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# creativebriefworkshops

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## Posts

- [240: Cam Day, Part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/240-cam-day-part-2/) - In Part 2 of our conversation with Cameron Day, author of Mad Man. The talk turns from advertising’s past to its uncertain future. Cam teases his next book, ChAIos. It's an irreverent and eye-opening guide to understanding and working with AI in the creative world. Join me and Henry Gomez, your hosts on The Brief Bros.
- [239: Cam Day: Tales from the Trenches, Pt 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/239-cam-day-tales-from-the-trenches/) - Advertising veteran Cameron Day joins The Brief Bros.—for the fourth time. This visit, Cam talks about his raw, hilarious, and unfiltered new book, Mad Man: F**ed-Up Tales from the Post-Mad Men Ad Trenches. Henry Gomez and I dive into the wild stories, lessons, and scars from Cam’s four decades in the ad world. It’s a
- [238: Strategy perspectives with Mark Pollard, Part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/238-strategy-perspectives-with-mark-pollard-part-2/) - We introduced you to Mark Pollard last week. He may be the most traveled teaching strategist on the planet. Mark is known as your "strategy friend." And he's the founder and principal of Sweathead. It's his globe-hopping workshops on advertising strategy. He's back for Part 2 of his conversation with me and Henry Gomez on
- [237: Strategy perspectives from Mark Pollard, Part 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/237-strategy-perspective-from-mark-pollard-part-1/) - Mark Pollard may be the most traveled teaching strategist on the planet. He's known as "your strategy friend" and is the founder and principal of Sweathead. It's his globe-hopping workshops on advertising strategy. Mark joined Henry Gomez and me on The Brief Bros. For not one but two chats. All the way from Colombia, South America,
- [236: What an Air Force colonel can teach creatives](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/236-what-an-air-force-colonel-can-teach-creatives/) - My friend Noel Zamot is our guest this week on The Brief Bros. Noel has never worked in marketing or advertising. What he knows about creative briefs he's learned from talking to me. So why is he a guest this week? Because of Noel's deep training and expertise in a technology that scares a lot
- [235: Five free research resources](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/235-five-free-research-resources/) - This week on The Brief Bros., Henry Gomez and I share with you five websites rich in data, robust in insight, and reliably credible. Intrepid brief writers, these are your rabit holes. Maybe new ones, maybe old ones you forgot about. And, I throw in a sixth website that I find juicy. You might too.
- [233: The Cannes AI scandal](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/233-the-cannes-ai-scandal/) - You are an advertising agency. You are aware of the existential threat posed by AI. Not only to you, as a creative agency, but also to your industry. Why would you then use this technology, AI, to cheat? In order to win an award? An award some fear—yourself included—might render your agency, your industry, obsolete
- [232: Great Jeans kerfuffle](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/232-great-jeans-kerfuffle/) - Henry Gomez and I would not be the Brief Bros. if we didn't bring you compelling insights and informed guests. So we apologize for failing to measure up this week. Instead we underwhelm you with a little puffery. No slight to Henry, who zings with his patented clarity and probity. Me? Well, watch and decide
- [231: Jon Steel returns](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/231-jon-steel-returns/) - The author of Truth, Lies and Advertising, Jon Steel, returns to The Brief Bros. And Henry Gomez and I delight in nerding out with Jon, talking strategy, briefs, briefing and AI. Not to mention one of his most celebrated accounts, the got milk? campaign. Plus he talks a bit about cricket. But not too much.
- [230: Mark Pollard's Briefing 101](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/230-mark-pollards-briefing-101/) - Maybe this episode will compel Mark Pollard to find room in his crazy travel schedule and join us on The Brief Bros. Henry Gomez and I can only hope. But first, kudos to Mark for this fun, inspiring and must-have PDF called Creative Briefs 101. Available here from Mark's Instagram page. Today, Henry and I
- [229: ANA on creative briefs](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/229-ana-on-creative-briefs/) - Eight years after the publication of its white paper, Better Creative Briefs, the Association of National Advertisers released new research in June 2025. And that's our topic today on The Brief Bros. Henry Gomez and I do an overview of their findings. And let me be upfront: I was interviewed and credited in the 51-page
- [228: A lively conversation with Professor Mark Ritson](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/228-a-lively-conversation-with-professor-mark-ritson/) - Originally aired September 21, 2022 This week, Henry Gomez and I are joined on The Brief Bros. by a luminary in the field of marketing: Professor Mark Ritson. Our guest has earned a well-deserved reputation for pulling no punches in his commentary on and assessment of marketers and their brand management. Plus Henry is an
- [227: Are B2B briefs different?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/227-are-b2b-briefs-different/) - True or false: when you write a brief for a B2B client, you can't use a B2C brief template. It's an oldie but goodie, one I've heard for years. Henry Gomez, too. And perfectly timed after our episode last week about Go Daddy at Cannes. Today on The Brief Bros. we dispel the myths around
- [226: B2B Grand Prix at Cannes](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/226-b2b-grand-prix-at-cannes/) - Special thanks to our friend and loyal viewer Brian Sherwin at Della Famina in New York. Because of Brian, The Brief Bros. discusses a popular win at Cannes. Brian shared a break-down of a Cannes Grand Prix winner in B2B for Go Daddy. The information he shared with me comes from Joe Burns, a noted
- [225: The Open Brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/225-the-open-brief/) - A shout-out to our friend and past guest on The Brief Bros., Lance Saunders. He shared with us a fascinating article about The Open Brief. It gave Henry Gomez and me a brilliant topic for today's discussion. And it triggered memories of past lives where we both had experience with a version. Is the open
- [224: Chaz Wigley's new book](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/224-chaz-wigleys-new-book/) - Our old friend, Chaz Wigley, returns to The Brief Bros. He reminds us why his 100 Things Planners Should Know is a font of wisdom. His insights, collected after decades as a strategist, are the building blocks for a stellar career. Chaz shares his favorites among the 100 Things. But this conversation is mostly about
- [223: Brand Truth vs Human Truth](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/223-brand-truth-vs-human-truth/) - Returning to our Lightning Round debates, The Brief Bros. today ask: Which is more important on the creative brief—brand truth or human truth? Howard sides with Brand Truth. Henry lines up with Human Truth. In this short episode, we offer insights to help brief writers tackle their next brief. What's in your brief? https://youtu.be/N6jXAYwcqs8
- [222: The history of the brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-history-of-the-brief/) - Four-plus years in, The Brief Bros. finally get around to asking an important question: When did the creative brief make its first appearance? Henry Gomez did quite a bit of research on this. Because it's what good strategists do. So we decided to do a brief history of the document. Who was the first to
- [221: Insight vs SMP](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/221-insight-vs-smp/) - Part Two of The Brief Bros.'s Lightning Round, inspired by my buddy Giles Edwards, who puts his podcast guests through a series of five or six quick-answer questions. So we ask, Which is more important on a brief, the insight or the SMP? Henry Gomez tackles Insight, and I give you my best thinking on
- [220: Lightning Round: Objective vs Target](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/220-lightning-round-objective-vs-target/) - Today on The Brief Bros., we borrow from our buddy Giles Edwards who puts his podcast guests through what he calls a Lightning Round. Each guest is hit with a series of fast-delivered questions and expected to deliver fast answers. So Henry Gomez and I took this concept and adapted it to our show. This
- [219: London's SCA now online](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/219-londons-sca-now-online/) - Our friend Marc Lewis joins Henry Gomez and me today for a major announcement: The School of Communication Arts in London now offers a six-month fully online course for portfolio development. And he's got a special offer for viewers of The Brief Bros.: a coupon code worth $500 off tuition—BROS500. The April cohort is underway,
- [218: When creative gets killed](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/218-when-creative-gets-killed/) - Creative work presented to the client gets killed with alarming frequency. The average number of rounds today is...five...before the client signs off. Scary, yes. But today Henry Gomez and I talk about the immediate problem: how to recover, regroup and come back with your best thinking. The task requires leadership from both the brief writer/stragetist
- [217: When you must rebrief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/217-when-you-must-rebrief/) - In another "Nuts 'n bolts" discussion, Henry Gomez and I talk about the rare but not unusual occasion when your client says, "Start over." This is different from those presentations when the client rejects the work, but not the brief. Something more serious happens and you're instructed to begin again. Henry and I will tackle
- [216: Evaluating ideas is hard](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/216-evaluating-ideas-is-hard/) - Our friends at BetterBriefs, Pieter-Paul von Weiler and Matt Davies have delivered more scathing survey results. This time on the subject of evaluating creative ideas presented by agencies to clients. Why are ideas so difficult to judge? Why have rounds of creative presentation grown from an average of three to five before clients sign off?
- [215: SXSW teaching star](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/215-sxsw-teaching-star/) - Kit Altin is chief strategy officer at The Gate London. And she made a splash last year at Austin's SXSW with queues round the block waiting for her workshop. She was so popular, she was invited back last month. And she's now a fixture at the annual festival that celebrates tech, film and music. Kit
- [214: Eight hours to write a brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/214-eight-hours-to-write-a-brief/) - You're given only eight hours to write a creative brief. What now? According to our guest, Dan Carlton, it's not a common event, but it's not rare either. Dan is the CEO and founding partner of The Paragraph Project, a company that develops "human-centered strategies" for marketers and agencies alike. And he's created an online
- [213: Inside look at podcasting](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/213-inside-look-at-podcasting/) - Meet Kevin Le, content creator and podcast producer. A chance encounter on a business flight led to a three-hour non-stop conversation. And in invitation to join me on The Brief Bros. Kevin's enthusiasm for podcasting is infectious. And his deep experience opened my eyes. And since so many of Henry Gomez's and my colleagues are
- [212: Creative–Strategist tension](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/xxx-creative-strategist-tension/) - Henry Gomez and I return to discuss an important “nuts ‘n bolts” topic: why is there tension between strategtists and creatives? Alex Morris joined us a few months ago to share results from his own informal survey on this topic. But Henry and I decided it merited further exploration. When the relationship works, the results
- [211: Can AI help clients write better briefs for their agencies?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/211-can-ai-help-clients-write-better-briefs-for-their-agencies/) - Henry Gomez and I welcome Fab Nolan and Adam Green from 99Ravens.ai this week to The Brief Bros. 99Ravens is a new company in Toronto. And it makes a big promise: to improve the quality of client briefs to their ad agency clients. How? By using its AI-trained tool. Fab and Adam explain how it
- [210: Emerging Talent Series continued](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/210-emerging-talent-series-continued/) - Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications student Alex Chrislu joins us today. She graduates in May and as you'll soon discover, she explodes with enthusiasm and confidence. And it's not hard to picture her in a senior leadership role in a short time. Henry Gomez and I revel in meeting young talent like Alex.
- [209: Why do agencies rewrite the brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/209-why-do-agencies-rewrite-the-brief/) - Henry Gomez and I return with a Nuts 'n Bolts episode. Today we share with you a paper written in 2010. It's authored by Merry Baskin, a member of the World Advertising Research Center (WARC). And she writes on writing the agency brief. As Henry points out, this is the topic that triggered a debate
- [208: Whither "Get, to, by"?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/208-whither-get-to-by/) - Uri Baruchin joins Henry Gomez and me for the final segment of our conversation about frameworks. And today we tackle a brief construct designed to simplify and clarify. Yet too often practitioners flub it. Why? Uri tells us. But he's just getting warmed up. What is the biggest cost of AI? You've heard many pundits
- [207: Why brand frameworks fail](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/207-why-brand-frameworks-fail/) - Our friend Uri Baruchin returns for a two-part conversation. When he joined Henry Gomez and me three weeks ago, we simply ran out of time. It happens. Today, we asked him to expand on a thought: why have brand platforms failed? It's a master class in strategy. Part 2 is next week. https://youtu.be/IiUF3dA-UTs
- [206: Appreciated Branding by Reid Holmes](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/206-appreciated-branding-by-reid-holmes/) - Henry Gomez and I welcome back our friend Reid Holmes. And together, we celebrate the publication of his book Appreciated Branding. It's an enlightening and provocative examination of how to make mature brands, in Reid's words, "irreplaceable." His prescriptions for brands, according to reviewers, are timely and humane. We begin our chat with a little
- [205: Adeola Mosanya, Creatives Accountant](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/205-adeola-mosanya-creatives-accountant/) - We work hard as creatives, strategists and brand advocates. So when it comes to organizing our finances and paying taxes, how many of us are as buttoned-up with the numbers as we are with ideas? This week, we thought we'd pause for a moment and talk dollars and sense. And introduce you to a numbers
- [204: Uri Baruchin, strategy philosopher](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/204-uri-baruchin-strategy-philosopher/) - Thanks to our friend and a former guest, Baiba Matisone, Henry Gomez and I introduce you to Uri Baruchin. Uri is a consulting strategist in London with more than 20 years of agency and brand experience under his belt. And he has more than a few things to say about our industry as he looks
- [203: Two UK ad students talk shop](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/203-two-ad-students-talk-shop/) - With special thanks to our friend Marc Lewis, dean of the venerable SCA in London, we present Louie Scott (AD) and Giorgia La Vecchia (CW). Marc recommended both these young people who are deep into SCA's portfolio development classes. Louie's path appears like a long and winding road. Giorgia thought she found a creative outlet in
- [202: The perils of agency search](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/202-the-perils-of-agency-search/) - Our friend Vivek Kuchibhotla returns to talk about the challenges brands face when they search for a new ad agency. He's a veteran of Leo Burnett, where he worked on Proctor & Gamble, first in Venezuela, then Hong Kong, finally in Chicago. He was then put to work on the global MacDonald's business. Vivek is
- [201: Howard's Single-Minded Proposition webinar](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/201-howards-smp-webinar/) - Henry Gomez chats me up today about my latest training, a 90-minute webinar on writing the Single-Minded Proposition. It's one week from today, Wednesay, January 15. Today, I give you highlights of the webinar's take-aways. The training consists of 60 minutes of insights into real SMPs on real briefs, plus 30 minutes of discussion and
- [200: Bob Hoffman](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/200-bob-hoffman/) - Henry Gomez and I welcome back an old friend, Bob Hoffman. He's here to talk about his new book, The Three Word Brief. It's an incisive and no-holds-barred examination of the ad business and marketing. When Bob speaks, people listen. And on his third visit with us, he has much to say. From the flaws
- [199: Is GeorgeCo LLC really a Delaware company?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/199-george-tannenbaum-speaks/) - Finally, and at long last, George Tannenbaum answers the question on everyone's mind: Is GeorgeCo LLC really a Delaware company? He talks about much more than that, of course. Henry Gomez and I delight in the return of our friend. He's our holiday present to all of you. Consider this our joint thank you for
- [198: Alex Morris on the tension between strategy and creative](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/198-alex-morris-on-the-tension-between-strategy-and-creative/) - Our guest, Alex Morris, is a freelance strategy consultant who authored a study Creatives on Strategy: Looking Outside Ourselves to Define What Strategy Offers. It is a survey of creatives' thoughts about strategy. And it's the topic of our discussion today. Alex is a strategist of high regard, as evidenced by the comments from his
- [197: Ed Tsue—the brief is dead!](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/197-ed-tsue-the-brief-is-dead/) - Ed Tsue, Global CSO at Media Futures Group, a respected and admired strategist in our industry, tells us that the Creative Brief is Dead. Today on The Brief Bros., he defends and expands on his position, first posited in his Medium newsletter a year ago. And thanks to last week's guest Ed Cotton, who reposted
- [196: Ed Cotton's creative brief provocations](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/196-ed-cottons-creative-brief-provocations/) - When he launched his Substack blog Provoke six months ago, strategist Ed Cotton had a clear goal. He decided to post excerpts from and links to his favorite LinkedIn articles. But he didn't stop there. When a topic struck his fancy, he looked beyond LinkedIn and created a curio box of goodies. Most are strategy
- [195: Writer Derek Walker—shunned by agencies, embraced by brands](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/195-writer-derek-walker-shunned-by-agencies-embraced-by-brands/) - It's a too-familiar story. Derek Walker, copywriter and agency founder, came to advertising via journalism. When he graduated, he couldn't find work in ad agencies. Instead, he cut his teeth in corporate America. Radio Shack, for one, where as in-house ACD, he worked on the Howie & Teri television spots. As he tells it, his
- [Best Buy](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/best-buy/) - One of seven briefs on the Archive written by Crispin Porter Bogusky.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Best Buy Brief
- [Hulu, a project on The Brief Bros. podcast](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/hulu-creative-brief-by-henry-gomez-and-howard-ibach-for-the-brief-bros/) - The Hulu brief is a spec assignment Henry Gomez and I did together over three episodes of The Brief Bros. Henry is the main author, ably assisted by Howard. You can view the episodes starting here.We solicited brands and problems from our LinkedIn audience, and the our friend Mark Jenson’s students in his Ad Strategy
- [194: Christopher Owens, Part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/194-christopher-owens-part-2/) - Part 2 with Christopher Owens, head of brand strategy at TRG, formerly The Richards Group. Today, Christopher continues to share his passion for strategy. He talks at length about the dangers of short-term thinking on building brands. Then he addresses the turn away information-driven creative back to creativity and story-telling to make emotional connections. He
- [193: Christopher Owens, Part 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/193-christopher-owens-part-1/) - Our guest this week is the man who put us in touch with the author of the famous Kiwi shoe polish creative brief. Christopher Owens, head of brand strategy at TRG, formerly The Richards Group, hired Sarah Walker-Hall. He reached out to us years ago and asked if we wanted to meet this strategist. And
- [Patron](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/patron/) - This brief was donated by Christopher Owens, head of brand strategy at TRG in Dallas. Patron Brief
- [Sub-Zero](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/sub-zero/) - This brief was donated by Christopher Owens, head of brand strategy at TRG in Dallas. Sub-Zero Brief
- [GameStop](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/gamestop/) - This brief was donated by Christopher Owens, head of brand strategy at TRG in Dallas. GameStop Brief
- [TRG](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-richards-group/) - TRG, formerly The Richards Group, is a legacy shop located in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in 1976 and has done notable work for Motel 6 and Home Depot among others clients.The Kiwi Shoe Polish brief was written by Sarah Walker-Hall. She discussed this brief on The Brief Bros. podcast: Episode 132 and Episode 133.
