I am in the research phase for a seminar we are developing regarding the challenges marketers face when effectively translating brand strategy into creative direction for brand messaging and expression. What challenges do you face? What would enable your team to manage this process more effectively? Sure appreciate your insights and feedback!
James P. Day • In my experience, "The Brief," provided to creative teams, while informative, often lacks problem definition, past successes/failures with customers, or insights into a client's expectation about what the strategy should achieve in terms of customer beliefs.
Great creative teams, in addition to delivering on-strategy messages, are really trying to influence the perception customers have about a company and its products/services.
Here are some of the best practices I'm familiar with that guide the creative team:
A "Strategy Statement" that defines the single big idea that needs to be communicated to stakeholders is one of the primary documents typically written by the creative director and then signed-off on by the client. This is the guiding compass for the creative team.
In terms of brand message development, "Copy Platforms" establish and prioritize the messages (brand messages, sales messages, offers and now SEO keywords that need to be woven into headlines and copy) that need to be consistently communicated in the various types of content created for different channels.
A third useful tool is the use of "Customer Avatars." That is profiling each type of customer and developing a persona around that customer-type so creatives have a better understanding of how to connect with them.
Being proactive in providing ideas and guidance around these three processes is enormously helpful to creating and delivering creative that is on point with the brand messages a client wants to communicate.
Great creative teams, in addition to delivering on-strategy messages, are really trying to influence the perception customers have about a company and its products/services.
Here are some of the best practices I'm familiar with that guide the creative team:
A "Strategy Statement" that defines the single big idea that needs to be communicated to stakeholders is one of the primary documents typically written by the creative director and then signed-off on by the client. This is the guiding compass for the creative team.
In terms of brand message development, "Copy Platforms" establish and prioritize the messages (brand messages, sales messages, offers and now SEO keywords that need to be woven into headlines and copy) that need to be consistently communicated in the various types of content created for different channels.
A third useful tool is the use of "Customer Avatars." That is profiling each type of customer and developing a persona around that customer-type so creatives have a better understanding of how to connect with them.
Being proactive in providing ideas and guidance around these three processes is enormously helpful to creating and delivering creative that is on point with the brand messages a client wants to communicate.
James P. Day • In my experience, "The Brief," provided to creative teams, while informative, often lacks problem definition, past successes/failures with customers, or insights into a client's expectation about what the strategy should achieve in terms of customer beliefs.
Great creative teams, in addition to delivering on-strategy messages, are really trying to influence the perception customers have about a company and its products/services.
Here are some of the best practices I'm familiar with that guide the creative team:
A "Strategy Statement" that defines the single big idea that needs to be communicated to stakeholders is one of the primary documents typically written by the creative director and then signed-off on by the client. This is the guiding compass for the creative team.
In terms of brand message development, "Copy Platforms" establish and prioritize the messages (brand messages, sales messages, offers and now SEO keywords that need to be woven into headlines and copy) that need to be consistently communicated in the various types of content created for different channels.
A third useful tool is the use of "Customer Avatars." That is profiling each type of customer and developing a persona around that customer-type so creatives have a better understanding of how to connect with them.
Being proactive in providing ideas and guidance around these three processes is enormously helpful to creating and delivering creative that is on point with the brand messages a client wants to communicate.
Great creative teams, in addition to delivering on-strategy messages, are really trying to influence the perception customers have about a company and its products/services.
Here are some of the best practices I'm familiar with that guide the creative team:
A "Strategy Statement" that defines the single big idea that needs to be communicated to stakeholders is one of the primary documents typically written by the creative director and then signed-off on by the client. This is the guiding compass for the creative team.
In terms of brand message development, "Copy Platforms" establish and prioritize the messages (brand messages, sales messages, offers and now SEO keywords that need to be woven into headlines and copy) that need to be consistently communicated in the various types of content created for different channels.
A third useful tool is the use of "Customer Avatars." That is profiling each type of customer and developing a persona around that customer-type so creatives have a better understanding of how to connect with them.
Being proactive in providing ideas and guidance around these three processes is enormously helpful to creating and delivering creative that is on point with the brand messages a client wants to communicate.
