The Brief Bros.

152: Marketing brief vs creative brief

This week, Henry Gomez and I discuss a video posted by Julian Cole, a link to which we included below. He explains the differences between a marketing and a creative brief. Julian is a noted strategist, teacher and mentor to young strategists. And we have invited him to be a guest on The Brief Bros in the coming weeks. Henry and I dissect and expand on his thinking. The training I offer on brief writing focuses primarily on marketers. Henry's ad agency work focuses on the needs of his creatives. So we come to these documents with unique and differing perspectives. And you'll enjoy our lively discussion.
Julian Cole on Marketing versus Creative Brief video.
For training in writing inspiring creative briefs, contact Howard Ibach at creativebriefworkshops.com for availability.

151: Ben Levy shows us how to present creative like a pro, Part 2

In Part 2 of our conversation with Ben Levy, creative director and presentation coach at SellItGreat.com, Henry Gomez and I ask Ben about "nuts 'n bolts" problems all presenters face. This is a fascinating and enlightening conversation you don't want to miss.
For one-on-one, small group and corporate training in writing inspiring creative briefs, contact Howard Ibach at creativebriefworkshops.com for availability.

150: Ben Levy shows us how to present creative like a pro.

Presentation Coach Ben Levy has made just about every mistake you can imagine as a presenter of creative work. And he'll show you how you can avoid them in his training on creative presentations. This week on The Brief Bros., Ben is our guest in a two-part episode. He is the founder and Head Coach at SellItGreat.com, and he shares his experience, his research and his practical advice to help creatives overcome hurdles that get in the way of selling the work they believe in. Part 2 next week.
For one-on-one, small group and corporate training in writing inspiring creative briefs, contact Howard Ibach at https://creativebriefworkshops.com for availability.

149: Write better creative briefs with Howard’s workshops.

From the "Shameless Commerce Division" of The Brief Bros. (no apologies to Car Talk's Click & Clack), today Henry Gomez quizzes me about my creative brief workshops, my promise to attendees who want to learn how to write better briefs, my teaching philosophy and how I got started. You can get the details at creativebriefworkshops.com. Batteries not included, no assembly required, not available in stores.
For one-on-one, small group and corporate training in writing inspiring creative briefs, contact Howard Ibach at https://creativebriefworkshops.com for availability.

148: The best of The Brief Bros. in 2023.

As our first episode of the New Year, Henry Gomez and I review 2023 and talk about what stood out for us on The Brief Bros. Amazingly enough, Henry and I wrapped up our third year together! And we still like each other! Enjoy this conversation as we share our thoughts on what mattered most in our on-going conversation about briefs, briefing and advertising. Till next time! Bye-bye!
For one-on-one, small group and corporate training in writing inspiring creative briefs, contact Howard Ibach at creativebriefworkshops.com for availability. 

147: Tim Brunelle builds a creative brief coach with ChatGPT

This week on The Brief Bros. Henry Gomez and I review and discuss a tool created by a friend and past guest, Tim Brunelle, called the Creative Brief Coach. ChatGPT is everywhere, causing either havoc or joy depending on your point of view. Tim's tool is a worthy topic because he laid out the details of its development, and gave Henry and me an argument to follow and debate. Join us as we dissect Tim's contributions. 
For one-on-one, small group and corporate training in writing inspiring creative briefs, contact Howard Ibach at creativebriefworkshops.com for availability. 

146: Reviewing a creative brief for Tango carbonated soft drink.

Henry Gomez and I review an undated creative brief for the UK's famous soft drink Tango, ad agency unknown (if you're privy to the info, please share in the comments section). I featured this brief in my first book on the creative brief, and I included it in my rotating list of briefs for my creative brief workshops, but I have not used it in many years. Henry and I share our thoughts and I see new opportunities for it as a training tool. 
For one-on-one, small group and corporate training in writing inspiring creative briefs, contact Howard Ibach at creativebriefworkshops.com for availability. 

145: Reviewing a creative brief for the BBC’s coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens

In our ongoing series, Henry Gomez and I review a creative brief written by a London-based agency for its client, BBC. The brief was written to create a new campaign to promote the BBC's on-air coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. We even have creative so you can ask yourself if the work answers the brief. For one-on-one, small group and corporate training in writing inspiring creative briefs, contact Howard Ibach at creativebriefworkshops.com for availability. 

144: A conversation with Gabi Kinney, senior strategist at Broadhead in Minneapolis

Gabi Kinney joins Henry Gomez and me this week in a continuation of our series on young talent in our industry. Gabi is a recent grad of the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the U of Minnesota, a familiar name to anyone who follow The Brief Bros. This young woman is blazing a powerful path for herself at Broadhead and we delight in quizzing her about her career trajectory. If you want to hear some insightful and astute advice on managing your career, don't miss this conversation.

143: A collaboration between Tom Fishburne, IPA and BetterBriefs.com

Kudos to our friends Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler, past guests on The Brief Bros., for their partnership with the Marketoonist Tom Fishburne and the Institute for Practitioners of Advertising (IPA), the oldest professional organization in our industry. They've assembled a Compendium of brilliantly drawn cartoons that reflect their global survey on creative briefs, published in 2021, and is available to you at betterbriefs.com. Henry Gomez and I selected one of Tom's fun cartoons to discuss on today's episode. The topic is vital and too often overlooked: reviewing creative work. It's also a great tease to encourage all of you to download the new Compendium assembled by Matt and PP.

142: Reviewing a creative brief for Iceland Frozen Markets by hhcl/red cell, London

Today, Henry Gomez and I examine a creative brief for a popular frozen foods grocery story in the UK, Iceland. We love briefs for everyday products and services because these are the "widgets" advertising professionals cut their teeth on, creatively and strategically. That they are "everyday" things makes them real and necessary, but also challenges brief writers to find a clever and strategically sound pathway to a good creative solution. This brief, written by strategists at London's hhcl/red cell, does exactly that, briefly, succinctly, and, well, cleverly. Watch and find out for yourself.

141: A conversation with Tyrese Leverty, brand planner at Carmichael Lynch.

Henry Gomez and I have added a new series to The Brief Bros.: Conversations with recent college grad about their new careers. Today, we are proud to present Tyrese Leverty, a recent grad from the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He was recommended to us by our old friend Mark Jenson, a venerable instructor at Hubbard. Tyrese is a brand planner and he shares his experiences in his evolving role at Carmichael Lynch.

140: The iconic Uncle Sam.

Did you know that the famous poster of Uncle Sam pointing his finger and declaring, "I want you..." is more than 100 years old? Henry Gomez and I stumbled across this iconic image as we searched for old ads to discuss, and we decided it warranted an episode of its own. We have good reasons, too. Tune in and find out.

139: We reverse-engineer an ad from Band-Aid and write a creative brief.

Henry Gomez and I look closely at a clever ad from Johnson & Johnson's Band-Aid brand of band aids and together we discuss what we see and voila! We write a brief. And we post the brief within the episode for your viewing enjoyment (not available in stores). Henry and I urge all ad folk to practice this bit of thought exercise everyday to keep your brief-writing skills sharp.