It’s better to think inside the box.
A killer creative brief is hard to write. It should be hard. It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, no one would complain about the dearth of good creative briefs. And creatives love to complain about bad creative briefs. Ergo, writing a good one is not easy. Is that why so many are […]
What “Finding Dory” can teach us about brand insights
Two disparate worlds collided this weekend that produced an insight. This is supposed to happen to people like me who use insights for a living. First, I read contributing Atlantic editor David H. Freedman’s thoughtful piece, “The War on Stupid People” in the July/August issue. He tells us that the lack of intellectual chops, otherwise known as […]
How many “practice” creative briefs have you written?
Basketball legend Kobe Bryant has made countless jump shots and layups in his practice sessions. “As a kid growing up, I never skipped steps. I always worked on fundamentals because I know athleticism is fleeting.” Kobe Bryant Tennis star Serena Williams has likely hit uncountable numbers of volleys in practice since she was a young girl. Someone asked if […]
A tale of two marketers
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times… Two marketers, both of whom work for the same reputable national brand, arrived at the office early on a Monday morning. Both had been working for this brand for 10 years. They each managed a different product line within the company. And there the similarities ended. Our […]
A Creative Brief Manifesto
For almost seven years, I have toiled as the “one lone voice speaking out” on behalf of the Creative Brief, in the opinion of my esteemed colleague Sean Duffy, a man of wisdom and impeccable taste. It has been a labor of love. The Creative Brief represents the best of the analytical side and the imaginative […]
Every creative brief needs to be dangerous and unpredictable
Typically, inspiration arrives unannounced, often from unexpected sources. So it was when I read Michael Dukes’s first professional blog post the other day on Medium. He wrote about how to inspire creative ideas. I tip my hat to a fellow creative and say “thank you” for your inspiration. The creative brief gets the creative ideas started. At its […]
Every brief writer needs a fishbowl.
As the noted psychologist and TED Talk veteran, Barry Schwartz, has said, “Everyone needs a fishbowl.” A fishbowl, that is, that provides at least the appearance of limitation and constraint. He argues, in his book, The Paradox of Choice, and his TED Talk, that too many choices do […]
50 years after its invention, the creative brief needs some fixes.
The creative brief dates to the early 1960s when account planning was introduced to the advertising world by a Brit named Stanley Pollitt. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the creative brief. Its role in developing great advertising deserves recognition and, no disrespect intended, a review. All good things can be improved. As both […]
Why the brief will always be part of the creative process.
Sometimes you have to ask the simple questions because they tend to be the hardest to answer: Why do we use a creative brief at all when so many people seem to question its purpose and doubt its usefulness? Does this document have a role today? The hardest questions to answer are therefore the most important […]
Book Excerpt: Where does the Single-Minded Proposition spring from?
I’ve been writing about the Single-Minded Proposition in recent posts, so I thought I’d continue with an excerpt from the second edition of my book, How To Write An Inspired Creative Brief. The following is from Chapter 12: No two creative briefs are exactly alike, but most contain a box that asks for “communication objectives” or “reasons why […]
