The Brief Bros.

222: 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 use the term, creative brief? Stephen King? Stanley Pollitt?
Tune in and find out what we found out. History buffs, this one's for you!

221: Light Round 2: 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 the Single-Minded Proposition.
Now don't be fooled into thinking one part of the brief is actually more important than the other. Both play their roles.
Thanks to Giles's inspiration, Henry and I use the Lightning Round scenario to make our case for each question.
Why? To help brief writers think clearer and clearly when they write their next brief.
It's a fun concept and we'll be back with more Lightning Rounds. So enjoy this one.

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 is the first in an on-going series. Each of us takes one question on a brief and makes the case that it's the most important.
We're not truly arguing against the other question, but instead helping brief writers bring clear thinking to their task.
Stay tuned for more Lightning Rounds!
 

219: London's 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, and the US is well represented, with almost half the attendees.
Plus, SCA online is supported by instructors from some of London's finest creative shops.
Watch as Marc lays out the courework and his vision. Are you ready to sign up?

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 and the creative director.
Howard and Henry break down the challenge from both perspectives.

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 the former challenge in an upcoming episode. Today we dissect the process brief writers sometimes face when the brief may need adjusting.  And then the creative team needs to be read in a second time.
How should strategists handle this scenario? Henry offers a few valuable guideposts.

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?
Henry Gomez and I share one juicy survey result from the lot and break it down for you. it's a sad situation, and it's both not surprising and shocking. We discuss.

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 joins Henry Gomez and me to talk about her journey from journalist to copywriter to strategist and renowned creative educator.

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 training for strategists in a pinch for a quick-turn brief. It's an hour-by-hour structured training to move from blank page to a finished brief.
He's even offering Brief Bros. viewers a 50% coupon to try his "8 Hour Creative Brief."
Use this link and the code BRIEFBROS: planneru.gumroad.com/l/eighthourcreativebrief

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 dabbling in podcasting, this was an ideal time to delve into the topic. As you'll discover, Kevin will open your eyes too.
Which online tools work best for podcasters? How do you record, edit, and reformat your podcasts? Kevin answers these questions and offers so much more.

212: 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 are magic. When it doesn't, the work suffers.
Henry and I share our thoughts on how to foster this important partnership. Creatives and strategists, pull up a chair.

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.
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 works and why they deliver on their promise. And they provided us with a demonstration video.
It's a fascinating and provocative topic certain to generate discussion. And today, we get it started.

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. For all the oldsters we talk to who lament our industry's future, the Alex Chrislus of the world inspire us and give us hope. So sit back and watch as this young woman draws a clear picture of her own future. And, we hope, for the ad business as well.

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 between the two of us. The debate that motivated us to launch The Brief Bros.
Baskin's paper may be 15 years old, but the topic is as relevant today as ever.