Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

Dear creative brief writers:

You are the keepers of one powerful piece of paper.

In fact, I'd call it the most powerful piece of paper in the agency, second only to your paycheck and maybe Ken Eudy's business card.

Are you using that power wisely?

The best briefs are the ones that get our idea wheels churning before we even leave the kick-off meeting. Infused with thought and strategy, they're the matches that light the creative spark. Without them, we copywriters and designers must go in search of our own match—which is not how anyone wants us to spend our time.

So how exactly do you make a creative brief inspiring?

This isn't about trying to make the words sound clever. Plain language will do just fine.

An inspiring brief is one that is clear, concise and built on a single, true human insight.

Make it your mission to find that ONE gem of an insight that your product or service can stand on. Do some digging into the minds of the target audience. What motivates them? Think about the competition. How can our client leave them in the dust? Think about what the product is, what it isn't and what it could become.

Your creative brief can be the catalyst for award-winning work. Or it can be a piece of paper that gets buried under our coffee mugs. The power is in your hands.

I leave you with a post from AdAge a while back, because I can't possibly say this any better:

"It all comes down to this: Are you telling the right story to the right audience? The right story is not merely true, but motivating to any given audience.

Your creative teams may dress like slackers, but they have been genetically bred to sniff out a con job. Oh, they may not immediately realize that your core leverageable insight is not really very insightful or leverageable. But know this: After they work with the brief for a while, they will arrive at that conclusion.

The creatives will scour the brief for a declarative message (anything!) delivered with clarity, something they can sink their teeth into. Finding none, in utter desperation, they will reach into their advertising bag of tricks and their instinctive knowledge of consumer motivators to create a marginally interesting way of stating the painfully obvious.

But ultimately, the smoke will clear and the creative work will not stand up to scrutiny. They will come to you for clarification, and you will be frustrated by their inability to crack the code. Be gentle with them.

It's not the format of the brief, but the story it tells."