- [192: Coach Rob Schwartz, Part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/192-coach-rob-schwartz-part-2/) - The second part of our conversation with TBWA Worldwide's Rob Schwartz. Today, guest-host David Moore and I talk with Rob about the heroes among strategists. The story behind the full-page ad for TBWA\Chiat\Day NY's move. What's the way forward for our industry? Is advertising creatively rewarding? And more. Reminder: For a 90-minute live webinar and
- [191: Coach Rob Schwartz, Part 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/191-coach-rob-schwartz/) - Creative Director. Executive Creative Director. Chief Creative Officer. CEO. Chair. And now Certified Coach. All the aforementioned at TBWA\Worldwide. First in Los Angeles, then in New York. Rob Schwartz has worn many hats in his illustrious career. He was even my boss at Team One Advertising in the late 90s before he moved on to
- [190: Nick Cohen talks about Honest!](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/190-nick-cohen-talks-about-honest/) - Part memoir, part textbook for all creative entrepreneurs, Nick Cohen's Honest! A True Story of a Ridiculous Attempt to Make Advertising More Truthful is a must read. It's fun, funny, and an improbable tale of 15 years of creative genius and ground-breaking work. And it's the unforgettable story about the founding of a brilliant shop,
- [189: Road to Hell author Nick Asbury](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/189-road-to-hell-author-nick-asbury/) - What do you get when you combine erudition, deep research, and a copywriter's dexterous poise with a sentence? You get The Road to Hell: How Purpose Leads to a Worse World. Our guest on The Brief Bros. this week, Nick Asbury, tackles a timely and provocative subject, purpose. And Henry Gomez and I take a
- [188: Creatives talk shop, Part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/188-creatives-talk-shop-part-2/) - Join us for Part 2 of our first-ever all-creative panel discussion. We continue our talk about our industry, the state of creativity, and the role of AI. Co-host David Moore, who sits in for the traveling Henry Gomez, and I join seven of our friends and colleagues: Gene Payne in Chicago, Nic York-Bogen in LA,
- [187: Creatives talk shop, Part 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/187-creatives-talk-shop-part-1/) - In a first for the Brief Bros., we've assembled a panel of seven advertising creatives to talk about our industry, the state of creativity, and the role of AI. The discussion was so lively and robust, we talked for more than two hours. Today's episode is Part 1. Part 2 airs next Wednesday. Joining me
- [186: Meet advertising and literary sleuth Tim Maleeny.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/186-meet-advertising-and-literary-sleuth-tim-maleeny/) - A good strategist can walk a mile in the shoes of the customer. And a good novelist must do the same, except in the shoes of many characters. Henry Gomez and I are excited to introduce you to a practitioner of both skills—strategy and novel writing. His name is Tim Maleeny and he is the
- [185: Cameron Day, mentor to the mentors.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/185-cameron-day-mentor-to-the-mentors/) - He's the first to appear on The Brief Bros. three times. And we're delighted and privileged to have him back. Cameron Day joins Henry Gomez and me today to talk about his new book, Stones & Sticks. It's the third book in his trilogy The Advertising Survival Guide: Stage Three: The Highest Altitudes of Your
- [Kiwi Shoe Polish](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/kiwi-shoe-polish/) - A short brief packed with insights and a sure-footed confidence that it knows its customer. Author: Sarah-Walker Hall. Agency: The Richards Group.Note the four sentences at the top of the template. Words every brief writer should live by.NOTE: See two interviews with Sarah-Walker Hall on The Brief Bros. podcast: Episode 132 and Episode 133. View
- [184: Brand Manifesto head librarian Lonnie Elliott](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/184-brand-manifesto-head-librarian-lonnie-elliot/) - Creative briefs are a vital element in advertising, but so are brand manifestos. Our guest today is Lonnie Elliott, creative lead at Meta, and the founder of Manifestowriting.com. Lonnie shares with Henry Gomez and me examples of great manifestos, some of which you may recognize. And he talks about his plans to expand his growing
- [Netflix](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/netflix/) - The author of this brief is Laura Schwarz Ferrari and it was written in April 2020. It is likely a student brief. View Brief
- [Lay's Potato Chips](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/lays-potato-chips/) - This brief is likely by a student for a class assignment. View Brief
- [Mad Dogs & Englishmen](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/mad-dogs-englishmen/) - Mad Dogs & Englishmen was a powerhouse creative shop in New York led by co-founders Nick Cohen and Robin Hafitz. It closed its doors in 2005.Thanks to Robin for all three briefs. Canadian Club Whiskey Brief Friends of Animals Brief Game Show Network Brief
- [183: Stacy Janicki, fresh leadership at legacy Carmichael Lynch.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/183-stacy-janicki-fresh-leadership-at-legacy-carmichael-lynch/) - Four months ago, Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis created the postion of Chief Operating Officer. They created it with one person in mind, our guest today on The Brief Bros.: Stacy Janicki. A legacy advertising agency needs a great leader, and CL found it in Stacy. Join Henry Gomez and me as we chat with this
- [182: Luckett Vanguard, mischievious strategic planner at FCB.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/182-luckett-vanguard-mischievious-account-planner-at-fcb/) - Luckett Vanguard oozes all the qualities you want in a strategic planner: curiosity, gregariousness, passion, the team player. FCB in Chicago hired him a year ago from the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Comm. Kudos to our friend Mark Jenson for the rec! And already he's made his mark. Henry Gomez and I quizzed
- [181: Meet an account planning pioneer, Robin Hafitz.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/181-meet-an-account-planning-pioneer-robin-hafitz/) - She was a founding partner at Mad Dogs & Englishmen in New York (thank you Dave Dye for your encyclopedic memory!). And today, she runs her own strategy consulting firm, Open Mind Strategy. Henry Gomez and I are thrilled to welcome Robin Hafitz to a sit-down chat on The Brief Bros. Robin was one of
- [180: A Director of Brand Experience on building a brand.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/180-a-director-of-brand-experience-on-building-a-brand/) - Henry Gomez and I welcome Mack Saunders, the director of brand experience for The Annex, a boutique hotel in Toronto. Mack's background and perspective on branding came to my attention when I met him at The Annex on a recent trip to Ontario. Fans of The Brief Bros. will be intrigued by the challenges he
- [179: A master brief writer talks briefs](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/179-a-master-brief-writer-talks-briefs/) - Lance Saunders, strategic consultant and adjunct professor at York University in Toronto, returns to The Brief Bros. to talk to Henry Gomez and me about the inaugural essay he contributed to my blog titled, "Beyond The Brief." It's all in celebration of the recent addition of more than 50 briefs to the Creative Brief Archive,
- [Beyond the Brief: The hidden key to marketing success](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/beyond-the-brief-the-hidden-key-to-marketing-success/) - This is the first in a series of essays called Brief Writers on Briefs. I asked Lance Saunders to kick-off this monthly series because he was my first brief mentor. In late 2007, I joined Campbell Mithun in Minneapolis as a freelance copywriter on the H&R Block account, and one day I knocked on Lance's
- [178: Vasanth Seshadri, a creative voice from Singapore.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/178-visanth-seshadri-a-creative-voice-from-singapore/) - Our guest this week is Vasanth Seshadri. He is the founder and creative director of The Sunnyside, a virtual ad agency in Singapore. Vasanth's story will resonate with creatives everywhere. The route he took from newbie copywriter to the founding of his own shop covers a journey of thousands of miles and tenures with many
- [Renault Group](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/renault-group/) - Thank you to Julian Cole, owner of the Strategy Finishing School, for this brief for the Renault Group. Agency: Publicis Conseil, Paris. View Renault Group Brief
- [Publicis Conseil](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/publicis-conseil/) - Thank you to Julian Cole, owner of the Strategy Finishing School, for this brief for the Renault Group. View Renault Group Brief
- [DAVID Madrid](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/david-madrid/) - This brief was created by Pieter-Paul von Weiler and Matt Davies, proprietors at BetterBriefs.com, as a “reverse engineering” exercise. It’s not the real brief written by DAVID Madrid for “Meet Marina Prieto,” its Gold Lion winning campaign for JCDecaux OOH at the 2024 Cannes Festival of Creativity. But given these two gents’ experience, we can
- [JCDecaux OOH Spain](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/jc-decaux-ooh-spain/) - This brief was created by Pieter-Paul von Weiler and Matt Davies, proprietors at BetterBriefs.com, as a “reverse engineering” exercise. It’s not the real brief written by DAVID Madrid for “Meet Marina Prieto,” its Gold Lion winning campaign for JCDecaux OOH at the 2024 Cannes Festival of Creativity. But given these two gents’ experience, we can
- [Burger King](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/burger-king/) - A legacy fast-food brand, BK has a long history of outstanding creative work. These briefs were written by Crispin Porter + Bogusky in the mid-2000s. They reflect the unique cultural lens CP+B used to set BK apart from competitors. Note: CP+B identifies the “BK Brief” as a “product” brief. View BK Brief View Bfast on
- [Crispin Porter + Bogusky](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/crispen-porter-bogusky/) - Crispin Porter + Bogusky was formed in 1988 by Sam Crispin, later joined by Chuck Porter and Alex Bogusky. Its first office was in Miami. Today it is owned by advertising and marketing holding company MDC Partners, New York. Thanks to Baiba Matisone for the Best Buy, Dominos, Dolphins, the Miller Lite and NBA briefs
- [The Miller Group](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-miller-group/) - Thanks to Renee Miller, president and creative director, at The Miller Group in Los Angeles. View Del Amo Fashion Center Brief
- [177: AI for Advertising, taught by Ross Patrick.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/177-ai-for-advertising-taught-by-ross-patrick/) - Say "AI" to anyone in our industry, and it will likely cause a wince, a pucker, even a laugh. And probably a few other reactions. Say it to our guest, Ross Patrick, Creative Lead and Director of Advertising at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and you'll be in for a passionate discourse on
- [176: The creativity beat with AdAge's Tim Nudd](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/176-the-creativity-beat-with-adages-tim-nudd/) - Henry Gomez and I welcome Tim Nudd, a journalist who covers creativity for AdAge. Tim was the host and narrator of a popular podcast called Tagline, sponsored by Muse by Clio. It was a feast of backstories and wonderful anecdotes about some of the most iconic ad campaigns produced by our industry. Henry and I
- [Pot Noodle](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/pot-noodle/) - Pot Noodle is a brand of instant noodle snack foods from the United Kingdom, available in a selection of flavors and varieties. Both briefs were written by London agency hhcl/red cell.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for The Mexican brief. View Pot Noodle Brief View The Mexican Brief
- [There's Something About Miriam tv drama](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/theres-something-about-miriam-tv-drama/) - One of six briefs on the Archive written by hhcl/red cell, London.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Miriam Brief
- [Hex, drama on Sky One](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/hex-drama-on-sky-one/) - One of six briefs on the Archive written by hhcl/red cell, London.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Hex Brief
- [NBA 2K16](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/nba-2k16/) - One of seven briefs on the Archive written by Crispin Porter Bogusky.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View NBA 2K16 Brief
- [Miller Lite](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/miller-lite/) - Two of seven briefs on the Archive written by Crispin Porter & Bogusky.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for these briefs. View Miller Lite Pride Brief View Miller Lite Client Brief
- [Miami Dolphins](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/miami-dolphins/) - One of seven briefs on the Archive written by Crispin Porter Bogusky.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Miami Dolphins Brief
- [Dominos](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/dominos/) - One of seven briefs on the Archive written by Crispin Porter Bogusky.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Dominos Brief
- [hhcl/red cell](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/red-cell/) - hhcl/red cell was a London creative powerhouse in the 1990s and early 2000s until it closed its doors in 2007. For many years, it produced creative for Tango, including Orange Man. The Tango brief here is very likely authored by a strategist at hhcl/red cell, but the Archive cannot confirm this.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and
- [United Nations Mine Action Service](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/unmas/) - Thanks to APG Canada for this student brief, one of many contributed to the Archive. View UNMAS Brief
- [Toms Shoes](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/toms-shoes/) - This is a client brief. Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Toms Shoes Brief
- [Copacino & Fujikado](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/copacino-fujikado/) - Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Pet Airways Brief
- [Pet Airways](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/pet-airways/) - Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Pet Airways Brief
- [Nintendo](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/nintendo/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View Game Boy Advance SP Brief
- [M&C Saatchi](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/m-c-saatchi/) - This brief is for Lucozade Sport Hydro Active.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Lucozade Brief
- [Mithun](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/mithun/) - This brief is for Jeep by Twin Cities agency Mithun, later renamed Campbell Minneapolis.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Jeep Brief
- [Red Robin Restaurants](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/red-robin-restaurants/) - This is not your typical creative brief. It was written by Cameron Day, creative director and author of The Advertising Survival Guide books.He calls this a “mantra” and he is not the only creative who uses this device. He will write a mantra as a response to a brief he receives from a client. It
- [Surgeon's Cosmetic Center & Med Spa](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/surgeons-cosmetic-center-and-med-spa/) - This brief was written by Henry Gomez, VP/Strategy at Zubi Advertising for a pro-bono project. View SCCMS Brief
- [Verizon](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/verizon/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View Verizon Brief
- [Spotify](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/spotify/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for these student briefs, two of many they provided to the Archive. View 2023 Brief View 2022 Brief
- [PETA](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/peta/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View PETA Brief
- [National Recreation and Parks Association](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/nrpa/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for these student briefs, two of many they provided to the Archive. View NRPA Microsite Brief View NRPA Video Brief
- [National Conservancy of Canada](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/national-conservancy-of-canada/) - Thanks to APG Canada for this student brief, one of many briefs they contributed to the Archive. View NCC Brief
- [Schulich Builders Foundation](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/schulich-builders-foundation/) - Thanks to APG Canada for this student brief, one of many briefs they contributed to the Archive. View Schulich Brief
- [Activision Blizzard](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/activision-blizzard/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for these student briefs, two of many they provided to the Archive. View Call of Duty Warzone Brief View Diablo IV Brief
- [Commonwealth Club World Affairs](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/commonwealth-club-world-affairs/) - This brief is for the Commonwealth Club World Affairs, the oldest and largest public affairs forum. It was written by Grey SF.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View CCWA Brief
- [Grey SF](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/grey-sf/) - This brief is for the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, the oldest and largest public affairs forum.Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Grey SF Brief
- [Zubi Advertising](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/zubi-advertising/) - Zubi Advertising was founded in 1976 by Cuban exile Tere Zubizarreta who, according to their website, possessed an infectious attitude of “I don’t know but I’ll learn.” Perfect, from the Archive’s perspective, for anyone wishing to understand more about creative briefs.The Visit Florida brief was written by Zubi VP/Director of Strategy Henry Gomez, co-host of
- [MARCA](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/marca/) - This RFP brief was written by Henry Gomez, VP/Strategy at Zubi Advertising when he was chief strategist at MARCA in Miami. View MARCA Brief
- [Delta Airlines (RFP)](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/delta-airlines-rfp/) - This RFP brief was written by Henry Gomez, VP/Strategy at Zubi Advertising when he was chief strategist at MARCA in Miami. View Delta Brief
- [Krave Jerky](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/krave-jerky/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View Krave Jerky Brief
- [David & Goliath](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/david-and-goliath/) - D&G is the current AOR of the California Lottery. Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View California Lottery Brief
- [The North Face](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-north-face/) - The agency for this particular brief is unknown. Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View The North Face Brief
- [Puma](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/puma/) - The agency for this particular brief is unknown. Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Puma Brief
- [Nissan](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/nissan/) - Agency is not known. Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Nissan Brief
- [MTV](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/mtv/) - This is a client brief for a rebranding effort. Agency is not known. Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View MTV Client Brief
- [Dodge Trucks](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/foote-cone-belding-fcb/) - Foote Cone Belding (FCB) is a legacy agency in Detroit. This is an example of a “brand” brief because it covers three Dodge products. Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View FCB Brief
- [Coors Light](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/coors-light/) - The agency for this particular brief is unknown. Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View Coors Light Brief
- [California Lottery](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/california-lottery/) - D&G is the current AOR of the California Lottery. Thanks to Baiba Matisone and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View California Lottery Brief
- [Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/jack-daniels-bbq-sauce/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce Brief
- [Door Dash](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/door-dash/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View Door Dash Brief
- [Cross Pens](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/cross-pens/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View Cross Pens Brief
- [Barnes & Noble](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/barnes-noble/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View B&N Brief
- [BMW Connected Drive](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/bmw-connected-drive/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View BMW Connected Drive Brief
- [Bang & Olufsen](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/bang-olufsen/) - Thanks to our friends at APG Canada for this student brief, one of many they provided to the Archive. View B&O Brief
- [West County Nissan](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/west-county-nissan/) - Paul MacFarlane’s take on automotive retail. From the 1101 experiment. View Brief
- [Cleveland Clinic Florida](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/cleveland-clinic-florida/) - Henry Gomez, co-host of The Brief Bros., is the author of this brief. View Cleveland Clinic FL Brief
- [PayPal](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/paypal/) - The agency for this particular brief is unknown. Thanks to Baiba Matison and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View PayPal Brief
- [175: Jon Steel, author of Truth, Lies & Advertising.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/175-jon-steel-author-of-truth-lies-advertising/) - Jon Steel's book, Truth, Lies & Advertising is the bible for strategy, creative briefs and what makes great creative campaigns. Now in its 26th year, it remains fresh and relevant, even if the advertising referenced in it are from the 20th Century. His thinking proves that new and shiny pales against fundamentals and fundamental truths.
- [Foote Cone Belding (FCB)](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/fcb/) - Foote Cone Belding (FCB) is a legacy agency in Detroit. This is an example of a “brand” brief because it covers three Dodge products. Thanks to Baiba Matison and her Creative Brief Bank for this brief. View FCB Brief
- [174: Two ad students on the rigors of London's SCA.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/174-two-ad-students-on-the-rigors-of-londons-sca/) - One of them did a trumpet solo and she doesn't play trumpet. The other did six minutes of stand-up comedy and she isn't a comedian. No, they weren't auditioning for Britain's Got Talent. In a return to our New and Emerging Talent series, Henry Gomez and I talk to two current ad students at London's
- [173: Ghost wants to make clients famous, not themselves.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/173-ghost-wants-to-make-clients-famous-not-themselves/) - In a first for Henry Gomez and me, The Brief Bros. hosts three...ghosts. You'll hear them, but you won't see them. That's because they prefer to let their creative work speak for itself on behalf of their clients. And that's their story. Which we are transparently delighted to share with you. For small group and
- [172: Young ad pros get to predict Cannes winners](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/172-young-ad-pros-get-to-predict-cannes-winners/) - Henry Gomez and I bring you two young advertising talents who started The Loudest Roar last year, which they call the "Cannes Lion Fantasy League." It's an online communmity for young professionals to predict the winners at Cannes, and it's growing in popularity worldwide. We're delighted to welcome Chirag Khushalani and Samita Balakrishnan, two strategists
- [171: Freelance copywriter Ashley Rutstein carved a niche on TikTok.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/171-freelance-copywriter-ashley-rutstein-carved-a-niche-on-tiktok/) - Meet the host of Stuff About Advertising Ashley Rutstein. She's a freelance copywriter, social media verteran, and the star of her own TikTok page where she talks about, well, Stuff About Advertising. And Henry Gomez and I had a fun and enlightening conversation with her. So many brands want to be on TikTok, but did
- [170: Can AI measure the emotions advertising creative evokes? Yes, according to DAIVID.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/170-can-ai-measure-the-emotions-advertising-creative-evokes-yes-according-to-daivid/) - This week Henry Gomez and I introduce you to the founder of DAIVID, Ian Forrester. Ian is the brains behind an AI tool that measures the effectiveness of ad creative by pinpointing which of 39 emotions a piece of creative evokes. Yeah, we know—another bogus way to test creative, right? Don't be so quick to
- [169: The Howard Gossage Show with Steve Harrison and Dave Dye](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/169-the-howard-gossage-show-with-steve-harrison-and-dave-dye/) - Two advertising industry giants join us today to talk about their new book, The Howard Gossage Show. Both Steve Harrison and Dave Dye have talked to us before. But today they arrive together as co-authors of a book as big as its subject matter. And a necessary teaching tool for all of us in the
- [168: Meet your new favorite intern](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/168-meet-your-new-favorite-intern/) - You need chutzpah to land an internship in our industry. Spell it any way you like, you gotta get the decision-maker's attention. Which is why Henry Gomez and I are so delighted to introduce you to Kristina Olsen Pinjusic, a.k.a. "The Kristina," your new favorite intern. She displayed enviable intrepidity and gutsiness and used LinkedIn
- [167: Meet Todd Turner, creator of laugh-out-loud creative training tool, Wash-A-Pig.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/167-meet-todd-turner-creator-of-laugh-out-loud-creative-training-tool-wash-a-pig/) - Todd Turner is a talented graphic designer who's carved out a fun niche in Out of Home. Lately, he's formed a partnership with Richard Molinaro called Up to Something in North Carolina. Todd and Richard create unforgettable OOH for brands, agencies and media companies. But it's Todd's side gig that grabbed our attention. Henry Gomez
- [166: These women routinely save the day.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/166-these-women-routinely-save-the-day/) - No Single Individual is a unique business model. It is a company of woment strategists who work for legacy shops like Deutsch NY, FCB NY and TBWA\Chiat Day LA. Founded by Christine Olivas in 2021, No Single Individual is an "all-freelance firm [that] provides ancillary strategy and account teams to agencies across the globe, from
- [165: Ten traits of a strategist](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/165-ten-traits-of-a-strategist-from-mark-pollard/) - My co-host Henry Gomez stays connected with other strategtists, especially on LinkedIn. He received an email recently from Mark Pollard, author of Strategy Is Your Words, and a well-known and respected strategist and strategy coach. Mark had compiled a list of the top ten traits he thought all strategists shared. My buddy Henry saw a
- [164: Elizabeth Gordon, GS&P's newest young and restless account manager.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/164-elizabeth-gordon-gsps-newest-young-and-restless-account-manager/) - Henry Gomez and I relish every chance we get to feature a young advertising talent who is already shaking things up. This week we continue our series of interviews with recent grads of US and UK advertising programs. Allow us to introduce you to Elizabeth Gordon. Elizabeth is a 2023 grad of the U of
- [163: Are you creative director material?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/163-are-you-creative-director-material/) - Most creatives aspire to become creative director one day. And most creatives believe they have the chops to lead a creative department. But making the leap from art director or copywriter into a leadership role takes more than a promotion. Our guest this week is an old friend, TJ Bennett, owner and creative director at
- [162: Master storyteller Neal Foard, Part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/162-master-storyteller-neal-foard-part-2/) - Join Henry Gomez and me for Part 2 of our conversation with a master of the artform, Neal Foard. He tells us more about his new online, self-directed tutorials at Storyfire to help you practice and polish your own stories. So sit back, grab a bowl of popcorn and take it all in. This is
- [161: Master storyteller Neal Foard, Part 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/161-neal-foard-master-story-teller-part-1/) - For 30-odd years, Neal Foard was an advertising copywriter and creative director, working on major brands like Toyota. Then he morphed into what I call the Garrisoin Keillor of the Internet. He's a storyteller extraordinare, whose mellifluous voice is part velvet fog, part maple syrup. With thousands of presentations under his belt, Neal stands in
- [160: An industry training expert shares his insights.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/160-an-industry-training-expert-shares-his-insights/) - Mark Liebert leads the Marketing Training & Development Center at the ANA. His team of dedicated professionals connect subject-matter experts with ANA members to enhance their marketing and advertising skills. Since the beginning of our podcast, Henry Gomez and I have revisited the subject of training many times. So today, we meet an experienced trainer
- [159: Should a brief ask "What is the strategy"?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/159-should-a-brief-ask-what-is-the-strategy/) - It seems like an obvious question: What is the strategy? But even asking it opens a can of worms. What do you mean by "strategy"? Then you can ask, why do so few briefs ask this question? This week, Henry Gomez and I tackle the conundrum of what role strategy plays in writing a creative
- [158: Let's get real about AI.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/158-lets-get-real-about-ai/) - Henry Gomez and I decided to take a breather and talk about AI. No panic. No exaggeration. No gloom and doom. Just the real stuff. It's here and it ain't goin' away. What's its role in advertising creative? In the creative brief? This is only the first of what we both think will be many
- [157: A manifesto for Avis, or is it?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/157-a-manifesto-for-avis-or-is-it/) - What is a manifesto? Is it a creative brief? Or like a creative brief? And how does a so-called "manifesto" help us understand a brand? These are some of the questions Henry Gomez and I discuss today on The Brief Bros. We review and dissect one of seventeen brand manifestos, this one for Avis, posted
- [156: Recent grads prove young people embrace our industry.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/156-recent-grads-prove-young-people-embrace-our-industry/) - Who says the advertising industry can't attract ambitious young talent? Not our guests this week on The Brief Bros. We welcome Anna Clayden and Hope Whitehead, art director and copywriter respectively. They teamed up while studying at London's premier School of Communication Arts. They join Henry Gomez and me to shed bright light on the
- [155: Strategy trainer Julian Cole offers surprises on writing briefs.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/155-strategy-trainer-julian-cole-shares-insights-on-briefs/) - Writing a great brief depends on more than great writing. Agency vet and Strategy Finishing School founder Julian Cole joins Henry Gomez and me in an insider's look at briefs. You'll learn something new after this week's episode of The Brief Bros. For example, did you know that an "artist" and a "detective" creative director
- [154: An insider's look at AI.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/154-an-insiders-look-at-ai/) - Love it or hate it, AI is here to stay. But like all new toys, what we don't understand tends to scare us. So this week, The Brief Bros. invited Sherry Horowitz, the self-described AI Conjurer, to talk about the intricacies of creating imagery with AI using language prompts. Her deep knowledge revealed how hard
- [153: Conflict helps us overcome creative hurdles.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/153-tay-guan-hin-talkes-about-his-new-book-collide/) - We welcome the creative chairman of BBDO/Singapore, Tay Guan Hin, to this week's episode of The Brief Bros. Henry Gomez and I asked Guan about his career in art and graphic design. Guan revealed a common thread among many creatives: his parents had other plans for him. But his passions led him to advertising anyway.
