The Brief Bros.

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.

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.