When a project goes badly, everyone blames the work itself. In our experience the instructions were the problem — usually because they listed what to make instead of what to fix.
Six questions
- What decision do we want someone to make, and what are they choosing instead today?
- What do they currently believe that would have to change?
- What is the one thing we could say that a competitor could not copy tomorrow?
- What has already been tried, and what happened?
- What does success look like as a number, by when?
- What are we willing to give up to get it?
The last question is the one most briefs avoid. A brand that will not give anything up — not a segment, not a message, not a channel — is asking for work that appeals to everyone, which is the reliable route to work that moves no one.
Writing it down together
We write the brief in the room with the client rather than sending it for approval. It takes one longer meeting and removes weeks of correction later. It also surfaces disagreement inside the client's own team early, while it is still cheap to resolve.
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