- [152: Marketing versus creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/152-differences-between-a-marketing-and-a-creative-brief/) - This week, Henry Gomez and I discuss a video posted by Julian Cole, a link to which we included below. He explains the differences between a marketing and a creative brief. Julian is a noted strategist, teacher and mentor to young strategists. And we have invited him to be a guest on The Brief Bros
- [151: Ben Levy shows us how to present creative like a pro, Part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/151-ben-levy-shows-us-how-to-become-master-creative-presenters-part-2/) - Join us in Part 2 of our conversation with Ben Levy, creative director and presentation coach at SellItGreat.com. Henry Gomez and I ask Ben about "nuts 'n bolts" problems all presenters face. Ben shares his insights on how to make better presentations. He gives us a hint of what his training can do to make
- [149: Write better creative briefs with Howard's workshops.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/149-howards-creative-brief-workshops/) - From the "Shameless Commerce Division" of The Brief Bros. (no apologies to Car Talk's Click & Clack), today Henry Gomez quizzes me about my creative brief workshops, my promise to attendees who want to learn how to write better briefs, my teaching philosophy and how I got started. You can get the details at creativebriefworkshops.com.
- [150: Ben Levy shows us how to present creative like a pro.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/present-creative-work-like-a-pro/) - Presentation Coach Ben Levy has made just about every mistake you can imagine as a presenter of creative work. And he'll show you how you can avoid them in his training on creative presentations. This week on The Brief Bros., Ben is our guest in a two-part episode. He is the founder and Head Coach
- [148: The best of the Brief Bros. in 2023.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/148-the-best-of-the-brief-bros-in-2023/) - As our first episode of the New Year, Henry Gomez and I review 2023 and talk about what stood out for us on The Brief Bros. Amazingly enough, Henry and I wrapped up our third year together! And we still like each other! Enjoy this conversation as we share our thoughts on what mattered most
- [147: Tim Brunelle builds a creative brief coach with ChatGPT](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/147-tim-brunelle-builds-a-creative-brief-coach-with-chatgpt/) - This week on The Brief Bros. Henry Gomez and I review and discuss a tool created by a friend and past guest, Tim Brunelle, called the Creative Brief Coach. ChatGPT is everywhere, causing either havoc or joy depending on your point of view. Tim's tool is a worthy topic because he laid out the details
- [146: Reviewing a creative brief for Tango carbonated soft drink.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/146-reviewing-the-creative-brief-for-tango-carbonated-soft-drink/) - Henry Gomez and I review an undated creative brief for the UK's famous soft drink Tango, ad agency unknown (if you're privy to the info, please share in the comments section). I featured this brief in my first book on the creative brief, and I included it in my rotating list of briefs for my
- [145: Reviewing a creative brief for the BBC’s coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/145-reviewing-a-creative-brief-for-the-bbcs-coverage-of-the-2004-summer-olympics-in-athens/) - In our ongoing series, Henry Gomez and I review a creative brief written by a London-based agency for its client, BBC. The brief was written to create a new campaign to promote the BBC's on-air coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. We even have creative so you can ask yourself if the work
- [144: A conversation with Gabi Kinney, senior strategist at Broadhead in Minneapolis](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/144-a-conversation-with-gabi-kinney-senior-strategist-at-broadhead-in-minneapolis/) - Gabi Kinney joins Henry Gomez and me this week in a continuation of our series on young talent in our industry. Gabi is a recent grad of the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the U of Minnesota, a familiar name to anyone who follow The Brief Bros. This young woman is blazing
- [143: A collaboration between Tom Fishburne, IPA and BetterBriefs.com](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/143-a-collaboration-between-tom-fishburne-ipa-and-betterbriefs-com/) - Kudos to our friends Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler, past guests on The Brief Bros., for their partnership with the Marketoonist Tom Fishburne and the Institute for Practitioners of Advertising (IPA), the oldest professional organization in our industry. They've assembled a Compendium of brilliantly drawn cartoons that reflect their global survey on creative briefs,
- [142: Reviewing a creative brief for Iceland Frozen Markets by hhcl/red cell, London](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/142-reviewing-a-creative-brief-for-iceland-frozen-markets-by-hhcl-red-cell-london/) - Today, Henry Gomez and I examine a creative brief for a popular frozen foods grocery story in the UK, Iceland. We love briefs for everyday products and services because these are the "widgets" advertising professionals cut their teeth on, creatively and strategically. That they are "everyday" things makes them real and necessary, but also challenges
- [141: A conversation with Tyrese Leverty, brand planner at Carmichael Lynch](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/141-a-conversation-with-tyrese-leverty-brand-planner-at-carmichael-lynch/) - Henry Gomez and I have added a new series to The Brief Bros.: Conversations with recent college grad about their new careers. Today, we are proud to present Tyrese Leverty, a recent grad from the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He was recommended to us by our old friend Mark
- [140: The iconic Uncle Sam.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/140-the-iconic-uncle-sam/) - Did you know that the famous poster of Uncle Sam pointing his finger and declaring, "I want you..." is more than 100 years old? Henry Gomez and I stumbled across this iconic image as we searched for old ads to discuss, and we decided it warranted an episode of its own. We have good reasons,
- [139: We reverse-engineer an ad from Band-Aid and write a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/139-we-reverse-engineer-an-ad-from-band-aid-and-write-a-creative-brief/) - Henry Gomez and I look closely at a clever ad from Johnson & Johnson's Band-Aid brand of band aids and together we discuss what we see and voila! We write a brief. And we post the brief within the episode for your viewing enjoyment (not available in stores). Henry and I urge all ad folk
- [138: Our best look at a Best Buy brief from CPB](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/138-our-best-look-at-a-best-buy-brief-from-cpb/) - Another shout-out to Baiba Matisone whose Creative Brief Bank provided the impetus for today's episode of #thebriefbros. It's a Crispen Porter Bogusky brief for Best Buy. Henry Gomez and I have always admired the agency's work, but do we love this brief? Watch and find out! https://youtu.be/u-E35Cl0xr4
- [137: Gameboy creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/137-gameboy-creative-brief/) - Henry Gomez and I do a deep-dive into a creative brief written by someone affiliated with the One Show. It's for a competition among "Young Gun" creative teams with a prize attached, a free Gameboy. Henry and I examine this brief and share with you our thoughts. It's another in a series we love to
- [136: Reviewing a creative brief by FCB for Dodge.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/136-reviewing-a-creative-brief-by-fcb-for-dodge/) - First, special thanks to Baiba Matisone, who appeared on The Brief Bros., for posting this creative brief on her Creative Brief Bank. Henry Gomez and I did a top to bottom examination of this brief and shared our thoughts in this episode. We agreed...mostly. But even where we disagreed, we aligned on one thing: It's
- [135: Do creative briefs need to include deliverables?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/135-do-creative-briefs-need-to-include-deliverables/) - Henry Gomez and I debate a seemingly mundane question: should a creative brief include deliverables or is that the creatives' job to recommend? Some of the finest briefs do not even ask the question. Others ask simply for the "Big Idea" while still others require every tactic. Where do you stand? https://youtu.be/fUJ_i7k_uH4
- [134: The Brief Bros. discuss the famous Kiwi creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/134-the-brief-bros-discuss-the-famous-kiwi-creative-brief/) - Last week, we heard from Sarah Walker-Hall and her take on the brief she wrote for Kiwi shoe polish. This week, Henry Gomez and I discuss and dissect the brief ourselves. I weighed in with my high praise when Sarah and I spoke, and today I continue my rave but this time with a chance
- [We know our products but not our brands.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/we-know-our-products-but-not-our-brands/) - It's an accusation. It's also a fact. When I do my workshop on creative briefs, I always ask participants to do what I call my Albert Einstein Challenge (which I've written about here before). Einstein is famous for having said, "If you can't explain it to a child, you don't understand it yourself." So the
- [133: A conversation with Sarah Walker-Hall, Part 2: Examining the Kiwi creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/133-a-conversation-with-sarah-walker-hall-part-2-examining-the-kiwi-creative-brief/) - Last week, we met Sarah Walker-Hall, brand strategy group head at TRG in Dallas. She is a veteran strategist whose skills and dexterity as a thinker can teach all brief writers how to write better briefs. Today, she and I dive deep into her award-winning brief for Kiwi shoe polish, the resulting campaign for which
- [132: A conversation with Sarah Walker-Hall, author of the famous Kiwi creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/132-a-conversation-with-sarah-walker-hall-author-of-the-famous-kiwi-creative-brief/) - You could say I waited 20 years to meet and talk to Sarah Walker-Hall. She authored a creative brief I have read, admired, written about and taught from almost since I began my latest career as a brief-writing instructor. In the first of a two-part series, we meet this remarkable woman who began her career
- [131: A conversation with Jess Saunders and Roh Kerr, recent SCA/London grads](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/131-a-conversation-with-jess-saunders-and-roh-kerr-recent-sca-london-grads/) - We've had wonderful conversation with Marc Lewis, dean of London's famed School of Communication Arts. Today, Henry Gomez and I talk to two of his recent graduates: Jess Saunders and Roh Kerr, about their experiences at SCA, how they teamed up as writer/AD partners. And then Henry and I put them through a test: we
- [E69: Writing a creative brief, Part 3](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-69-yzlmt/) - The third and final Hulu summer re-broadcast: Drum roll, please! Today we reveal our finished (draft) creative brief. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://creativebriefworkshops.com) wrap up our exercise of writing a creative brief for Hulu. We’ll take you through every question on the brief and show you how Henry applied his thought-process to arrive
- [E68: Writing a creative brief, Part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-68-52zqn/) - The second episode of our Hulu summer re-broadcast: Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://creativebriefworkshops.com) continue the thinking process around writing a creative brief for Hulu. Henry has unearthed some juicy intel on Hulu right on its own website. He found Hulu brand guidelines, a treasure trove of insider goodies. We dig deeper and start
- [E67: Writing a creative brief, Part 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-67-ehywp/) - Henry Gomez and I are taking a short break in August, so we're re-broadcasting three popular episodes: our series on writing a creative brief for Hulu, a spec assignment prompted by viewers on LinkedIn. We'll see you again in September with new guests and new topics: Let the writing begin! Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard
- [130: George Tannenbaum inspires an episode. Guess the topic.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/130-george-tannenbaum-inspires-an-episode-guess-the-topic/) - Our friend George Tannenbaum wrote an essay on his Ad Aged blog recently that sparked our interest. It was called I'll Be Brief and it's a great read about, what else, the creative brief. It got Henry Gomez and me thinking. And talking. Are our expectations of a brief overblown? George makes this claim, and
- [129: Reverse engineering the brief for the classic BMW ”Ultimate Driving Machine” campaign.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/129-reverse-engineering-the-brief-for-the-classic-bmw-ultimate-driving-machine-campaign/) - If only we could see the actual brief. Henry Gomez and I give you the next best thing: our take in another reverse engineering exercise on this week's episode of The Brief Bros. for BMW's unforgettable print campaign. Watch as we take you through our thinking to arrive at what could be the brief. https://youtu.be/2cQX-nEfD7Y
- [128: Introducing the Creative Brief Archive.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/128-introducing-the-creative-brief-archive/) - The Brief Bros. co-host Howard Ibach proudly announces a new feature on his website, the Creative Brief Archive. It's a free repository of finished creative briefs written by ad agency strategists for real products. There's also a growing list of student-written creative briefs. The briefs are broken down by Agency and Brand. Simply register with
- [127: Reverse engineering a brief from a classic Snickers Super Bowl spot.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/127-reverse-engineering-a-brief-from-a-classic-snickers-super-bowl-spot/) - You all remember this spot from the 2010 Super Bowl: Betty White stars in a Snickers spot that kicked off a brilliant campaign to reposition the popular candy bar. Henry Gomez and I dig in and write a brief simply by watching the spot. We call it a reverse engineering exercise, something all brief writers
- [126: Reverse engineer a brief from ”I’m a Mac” campaign for Apple.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/126-reverse-engineer-a-brief-from-im-a-mac-campaign-for-apple/) - Two, two, two mints in one: great creative from Apple in its classic spots for the I'm a Mac campaign, and our attempt to write the brief in a reverse-engineering exercise. Henry Gomez and I have a lot of fun in this week's episode as we revisit what Adweek called the best advertising campaign of
- [125: A conversation with Berlin-based freelance strategist Baiba Matisone.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/125-a-conversation-with-german-freelance-strategist-baiba-matisone/) - Joining Henry Gomez and me from Berlin, Baiba Matisone is a freelance strategist and creative brief devotee. She posted a list of blank creative brief templates that Henry and I surveyed on a recent episode, as well as completed briefs and thoughtful articles. The site, Creative Brief Bank, is well worth the visit. We talked
- [124: What can we learn from a blank creative brief template?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/124-what-can-we-learn-from-a-blank-creative-brief-template/) - Henry Gomez and I have preached the importance of insightful and inspiring "answers" on briefs to get the most from our creative partners. But what, if anything, can we learn as brief writers from a template? A blank template? Today, we examine a couple templates from legacy shops and discuss what we uncover. Thanks to
- [123: Let’s reverse engineer a creative brief for an Amazon TV spot.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/123-lets-reverse-engineer-a-creative-brief-for-an-amazon-tv-spot/) - Reverse engineering is a wonderfully effective training device to get brief writers into the right mind-set for writing a real brief. It's a thought exercise you can do everyday, probably in less than a minute. Today, Henry Gomez and I watch a :60 spot for Amazon Prime and then "reverse engineer" the spot and figure
- [122: A conversation with Mark Tomblin and Michelle Lee, APG Canada](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/122-a-conversation-with-mark-tomblin-and-michelle-lee-apg-canada/) - Our two guests from Account Planners Group Canada are Mark Tomblin , founder of Thinking Unstuck, and Michelle Lee, principal Uncommon Sense, who hold senior leadership positions with Canada's strategy organization. Henry Gomez and I dive deep into brief writing, brief training, and the industry's future with Mark and Michelle. https://youtu.be/YbCTgOEfxQA
- [121: A creative brief for a cosmetic surgeon](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/121-a-creative-brief-for-a-cosmetic-surgeon/) - Henry Gomez knows more than most of us about the competitive world of cosmetic surgery. His dad is a practicing cosmetic surgeon, and Henry wrote a brief for him. This week, we examine Henry's efforts so you can see again how a professional tackles the challenges of a small budget project with a big challenge.
- [118: Another conversation with Marc Lewis, dean of the School of Communication Arts in London](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/118-another-conversation-with-marc-lewis-dean-of-the-school-of-creative-arts-in-london/) - This week, Henry and I welcome back an old friend, Marc Lewis. He's the dean of the most successful independent advertising school on the planet, SCA, the School of Communication Arts in London. It is heralded as "The World's Most Awarded Ad School." Marc returns to share with us news about SCA's Creative Training and
- [120: A brief for Delta Airlines.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/120-a-brief-for-delta-airlines/) - Henry and I discuss another brief written by Henry for a pitch he and his agency did not win. But the brief itself, for Delta Airlines, is instructive and we take you through it step by step. Since finding complete briefs is a challenge, this brief presents us with a wonderful opportunity to share our
- [119: Brief tips for marketers.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/119-brief-tips-for-marketers/) - Henry Gomez, strategist and brief writer extraordinaire, and I talk about four mistakes marketers fall prey to when they write briefs. And we offer avenues to avoid these mistakes with better, clearer thinking. These aren't the only roadblocks marketers face, but they are biggies. Watch and then be honest: have you ever slipped up and
- [117: A conversation with Jim Melzer, creative director and brief devotee](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/117-a-conversation-with-jim-melzer-creative-director-and-brief-devotee/) - Jim Melzer comes to us this week on The Brief Bros. from Santa Fe, NM. He represents a segment of our industry we have not explored and that makes Jim a unique guest. Jim has been a copywriter and creative director at legacy shops in Minneapolis including Colle McVoy, Miller Meester, Martin Williams and Clarity
- [The adage that rules our world.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-adage-that-rules-our-world/) - There's an old saying in our business that dictates everything we do. It has ruled our world since the dawn of the ad agency business. It puts the lie to any notion that we are in control of our own fate. Do you know this saying? I bet you do. It makes liars of us
- [116: A conversation with a legend, Ernie Schenck, Part 3](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/116-a-conversation-with-a-legend-ernie-schenck-part-3/) - Guest host Mark Jenson and I wrap up our three-part conversation with Ernie Schenck in today's episode. Ernie shares his thoughts on AI, the origins of his newsletter, Strange Alchemy and other insights on our industry. Our thanks to Ernie for giving us and you his time, his wisdom and his devotion to a profession
- [115: A conversation with a legend: Ernie Schenck, Part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/115-a-conversation-with-a-legend-ernie-schenck-part-2/) - Guest host Mark Jenson and I continue our chat with writer, creative director and legend Ernie Schenck in Part 2. Stay tuned for Part 3 next week! https://youtu.be/4GTR6D4AICg
- [114: A conversation with a legend, Ernie Schenck, Part 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/114-a-conversation-with-a-legend-ernie-schenck-part-1/) - In the first of three in-depth conversations, The Brief Bros. welcome a national treasure and a creative legend, Mr. Ernie Schenck. He has founded two ad agencies, won countless awards, and is a prolific writer and commentator for CA and lately his own newsletter on Substack, Strange Alchemy. Pinch-hitting for a traveling Henry Gomez is
- [113: Let’s dissect a creative brief for Cleveland Clinic Florida.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/113-lets-dissect-a-creative-brief-for-cleveland-clinic-florida/) - My partner and co-host Henry Gomez offers up a brief he wrote for the Cleveland Clinic Florida when he was a relative newbie as a strategist, and shares some of the creative it produced. This is an excellent exercise we should all do from time to time with a brief from our past. I tip
- [Is your company resistant to change? Two tests to find out.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/is-your-company-resistant-to-change-two-tests-to-find-out/) - I've been teaching creative brief workshops for 19 years and have traveled many miles, in airplanes and online, to meet many smart and dedicated brand advocates. They all told me they wanted to improve their brief-writing skills. They all wanted to write better creative briefs. I believed them. I always do. But I've also learned
- [112: A conversation with Jason Swenk, host of the Smart Agency Master Class podcast](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/112-a-conversation-with-jason-swenk-host-of-the-smart-agency-master-class-podcast/) - Henry and I welcome Jason Swenk who started an agency "by accident" in his words, and turned his love for the hustle, effective systems and problem solving into a wildly successful consulting business that takes ad agency owners to a new level of leadership and vision. His podcast, Smart Agency Master Class, is a must-watch.
- [111: A conversation with TJ Bennett, owner, The Pudding Factory, Phoenix](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/111-a-conversation-with-tj-bennett-owner-the-pudding-factory-phoenix/) - TJ Bennett is a creative veteran with agency experience on both coasts who now makes his home in Phoenix. He runs a virtual creative shop called The Pudding Factory and, like Henry and me, is nerdy about creative briefs. This was a fun conversation. TJ definitely joins the small but growing ranks of Brief Bros.
