The Brief Bros.

113: Let’s dissect a creative brief for Cleveland Clinic Florida.

My partner and co-host Henry Gomez offers up a brief he wrote for the Cleveland Clinic Florida when he was a relative newbie as a strategist, and shares some of the creative it produced. This is an excellent exercise we should all do from time to time with a brief from our past. I tip my hat to Henry for sharing his thinking. 

112: A conversation with Jason Swenk, host of the Smart Agency Master Class podcast

Henry and I welcome Jason Swenk who started an agency "by accident" in his words, and turned his love for the hustle, effective systems and problem solving into a wildly successful consulting business that takes ad agency owners to a new level of leadership and vision. His podcast, Smart Agency Master Class, is a must-watch. We're operating in thinner air than usual because Jason's insights for ad agency CEOs have relevance for freelancers and smaller creative shops. Pay attention. You will learn something new. We did.

111: A conversation with TJ Bennett, owner of The Pudding Factory, Phoenix

TJ Bennett is a creative veteran with agency experience on both coasts who now makes his home in Phoenix. He runs a virtual creative shop called The Pudding Factory and, like Henry and me, is nerdy about creative briefs. This was a fun conversation. TJ definitely joins the small but growing ranks of Brief Bros. brothers. I'm certain he'll be back even if we have to make a lame excuse to invite him.

110: Lessons from a presentation post-mortem.

How often do you "look in the mirror" after a big presentation? A critical self-assessment may be painful but it's also liberating. In today's episode, Henry Gomez dusts off a "no holds barred" post-mortem of a presentation delivered many years ago that failed to win the project. It's like one of those candid emails you write but then never hit "send." We, on the other hand, are beneficiaries of Henry's never-shared candor. We offer it up to you today as an example of valuable lessons learned, and also to encourage you to learn from your mistakes. Failure is the best teacher.

109: Campbell’s Soup packaging rebrand

Continuing with our ongoing interest in brands and rebranding, Henry Gomez and I share a Wall St. Journal video exploration of Campbell Soup's recent packaging for its iconic soup cans. And we have an in-depth discussion about the results of those efforts. Connecting dots between Byron Sharp's "distinctive brand assets" and a not-so-successful rebranding effort by Tropicana more than a decade ago, we have lot of relevant input for insights. What do you think?

108. A conversation with Marc Williams, creative consultant

Henry Gomez and I are delighted to welcome Marc Williams, currently a creative director/consultant, who for the last dozen years has held senior-level creative leadership positions within corporate America. Marc represents a voice we have not heard from on The Brief Bros., and he brings keen insight into the opportunities and challenges faced by creatives on the client side. Marc's career began in the agency world where he worked at Wunderman and Digitas before jumping the fence and taking on creative director roles at Prudential and Chase, among others. It was a different world and you will hear a fascinating tale about creative and the role of briefs in his experience. 

107. Anne Candido and April Martini, co-hosts of Marketing Smarts podcast.

One good turn deserves another: after joining April and Anne on their podcast recently, I invited them to join Henry Gomez and me on our podcast. Anne and April are also partners in a marketing agency called Forthright People. These are two smart and experienced brand professionals, hosts of Marketing Smarts, know their way around a creative brief. April spent years in the agency world while Anne "grew up at P&G," to use her own words. We had a fun, engaging and insightful conversation.

106. The case for waiting to launch your ad career.

Do you jump right from college or your portfolio program into an ad agency or client-side job? Maybe that makes good sense, but don't think you have to. Today, Henry and I talk about the advantages of waiting and doing something else before you start your career. The dividends could pay handsomely.

105. A chat with the AdWeak editor, Paul Taylor.

You've never seen his handsome mug before, but today's the day. Paul Taylor, aka The Adweak Editor,  makes his video debut with Henry Gomez and me. It's an honor and a privilege. He's skewered us all, no matter which role we play in AdLand, because he's one of us. And now he's our guest. We had a lively and entertaining conversation. Don't miss this one!

104. When you don’t need to write a creative brief.

I put this question to my partner and co-host, Henry Gomez, resident strategist at Zubi Advertising in Miami and he came up with some great answers. The brief is hard to write so don't think you need one for every project. Save your time and energy and be judicious about when it's time for a brief. Watch this episode and give yourself a break.

103. Creative Review: New OOH for McDonald’s from DDB New Zealand

Henry Gomez and I exchange our views on a new OOH campaign for McDonald’s by DDB New Zealand. We haven’t disagreed about much lately, but today we take opposing views. DDB New Zealand’s work brings a searing spotlight to the issue of advertising’s powerful role as an influencer. Henry and I bat this one back and forth. Tune in to find out where we land.

102. A conversation with Bob Harrison, creative director at Luckie & Company

Bob Harrison is an old friend and colleague from my Minneapolis days. He worked for me as a copywriter when I ran the British Airways NA loyalty programs advertising business. Today, he’s a respected and award-winning creative director/writer at Luckie & Company in Birmingham, AL. And I could not be more proud. Henry Gomez and I invited Bob to join us this week and we had a great chat about his work—Bob and Henry swapped notes about the thrill of winning at Cannes—and the challenges around getting good briefs for his team of creatives. He shares with us Luckie’s commitment to data-driven insights and how that is reflected in the briefing process.

101. A conversation with Mara Rada, chief strategist at Feral Corp.

On our way from episode 100, we plunge ahead into our next 100 episodes! Today we bring you a fascinating conversation with Mara Rada, chief strategist at Feral Corporation. In a short phrase, Mara and her team launch brands from scratch. Most of us in Adland work on existing brands. Mara loves the challenge of working with entrepreneurs to bring to the market the next Apple or Nike or Tesla. It’s a rarified world, and Henry Gomez and I engage her in a wide-ranging conversation. Join us!

100. Our 100th episode. Woo-hoo!

We can hardly believe it, but Henry and I have reached 100 episodes of The Brief Bros. Almost two years of weekly jawing about creative briefs and chatting up guests. Plus the occasional creative review. Today, Henry and I share our thoughts about what we’ve accomplished in the past couple years and bring you clips from our favorite episodes. This is a fond and fun bit of nostalgia and pride in our idea and our partnership. Enjoy the show!