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 […]
Six questions creatives must ask 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). […]
Creatives have never not relied on 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 […]
Creative Brief Secret Sauce: Take a break
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.
Turn the creative brief into a letter from your customer to the brand. The results are startling.
Who writes the best creative briefs?
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.
Navigate the seven C’s to write an inspiring creative brief.
The seven “Cs” for writing great creative briefs.
Why “I” is better than “we” on a creative brief.
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?
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 […]
Complaints about the creative brief that have nothing to do with the creative brief.
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 […]