- [Build a better box.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/build-a-better-box/) - (First published in July 2009) When I began my career as a copywriter, I viewed rules the way other creatives viewed rules: with disdain. I wanted nothing to interfere with the creative process. Nothing to stand between me and a big idea. You know, the whole "live free or die" thing. It's a philosophy the young
- [110: Lessons from a presentation post-mortem.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/110-the-lessons-from-a-presentation-post-mortem/) - How often do you "look in the mirror" after a big presentation? A critical self-assessment may be painful but it's also liberating. In today's episode, Henry Gomez dusts off a "no holds barred" post-mortem of a presentation delivered many years ago that failed to win the project. It's like one of those candid emails you
- [Advice to brief writers from two copywriters and an art director.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/advice-to-brief-writers-from-two-copywriters-and-an-art-director/) - Two copywriters and an art director walk into a bar. Well, no they didn't. But they did each write about writing and they all have something to say to brief writers about how to write better briefs. First, a tangent: Two kinds of people tend to show up for my workshops on creative briefs: marketers
- [Ello by Mattel](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/ello-by-mattel/) - Ello is a toy that Mattel targeted to little girls aged 5-10. The London agency glue produced this brief for a 2003 project. View Brief
- [Toro](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/toro/) - Toro worked with Campbell Mithun in Minneapolis on its creative. This brief is for its line of consumer lawn care devices. View Toro Brief
- [Visit Florida](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/visit-florida/) - Zubi Advertising in Miami, a nationally recognized Hispanic agency, services the Visit Florida account. View Brief
- [Tango](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tango/) - Tango is a legacy brand of soft drinks in the UK with a history of brash, humorous creative. This brief was written by London shop hhcl/red cell. View Tango Brief
- [Iceland](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/iceland/) - Iceland Foods Ltd. is an iconic supermarket in the UK that mainly sells frozen foods. It was established in 1970. This brief reflects the brand’s wit as it tasks its creatives with introducing three new lines of frozen food products. View Brief
- [Freud Communication (formerly DFGW)](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/freud-communication-formerly-dfgw/) - Freud Communications purchased DFGW in 2006, where this brief for the BBC’s coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens was conceived. View BBC Brief
- [BBC creative brief for 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/bbc-creative-brief-for-2004-summer-olympics-in-athens/) - While the brief, written by now-defunct London shop DFGW, which was purchased by Freud Communication in 2006. This brief was for the BBC’s coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, you’ll notice the focus is on the Olympics rather than on the BBC. View the TV spot and decide whether the creative met the
- [Red Bull](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/red-bull/) - A well-written brief, narrowly focused. The Archive suspects that it may be a student brief. View Brief
- [British Airways creative brief by Saatchi & Saatchi New York](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/british-airways-creative-brief-by-saatchi-saatchi-new-york/) - This brief was for a campaign in 2004, called London Is Closer Than You Think. View BA Brief
- [109: Campbell Soup's package rebranding.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/109-campbell-soups-package-rebranding/) - Continuing with our ongoing interest in brands and rebranding, Henry Gomez and I share a Wall St. Journal video exploration of Campbell Soup's recent packaging for its iconic soup cans. And we have an in-depth discussion about the results of those efforts. Connecting dots between Byron Sharp's "distinctive brand assets" and a not-so-successful rebranding effort
- [glue](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/glue/) - glue London was founded in 2001 and an Internet search reveals it was winning awards for its work as late as 2007. But it may have closed its doors, changed its name or merged with another agency. The Archive welcomes any recent information on glue’s status. View Ello Brief
- [Saatchi & Saatchi New York](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/saatchi-saatchi-new-york/) - Saatchi & Saatchi ran the British Airways account for more than 20 years, from 1982 until 2005. View BA Brief
- [Why brief writers must also be historians.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/why-brief-writers-must-also-be-historians/) - In 2018 I traveled to San Francisco to lead a creative brief-writing workshop for a high-tech brand that was a member of the Association of National Advertisers. I cannot name the member, but it is a well-known brand most of you would know. I worked with a group of about 25-30 people, most of them
- [E4: Why do we need a Single-Minded Proposition?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-4-qefu6/) - Airs February 3, 2021For many creatives, the Single-Minded Proposition (SMP) is the first thing they look at when they receive a new creative brief. If it's brilliant and inspiring, creatives are happy. If not, and they'll complain. The Brief Brothers take a step back and ask, "Is this sentence or phrase necessary? If so, why?"
- [E3: When do you need to write a new creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-3-0dzsh/) - Airs January 27, 2021It's a new fiscal year, or a new season, and it's time to create a new campaign for your product or brand. Do you need to re-write the creative brief from the previous year/season? The Brief Brothers hosts Howard Ibach and Henry Gomez weigh in. Creative Review: IKEA's print campaign for bed
- [E2: What is the role of collaboration when you write a brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-1-7-e1-qualities-of-a-brief-writer-jeeps-new-tv-spot-x57mf-guxd2/) - Airs January 20, 2021In many ad agencies, the creative brief is written by the strategist. In many in-house ad agencies, there is no strategist. In this situation, who should write the creative brief? Howard Ibach and Henry Gomez, hosts of The Brief Brothers, debate the role of collaboration when writing a creative brief. Read "Briefing
- [E1: Qualities of a brief writer, Jeep’s new TV spot.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-1-7-e1-qualities-of-a-brief-writer-jeeps-new-tv-spot-4q0i4/) - Airs January 13, 2021The Brief Bros. kick off their weekly podcast with a discussion about the skills brief writers need most. Then they review Jeep Wrangler 4xe’s new TV spot, Pale Blue Dot. Tune in and sign up for next week’s episode. Agency: Doner Agency.
- [E27: Paul Feldwick challenges the ad industry to think differently.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-27-9ul6k/) - Airs July 14, 2021Paul Feldwick (paulfeldwick.com) rose to Head of Planning at famed London ad agency BMP, where he worked for over 30 years. Since leaving the agency, he writes and lectures on the advertising business, and is the author of two books, "The Anatomy of Humbug: How To Think Differently About Advertising," and his
- [E24: Three common questions from workshop attendees.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-24-gzzdk/) - Airs June 23, 2021Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) teaches creative brief writing workshops for the Association of National Advertisers (ana.net). He hears many questions at his training sessions. In today's episode of the Brief Bros. Howard and fellow Brief Bros. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) address three of the most common questions Howard hears, and offer up their insights.
- [E16: Do you have enough time to write a creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-16-fhtig/) - Airs April 28, 2021Everyone complains about not having enough time. Too many brief writers don't know how to overcome this perennial problem. This week, Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) present ideas to help brief writers make sure time is on their side. Creative review: GEICO Motorcycle TV. Agency: The Martin Agency.
- [E13: Four questions to ask to make sure your creative brief is singular and inspiring.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-13-z6bf3/) - Airs April 7, 2021You've written the final draft of your brilliant creative brief. Before you brief, what can you do to make certain the brief tells the story precisely the way you want it told? Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) take you through a simple, four-step checklist to help you polish your brief.
- [E11: Disagreements about the creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-11-caezc/) - Airs March 24, 2021When brief writers find themselves in consensus about their briefs, that doesn't mean harmony. It could mean apathy, a deadly enemy of an inspiring creative brief. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) engage in a lively discussion on this episode of The Brief Bros. about constructive uses of disagreement when writing
- [E9: The importance of research](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-9-bd2ql/) - Airs March 10, 2021Brief writers, take heed! The Brief Bros. do a deep dive into the importance of research in advertising. Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) interviews his strategist partner Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) for his insights and experience in the finer points of doing one's homework. Your briefs, and your brand, will benefit. Creative Review: McDonald's Out
- [E7: Ingredients of a brilliant single-minded proposition](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-8-ushzu/) - Airs February 24, 2021Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) and Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) break down the key ingredients that all single-minded propositions are made of to explore how to write this devilishly difficult sentence in this week's episode of The Brief Bros. The Creative Review looks at a short film by Area 23 and Roof Studio for Insmed's
- [E5: Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist, on Creating Personas.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-5-vfkzy/) - Airs February 10, 2021Tom Fishburne is the Marketoonist, a brilliant and thoughtful critic of the advertising and marketing industries. In his latest cartoon and blog post, on Creating Personas (https://marketoonist.com/2020/12/creating-personas.html), Henry Gomez and Howard Ibach, hosts of The Brief Brothers, discuss Tom's astute commentary of these sometimes valuable but sometimes trivial exercises called Personas, and
- [Super Bowl Special](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/super-bowl-special-loejb/) - Airs February 8, 2021The Brief Bros.'s first Super Bowl Creative Review! Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) share their thoughts about 10 Super Bowl spots from Sunday's big game. We broke it down by quarter (ours, not the game's): 1st Quarter Howard best: “Alexa’s Body” (Lucky Generals) Henry Worst: Mercari “Get Your Unused Things
- [E26: The sorry state of advertising training](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-26-p6maf/) - Airs July 7, 2021Ad agencies used to be the sacred halls of training for copywriters, art directors, account people and planners. That was then. Today, the duties have fallen to undergraduate and graduate schools. Agencies have abandoned their once vaulted place as inculcators of advertising wisdom. In today's episode of The Brief Bros., Henry Gomez
- [E25: "No idea needed. Is execution-based advertising here to stay?" We respond to Thomas Braun.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-25-tk3md/) - Airs June 30, 2021Which are better ads: execution based or idea based? Is the argument even valid? Are these the only kinds of ads? Germany-based marketing consultant Thomas Braun wrote a lengthy commentary on LinkedIn on June 9 presenting his argument. Read it here: (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/idea-needed-execution-based-advertising-here-stay-thomas-braun/). Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) address Thomas's commentary
- [E23:  When a brief gives you grief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-23-do7m9/) - Airs June 16, 2021The title of this week's episode of The Brief Bros. comes from an opinion piece on WARC, the World Advertising Research Council, by a planner named Mike Teasdale, director at Left-Handed Planning in London (https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/opinion/when_the_brief_gives_you_grief/3096). In it, he captures with cleverness and clarity many examples, with brilliantly coined nicknames, of poorly written
- [E22:  Lance Saunders on why the briefing is as important as the brief itself.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-22-7wgtl/) - Airs June 9, 2021In a special "extra" episode of The Brief Bros. with former DDB president and COO Lance Saunders (see E20 for complete first discussion), hosts Henry Gomez (http:henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) address the topic of The Briefing. Often overlooked or given second-class status, The Briefing deserves closer inspection and more attention. As
- [E21:  Questions creatives should ask a brief writer about the creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-21-4rows/) - Airs June 2, 2021Before creatives receive a briefing on a finished creative brief, they should meet with their planner/strategist/brief writer to review the document and ask a few questions. The objective is to make sure you and your brief writer are simpatico on the brief. In this week's episode, Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) suggests six questions
- [E20:  Special guest Lance Saunders discusses creative briefs, brief training, and the ad industry.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-20-yjsra/) - Airs May 26, 2021The Brief Bros. celebrates our 20th episode! Today, we welcome former DDB Canada COO Lance Saunders. Lance's background includes strategy and leadership roles at Leo Burnett and Campbell Mithun. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (hppts://howardibach.com) talk with Lance about the sorry state of training for planners and strategists in today's ad
- [E19:  An agency strategist does more than write briefs.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-19-z7ari/) - Airs May 19, 2021The most visible job an ad agency strategist tackles is to write a creative brief for a new project or pitch. But the strategist's role involves more than brief writing. In today's episode of The Brief Bros., I challenged my friend and Brief Bros. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) to create a list of
- [E18: Special guest Vivek Kuchibhotla shares his new approach to creative briefs and creative ideas.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-18-8p5yr/) - Airs May 12, 2021The Brief Bros. welcomes our first guest, the founder and president of BFC Ideas and our friend, Vivek Kuchibhotla (https://bfcideas.com). Vivek is a veteran brand and account management executive who now trains advertising agency professionals in breakthrough techniques on developing creative ideas. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) engage Vivek in
- [E17: Should you write your creative brief in first-person "I"?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-17-4rbuk/) - Airs May 5, 2021There are compelling reasons to write a creative brief in first-person "I." When does it make sense and when should you stick to old-fashioned third person? This week, Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) offer their best arguments for each side. Creative review: Airbnb television.
- [E15: Multicultural creative briefs, Pt. 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-15-4eyed/) - Airs April 21, 2021Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) continue the discussion about multicultural creative briefs in this week's episode of The Brief Bros. Creative review: Diesel in-house television spot, agency DoBeDo, director Johnny DuFort.
- [E14: Multicultural creative briefs, Pt. 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-14-f2hvz/) - Airs April 14, 2021Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) breaks down the macro and micro factors relevant to multicultural brief writers in this week's episode of The Brief Bros. Join him and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) as they explore what brief writers need to remember when they work on Hispanic accounts. Creative review: Terminix television campaign. Agency: The Martin
- [E12: How long should your creative brief be?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-12-uzcud/) - Airs March 31, 2021The snarky answer is, as long as it needs to be. But the Brief Bros. will give you a more exact answer, and it may surprise you. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) bring their experience and insights to bear on the subject. Creative Review: Billboards for Orange County Animal Services.
- [E10: Evaluating creative](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-10-saok5/) - Airs March 17, 2021Don't file away your creative brief once your creative department has completed its work. The brief is the singular measuring stick in determining if the creative work is on brief or off brief. The Brief Bros. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) share their insights on how to use the brief
- [E8: Target audience](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-7-dyj5g-hlqa3/) - Airs March 3, 2021Why do brief writers want to cast their net so wide when figuring out who the customer is for their brand? It's a natural inclination, but as Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) says, "It's rife with chaos." Watch Henry and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) on The Brief Bros. as they discuss strategies for avoiding the
- [E6: The Brand Promise](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-6-osudg/) - Airs February 17, 2021What is Brand Promise? Why is it important? Why is it so hard to articulate? And why do so many marketers not know what it is, even for their own brand? Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) offer up their thoughts on this important topic in today's episode of The Brief
- [E45: Questions about the single-minded proposition.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-45-t1y6h/) - Airs December 15, 2021A Brief Bros. fan and student at London’s School of Communication Arts, Terry Eeles, sent us four challenging questions about the single-minded proposition. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) plunged in where angels fear to tread. Creative Review: New OOH for a major brand. But we’re keeping the brand hidden because
- [E44: Special guest Marc Lewis, dean of the School of Communication Arts, London](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-44-lygww/) - Airs December 8, 2021Marc Lewis (https://schoolcommunicationarts.com/) is a teaching dynamo: passionate, experienced, committed. He leads an impressive staff of industry teachers in the most awarded and saluted school for advertising creatives on the planet. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) welcome Marc to The Brief Bros. We talk advertising, creative, single-minded proposition, selling, the
- [E40:  A salute to the great Cliff Freeman](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-40-hicbe/) - Airs October 27, 2021Cliff Freeman passed in September, but Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) offer up this belated remembrance of the fertile brain of this ad legend. Today's episode doubles as a creative review, and Howard and Henry talk about spots by Freeman for Wendy's and Almond Joy and Mounds candy bars.
- [E39:  Special guest Gregg Benedikt talks about his "Oh, brilliant advertising, how I miss you so."](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-39-pvxit/) - Airs October 20, 2021The originator of LinkedIn's wildly popular "Oh, brilliant advertising, how I miss you so," Gregg Benedikt, joins Henry Gomez (http:henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) on The Brief Bros. to talk about his love of advertising and what he thinks about the state of advertising creative. Join us!
- [E38:  Charles Wigley talks about planning, creativity and his BBH Labs blog post.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-38-oadmf/) - Airs October 13, 2021The great and powerful strategist Charles Wigley joins Howard Ibach (howardibach.com) and Henry Gomez (henrylouisgomez.com) to talk about briefs, creativity, advertising and his "Chaz's 100 things a planner should know" blog post for BBH Labs (https://www.bbh-labs.com/chazs-100-things-a-planner-should-know/).
- [SPECIAL — E7: Ingredients of a brilliant single-minded proposition](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/rebroadcast-episode-7-euvpc/) - Airs October 6, 2021SPECIAL: Another popular episode, first aired on February 24, 2021.Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) and Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) break down the key ingredients that all single-minded propositions are made of to explore how to write this devilishly difficult sentence in this week's episode of The Brief Bros. The Creative Review looks at a short
- [E37:  Dave Trott on advertising's Golden Age](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-37-atqlh/) - Airs September 29, 2021Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) react to the brilliant and always insightful author and creative director Dave Trott, who shares his wisdom in a 40 minute virtual presentation he made in August 2021 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7fn-aHmiE0). Creative review: New :15 TV spot for Hefty.
- [E36: What can ad agencies learn from Pixar Animation?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-36-pblo8/) - Airs September 22, 2021Ed Catmull's 2014 book, "Creativity, Inc: Overcoming The Unseen Forces That Stand In The Way Of True Inspiration" offers valuable lessons for ad professionals and ad agencies about how to nurture a creative culture. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) address three ideas from Catmull's book and take them out for
- [SPECIAL — E4: Why do we need a Single-Minded Proposition?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/rebroadcast-episode-4-fgevw/) - Airs September 15, 2021SPECIAL: Our most popular episode, aired on February 3, 2021.For many creatives, the Single-Minded Proposition (SMP) is the first thing they look at when they receive a new creative brief. If it's brilliant and inspiring, creatives are happy. If not, and they'll complain. The Brief Brothers take a step back and ask,
- [E35: Parallels between screen writing and brief writing](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-35-0cdav/) - Airs September 8, 2021A great, inspiring creative brief is by definition a great, inspiring story. And every story requires the writer to follow specific rules. In today's episode, Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) share insights from Glenn Gers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL0atQFZzL8) about writing for the movies. The parallels are remarkable, and serve as a fresh
- [E34: Chaz's 100 Things A Planner Should Know, part 2](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-34-akmx8/) - Airs September 1, 2021Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) return to Chaz Wigley's wisdom-filled blog post to examine and share more of his thinking about advertising, strategy, and brands. We only scratched the surface. Henry referenced a speech by Jeanie Caggiano, EVP/Executive Creative Director/Leo Burnett, worth reading: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/we-need-more-diversity-our-jeanie-caggiano/. Creative Review: New TV from Avanti
- [E33: Special guest David Moore: copywriter, creative director, former ad agency president.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-33-tllmi/) - Airs August 25, 2021Our first guest from the world of creative: David Moore, copywriter, creative director and former ad agency president. David joins us on The Brief Bros. to discuss his fascination with ad agencies who advertise themselves, examples of which he posts on LinkedIn and which we share in this episode. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com)
- [E32: What is an advertising "idea"?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-32-8g6wf/) - Airs August 18, 2021A quick perusal of LinkedIn reveals pundits aplenty bemoaning the state of advertising today. Chief among the complaints is, Where are the great ideas? These pundits bring back brands from yesteryear as examples of great work unmatched by today's creative agencies. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) grapple with this thorny
- [E31: Questions from our viewers](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-31-8qdm1/) - Airs August 11, 2021Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) take questions from their loyal viewers, all 12 of them. From basic to nuanced, the questions give the The Brief Bros. the opportunity to share their thoughts about solving everyday headaches we all face. Creative review: Two new :30s by Allstate. Agency: Droga5
- [E30: Planning for failure.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-30-fbpg9/) - Airs August 4, 2021What does it say about a brand's marketing team when they plan for multiple rounds of creative review? When they plan to be disappointed in the first, second or third rounds? In today's episode, Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) ponder this frustrating situation and discuss its causes, implications and solutions.
- [E29: BBH Asia's Chaz Wigley's 100 things a planner should know](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-29-nktep/) - Airs July 28, 2021If you work in Adland—planner, creative, account, newbie or veteran—BBH Asia's Chaz Wigley's "Chaz's 100 things a planner should know" is as good a primer as you can find for free. Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) dip their toes in the deep waters of Chaz's brain and comment on three
- [E28: Do we still need the creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-28-rofzq/) - Airs July 21, 2021Six months into our video podcast, The Brief Bros., Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) ask: What have we learned? Do we still need a creative brief? Reviewing comments from our guests and our own lively conversations since January, we have some thoughts that may surprise you. Our Creative Review does
- [E46: Back to creative brief basics](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-46-tsaoy/) - Airs December 22, 2021Inspired by our fellow creative brief aficionado Faris Yacob (https://geniussteals.co), Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) discuss two brief basics: designing the creative brief, and when it might make sense to ignore the brief template. Creative Review: We get nostalgic a couple days before Christmas and discuss two classic holiday spots
- [E43: What's the first question on your creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-43-kiua8/) - Airs December 1, 2021This week's episode of the Brief Bros. returns to basics: What does your creative brief ask first? Why is this first question so important? Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) offer their ideas and rationale. Creative review: New TV spot from Fisher Price toys by Weiden + Kennedy.
