0.92 0.77 1.06 1.11 1.24 1.03 1.00 1.09 0.95 0.83 1.17

Total Responses

36 36 36 36 36 36 36 37 37 36 36




Mostly Agree


Mean

1 Do you agree?

3 1 10 13 10 37 3.70



Text ResponseConscise and avoids confusion about insomnia.it made me hungry whereas the others did notIf I was really hungry and saw that then I might start craving some cookies.is there a differnt way to say warm gooey results? Not my favorite line.SimpleN/AFor the love of God and all things holy, make that logo bigger! Seriously, on the next ad, is it going to be hidden? Or do I need my magnifing glass? Where's Waldo and his pet logo?!?It's kind of boring, and too simplistic for my taste. I mean, don't get me wrong, simple isn't bad, but this is simple verging on boring. At least make the background a different color or something.the phrase at the bottom needs to be more catchy and wittyVisually appealing and easy to read! Looks like a print ad.love it!AWESOME.This makes me want to eat the cookie dough off the spoon. The ad looks appetizing and makes me hungry for a cookie.I like the simplicity of this one.I'm so sick of phallic symbols being used for everything.It's a nice play on a universal truth. It also employs anesis moderately well.I like itLoved it. Simple. Straight to the point.whoever wrote this copy probably has a tongue ring





Mostly Agree


Mean

1 Do you agree?

0 0 4 5 27 36 4.64



Text ResponseIt is nice, but I wouldn't really buy a cookie because of it. It would get a attention for a little though.I like the bright colors but mabe the logo could be bigger or the actual name of the brand.Not all that interestingThe words over the cookie need to be clearerIt is a little bit boring.Where's the 1 in "1-877-63-COOKIE?"Okay, the logo is finally more prominent. Thank you! Groovy ad, nice job!The bottom copy is hard to read because of the color, even with the drop shadow, and that font doesn't look very professional.the main point of delivery is muddled and easily overlooked at bottomSimple and easy to understand. I can see it being on a college campus with maybe a coupon on it.Reminds me more of an ice cream ad than a cookie ad.Cliche copy. Poor layout.it looks good"Most students agree" was weak. Too much going on. Color contrasting was ugly.Best tagline. Easiest to comprehend. Late night delivery should be emphasized a bit more





Mostly Agree


Mean


Someone Like Me

5 4 8 16 2 35 3.17

Statistic Annoying

Amusing

Engaging

Stimulating

Meaningful

Exciting

Trustworthy

Nostalgic

Believable

Unique

For Someone Like Me

Min Value

1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Max Value

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 5

Mean 2.78 3.29 3.40 3.20 3.06 3.29 3.17 2.60 3.43 2.86 3.17Variance

1.72 0.68 0.66 0.93 1.06 1.15 0.79 0.78 0.90 1.13 1.38

Standard Deviation

1.31 0.83 0.81 0.96 1.03 1.07 0.89 0.88 0.95 1.06 1.18

Total Responses

36 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35




Mostly Agree


Mean

1 Do you agree?

6 4 9 10 5 34 3.12


20. Rate the four ads you've seen today from your favorite to least favorite.

# Answer 1 2 3 4 Total Responses

2 Whoever said it was made of cheese

8 10 7 8 33

3 We can't let you lick the spoon

16 6 8 3 33

4 Wake up your sweet tooth

4 10 7 12 33

1 Now you don't even need to worry about getting away with it

5 7 11 10 33

Total 33 33 33 33 -

Statistic Now you don't even need to worry about getting away with it

Whoever said it was made of cheese

We can't let you lick the spoon

Wake up your sweet tooth

Min Value 1 1 1 1Max Value 4 4 4 4Mean 2.79 2.45 1.94 2.82Variance 1.11 1.26 1.12 1.15Standard Deviation

1.05 1.12 1.06 1.07

Total Responses 33 33 33 33

insomnia cookies creative development

Documents

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sell ice cream

purchasing insomnia cookies