Trendspotting: The Creative Brief by Tom Fishburne

Following text from Tom Fishburne about the creative brief which will make a lot of sense to anyone in advertising.

"Creative briefs may be brief, but often they aren’t very creative.

Rupal Parekh wrote an AdAge article on poor creative briefs last week: “Marketers, Quit Blaming Your Agency — It’s Your Brief at Fault”. It includes this illustrative quote from Casey Jones:

“If you rated the industry on a scale from one to 10, with one being a horrifying piece of direction and 10 being optimal, I would say that companies are currently somewhere between a two or three. The norm is partial, incomplete and sometimes no brief at all. A phone call or a text message comes across to the agency, and the agency is trying to read the client’s mind and they go off and start executing. Agencies go off and do stuff and then the marketer comes back and says ‘That’s not what I wanted’”

I’ve worked on both sides of the client/agency table, but learned the real power of a well-written creative brief from Eric Ryan at method. As an ex-agency planner, Eric understood that a quality creative brief unlocks quality talent at an agency. He put as much energy into a creative brief to an agency as he would to a creative pitch to method’s biggest customers. With so little marketing spend, the quality of the creative had to carry the weight.

Instead of a brief, write a manifesto. Instead of a brand promise, convey your brand purpose. Instead of bullet points, tell a story.

A creative brief should not just inform. It should inspire."

I believe the brief has indeed, over the last few years, been neglected and is in many cases , written in a very stereotypical way – one that leaves little to the imagination. It's become about ticking cases and filling in blank spaces, rather than inspiring creatives and the agency at large to do great work. Funnily enough, a friend of mine sent me the Skittles brand book. I think some of it was very inspiring:

Reblogged from: litmanlive.me