- [THANKSGIVING SPECIAL — Bob Hoffman redux](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/bob-hoffman-redux-llfzc/) - Airs November 24, 2021WE LOVED HIM, AND SO DID YOU. NOW HE’S BACK! Join us as we re-broadcast our episode with Bob Hoffman.He tells it like it is and pulls no punches. Bob Hoffman (https://www.bobhoffmanswebsite.com/), the Ad Contrarian blogger, former agency CEO, author of five books on advertising and a regular essayist on LinkedIn, joins
- [SPECIAL — E1: The Brief Brothers talk about creative brief writing skills](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/rebroadcast-episode-1-tquyh/) - Airs November 17, 2021WE CELEBRATE 10 MONTHS OF THE BRIEF BROS. Join us as we re-broadcast our debut episode from January 12, 2021.What makes a brilliant, inspiring creative brief writer? Howard Ibach (https://www.howardibach.com) and Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com), hosts of the weekly podcast The Brief Brothers, bring their considerable experience to answer this question. Then they
- [E42: Special guest Bob Hoffman, the Ad Contrarian, talks about briefs and advertising](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-42-ixbml/) - Airs November 10, 2021He tells it like it is and pulls no punches. Bob Hoffman (https://www.bobhoffmanswebsite.com/), the Ad Contrarian blogger, former agency CEO, author of five books on advertising and a regular essayist on LinkedIn, joins Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) on The Brief Bros. to share his laser-sharp thinking about The Three-Word
- [E41:  BetterBriefs Project's Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler talk about their shocking survey.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-41-dtuwn/) - Airs November 3, 2021Approximately US$80 billion in marketing spend is wasted each year due to poor briefs. That's one-third of the marketing spend in the US. The BetterBriefs Project (betterbriefs.com) surveyed marketers and creative agencies in the US, UK, and Australia and uncovered frightening gaps between what marketers think about their briefs to agencies, and
- [E65: A conversation with Reid Holmes, ECD IWCO Direct](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-65-6cyez/) - Airs May 11, 2022Reid Holmes is a master brand builder and award-winning writer and creative director. He’s also at work on a book titled Brand Gratitude.Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) caught up with Reid and talked at length about his work at Campbell Mithun on the H&R Block campaign Reid originated called “You
- [E64: A conversation with Chuck Abrams, CEO/CD at Virtual Creative Inc.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-64-rle7d/) - Airs May 4, 2022We talk to Chuck Abrams, founder of Virtual Creative Inc., now in the hinterlands of northwest Wisconsin, formerly in the Twin Cities.Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) explore the challenges and opportunities of the small, virtual ad agency, which Chuck and his wife Carol have steered through more than two decades
- [E63: The Brief Bros. write a creative brief, Prologue](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-63-ti2kg/) - Airs April 27, 2022With a little help from the students in Mark Jenson's Ad Strategy and Creative Development class at the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) explore two brand problems and one brand opportunity.Then they’ll choose one brand and together, they’ll write a
- [The return of Bob Hoffman, the ad contrarian](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-return-of-bob-hoffman-6u3hz/) - Airs April 20, 2022In November 2021, Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and I (https://howardibach.com) had a wide-ranging conversation with Bob Hoffman, the famous blog weasel and ad contrarian. We covered his “three word creative brief,” Bob’s thoughts on the state of the ad business, and much more. It’s our most viewed and most popular episode of The
- [E62: A conversation with Jason Fox, a.k.a. Lee Clow's Beard (Copy)](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-62-ehz3t-4muwd/) - Airs April 13, 2022In 2009, he sprang onto the Twitter stage impersonating one of advertising’s most iconic creatives, and dubbed himself Lee Clow’s Beard. He fooled even Clow’s closest colleagues. Today his identity is well known. Jason Fox is author of almost 3,000 tweets as Lee Clow’s Beard, plus an e-book collection of his earliest
- [E60: A conversation with author and copywriter Dan Nelken](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-60-9by8j/) - Airs March 30, 2022Dan Nelken’s new book, A Self-Help Guide For Copywriters: A Resource for Writing Headlines, is a must-read for junior and veteran ad writers alike. Art directors will benefit too.His story is fascinating, and in this episode of The Brief Bros., Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and I (https://howardibach.com) quiz him about his book’s genesis
- [E59: Mick Jagger's letter to Andy Warhol. It's not a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-59-xz8ke/) - Airs March 23, 2022It’s a famous letter between two iconic 20th century artists: Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and Andy Warhol. But is it, as some purport, an example of a great creative brief?The letter is an acknowledgement of an assignment. Mick hired Andy to design the album cover for the Stones’s 1969 hits
- [E58: A conversation with Kirstin Currie, Head of Marketing at Appliances Connection.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-58-799pu/) - Airs March 16, 2022Kirstin Currie (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstincurrie/) has had a long and productive career on the ad agency and client sides of the marketing world, including almost 15 years of marketing leadership for Best Buy in Minneapolis. I met her in 2003 when we worked together on the four loyalty programs for British Airways NA at
- [E57: On the road with Faris Yakob, co-founder of Genius Steals.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-57-mqwuq/) - Airs March 9, 2022Faris Yakob is a writer, thinker, teacher and an internationally recognized advocate for the creative brief. He is also half of Genius Steals with his wife Rosie. Together, they are a nomadic creative and strategic consultancy who travel with world.In this episode of The Brief Bros., Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and I (https://howardibach.com)
- [E56: A conversation with Sean Duffy, CEO of Duffy Agency, Boston and Sweden](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-56-htbum/) - Airs March 2, 2022Sean Duffy, a former copywriter, is an advertising agency founder and CEO. His Duffy Agency serves international brands and his new book, International Brand Strategy: A Guide to Achieving International Brand Growth, is a primer for any brand that hopes to break into foreign markets.In this episode of The Brief Bros., Henry
- [E52: A conversation with Cameron Day](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-52-neog0/) - Airs February 2, 2022Cameron Day, son of the late Guy Day, of Chiat\Day acclaim, joins us today on The Brief Bros. He is the author of a fascinating and resonating guidebook for young creatives who aspire to a career in Adland. It’s called Chew With Your Mind Open: The Advertising Survival Guide.Cameron’s book is a
- [E51: A conversation with Luke Sullivan](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-51-zffnr/) - Airs January 26, 2022The author of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide To Creating Great Advertising is now in its 6th edition. Its author, Luke Sullivan, joins Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) to talk about the industry, creative briefs, getting a start in advertising and more.
- [E50: A conversation with Dave Dye, art director, creative director, agency founder](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-50-2ay78/) - Airs January 19, 2022Joining us from London, advertising legend and all-around sage and gentleman, Dave Dye (https://davedye.com) shares his wisdom and experience on advertising, brands, the frustrations of the business, creative briefs, and more.Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) kick off Year Two of The Brief Bros.
- [E62: A conversation with Jason Fox, a.k.a. Lee Clow's Beard](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-62-pxncm/) - Airs April 13, 2022In 2009, he sprang onto the Twitter stage impersonating one of advertising’s most iconic creatives, and dubbed himself Lee Clow’s Beard. He fooled even Clow’s closest colleagues. Today his identity is well known. Jason Fox is author of almost 3,000 tweets as Lee Clow’s Beard, plus an e-book collection of his earliest
- [E61: A conversation with Tim Leake, Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at RPA.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-61-sidjc/) - Airs April 6, 2022For the last eight years, Tim Leake has been the Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at Rubin Postaer and Associates in Santa Monica, CA.He’s brought some astute thinking to RPA. In this episode of The Brief Bros., Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and I (https://howardibach.com) talk to Tim about the time pressures we all
- [E55: A conversation with Claire Hassid, rule-breaker extraordinaire.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-55-xtskz/) - Airs February 23, 2022I met Claire Hassid four years ago when I was researching my book, “How To Write A Single-Minded Proposition.” Claire was perhaps my third interview. Her insights into the insights of the SMP gave my book its purpose and direction.In this episode of The Brief Bros., Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and I (https://howardibach.com)
- [E54: A conversation with George Tannenbaum, and a surprise announcement!](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-54-spz6k/) - Airs February 16, 2022Be sure to listen to our entire episode with George Tannenbaum, copywriter, strategic thinker, owner of GeorgeCo. LLC, a Delaware company. He gave us a scoop!Today at the age of…whatever…George is in a place he never expected, but, by his own admission, he never would leave. George joins Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and
- [E53: A conversation with Richard L. Gant, CEO and Chief Experiential Officer, RL Gant Group](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-53-llqmb/) - Airs February 9, 2022Educator, entrepreneur, agency owner, Richard L. Gant, CEO and Chief Experiential Officer of RL Gant Group, joins us today on The Brief Bros.Richard contributed valuable insights to Howard’s book “How To Write A Single-Minded Proposition.” He shares his thoughts on the proposition and the challenges of writing great briefs.Don’t miss this fascinating
- [E49: How to avoid the 11th hour veto of the creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-49-d1fjq/) - Airs January 12, 2022Anyone in the advertising business knows about this inevitable situation: Your brief has been handed off to your creative partner, and then the key stakeholder on the client side finds a reason to object to the brief. The project comes to a standstill. The brief must be reviewed or re-written.How do you
- [E48: How to use humor when writing a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-48-2xxpx/) - Airs January 5, 2022Humor is a time-tested technique in advertising. But when do you use it in a creative brief?Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) share examples of humor in great briefs and talk about why it works and when it’s relevant. Creative Review: A look at the four-minute short by Chevrolet for its
- [E47: New Year's Creative Brief Resolutions](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-47-wvscn/) - Airs December 29, 2021Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://howardibach.com) share a few resolutions to help creative brief writers improve their skills in 2022. Shout-outs to our friends Paul Feldwick (http://paulfeldwick.com) and Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler (https://www.betterbriefs.com).Creative Review: Henry and I return to the Heinz OOH work we presented two weeks ago from
- [E70: A conversation with Andy Nairn](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-70-pxlho/) - Airs June 15, 2022Andy Nairn is the author of an insightful and valuable new book, Go Luck Yourself: 40 Ways To Stack The Odds In Your Brand’s Favour.He’s also the founding partner of London’s Lucky Generals, whose clients include Amazon and Virgin Atlantic.Henry Gomez (http://www.henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://creativebriefworkshops.com) quiz Andy on his thinking about
- [E71: A conversation with Russell Davies, former strategist at W+K and Nike.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-71-guvxg/) - Airs June 22, 2022Russell Davies was Strategic Planning Director at Weiden+Kennedy in Portland and Global Consumer Planning Director at Nike. For nine years, he was a contributing editor and columnist at WIRED magazine. Today, he’s CMO at an energy start-up in London called Bulb.Henry Gomez (http://www.henrylouisgomez.com) and Howard Ibach (https://creativebriefworkshops.com) had a wide-ranging conversation about
- [E72: A conversation with Mark Jenson, lecturer, Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-72-rdwny/) - Airs June 29, 2022Mark Jenson is an old friend. I’ve been making virtual guest appearances to speak to his advertising students since 2018. He teaches at the University of Minnesota.Mark was instrumental in facilitating Henry and me in our recent multi-episode project to write a creative brief on The Brief Bros for Hulu.Since Henry and
- [E73: Winning a Lion at Cannes 2022](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-73-j0ctd/) - Airs July 6, 2022Today we celebrate my friend, partner and co-host of The Brief Bros., Henry Gomez, who went to Cannes this year with his colleagues from Zubi Advertising in Miami and won a Silver Lion for work the agency produced for Burger King.In this episode, Henry takes us on the wild but ultimately joy-filled
- [E74: Creative Review—2022 Cannes Winners](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-74-vob92/) - Airs July 13, 2022Week Two of Cannes 2022, Henry Gomez’s (http://www.henrylouisgomez.com) continuing adventures. This week, he and I review four Cannes winners.They are: “Super Human,” Grand Prix winner, Film by 4Creative London/Somesuch London. “Detectives” for Apple, Gold Lion, Film, by O Positive LLC Santa Monica, CA. “Liquid Billboard” for Adidas, Grand Prix, Outdoor, by Havas
- [E75: Why do brief writers struggle writing a target audience description?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-75-jwq6m/) - Airs July 20, 2022This week, Henry Gomez (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and I return to Creative Brief Basics, a “nuts and bolts” topic. It’s old news that never gets old: Target Audience.Some brief writers forget how to dig to understand who their communication is meant to speak to. The lazy answer sometimes is, “Well, everyone.”Everyone needs a _______.
- [E76: One team or multiple teams—who gets briefed in?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-76-qkc0m/) - Airs July 27, 2022A recent guest on TBB, Mark Jenson, lecturer at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the U of Minnesota, recommended a book called Rethink the Business of Creativity. Henry Gomez and I discuss a chapter from a book about how many creative teams at an advertising agency should be
- [E77: Why do marketers hate marketing?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-77-6ffa9/) - Airs August 3, 2022Two thought pieces caught our attention this week. The first is by John Long titled “What’s with all the advertising leaders hating on advertising?” The other is by our friend George Tannenbaum called “Ding-Dongs of Doom” on his blog.Each essay has its own argument, but Henry Gomez and I found some common
- [E78: Classics Creative Review](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-78-nvbdj/) - Airs August 10, 2022Our ongoing series of Classics Creative Reviews continues this week with some, well, classics.Henry and I begin our Classics review with a 1983 spot for the Yellow Pages by Abbot Mead Vicar in the UK. Next up is a Dancer Fitzgerald Sample classic for Wendy’s called Where’s the beef? Remember that one?Lastly,
- [E79: A conversation with Giles Edwards, co-founder of Gasp!](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-79-u6q4i/) - Airs August 17, 2022Henry Gomez and I welcome Giles Edwards from the UK, creative director and co-founder of Gasp! Giles is also the host of a podcast called Call To Action.Giles interviews creative talent on his podcast, but today, he’s our guest. He discusses his beginnings, the challenges of starting his own agency, and what
- [E66: A conversation with Tim Holmes, Marketing Director at Land O'Lakes](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-65-ddes3-jwsgw/) - Airs May 18, 2022Brief writers and agency account people, pay attention! Wisdom and good advice fill this episode!An old friend, trusted colleague and fellow devotee of good creative briefs, Tim Holmes is now Marketing Director at Land O’Lakes in Minneapolis.His career spans long service in the agency world, including Campbell Mithun and Martin Williams. He
- [E82: Another Classics Creative Review](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-82-4h4ys/) - Airs September 7, 2022This week, Henry Gomez and I return to Classics Creative Review with three television spots on The Drum’s list: World’s Best Ads of All Time, based on a reader survey.We start with a spot from Thailand called “Smoking Kid” by Ogilvy for the Thai Health Promotion Board.Next up is our review of
- [E86: A conversation with Steve Harrison](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-86-mdnvg/) - Airs October 5, 2022This week, Henry Gomez and I take great pride in welcoming Steve Harrison, author of Can’t Sell Won’t Sell, a sober and compelling argument against the ad industry’s sad slide into prizing social justice over selling.Steve has earned his bona fides as a creative thinker and leader, having won a pile of
- [E89: A closer look at brand tones](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-89-u8jgu/) - Airs October 26, 2022Henry Gomez and I tackle another “nuts and bolts” creative brief topic: brand tone of voice.I have often said in my workshops that if any part of a brief can be cut and pasted from another brief, the “tone of voice” may be a candidate. The brand tone should be the same
- [E90: This nebulous thing called “strategy.”](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-90-ypyb0/) - Airs November 2, 2022What comes before the creative brief? Strategy. And what, exactly, is strategy? Good question. The answer is debatable.Henry Gomez and I usually talk about the elements of a creative brief. It’s a document that comes after the strategy has been articulated. All too often, the brief is written without a clear strategy,
- [E93: A conversation with Paul MacFarlane.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-93-n2n2z/) - Airs November 23, 2022Henry Gomez and I welcome one of our more devoted viewers and fans, Paul MacFarlane. He’s also a fellow traveler committed to writing and advocating for great creative briefs. His work as a creative director and brand strategist for his own company, The 1101 Experiment, demonstrates how he puts walks the walk.Paul
- [E80: A conversation with Charlotte Mair, founder/managing director, The Fitting Room](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-80-x7i6r/) - Airs August 24, 2022Henry Gomez and I welcome Charlotte Mair, named by Ad Age as one of the Leading Women Europe 2021. She is the founder and managing director of her own cultural marketing agency, The Fitting Room. Charlotte’s story will resonate with American viewers. She started with virtually nothing in her bank account, and
- [E81: A conversation with Gary Goldsmith, Department Chair, Creative Direction, ArtCenter College of Design.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-81-3hqsk/) - Airs August 31, 2022This week, Henry Gomez and I are joined by an industry veteran and legend, Gary Goldsmith. Today he is the Department Chair of Creative Direction for ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. But his resume includes stints as creative director at DDB and TBWA\Chiat\Day, as well as chairman and CCO of Goldsmith/Jeffrey
- [E83: Reviewing a creative brief by Crispin Porter Bogusky](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-83-qg4en/) - Airs September 14, 2022This week, Henry Gomez and I try something new and different: we share with you a real creative brief by a real ad agency. So we review both the brief itself and one TV spot that came from the brief.The agency is Crispin Porter Bogusky, a powerhouse creative shop whose work for
- [E84: A lively conversation with Professor Mark Ritson.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-84-jp3ap/) - Airs September 21, 2022This week, Henry Gomez and I are joined by a luminary in the field of marketing: Professor Mark Ritson. Professor Ritson has earned a well-deserved reputation for pulling no punches in his commentary on and assessment of marketers and their brand management.Henry is an alum of the two wildly popular and well-attended
- [E85: A  conversation with Tim Brunelle, who could be a third Brief Bros.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-85-wrdox/) - Airs September 28, 2022This week, Henry Gomez and I are joined by another great creative from the Twin Cities, Tim Brunelle. Tim is a writer, creative director, strategist, leader and a fellow advocate for creative briefs.Tim came to our attention from our friend Mark Jenson, lecturer at the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism
- [E87: A review of two student creative briefs.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-87-hz7kb/) - Airs October 12, 2022Henry Gomez and I try something new—again—in this week’s episode of #thebrierbros. We share with you two creative briefs written by a student for class project. This brief writer is now a working professional strategist and (full disclosure) I have used both of these briefs in my creative brief workshops.Henry and I
- [E88: Classic Creative Review](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-88-iyd23/) - Airs October 19, 2022Henry Gomez and I take you back in time once again to review three classic television spots. First up is called “Stunt City” by Lowe London for Sure anti-perspirant. Next, a Fallon TV spot for John Lewis called “Monty the Penguin.”Finally, a spot called “The Epic Split” for Volvo Trucks by Forsman
- [E91: A conversation with Patricia Yanez from ESPN.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-91-xjwz1/) - Airs November 9, 2022Henry Gomez and I welcome Patricia Yanez, Associate Director, Brand & Original Content Marketing at ESPN. Patricia came to my attention through our friend Professor Richard L. Gant at NYU, a past guest on #thebriefbros. Patricia gave a talk to Professor Gant’s Event Marketing & Strategies class. Turns out, Patricia is a
- [E92: The return of Bob Hoffman.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-92-x2vgd/) - Airs November 16, 2022Henry Gomez and I welcome our friend Bob Hoffman, whose new book Adscam: How Online Advertising Gave Birth to One of History’s Greatest Frauds, and Became a Threat to Democracy is the theme of today’s episode. Bob is the first guest to make a return visit to The Brief Bros.The title of
- [E94: Creative Review—Northern Tool + Equipment](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-94-ffmsm/) - Airs November 30, 2022Henry Gomez and I bring you another Creative Review this week. Our aim with these Reviews is to focus on real products. Northern Tool + Equipment fits the bill perfectly. NT+E is one of the nation’s leading retailers of high-quality tools and equipment for professionals and DIYers.Today we discuss and dissect three
- [E95: A conversation with Leticia Rita, co-founder, HolaBrief.com](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-95-xosex/) - Airs December 7, 2022Henry Gomez and I welcome Leticia Rita, co-founder of an online creative brief platform called HolaBrief.com. It’s a free customizable briefing template designed for small to medium-sized agencies, design firms and start-ups.Leticia, a former creative, comes to us from Spain. She felt a similar pang of frustration as I did before I
- [E98: Final Creative Review for 2022](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-98-dybio/) - Airs December 28, 2022Henry and I review two new spots for our final Creative Review of 2022. The first spot is for the latest Covid booster by Pfizer Biontech by Fierce Pharma Marketing.Spot number two is by Luck Generals, whose work we’ve reviewed before. This one is a new Christmas spot for Amazon.We like one
- [E100: Our 100th episode! Woo-hoo!](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-100-xir1q/) - Airs January 11, 2023We can hardly believe it, but Henry and I have reached 100 episodes of The Brief Bros. Almost two years of weekly jawing about creative briefs and chatting up guests. Plus the occasional creative review.Today, Henry and I share our thoughts about what we’ve accomplished in the past couple years and bring
- [E101: A conversation with Mara Rada, chief strategist at Feral Corp.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-101-aydzh/) - Airs January 18, 2023On our way from episode 100, we plunge ahead into our next 100 episodes! Today we bring you a fascinating conversation with Mara Rada, chief strategist at Feral Inc.In a short phrase, Mara and her team launch brands from scratch. Most of us in Adland work on existing brands. Mara loves the
- [E102: A conversation with Bob Harrison, creative director at Luckie & Company.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-102-cudoe/) - Airs January 25, 2023Bob Harrison is an old friend and colleague from my Minneapolis days. He worked for me as a copywriter when I ran the British Airways NA loyalty programs advertising business. Today, he’s a respected and award-winning creative director/writer at Luckie & Company in Birmingham, AL. And I could not be more proud.Henry
- [E96: Another conversation with Cameron Day, author of Spittin’ Chiclets.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-96-96fz4/) - Airs December 14, 2022He’s back! Our friend Cameron Day, author of The Advertising Survival Guide—Stage One: Launch and Ascent: Chew With Your Mind Open, and our guest about 10 months ago, returns for another wide-ranging and fun conversation.This time, Henry Gomez and I welcome Cam back to talk about his new book, The Advertising Survival
- [E97: A conversation with Matt Ryan, senior strategist at Popcorn](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-97-cwxdp/) - Airs December 21, 2022Matt Ryan’s official title is Sr. Director of Communication Plans, which is a fancy way of describing his role as the top strategist for Universal Resort Orlando’s in-house ad agency, Popcorn.Henry and I had a chance to talk in depth with Matt about the laudable process Popcorn developed to foster a collaborative
- [E99: What to think about before you write a brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-99-ln3pi/) - Airs January 4, 2023What should newbie and veteran brief writers alike consider before they put fingers to keyboard or pen to paper? I put this question to Henry and he gave us some valuable thought-starters. A creative brief is a thinking document, not a mindless form to fill out. Join us on this episode of
- [E103: Creative Review—McDonald’s OOH by DDB New Zealand.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/episode-103-wr82b/) - Airs February 1, 2023 Henry Gomez and I exchange our views on a new OOH campaign for McDonald’s by DDB New Zealand. We haven’t disagreed about much lately, but today we take opposing views. DDB New Zealand’s work brings a searing spotlight to the issue of advertising’s powerful role as an influencer. Henry and I
- [108: A conversation with Marc Williams, creative consultant.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/108-a-conversation-with-marc-williams-creative-consultant/) - Henry Gomez and I are delighted to welcome Marc Williams, currently a creative director/consultant, who for the last dozen years has held senior-level creative leadership positions within corporate America. Marc represents a voice we have not heard from on The Brief Bros., and he brings keen insight into the opportunities and challenges faced by creatives
- [A blank creative brief is different than a blank piece of paper.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/a-blank-creative-brief-is-different-than-a-blank-piece-of-paper/) - Writers have historically lamented the blank page, but I think this is overstated. No writer approaches the task of writing without an idea, some spark that feeds the imagination. I have been writing for 57 years, and I can promise you that only rarely did I sit in a comfortable chair with my notebook propped
- [smart car](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/smart-car/) - Paul MacFarlane has some big fun with a little vehicle. From the 1101 experiment. View smart car Brief
- [Hedo Skin Care](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/hedo-skin-care/) - How well does Paul know his audience? The brief reveals. More from the 1101 experiment. View Hedo Brief
- [Guaranteed Auto Credit](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/guaranteed-auto-credit/) - Proof that a short brief works well for a rebranding effort. By Paul MacFralane and the 1101 experiment. View Brief
- [Butterfield's Candy](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/butterfields-candy/) - Short and to the point, Paul MacFralane’s brief for Butterfield’s Candy relies on a fun insight. From the 1101 experiment. View Butterfield's Brief
- [Apple](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/apple/) - A brief brief from Paul MacFarlane at the 1101 experiment for a project he did for Apple. View Apple Brief
- [107: Anne Candido and April Martini, co-hosts of Marketing Smarts podcast.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/anne-candido-and-april-martini-co-hosts-of-marketing-smarts-podcast/) - One good turn deserves another: after joining April and Anne on their podcast recently, I invited them to join Henry Gomez and me on our podcast. Anne and April are also partners in a marketing agency called Forthright People. These are two smart and experienced brand professionals, hosts of Marketing Smarts, know their way around a
- [Six ideas on how to write better single-minded propositions.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/six-ideas-on-how-to-write-better-single-minded-propositions/) - [Published originally in December 2021, but this one never gets old.] No one wants to write a bad single-minded proposition. I get it. There’s a ton of pressure on you to not just write the damn thing, but to write a brilliant one. When everyone expects, well, Just Do It, anyone would shrivel up into
