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 […]
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 […]
E103: Creative Review—McDonald’s OOH by DDB New Zealand.
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 […]
E102: A conversation with Bob Harrison, creative director at Luckie & Company.
Airs January 25, 2023 Bob 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 […]
E101: A conversation with Mara Rada, chief strategist at Feral Corp.
Airs January 18, 2023 On 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 […]
E100: Our 100th episode! Woo-hoo!
Airs January 11, 2023 We 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 […]
E99: What to think about before you write a brief.
Airs January 4, 2023 What 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 […]
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 […]
E98: Final Creative Review for 2022
Airs December 28, 2022 Henry 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. […]
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 […]
