The Brief Bros.

127: Reverse engineering a brief from a classic Snickers Super Bowl spot.

You all remember this spot from the 2010 Super Bowl: Betty White stars in a Snickers spot that kicked off a brilliant campaign to reposition the popular candy bar. Henry Gomez and I dig in and write a brief simply by watching the spot. We call it a reverse engineering exercise, something all brief writers should practice. Join us in the fun.

126: Reverse engineer a brief from ”I’m a Mac” campaign for Apple.

Two, two, two mints in one: great creative from Apple in its classic spots for the I'm a Mac campaign, and our attempt to write the brief in a reverse-engineering exercise. Henry Gomez and I have a lot of fun in this week's episode as we revisit what Adweek called the best advertising campaign of the 2000s by TBWA\Chiat\Day. Play along and write the brief with us. It's a great skill tester.

125: A conversation with Berlin-based freelance strategist Baiba Matisone.

Joining Henry Gomez and me from Berlin, Baiba Matisone is a freelance strategist and creative brief devotee. She posted a list of blank creative brief templates that Henry and I surveyed on a recent episode, as well as completed briefs and thoughtful articles. The site, Creative Brief Bank, is well worth the visit. We talked to Baiba about her background, how a college professor shooed her away from her first love resulting in her fascination with strategy. To top it off, Baiba did a deep study of the brief templates she posted on her Creative Brief Bank and tells us what they all have in common. Heads up, brief writers!

124: What can we learn from a blank creative brief template?

Henry Gomez and I have preached the importance of insightful and inspiring "answers" on briefs to get the most from our creative partners. But what, if anything, can we learn as brief writers from a template? A blank template? Today, we examine a couple templates from legacy shops and discuss what we uncover.

123: Let’s reverse engineer a creative brief for an Amazon TV spot.

Reverse engineering is a wonderfully effective training device to get brief writers into the right mind-set for writing a real brief. It's a thought exercise you can do everyday, probably in less than a minute. Today, Henry Gomez and I watch a :60 spot for Amazon Prime and then "reverse engineer" the spot and figure out the brief. We don't know everything the agency (Weiden + Kennedy) knows, nor what Amazon told them. But as ad pros, we know a thing or two and can make more than a few educated guesses. The bigger point it that, as an exercise, this is a great test of your critical thinking skills and hones your brief writing skills. Make this a regular part of your daily professional life, whether you write briefs, review them or work from them.

122: A conversation with Mark Tomblin and Michelle Lee, APG Canada

Our two guests from Account Planners Group Canada are Mark Tomblin , founder of Thinking Unstuck, and Michelle Lee, principal Uncommon Sense, who hold senior leadership positions with Canada's strategy organization. Henry Gomez and I dive deep into brief writing, brief training, and the industry's future with Mark and Michelle.

121: A creative brief for a cosmetic surgeon.

Henry Gomez knows more than most of us about the competitive world of cosmetic surgery. His dad is a practicing cosmetic surgeon, and Henry wrote a brief for him. This week, we examine Henry's efforts so you can see again how a professional tackles the challenges of a small budget project with a big challenge.

118: Another conversation with Marc Lewis, dean of the School of Communication Arts, London.

This week, Henry (http://henrylouisgomez.com) and I welcome back an old friend, Marc Lewis. He's the dean of the most successful independent advertising school on the planet, SCA, the School of Communication Arts in London. It is heralded as "The World's Most Awarded Ad School." Marc returns to share with us news about SCA's Creative Training (https://www.scacreativetraining.com) and to encourage ad folk on this side of the pond to take advantage of SCA's growing online resources. SCA, under Marc's leadership, is filling a void that legacy shops used to provide but sadly have abandoned. This is a key reason why The Brief Bros.'s has joined forces with SCA to provide easily accessible tools for new advertising talent. Please join us in a wide-ranging discussion.

120: A brief for Delta Airlines.

Henry and I discuss another brief written by Henry for a pitch he and his agency did not win. But the brief itself, for Delta Airlines, is instructive and we take you through it step by step. Since finding complete briefs is a challenge, this brief presents us with a wonderful opportunity to share our thinking. Watch and learn...and share your thoughts if you wish!

119: Brief tips for marketers.

Henry Gomez, strategist and brief writer extraordinaire, and I talk about four mistakes marketers fall prey to when they write briefs. And we offer avenues to avoid these mistakes with better, clearer thinking. These aren't the only roadblocks marketers face, but they are biggies. Watch and then be honest: have you ever slipped up and done one or more?

117: A conversation with Jim Melzer, creative director and brief devotee

Jim Melzer comes to us this week on The Brief Bros. from Santa Fe, NM. He represents a segment of our industry we have not explored and that makes Jim a unique guest. Jim has been a copywriter and creative director at legacy shops in Minneapolis including Colle McVoy, Miller Meester, Martin Williams and Clarity Coverdale, among others. His specialty: agriculture. And a close examination of his resume and portfolio reveals an astute creative mind driven by strategy and ideas, and a respect for a well-written creative brief. Jim's work is proof that brands vital to and cherished by our ag industry in the heart of this country value and demand great thinking. And if you can find a way to have fun communicating the benefits of an insecticide, you can solve any problem. A lesson we can all appreciate. This was a memorable conversation.

116: A conversation with a legend, Ernie Schenck, Part 3

Guest host Mark Jenson and I wrap up our three-part conversation with Ernie Schenck in today's episode. Ernie shares his thoughts on AI, the origins of his newsletter, Strange Alchemy and other insights on our industry. Our thanks to Ernie for giving us and you his time, his wisdom and his devotion to a profession we love and sometimes are angry with. And thanks as well to Mark for pinch hitting for my partner Henry Gomez.

115: A conversation with a legend: Ernie Schenck, Part 2

Guest host Mark Jenson and I continue our chat with writer, creative director and legend Ernie Schenck in Part 2. Stay tuned for Part 3 next week!

114: A conversation with a legend: Ernie Schenck, Part 1

In the first of three in-depth conversations, The Brief Bros. welcome a national treasure and a creative legend, Mr. Ernie Schenck. He has founded two ad agencies, won countless awards, and is a prolific writer and commentator for CA and lately his own newsletter on Substack, Strange Alchemy. Pinch-hitting for a traveling Henry Gomez is a past guest himself, Mark Jenson, lecturer at the U of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Mark and I bask in the glow of Ernie's insights and wisdom on creativity, the brief, brands and AI, among other topics. Stay tuned because the conversation continues over the next two weeks.