- [I had not the time to make it shorter.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/i-had-not-the-time-to-make-it-shorter/) - Writing a book is not like writing a weekly essay for a blog. This essay has a firm deadline. A book does not, or usually does not. I’ve written two textbooks, one of which has had two new editions. The second book is due for updating. But writing a textbook is nothing like writing a
- [106: The case for waiting to launch your ad career.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-case-for-waiting-to-launch-your-ad-career/) - Do you jump right from college or your portfolio program into an ad agency or client-side job? Maybe that makes good sense, but don't think you have to. Today, Henry and I talk about the advantages of waiting and doing something else before you start your career. The dividends could pay handsomely. https://youtu.be/jI-7ovrS5WI
- [105: A chat with AdWeak Editor Paul Taylor.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/105-a-chat-with-adweak-editor-paul-taylor/) - You've never seen his handsome mug before, but today's the day. Paul Taylor, aka The Adweak Editor, makes his video debut with Henry Gomez and me. It's an honor and a privilege. He's skewered us all, no matter which role we play in AdLand, because he's one of us. And now he's our guest. We
- [104: When you don't need a brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/104-when-you-dont-need-a-brief/) - I put this question to my partner and co-host, Henry Gomez, resident strategist at Zubi Advertising in Miami and he came up with some great answers. The brief is hard to write so don't think you need one for every project. Save your time and energy and be judicious about when it's time for a
- [Humane Society](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/elementor-2731/) - Student briefs deserve different criteria when we examine them. This brief, by then-student Lindsey Wehking, is for The Humane Society of the United States. This brief in well written and inspiring. The Brief Bros. devoted an episode to two briefs by Lindsey, who is now a working strategist with almost 10 years of experience. View
- [Zippo Lighters](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/zippo-lighters/) - Student briefs deserve different criteria when we examine them. This brief, by then-student Lindsey Wehking, is for Zippo Lighters. The Archive notes some simple flaws, but they are easily correctable. And more to the point, this brief in well written and inspiring. The Brief Bros. devoted an episode to two briefs by Lindsey, who is
- [the 1101 experiment](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-1101-experiment/) - the 1101 experiment is a business strategy and branding consultancy run by Paul MacFarlane. His briefs are the very definition of brief. And inspiring. Apple Candy Auto Credit Hedo Nissan smart car
- [Campbell Mithun](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/campbell-mithun/) - Mithun opened its doors in 1933 when Ralph Campbell and Ray Mithun joined forces during the Great Depression. The company was based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and they started calling themselves Campbell Mithun. In 2016, the ad agency closed its doors after 83 years of business. A consolidation of Mithun and other organizations created McCann Minneapolis.
- [Why do you tolerate four or five rounds of creative revisions?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2236-2/) - If you claim that you use a creative brief, yet you ask your creative partners to return four or five times—or more—with revised creative work, do you need me to tell you something is wrong with your creative brief? Can't you see the obvious? This is the classic definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and
- [What's the difference between a client brief and a creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2085-2/) - Follow my podcast—The Brief Bros.—on Youtube. My partner Henry Gomez and I talk about creative briefs, briefing and advertising. I argue in my creative brief writing workshops for the ANA that the best brief writers work in the ad agency world. That's where the discipline (account planning) and the document were born. Like all skill
- [To tell an authentic brand story, write an inspired creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2211-2/) - In 1989, I was a copywriter for a small business-to-business advertising agency in Milwaukee. Two facts stand out about this job. The first is that the shop did not use a creative brief. The document was not part of its day-to-day operations. I fixed that. The second relates to one of its bigger clients, an
- [To master the art of reviewing creative work, be like Spock.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2155-2/) - As a new member of the faculty of the School of Marketing for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), I will be traveling around the country leading workshops on how to write the creative brief. It is an opportunity I relish. I've recently been asked to develop a new workshop on best-practices around reviewing advertising
- [Navigate the seven C's to write an inspiring creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2336-2/) - The seven "Cs" for writing great creative briefs.
- [Five truths every creative brief writer must face.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2250-2/) - I offer these five truths about the creative brief that will help you take a successful first step of the creative process. 1. Collaborate, especially with creatives. Never write this document by yourself. How many of you remember Steve Jobs's Parable of Rocks? It bears repeating. This is Jobs speaking: “When I was a young kid
- [Complaints about the creative brief that have nothing to do with the creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2276-2/) - Complaints are often disguises. Each one is meant to hide a central truth, a truth that emerges only after you listen carefully to the rant. When the blame for some marketing shortfall lands on the creative brief, an easy target, the real culprit lies elsewhere. Here are three of my favorites: 1. The creative brief is no
- [Can you explain your brand to a six-year-old?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2087-2/) - Albert Einstein famously said, "If you can't explain it to a six-year-old, you don't understand it yourself." The "it" is, well, whatever. Fill in the blank with anything: love, time, President Donald Trump. Now I want you to substitute your brand for "it" and tell me if you can clearly and simply explain "it" to a
- [Clients big and small: Writing the creative brief is not just for your agency!](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/17-2/) - This point is a sub-set of the "who should write the brief" issue. I've encountered too many clients who don't bother providing any kind of brief to their advertising agency or creative consultants. This is a huge mistake. Writing a creative brief for your creative team puts you, the advertiser, in the driver's seat. Call
- [The oldest quote in advertising](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/18-2/) - "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." John Wanamaker I'm a bit biased, but I have to wonder if Mr. Wanamaker gave a well-written creative brief to his advertising people. If he had, he might not have gone down in ad lore
- [Happy brief writing in 2009](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/19-2/) - With the New Year just under way, it's time to make a few resolutions to keep your brief writing skills honed. First, resolve to collaborate whenever you can. Two heads are better than one. And if you enlist your creative team for ideas and feedback, you'll build team rapport not to mention instant buy-in on
- [Creatives don't need a creative brief to do their jobs](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/20-2/) - I tip my hat to friend, colleague and fellow creative Paul Rector for his astute reply to my last posting. Specifically, these words got my attention: "...the number of projects I've worked on without a brief far, far outnumbered the projects I've worked on that had one. And you know what, the work got done."
- [The top five reasons why you don't need a creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/21-2/) - 5. The freelance creative team/ad agency is brilliant. They’ll figure it out. Maybe. If you’re lucky. Or you have really deep pockets and can afford top-tier talent. But if you’re neither lucky or rich, experience tells me that very few people understand how to write a tight brief that inspires the desired results. And even
- [UK briefs versus US briefs](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/22-2/) - We're not talking boxers versus tighty-whities here. I was thinking about a critique I received after a workshop I delivered last summer. "You have too many creative brief samples from UK agencies," I was told, "and not enough from US agencies." The reason was, and is, quite simple: The best briefs are written by our
- [Three clues to spotting a poorly written creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/180-2/) - (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?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/167-2/) - 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
- [Who is your creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/161-2/) - I know what you're thinking: You forgot the preposition "for" at the end of your headline. Am I right? Yup, that's what I thought. But you're wrong. I wrote the headline exactly the way I wanted it: Who is your creative brief? Can you guess why? Here's my answer: The creative brief is the voice
- [The perfect test of your creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/154-2/) - In an earlier post, I asked and answered the question, "How do you know when you've written an inspired creative brief?" I have another thought on this subject. As a direct-response creative director and copywriter, I believe in testing the creative I produce. Test and learn is a de facto strategy. So it stands to
- [Communication professionals are lousy communicators](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/129-2/) - I've heard this complaint for my entire advertising career. Anyone in the communications business tends to be tone deaf when it comes to being his or her own best advocate. It shows. Even in the age of instant communications and social media, we (and it's a big group that fits into this we) just suck
- [Build a better box.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/120-2/) - When I began my career as a copywriter, I viewed rules the way other creatives viewed rules: with disdain. I wanted nothing to interfere with the creative process. Nothing to stand between me and a big idea. You know, the whole "live free or die" thing. It's a philosophy the young and inexperienced find especially
- [What account planners don't want you to know about the creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/115-2/) - Bless your hearts, account planners. You've changed advertising for the better. But let's be honest: Even though you gave us the tools to make creative more effective by means of insights into the consumer's minds and hearts, you suffer from some kind of -itis that compels you to fiddle with the very thing that gave
- [How do you know when you've written an inspired creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/107-2/) - Since I began writing this blog, I've focused on as many of the elements I can think of that go into writing an inspired creative brief. But I've discovered that, to my chagrin, I haven't answered perhaps the most critical question facing any brief writer: "How do I know my brief will inspire the creatives?"
- [How do you initiate changes in the way your creative brief gets written?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/100-2/) - Change is easy to talk about, harder to actually do. If part of your job includes writing creative briefs, and you're not satisfied with how you've been trained to write them. Or you just think it's time to step up the overall quality of the way briefs are written where you work, it's natural to
- [How does the creative brief reflect changes in our industry?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/90-2/) - When thought leaders—and here I refer specifically to account planners, fellow practitioners and pundits who blog, address conferences and write articles—talk about what new directions advertising is taking, they tend to speak about how consumers connect to brands. That's hardly a revelation. For example, one of the more recognized thought leaders in our industry is
- [The act of listening](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/84-2/) - I've heard many definitions of a creative brief: It's a contract between a client and its advertising agency, or between an advertiser and its creative team. It's a road map. It's a guide. They're all good definitions. But I think I heard an even better definition spoken by someone who knows more about the subject
- [Welcome to Creative Brief: The Blog](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/76-2/) - TIGHTBRIEF is now Creative Brief: The Blog. If you've been receiving a weekly email from TIGHTBRIEF, please take a moment to sign up for the same convenient service here. Or rather over there, on the right. It just made sense to migrate a blog on the creative brief to my website on the same subject.
- [One is the loneliest number](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/70-2/) - No one should ever write a creative brief alone. If you don't believe me, listen to Jon Steel, author of Truth, Lies, and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning (whom I've quoted liberally on this blog): "I can say with complete confidence that the best briefs I have ever written have really been written by
- [Another exercise you can do anywhere](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/44-2/) - Practicing your creative brief writing skills is easier than you might think. In a previous post, I suggested that you could practice writing a brief by focusing on the single-minded proposition. Simply look around you, pick something like a chair or a colleague, and figure out its essence. That's the equivalent of a single-minded proposition.
- [What President Obama might say about writing a creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/3-2/) - Whether you voted for him or not, President Obama changed the nature of campaigning in this country by doing something that anyone whose job it is to write a creative brief will understand. Barack Obama demonstrated a mastery at a public narrative that connected us to a core set of values we share about America
- [Which matters more: what a reader feels or thinks after seeing an ad?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/4-2/) - Not all creative brief templates are created equal. Some ask the question, "What do we want the target audience to think after seeing the communication?" Some ask, "What do we want the target audience to feel after seeing the communication?" Some ask a combination of both, think and feel. Some don't bother asking either question,
- [Words](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/5-2/) - I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about writing. Today, I want to talk about something more fundamental: Words. I'm a writer, so words have special meaning for me. I get hung up on words. Sometimes a single word. Because when you change even one word, what can happen? You can completely change
- [Thoughts on writing the creative brief: Target audience](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/6-2/) - Isn't this just basic information here? The place where you describe who we're talking to? Unfortunately, too often, that's as inspiring as some brief writers care to get. This is where you can allow your writing to really soar. Where you don't have to be a brilliant writer to make a brilliantly inspiring impact on
- [How do you practice writing creative briefs when you barely have time to write creative briefs?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/7-2/) - Good question. Tough question, too. It gets back to how you learned to write a brief in the first place. If you learned by doing, as I suspect most brief writers learned, the answer is, well, you practice by doing too. But that's a lame answer. There has to be a better way to sharpen
- [How versus what](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/8-2/) - Think of the creative brief as more than your way of elucidating the assignment for your creative team. Think of it as an opportunity to influence the creative results. When you do that, you realize how important your task is. And why the document deserves serious treatment. When you write an inspired creative brief, it's
- [Thoughts on writing the creative brief: the single-minded proposition](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/9-2/) - In an earlier post, I quoted John Hegarty on the subject of the brief as the first ad for a new project in the form of the proposition. Meaning the single-minded proposition (SMP). This little sentence, and it should be no more than one sentence, is perhaps the hardest group of words to write in
- [Alchemy is alive and well, if you believe](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/10-2/) - (A tip of my hat to my old friend Frank Quadflieg, EVP/Creative Growth Catalyst, at Bolin Marketing for inspiring this post.) The popular understanding of the word alchemy is the transformation from one substance, say stone, into another substance, usually gold. I'd say that's a pretty darn good definition of what a creative brief can
- [Giorgio Armani's closet](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/11-2/) - I got an email from a colleague last week with a link to examples of creative briefs from agencies all over the world. An amazing array of documents. Most asked precise questions that led to a proposition that creatives anywhere could understand. One in particular revealed its disdain for the entire process by asking only
- [Become the Joe Montana of brief writers](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/12-2/) - Here's a revealing story from Jon Steel's Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning. One of the pleasures of living in San Francisco in the 1980s and early 1990s was the opportunity to see Joe Montana play for the San Francisco 49ers. One of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Montana won four
- [Thoughts on writing the creative brief: communication objectives](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/13-2/) - "What are the communication objectives?" I've seen this question asked in a variety of ways, including "What do we need to do?", "What are we trying to achieve?", "What if..." followed by a sentence outlining desired outcomes of the creative, and "Why are we advertising?" It's a simple question. But I've seen it confused with
- [The creative brief is like an ad written for the creative team](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/14-2/) - To aid you in crystallizing your task as someone who writes the creative brief—whether you are the advertiser initiating the project with your in-house creative department, an outside creative team or your advertising agency; or you are an agency account person—here's a great analogy: The creative brief is a print ad that offers the first
- [When creatives get no creative brief I just want to hurl!](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/15-2/) - This is a personal rant. Whenever I'm part of a project where the creatives are handed some documents at a background meeting and it's called a "briefing" I want to scream and pound my head against the wall. No one is fooled. It's bad enough when one team of creatives is tortured by, um, subjected
- [What does developing 35mm film have in common with a creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/16-2/) - Back in the days before digital cameras, photography buffs used a thing called 35mm film. Anyone remember it? It came on a small roll and you had to physically load it into your camera. The process required you to spool the leader onto the camera's take-up reel which had teeth on it designed to grab
- [What is a good creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/23-2/) - This is from a book published privately in 1998 entitled, What's A Good Brief? The Leo Burnett Way. A good creative brief... ...is brief and single minded ...is logical and rooted in a compelling truth ...incorporates a powerful human insight ...is compatible with the overall brand strategy ...is the result of hard work and team
- [Who should write a creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/24-2/) - None of us is as smart as all of us. I came across this Japanese proverb just recently. It's not meant as an endorsement of writing a creative brief "by committee." (You've all no doubt heard the adage: A camel is a horse put together by a committee.) I share it with you because, as
- [Who, exactly, do you write the creative brief for?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/25-2/) - I'm not being sarcastic or flip. This is a legitimate question, one that's easy to lose track of when you write a brief. And it's something I hear very often. Obviously, the holistic answer is: everyone on the team. But ultimately, the brief is written for the creative team, the creative director, writer, art director
- [Rocket science not required](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/26-2/) - Ah, the creative brief. The Rodney Dangerfield of business documents in the ad world. The document everyone loves to hate, that creatives love to ignore, that planners love to futz with, that account folks wish would just, you know, go away. It doesn’t have to be thus. So vent here. Share your successes, your horror
- [Blame the Brief: A limp ad from Viagra.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1899-2/) - Pfizer's Agency Pulls A Boner In Its Ad For ED Medication. Even professionals make mistakes. This one, um, stands head and shoulders above its competition. Is it just me, or do you, too, see the classic error? Break it down: Viagra is the brand name for a prescription medication designed to treat erectile dysfunction. Its
- [10 ideas to polish your creative briefs.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1881-2/) - As we enter the Dog Days of Summer, I offer 10 thoughts and observations as you toil on your briefs. 1. Get out of the office! Live! There is nothing more stifling to creativity than routine. Break old habits and make new scenery part of your routine. If you ever watched spy movies, remember the advice: "If
- [The proposition is dead. Long live the proposition.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1852-2/) - Thanks to relatively new research in the effectiveness of advertising, which pits fact-based information messages against emotion-based non-propositional messages, I see a unique opportunity to strengthen the creative brief in general, and the proposition in particular. No matter which side of this debate wins, and there's a decent chance that both will end up playing equal
- [The creative brief embraces both the emotional and rational support for brands.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1841-2/) - When I worked for Team One Advertising back in the late 1990s, I learned something fascinating about the material created by a group devoted exclusively to designing, writing and producing the expensive, glossy collateral for the Lexus Automobile account. These folks spent weeks and months on each brochure and I envied the copywriters. I was
- [How to recruit a creative to collaborate on writing a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1815-2/) - It never made any sense to me that an account planner or account management executive would write a creative brief on his or her own. Yet it's not uncommon. It's also a mistake, one that many ad agencies are addressing. If your agency or marketing firm is not one of them, allow me to suggest
- [How to convince your agency or in-house creative department to use a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1825-2/) - There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over. Imagine that I hand you two identical boxes that contain identical contents. One of the two boxes comes with a set of instructions to assemble the contents. The second box comes with no instructions. Suppose I told you that you had
- [5 questions transform the creative brief into a roadmap for entrepreneurs, SBOs and sole proprietors.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1775-2/) - Typically, a creative brief is a document that advertisers and ad agencies use for a specific purpose. It has a set of questions whose answers guide ad agency creatives in creating communications, from single emails to multi-media advertising campaigns, and variations in between. But this same document, slightly adjusted, has another role. Consider these scenarios: You're an entrepreneur
- [How to fix a bad creative brief, Part 2: The single-minded proposition](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1777-2/) - The single-minded proposition is like a magnet: When you brief your creative team, it's the first thing that draws their attention. They go right to this box/question and they are not afraid to judge the writer of the creative brief based solely on the answer they find. It's a harsh truth. It may not be
- [How to fix a bad creative brief, Part 1](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1765-2/) - The best way to fix a bad brief is to not write one in the first place. But stuff happens. Your first draft may be a clunker. That's why it's called a "first draft." So here is a checklist. Whether you look at it before you write a creative brief or after, keep these ideas
- [8 things that do not belong on a creative brief. Ever.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1744-2/) - A question I hear often is, "How do I know if I'm including enough information for the creative team?" It's the wrong question. I'd prefer it re-phrased: "How do I know if I'm including the right information for the creative team?" The creative brief is an exercise in reduction, so judicious editing and conciseness are the order
- [If you can't explain what a creative brief is, how can you write an inspired one?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1725-2/) - What is your definition of a good creative brief? If you work in advertising, marketing, PR or social media, and a variety of other fields, chances are you have a working answer. Here's a great answer from a book called What's a Good Brief? The Leo Burnett Way, written in 1998: "A good creative brief…
- [Ad agencies: Bad client briefs are your fault.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1705-2/) - A 3-STEP PRIMER ON IMPROVING BOTH THE CLIENT BRIEF AND THE AGENCY/CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. In April, Adweek ran a story titled, "New ANA Survey Shows the Gap Between Clients and Agencies on Issues Like Compensation and Briefs." The ANA is the Association of National Advertisers, an organization begun in 1910 with more than 650 companies, representing
- [5 classic creative brief-writing mistakes](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1665-2/) - I've read hundreds, perhaps thousands, of creative briefs in my nearly 30 years in the ad business. Certain mistakes always seem to repeat themselves. Follow this simple guide and you can avoid some of the more common ones that creative brief writers make everyday. 1. Don't forget that a creative brief must wear its passion on its sleeve. Brief
- [3 steps to avoid a creative brief that looks like a walk-in refrigerator.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1648-2/) - Ideas present themselves when you least expect them. Just recently I was reading the Los Angeles Times and came across an article entitled, "Europe's little fridges hold secret to less waste." It was a eureka moment. Having lived in Europe myself for a short time 30 years ago, I remember my own tiny fridge in
- [Rave review for 2nd edition of How To Write An Inspired Creative Brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1633-2/) - The second edition of How To Write An Inspired Creative Brief, the book Paul Suggett ranks #1 on his list "10 Advertising Books You Absolutely Must Read" has earned an equally prestigious review on his About.com page. He writes: In a nutshell, this is a book that can improve the quality of the work coming out of
- [3 reasons why creatives should never write their own creative briefs.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1611-2/) - In the late 1980s, when I was about three years into my career, I went to work for a business-to-business ad agency that did not have a creative brief as part of its process. I didn't know this when I took the job. I learned to ask the question every time I moved jobs after
- [Clients should take these 5 steps to assure an inspired creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1536-2/) - The creative brief may be the domain of the advertising agency, but the power of its inspiration begins with the client, the company doing the advertising. The creative brief, after all, is a response to the input the ad agency receives from its client. If you, as the representative of your company's branding efforts, choose to
- [What creatives can contribute to writing a creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1519-2/) - Writing a creative brief should never be a solo practice. It must be a collaborative process. This is not the same as creative-brief-by-committee, but it should be a team-assembled creation. I confess that when I was a practicing copywriter, even a young creative director, I rarely worked with the account management or account planning teams to
- [4 steps to writing an inspiring Single-Minded Proposition.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1501-2/) - [I break down the single-minded proposition to its basic elements on The Brief Bros., my video podcast. You can also follow me on Youtube.]When I was a kid back in my hometown of Milwaukee, I loved basketball. Around the age of 13 I attended a week-long basketball camp hosted by the legendary coach of the
- [Sharpen your brief writing with this two-step brain teaser](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1454-2/) - If you were a journalist, what would you read to become a better journalist? News stories. By people recognized as good journalists. If you were a writer of fiction or poetry, what would you read to become a better novelist or poet? Other novelists and poets, of course. So if you write creative briefs at your
- [The problem with the creative brief is...](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1441-2/) - Lately, I have read a number of articles about the sorry state of the creative brief in the post digital age. In one particular online post, I came across this list of reasons why the creative brief may no longer be an effective tool: "1. The world has gotten faster 2. Technology has fundamentally transformed communication 3.
