Why it’s so important to collaborate when you write a creative brief.
Account planners have their own thoughts on this subject, and from what I’ve read many are acknowledging the need to deemphasize the silo-ed nature of job responsibilities and are moving toward a team-oriented, collaborative process when it comes to writing a creative brief. By “silo” I mean that the account planner writes the brief, delivers […]
Two more thoughts on becoming a better brief writer
When in doubt about your skills, think fundamentals. It’s like any new skill you learn—you need to practice the basics before you can advance. In basketball, it’s doing lay ups. In ballet, it’s barre work. In writing creative briefs, it’s, well, writing creative briefs. But you needn’t actually write briefs over and over like a […]
More tips for beginning creative-brief writers
As it turns out, Ramona Liberoff’s post last month, Creative briefs for beginners, was the most popular and most read post on my blog in months. So, in honor of my esteemed planner colleague from Movirtu Limited in London, who clearly struck an important nerve, I’m continuing on the theme she started with a few […]
Creative briefs for beginners
by Ramona Liberoff, EVP Marketing, Strategy and Planning, Movirtu Limited, London Howard’s book is a great tool for all of those with the weighty responsibility of writing a creative brief to fulfill their duties responsibly. But in some environments, like tech companies, or start-ups, or for those not used to working with creatives or agencies, […]
Why should creatives care about strategy?
by Jerry D’Ascoli, creative consultant, art director, search and rescue. See his work at jerrydascoli.com Strategy We’ve grown to hate the word, creativity’s kiss of death. “Let’s keep on strategy.” “We’ll need some real strategic thinking here.” “Strategically, I don’t think we’re in a good place.” So why is this exhausted term even important? After […]
Keeping things simple
by Jean-Francois Fournon, Creative Director, Shem’s Publicite, Casablanca, Morocco I like American people. They don’t intellectualize things. They keep it simple. And advertising has to be simple if we want consumers to remember our messages. So that may be one of the reasons why Americans are very good at advertising. Another reason I like Americans […]
Three clues to spotting a poorly written creative brief, part 3
A quick refresher: If the Unique Selling Proposition (USP), or a single-minded proposition, is neither unique nor single-minded, you’re enduring a poorly written creative brief. The USP is the essence of a well-written brief. It’s the first thing we creatives look at because if this part of the brief is weak, little else matters. Two: […]
Three clues to spotting a poorly written creative brief, Part 2
Last time I talked about how you can spot a lame effort on the part of a brief writer by checking out the Proposition. If it’s vague, not singular, it’s a likely bet that the rest of the brief will be equally fuzzy. You’re left to fend for yourself. Not a promising prospect, believe me. […]
Three clues to spotting a poorly written creative brief
(As if there were only three!) This subject came up in a Skype conversation I had recently with a new friend and colleague, Jean-Francois Fournon, a creative director at Shem’s Publicite in Casablanca, Morocco. I’ll blog about him and his experiences in an upcoming post. But when he mentioned that some of his younger creatives […]
What comes before the creative brief?
In the ideal world, no creative brief would be written without one very important piece of information. The strategy. In fact, most creative-brief templates include a box that asks, in varying ways, “What is the strategy?” But let’s be real. I’ve seen my share of creative briefs without this key piece of information. Let me […]