- [Five reasons why you don't need a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1435-2/) - (Adapted from the second edition of How To Write An Inspired Creative Brief by Howard Ibach. Published by Juju Books, due in June 2015) I have heard these rationale spoken out loud by real, flesh-and-blood, breathing people who claimed to be alive. I suspect you have heard them too. Perhaps you have spoken them. You don't need to
- [The creative brief is like a letter to an audience of one.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1418-2/) - Creatives tend to zoom in on the single-minded proposition when the creative brief is handed out. It's our natural tendency to ask, "What's the key message?" But who we speak to is equally important. When we know who we are addressing, knowing how to craft the right message becomes easier. It falls on your shoulders
- [The creative brief as liberating constraint](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1410-2/) - Over the course of my advertising career, now in its 30th year, I have seen two kinds of creative briefs. The first is the "kitchen sink" version. The writer essentially had no idea what belonged, so everything went into it. The second version I'll call the "Client Brief 2.0," a kind of cut-and-pasting from whatever
- [The Marshmallow Challenge and trust](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1407-2/) - Last week, I wrote about the role of trust in the person who writes a creative brief. I offered a quick exercise to gauge the level of trust you possess in your organization. This week, I have a group exercise designed to build trust within a group. Many of you have likely heard about it,
- [Are you trustworthy? It's a must for a creative brief writer.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1393-2/) - I used to say that before you can write a single word on a creative brief, you need a strategy. It's time to amend that. There's an important precept that straddles the two: trust. Strategy must be in place before the brief can be written. But before you can begin the creative brief process, you,
- [Book Review: A Very Short Tour of the Mind](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1368-2/) - A Very Short Tour of the Mind: 21 short walks around the human brain By Michael C. Corballis (Overlook Duckworth, 106 pages, $17.95) The renowned essayist and teacher of literary nonfiction, Phillip Lopate of Columbia University, has said that the beauty of a personal essay is its “gift for candid, robust self-doubt.” While these
- [Warmest holiday wishes to one and all, and a Happy New Year!](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1312-2/) - This year the holidays fall desperately near my posting dates, so I will accommodate you by simply wishing you a wonderful holiday season. I will resume posting in 2013 with one proviso: I'll be cutting back from a monthly post to four, possibly six posts. But I'll maintain my schedule of posting on the third
- [Where are the writers?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1305-2/) - I wrote my first post on the subject of "words" back in 2009. I'm returning to it now because I had a thought. Every year, around this time, the trade pubs publish their lists of the best and the worst ads of the year. I pay more attention to the "worst" ads. The critics cite
- [Who writes the first ad?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1298-2/) - I was reminded of a few lines from Jon Steel's book Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning: If the creative brief is not itself creative, if it does not suggest solutions to problems, present information in an expansive and interesting way, and interpret that information with imagination and flair, then its authors
- [What brief writers can learn from the U.S. Coast Guard](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1285-2/) - I'm a huge fan of Kevin Costner. A few years ago he made a film called The Guardian, a fun action romp that also happens to pay tribute to Coast Guard rescue swimmers. I was watching the film again recently when a scene about Coast Guard training put a thought in my head regarding the
- [Hollywood announces a new reality show: The Brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1267-2/) - Hollywood, CA — May 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fans of Mad Men and The Pitch take note: there's a new kid on the block, a reality show airing in June that looks into the bowels of advertising agencies at the dramatic creation of the work behind the creative work. If you've wondered what the creative
- [What if branding isn't the primary focus of your brand?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1259-2/) - As much as I hate to admit it, some companies have more important objectives than being guardians of their own brands. This reality is especially true in the retail world, and I've worked for such companies. But even blue-chip enterprises lose track of the importance of their brand in the day-to-day chase for bottom-line results.
- [Where does the Single-Minded Proposition spring from?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1253-2/) - No two creative briefs are exactly alike, but most contain a box that asks for "communication objectives" or "reasons why we're creating this advertisement." These two mean the same thing. A brief also asks for the Single-Minded Proposition. Sometimes it's called the key proposition or the One Unique Thing. Whatever you call it in your
- [Back to basics: Features versus benefits](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1226-2/) - This is a classic mistake. It's also an easy mistake to make. Why do perfectly normal, talented and astute advertising professionals confuse features and benefits? Wow, there's a $64,000 question. I have a theory. We're moving too quickly. We're moving so quickly that we don't stop, think and reflect. We assume we know what a
- [Storytelling and the creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/296-2/) - Telling brand stories is what we do. Our clients turn to advertising professionals like us to translate the details of a brand, its attributes and advantages, into a compelling narrative that ultimately commands the loyalty of the consuming public. We, the builders of brands, tell stories. If we do it well, everyone wins. The creative
- [Twas the night before briefing](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/291-2/) - Twas the night before briefing and all through the shop Every briefer obsessed o’er the single-minded prop. Objectives and targets should be clear as a bell In hopes that creatives can conjur the sell. The A.D.s and their scribes were ensconced in their cubes Awaiting the brief. Sarcastic? No enthused! When out
- [How to write a brief that connects what we want people to think, feel and do](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/285-2/) - By Nick Southgate, Ph.D, Behavioral Economics consultant, account planner, faculty member at The School of Life in London. I first learnt how to write briefs at Ogilvy & Mather when I was a graduate trainee. The briefing form in those days began with three admirable simple questions – What do we want people to do? What
- [Why it's so important to collaborate when you write a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/278-2/) - 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](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/270-2/) - 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](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/267-2/) - 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](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/254-2/) - 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?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/242-2/) - 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](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/235-2/) - 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](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/210-2/) - 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](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/193-2/) - 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.
- [Why it's so hard to keep things simple.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-things-simple/) - I noticed this propensity for the complicated when I started teaching college composition and literature. My students, for reasons not clear to me, wrote paragraph-length sentences to express their ideas. Perhaps they wanted to impress me.They seemed to fear short sentences. Their lengthy sentences most often ended up in the ditch, having arrived there for lack of control and clarity.
- [Covid taught us humility. Jeep wasn't listening.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2020-10-8-covid-taught-us-humility-jeep-wasnt-listening/) - David Ogilvy reminded us, “Tell the truth, but make the truth fascinating.” Jeep, in its latest television spot promoting an upcoming electric version of the Wrangler 4xe, created a fascinating message, but forgot to tell the truth.In fact, truth is as far away as the image of the “pale blue dot” of the Earth they
- [Creatives have never not relied on data.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2019-7-14-creatives-have-never-not-used-data/) - I read with amusement a debate that creatives’ “intuition” and their “gut instinct” are more important than data in the creative process. This is a false argument.Creatives need to remember an ancient truth. Ideas do not arrive in a vacuum. You cannot create something from nothing. Twas ever thus.As a creative director and copywriter for
- [Creative Brief Secret Sauce: Take a break](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2019-4-22-creative-brief-secret-sauce/) - An Old School idea that remains timeless: How to come up with an idea. It’s as relevant to creative brief writers as it is to any creative person.
- [Every brief should be written in first-person singular.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2263-2/) - Turn the creative brief into a letter from your customer to the brand. The results are startling.
- [Writing a creative brief requires collaboration. So how do we define “collaboration”?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2232-2/) - Think about it: What do you mean when you say “The creative brief is a collaborative document”? What do you mean by “collaborate”? How do you define that word?If you do the following, are you collaborating? — You write a draft of the creative brief and then circulate it to key stakeholders for their
- [The dreaded "I just want a brochure" syndrome.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2091-2/) - In my travels around the country for the Association of National Advertisers teaching creative brief writing, marketers share their headaches about the document and the process. Near the top of the list: “I have trouble getting what I want so I end up just telling my ad agency/in-house design department to give me what I want.”
- [Who writes the best creative briefs?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1274-2/) - If you want the best work possible from you creative partners, learn to speak their language. That language is on display in a well-written creative brief. Produce a creative brief even half as well done as the best creative briefs that agencies write, and I promise you’ll inspire your creative partners to respond in kind.
- [SNEAK-PEEK BOOK EXCERPT](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2018-5-4-book-excerpt-from-how-to-write-a-single-minded-proposition-five-insights-on-advertisings-most-difficult-sentence-plus-two-new-approaches/) - Howard Ibach’s new graphic textbook, How To Write A Single-Minded Proposition, is available in May. Already it has received critical raves from advertising and marketing professionals everywhere. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed text, How To Write An Inspired Creative Brief 2nd edition.
- [Book excerpt: Writing the creative brief is like developing a roll of film.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2371-2/) - From How To Write An Inspired Creative Brief 2nd ed.The creative brief was designed to foster a common vocabulary, to define terms, avoid confusion, and ultimately save time and boat-loads of money.It’s a document around which we can all huddle, call signals and move down the creative field in unison. Okay, that was my first
- [Why I teach](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2364-2/) - I am both an adjunct college English instructor and a faculty member of the Association of National Advertisers' School of Marketing. The first is about teaching young adults, the second about teaching marketing professionals, from junior to senior levels. Both require that I make a real connection. Truthfully, I don't always know if or when that happens.
- [An excerpt from How To Write A Killer Single-Minded Proposition](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2349-2/) - The following is from the Introduction of the forthcoming book, How To Write A Killer Single-Minded Proposition. “You need a whole book to explain how to write one sentence?” a family member asked me. He was clueless about what I do for a living, but don’t blame him.The answer, in a word, is “Yes.”I was just
- [Why "I" is better than "we" on a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2300-2/) - After years of preaching that the creative brief is about the content, not the template, I'm about to commit heresy. I've changed my mind. But only a little. The creative brief template is just a set of questions, sometimes statements, requiring thoughtful responses. Emphasis on the word thoughtful. Now I think that is not enough.
- [Who is the real culprit behind bad creative briefs?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2294-2/) - The people who screw up the creative brief are not likely to read this essay. That's too bad. They need a serious talking to. The thing is, I don't know who they are by name, but I do know their identities by title or role within a client's organization. Notice I don't mention ad agencies. While
- [How to break the first rule of advertising](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2267-2/) - On July 19, the folks at Faktory, an ad agency in Utah, published a thought-piece on Medium.com. I liked it so much, I posted a link to my LinkedIn page. I still like it. A lot. The premise is elegant and simple: If you want people to not only remember your communication, but to break what
- [Would you like students to quote you in classroom discussions?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2187-2/) - I need your help. My new book is tentatively titled How To Write A Killer Single-Minded Proposition. It's a companion to my critically acclaimed text, How To Write An Inspired Creative Brief 2nd edition. Like my current book, this new graphic text will be a nuts and bolts examination of the single-minded proposition (SMP). It will include
- [Why brainstorming doesn't work and what creative brief writers can learn from it.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2139-2/) - Brainstorming does not work. This is old news. Dating back to the late 1950s, research shows that "all ideas are good ideas" brainstorming produces fewer ideas than if individuals are left to their own private ideations and then share and compare them in groups. Further, evidence is solid that if you do exactly the opposite
- [When your creative brief process is broken and how to fix it.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2115-2/) - Beginning writers tend to learn a lesson about plagiarism the hard way. They commit it unintentionally. They didn't mean to quote an author without giving him or her due credit, but... Unintentional plagiarism, I can attest from years of classroom experience, is the most likely kind of plagiarism a college freshman blunders into. The problem is,
- [It's better to think inside the box.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2060-2/) - 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 poorly
- [What "Finding Dory" can teach us about brand insights](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2073-2/) - 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?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2066-2/) - 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](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2031-2/) - 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](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1878-2/) - 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](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2002-2/) - 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.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1982-2/) - 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.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1957-2/) - 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.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1948-2/) - 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?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1939-2/) - 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
- [Write a killer single-minded proposition in 4 steps.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1935-2/) - [I break down the single-minded proposition to its most basic elements on The Brief Bros., my video podcast. You can also follow me on Youtube.](Re-posted from April 6, 2015: This essay is by far my most popular, most read, most Googled blog post to date. I bring it back to give you another opportunity to read it. I've
- [A trap every brief writer must avoid.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1923-2/) - Perhaps you've read this line: "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom." With apologies to its author (or authors), allow me to amend it: "Eternal vigilance is the price of an inspired creative brief." While every question on a creative brief presents opportunities for missteps, one in particular routinely gets the best of brief writers. In other
- [Why the "one-sentence creative brief" is a false idol.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2022-4-16-why-the-one-sentence-creative-brief-is-a-false-idol/) - Who writes a one-sentence creative brief?More to the point, who wants a one-sentence creative brief?I don’t. I doubt creatives want one. Not truly. Oh, I’ve read a few comments on LinkedIn promoting a one-sentence creative brief, pleading for such a creature. But has anyone ever actually read one, worked from one or possessed one they
- [Think you know what a creative brief is? Allow me to surprise you.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2022-3-29-think-you-know-what-a-creative-brief-is-allow-me-to-surprise-you/) - What’s your definition of a creative brief?If you say it’s a road map for your creative team about your product, not bad.If you call it your brand’s North Star, I’d say good answer. But I want you to think differently about the brief. Here’s a twist I’d like you to consider:A creative brief is an
- [Why are creative briefs hard to write? Because briefs are about good writing.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2022-3-29-why-are-creative-briefs-hard-to-write-because-briefs-are-about-good-writing/) - Some observations about outstanding, inspiring creative briefs.First, they are short. They fit on one page, maybe a page and a half.Second, the best ones avoid using bullet points. If they do use bullet points, said bullets are written in complete sentences. At worst, the bullets are memorable phrases.Third, these great briefs, when you find them,
- [Creatives love to complain about bad briefs. If they tried writing one they'd find out how hard it is.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2022-3-29-creatives-love-to-complain-about-bad-briefs-if-they-tried-writing-one-theyd-find-out-how-hard-it-is/) - All creatives should learn how to write a brief. It’s humbling, and will make them better readers of briefs.
- [How to prevent the 11th hour veto.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-12-28-how-to-prevent-the-11th-hour-veto/) - The creative brief writer’s bane. You’re just about to send the creative team off to begin the project, or you’re about to send your brief to the ad agency, when you get a call or an email.Stop. The brief needs work. Signed, your boss.What happened?Here are some pointers to smooth the way, brought to you
- [The creative brief is about subtraction not addition.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-12-27-the-creative-brief-is-about-subtraction-not-addition/) - As we are about to add another year to the calendar, it’s time to remind brief writers about the importance of subtraction.The creative brief, by design, by definition, is about strategic reduction. It is about stripping away excesses to arrive at the ideal essence of your brand.Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of The Little Prince, summed it
- [Ad folks get it. Consumers don't. Why the disconnect?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-12-17-ad-folks-get-it-consumers-dont-why-the-disconnect/) - I posted one of the billboards from this campaign by Rethink Canada last week on LinkedIn and asked the question, “Do you know the brand?”The result was impressive. Over 8,000 views, which for a guy who spends his time on LinkedIn talking about creative briefs, blew my mind. It didn’t go to my head, just
- [Creatives must contribute to the creative brief before the creative briefing.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-10-8-creatives-must-contribute-to-the-creative-brief-before-the-briefing/) - Well duh. But you’d be surprised how often this seemingly obvious piece of advice is never followed.I remember a workshop I delivered to an ANA member a few years ago. It was for a national paint brand. When I asked about their existing process, I was told that marketers, who typically wrote briefs for their
- [Six ideas on how to write better single-minded propositions.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-12-10-six-ideas-on-how-to-write-better-smps/) - No one wants to write a bad single-minded proposition.I get it. There’s a ton of pressure on you to not just write the damn thing, but to write a brilliant one. When everyone expects, well, Just Do It, anyone would shrivel up into a dried-out raisin.So here’s my advice.Number One: Save the SMP for the
- [What no one says about the creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-11-30-what-no-one-says-about-the-creative-brief/) - The creative brief is old school.The creative brief is dead.The creative brief inhibits creativity.The creative brief does not guarantee good creative. (This one is true.)All of these statements have popped up in the trades, on social media, in conversations, at conferences and award shows. They have been heard before.But what is the one thing no
- [Bob Hoffman was right, mostly.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-11-11-bob-hoffman-was-right-mostly-1/) - Recently, I read and commented on Bob Hoffman’s LinkedIn essay, “The Three-Word Brief.”Bob was also a guest on The Brief Bros., a videocast I co-host with Henry Gomez, VP strategist at Zubi Advertising in Miami.Bob was right. I was wrong. Well, he was mostly right, and I was mostly wrong. There’s more to it, but
- [Thoughts on how we see the world, with thanks to Ed Catmull and the "Invisible Gorilla."](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-9-18-thoughts-on-how-we-see-the-world/) - I’ve written before about the need for brief writers to have empathy. You need to have the capacity to walk a mile in the shoes of you customer. You can’t fake empathy. You can’t pretend to know someone with superficial observations, bullet-point factoids, “I read it somewhere else” research.Research is important, but empathy connects you
- [Creativity is bound by rules, like it or not.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-9-11-creativity-is-bound-by-rules-like-it-or-not/) - Two ideas from David Ogilvy, which seem to contradict one another.First:“Talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels.”Second: “Creativity needs discipline and freedom.”Are they conflicting thoughts? Has the advertising legend contradicted himself?No, I don’t think so. Creativity is a double-edged sword. Creativity in any endeavor requires a mind open
- [BOOK EXCERPT: Never write a creative brief by yourself.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-9-4-book-excerpt-never-write-a-creative-brief-by-yourself/) - From How To Write An Inspired Creative Brief, 3rd Edition, Chapter 8“Gettin’ good players is easy. Gettin’ ‘em to play together is the hard part.”— Casey StengelNOTE: This chapter was written especially for in-house ad agencies that have not hired a strategist or account planner.Never write a creative brief by yourself.Never. Never. Never. Always collaborate:
- [When a creative brief writer forgets empathy.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-8-21-creative-briefs-are-never-optional-but-brand-zealots-need-them-most-of-all-2nxsx/) - I am a fan of the Columbia University linguist John McWhorter. I came to know about him seven or eight years ago when I discovered the online debate website called Intelligence Squared (intelligencesquaredus.org). He was a regular debater. Sometimes he took the “pro” side, sometimes the “con” side, but always he offered cogent, thoughtful arguments.
- [Creative briefs are never optional. Brand zealots need them most of all.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-8-21-creative-briefs-are-never-optional-but-brand-zealots-need-them-most-of-all/) - When I teach my creative brief workshops for the ANA (ana.net), I often use the terms Brand Advocate or Brand Guardian to describe the marketers I meet. I think either one is an apt descriptor of the people responsible for nurturing the products under the brand umbrella for which they work.Sometimes I see nods of
- [The one meeting that should always be "standing room only."](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-7-8-the-one-meeting-that-should-always-be-standing-room-only/) - This meeting should raise expectations. This meeting should crackle with electricity.This meeting should always be standing room only.I speak of a regular gathering in both ad agencies and on the client side. A meeting that typically produces yawns and low attendance. Exactly the opposite of what a healthy, thriving brand should inspire.Which meeting?The creative briefing.If
- [Six questions creatives must ask about a creative brief before the briefing.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2021-5-6-six-questions-creatives-must-about-about-a-creative-brief-before-the-briefing/) - Wait, you don’t see the brief until the project kicks off? You look through the document for the first time as you listen to the briefing?Whoa. That’s a problem. You’re a creative. You have to make magic from the words on this page (let’s hope it’s only one page, maybe half a second page).Why is
- [If you can't explain your brand to a child, how can you write a brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/if-you-cant-explain-your-brand-to-a-child-how-can-you-write-a-brief-takww/) - Think you can do this? Try it. It’s much harder than you imagine.This exercise is inspired by a line credited to Albert Einstein, who said:If you can’t explain it to a child, you don’t understand it yourself.So take the “it” out of Einstein’s sentence (or challenge if you want to be honest), and substitute “it”
- [Why you can trust a creative to teach you how to write better briefs.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/why-you-can-trust-a-creative-to-teach-you-how-to-write-better-briefs/) - Why did a copywriter and creative director start teaching other advertising professionals how to write a creative brief? My answer hasn’t changed since I began in 2005:I got tired of reading and having to work from bad briefs. So I did something about it.I stopped complaining and started learning.I stopped talking about it and started
- [What not to expect from a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2022-3-29-what-not-to-expect-from-a-creative-brief/) - My video podcast co-host, Henry Gomez, often says on our show, The Brief Bros., that an inspiring creative brief doesn’t guarantee inspiring creative. But it vastly improves the odds.His comment inspired me to ruminate on what great creative briefs should not be expected to do. I file this under “intellectual honesty,” which everyone, regardless of
- [A brief writer’s checklist.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/a-brief-writers-checklist/) - Newbie and veteran brief writers alike need and value reminders. Here are some thoughts to keep top of mind next time you prepare to write a brief:If you’re a marketer, find a co-brief writing partner.The majority of my workshop participants are marketers or account professionals, not strategists or planners. As brief writers, marketers face different
- [Remember your audience.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/remember-your-audience/) - When you do as much creative-brief training for brands big and small as I have in the past 17 years, you see trends. I could provide a hefty list of the trends I’ve observed, but today I’ll focus on one. Audience. Not the audience for the product, but the audience for the creative brief.The audience
- [What all good single-minded propositions have in common.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/2044-what-all-good-single-minded-propositions-have-in-common/) - (I’ll break down the single-minded proposition to its basic elements on The Brief Bros., my video podcast. You can also follow me on Youtube.) Many years ago, about a week into a new job I'd taken as creative director on a major international brand, I was reviewing a creative brief that had been approved by
- [What makes a creative brief writer?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1424-what-makes-a-creative-brief-writer/) - Thirty seven years ago, I started my career in the advertising business. I wrote this essay seven years ago and am re-publishing it today because I still believe every word I wrote in 2015. I’ve put in more than a quarter century at ad agencies and corporations. The last few years I've devoted to writing,
- [How deconstructing any ad can help you polish your brief-writing skills.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/1277-how-deconstructing-any-ad-can-help-you-polish-your-brief-writing-skills/) - December 9, 2022(Published originally in June 2012)When was the last time you even saw the word, "deconstruct"? Unless you were an English major in college you likely never came across it at all. There's nothing mysterious or complicated about the process. Deconstruct simply means to take something apart and analyze the pieces. In this case,
- [How to write a practice brief without actually writing a practice brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/how-to-write-a-practice-brief-without-actually-writing-a-practice-brief/) - All professionals practice. Why? Because they know they need to stay sharp. Often, their profession requires it, but even if it doesn’t, pros practice anyway. That practice comes in many forms: refresher courses, conferences, online and in-person training.If you write creative briefs for a living, even if it’s not your main task, you need to
- [Every brief you write helps creatives sell. That makes you a capitalist.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/every-brief-you-write-helps-creatives-sell-that-makes-you-a-capitalist/) - A creative brief is many things: a road map for your brand, an inspiring argument, driving directions for creatives.But a brief must also, and most importantly, help creatives come up with ideas that sell the product.“If it doesn’t sell, it’s not creative,” said David Ogilvy, whose words tend to be forgotten today.Sadly, the notion of
- [The lazy way to write a target-audience description.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-lazy-way-to-write-a-target-audience-description/) - Bullets should be banned.Sorry, gun fans, I don’t mean ammo. I mean those pesky black dots that show up on creative briefs everywhere. Like this:The bullets are usually followed by useless acronyms and marketing-speak such as HHI, 24-49, and other lingo. This is not thinking, it’s rote nonsense.Remember what Dave Trott said: “A creative brief
- [How much does an idea cost?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/how-much-does-an-idea-cost/) - I use real briefs when I teach my workshops on writing creative briefs. Not blank templates, but completed briefs. Not case studies, but real working briefs.Among the questions I ask attendees is this: What’s missing from the briefs they review in my workbook? I know the answer before I ask it, of course, and among
- [Why is there no list of the Best Creative Briefs of All Time?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/why-is-there-no-list-of-the-best-creative-briefs-of-all-time/) - If you’re a fan of the NFL and someone asked you to put together your Dream Team offensive line, you’d know who to pick, right? Anyone who plays Fantasy Football gets the exercise.Quarterback? Lots of greats to choose from: YA Tittle, Fran Tarkenton, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady. Arguments would erupt over who’s the best, but
- [What Dr. Seuss can teach brief writers.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/dr-seuss/) - How many words and phrases can you think of to express “simplicity”?Here are a few that come immediately to mind:KISSOccam’s RazorI love this one from Albert Einstein, and I’ve written about it before: “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.”Less is more.“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Claire Booth LuceLiberating
- [Dave Trott says a creative brief is about thinking, not writing. Well, not quite.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/dave-trott-says-a-creative-brief-is-about-thinking-not-writing-well-not-quite/) - With due respect to the legendary creative director and author, from whom I’m still eagerly awaiting his acceptance of my request to connect on LinkedIn, I think Mr. Trott is half right.A creative brief is absolutely about thinking. But writing is not unimportant. In fact, I’d say a great creative brief is equal parts thinking
- [Myths about creative briefs (they’re not what you think).](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/myths-about-creative-briefs-theyre-not-what-you-think/) - Creative briefs were “invented” if that’s the word a long time ago. Some credit the arrival of account planning in the mid-1960s, but I think the brief, in one form or another, probably existed long before then.And with any history comes mythology, or in 21st century parlance, misinformation.At the risk of giving them oxygen simply
- [What a 70-year-old stone mason taught me about teaching creative brief writing.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/what-a-70-year-old-stone-mason-taught-me-about-teaching-creative-brief-writing/) - In the summer of 1979, I was living in Tampa, Florida between my junior and senior years at the University of Tampa. My uncle, who was a senior legal-eagle at The Shriners, landed a summer job for me at a swimming pool company owned by one of the Shriners’ biggest donors. I don’t mind sharing
- [Advertising creatives are not artists.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/advertising-creatives-are-not-artists/) - In my lifetime, I have known poets, novelists, a playwright, sculptors, painters, musicians, ballet and modern dancers, choreographers and a film-maker or two. Artists all.For a decade between the early 80s to the early 90s, I called myself a poet, more accurately a part-time poet. I read, wrote and taught poetry and published a fair
- [The creative brief writer’s worst enemy.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-creative-brief-writers-worst-enemy/) - We love to beat up on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, even LinkedIn, and the entirety of the internet for our ills.But there is a larger point not enough of us are willing to say or even think. Social media and the vast online swamp are not to blame. They are the symptoms.Without the smartphone, social media
- [When do you know you’ve written a good creative brief?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/when-do-you-know-youve-written-a-good-creative-brief/) - If you want to make money, invite your creative team to a poker game. You’ll win. Creatives have terrible poker faces. I know. I’m a former creative. When we have a good hand, it’s hard to hide it. That’s the way we are about most things in life. We wear our emotions on our faces,
- [Why creative briefs fail.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/why-creative-briefs-fail/) - I tip my hat to Tim Brunelle, copywriter, creative director, strategist, lover of creative briefs, and a recent guest on The Brief Bros., for inspiring this post in response to a question put to him by my friend and co-host Henry Gomez.I’ll give you four reasons why I think a creative brief fails, plus a
- [“You miss 100% of shots you don’t take.”](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/you-miss-100-of-shots-you-dont-take/) - Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky said these words. The line is both axiomatic and a tautology, but a necessary reminder to all of us.I use it here as a cudgel to berate creative brief writers: It’s all or nothing, baby. Too many creative briefs are shots not taken.I’ve read many paeans to the late
- [Never give up. Never surrender.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/never-give-up-never-surrender/) - I’m not certain whether quoting Tim Allen is a good thing or a bad thing. I only know that it’s the right thing.His utterance is the answer to a question I asked myself recently: Why do you keep fighting the fight about creative briefs?Tim Allen, a.k.a. Captain Jason Nesmith in the romp called Galaxy Quest,
- [The two most common mistakes marketers make when they write a brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-two-most-common-mistakes-marketers-make-when-they-write-a-brief/) - Thanks to research by my friends Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler at betterbriefs.com, we now have valuable insights into the yawning chasm between perception and reality on the subject of briefs written by clients and delivered to ad agencies. Specifically, briefs written by marketers. Whether the briefs are delivered to outside agencies or in-house
- [Collaborating on a brief and asking for feedback on a brief are two different things.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/collaborating-on-a-brief-and-asking-for-feedback-on-a-brief-are-two-different-things/) - Good copywriters remember this mantra: “Tell them what you’re gonna tell them, tell them, tell them what you told ‘em.”It’s repetitive, yes, but instructional. The idea is to remember as a sales person (and that’s what copywriters are: we sell stuff with our words), that readers (or viewers or listeners) don’t remember things the first
- [The most valuable commodity a brief writer needs: Time.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-most-valuable-commodity-a-brief-writer-needs-time/) - I think many, perhaps most, strategists and account planners would agree that time is the commodity they desire most. Time to think, time to read, time to interview and especially time to write a brief. Multiple drafts.Not the only commodity, perhaps, but one they cherish, and also regret when it is lacking. And if they
- [The State of the Creative Brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-state-of-the-creative-brief/) - Rather than make predictions for 2023, I choose to draw some conclusions about the status of the creative brief in our industry. I was a practicing copywriter and creative director in legacy ad agencies for 26 years. I started writing about and teaching creative briefs in 2004, so I’m about to enter my 19th year
- [The burger account syndrome.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-burger-account-syndrome/) - “We work in the _______ industry and you don’t have a ________ industry creative brief. You don’t know our business.”I hear this only after my creative brief workshop and only when there was resistance to my training. I never hear it when things go well.The truth is that the number of outstanding creative briefs for
- [The filters we hide behind.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-filters-we-hide-behind/) - I was in Orlando, Florida, recently doing a couple workshops. I had the good fortune of being able to visit one of the more famous theme parks where I happened to watch a light show just after sunset. It was a remarkable sight. More remarkable still was something I witnessed as I took in the
- [Are you trustworthy? It's a must for a creative brief writer.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/are-you-trustworthy-its-a-must-for-a-creative-brief-writer/) - (Originally published February 9, 2015)I used to say that before you can write a single word on a creative brief, you need a strategy. It's time to amend that. There's an important precept that straddles the two: trust. Strategy must be in place before the brief can be written. But before you can begin the
- [Who decides when a creative brief is “inspiring”?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/who-decides-when-a-creative-brief-is-inspiring/) - Allow me to share with you a recurring sentiment I hear during my creative brief workshops when I show marketers and account people examples of well-written creative briefs.I hear this comment often enough to have made note of it even if I don’t hear it at every training.When I present one of these briefs and
- [Emotion, reason and the unique selling proposition](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/emotion-reason-and-the-unique-selling-proposition/) - Originally published April 2011How do people make decisions? I'm not asking about the sequence of steps someone takes to arrive at a choice between, say, two options when she goes shopping for new jeans.I'm asking, rhetorically, what part of the brain fires on all cylinders when mulling that range of options?We know that the right
- [What I want in a creative brief.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/what-i-want-in-a-creative-brief/) - I’m speaking now as a creative, a former copywriter and creative director. I’m speaking as one of the people to whom the creative brief is directed, for whom the brief is written, of whom much is expected once I have this document in my hands. In my hands and my art director partner’s hands. It’s
- [When we pretend we’re not influencers.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/when-we-pretend-were-not-influencers/) - In our work as brand builders, there is always a line drawn somewhere between good taste and bad taste, and always this line is arbitrary. But is there also a line between right and wrong when it comes to our work for brands? Can a brand message be more than just in bad taste, but
- [The case for waiting to start your ad career.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/the-case-for-waiting-to-start-your-ad-career/) - It’s just a thought, but after my last speaking gig with Mark Jenson’s Advertising Strategy and Creative Development class at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the U of Minnesota, it may have some merit. Mark uses my book on the creative brief as required reading, so he invited me to speak
- [A global survey shows that marketers write bad briefs. Are strategists’ briefs any better?](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/a-global-survey-shows-that-marketers-write-bad-briefs-but-are-strategists-briefs-any-better/) - All of us in AdLand owe a debt to Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler for facilitating a global survey (of English speakers) on the subject of client-generated creative briefs. The results of this survey are revealing but not surprising: Marketers have not been trained to write briefs and therefore the briefs they present to
- [H&R Block creative brief by Campbell Mithun](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/hr-block-creative-brief-by-campbell-mithun/) - This is the brief that produced the now-famous and award-winning campaign, “I Got People” that ran in the mid-2000s.

## Pages

- [Home](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/) - For 5 years, two ad guys recorded 240 episodes on briefs & advertising. Dig in. Two guys, 150+ episodes, and we’re not done talking about the brief. Industry leaders, nuts ‘n bolts explanations, timely topics, and unedited fun. Watch here The Creative Brief Archive: The world's largest collection of briefs. More than 100 finished briefs
- [Archive Home](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/archive-home-2/) - Archive Home Ad Agency Brand Subscribe Log In Archive Home Ad Agency Brand Subscribe Log In Archive Home Agency Briefs Brand Briefs Subscribe Log Out Archive Home Agency Briefs Brand Briefs Subscribe Log Out Creative Brief Archive Welcome You have arrived at the first–and largest—library of creative briefs. Subscribing is easy and free. We pledge to
- [Podcast](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/podcast2/) - The Brief Bros. Aired Every Week for Five Years. We Talked Creative Briefs, Briefing And Advertising. Who Are These Guys? Howard Ibach is a former copywriter and creative director with 26 years of ad agency experience, and the author of two critically acclaimed graphic textbooks on creative briefs. Henry Gomez is VP/director of strategy at
- [Register](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/register/) - Subscribe To access the growing Archive, please complete the subscription form with your name and email, then create a user name and password.Creative briefs are divided into two categories: Ad Agency and Brand. If I can identify the ad agency, briefs will be housed under both Ad Agency and Brand for more convenient searching.Thank you
- [Log In](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/login-2/) - Archive Home Ad Agency Brand Subscribe Log In Archive Home Ad Agency Brand Subscribe Log In Archive Home Agency Briefs Brand Briefs Subscribe Log Out Archive Home Agency Briefs Brand Briefs Subscribe Log Out Log In Username or Email Address Password Remember Me Register|Lost your password?
- [Brand](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/brand-2/) - Archive Home Ad Agency Brand Subscribe Log In Archive Home Ad Agency Brand Subscribe Log In Archive Home Agency Briefs Brand Briefs Subscribe Log Out Archive Home Agency Briefs Brand Briefs Subscribe Log Out Brand You know them, you love them, you probably buy or use some of them. Now take a look under the
- [Ad Agency](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/ad-agency-2/) - Archive Home Ad Agency Brand Subscribe Log In Archive Home Ad Agency Brand Subscribe Log In Archive Home Agency Briefs Brand Briefs Subscribe Log Out Archive Home Agency Briefs Brand Briefs Subscribe Log Out Ad Agency From legacy shops to hot boutiques, from virtual one-person consultants to agencies who closed their doors years ago, creative
- [Password Reset.](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/password-reset/) - Password Reset Please enter your username or email address.You will receive a link to create a new password via email. Username or Email
- [Blog](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/blog-2/) - “I don‘t know what I think until I read what I have written.”Flannery O’Connor Beyond the Brief: The hidden key to marketing success This is the first in a series of essays called Brief Writers on Briefs. I asked Lance Saunders to kick-off this monthly series because he Read More » August 7, 2024 No
- [Account](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/account/) - Account Username or Email Address Password Remember Me Register|Lost your password?
- [Edit Profile](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/edit-profile/) - [wppb-edit-profile]

## Categories

- [Brand](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/category/brand/)
- [Ad Agency](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/category/ad-agency/)
- [Podcast](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/category/podcast/)
- [Blog](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/category/blog/)

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- [bad creative brief](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/bad-creative-brief/)
- [clarity](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/clarity/)
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- [stakeholders](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/stakeholders/)
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- [propositions](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/propositions/)
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- [questions](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/questions/)
- [emotion](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/emotion/)
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- [creative brief template](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/creative-brief-template/)
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- [#proposition](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/proposition/)
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- [#HBR](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/hbr/)
- [creative briefs](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/creative-briefs/)
- [expectations](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/expectations/)
- [inspiration](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/inspiration/)
- [aspirational](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/aspirational/)
- [intellectual honesty](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/intellectual-honesty/)
- [brand personality](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/brand-personality/)
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- [#idea](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/idea/)
- [#tactics](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/tactics/)
- [#budget](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/budget/)
- [#GOAT](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/goat/)
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- [#simplicity](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/simplicity/)
- [#words](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/words/)
- [#story](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/story/)
- [#davetrott](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/davetrott/)
- [#myths](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/myths/)
- [#stonemason](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/stonemason/)
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- [#discipline](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/discipline/)
- [#artist](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/artist/)
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- [#addiction](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/addiction/)
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- [#test](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/test/)
- [#poker](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/poker/)
- [#bodylanguage](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/bodylanguage/)
- [#fail](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/fail/)
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- [#mistakes](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/mistakes/)
- [#partners](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/partners/)
- [#feedback](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/feedback/)
- [#time](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/time/)
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- [#comfortzone](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/comfortzone/)
- [#ruts](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/ruts/)
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- [#influence](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/influence/)
- [#influencers](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/influencers/)
- [#career](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/career/)
- [#delay](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/delay/)
- [#experience](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/experience/)
- [#strategists](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/strategists/)
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- [#creative director](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/creative-director/)
- [#copywriter](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/copywriter/)
- [#art director](https://creativebriefworkshops.com/tag/art-director/)