Matthew Leavell • I would suggest grabbing and reading the book, "The Creative Process Illustrated". It does an excellent job of describing how multiple companies go through the Creative Process.
Paul Simons • I've experienced this leap from marketing strategy to creative strategy many times and it isn't a magic move but it is a very disciplined and sensitive shift.
Having worked with many talented and some famous creative people I believe very firmly that the client and the agency account team need to put in a great deal of focused energy on what constitutes the creative brief. The creative team(s) stand a much better chance of getting the direction correct and a strong solution the better the input. Sloppy briefing leads to random answers.
So the question is how to do this?
A well known creative director and writer, Dave Trott, is very tough when receiving briefs and I've seen him throw them back many times. He is looking for clarity and a lack of ambiguity. He will push and say for example "is this about getting more share or growing the market?" - a question rarely volunteered in briefs. He is black and white, and his output reflects his highly focused thinking.
There are tools I/we have used to help this are a way of bridging the shift from marketing strategy to creative brief are useful if not fool proof - it's down to the rigour of the people involved.
First point is avoid jargon, creative people don't use it and it can be confusing. Also jargon is redundant in advertising as it gets in the way of clear communication.
Basic point is defining the role for advertising. This needs to be a clear, focused point that is ultimately measurable. For example if a brand is seeking share growth this is not a role for advertising in a brief, the role is how advertising can influence share growth - improved brand preference for example.
Once this is clear defining a core thought - we coined the expression a 'central organising idea' - that is differentiating and true to the brand plus is motivating. My agency launched PlayStation across Europe and at the heart of the thinking was trying to 'own' power as a positioning point. "Do not underestimate the power of PlayStation" became the campaign idea. The input to the creative department was to dramatise power.
Provide the creative team with other 'visual' helpful input such as a 'perceptual map' of the market - this helps to tease out gaps and opportunities. Working on a pitch for Fuji this helped the client and the creative teams understand what to do and what not to do. Similar experience with Wrangler jeans where a brand mapping exercise demonstrated to the client they had spent all of their money to date trying to occupy the same space as Levi.
There is without question far too much verbosity around so the challenge to a marketing person in charge of briefing agencies is to ensure his team and the agency team strip down the thinking to essential points only, avoid jargon, use normal language and don't be afraid to say things in a simple and understandable way. I have met prospective clients many times and I know they want to sell more of their products or services. Never ever do people say this, they will rattle on and on about a wide range of issues. My approach is then a few basic questions: "what are the obstacles to you selling more?", [please answer in language I understand] and "why would consumers consider buying more of your product/service?". Simple questions often very hard to answer. If I don't know the answers to these two questions then I have to start at the begining before I can get anywhere near writing a creative brief.
Having worked with many talented and some famous creative people I believe very firmly that the client and the agency account team need to put in a great deal of focused energy on what constitutes the creative brief. The creative team(s) stand a much better chance of getting the direction correct and a strong solution the better the input. Sloppy briefing leads to random answers.
So the question is how to do this?
A well known creative director and writer, Dave Trott, is very tough when receiving briefs and I've seen him throw them back many times. He is looking for clarity and a lack of ambiguity. He will push and say for example "is this about getting more share or growing the market?" - a question rarely volunteered in briefs. He is black and white, and his output reflects his highly focused thinking.
There are tools I/we have used to help this are a way of bridging the shift from marketing strategy to creative brief are useful if not fool proof - it's down to the rigour of the people involved.
First point is avoid jargon, creative people don't use it and it can be confusing. Also jargon is redundant in advertising as it gets in the way of clear communication.
Basic point is defining the role for advertising. This needs to be a clear, focused point that is ultimately measurable. For example if a brand is seeking share growth this is not a role for advertising in a brief, the role is how advertising can influence share growth - improved brand preference for example.
Once this is clear defining a core thought - we coined the expression a 'central organising idea' - that is differentiating and true to the brand plus is motivating. My agency launched PlayStation across Europe and at the heart of the thinking was trying to 'own' power as a positioning point. "Do not underestimate the power of PlayStation" became the campaign idea. The input to the creative department was to dramatise power.
Provide the creative team with other 'visual' helpful input such as a 'perceptual map' of the market - this helps to tease out gaps and opportunities. Working on a pitch for Fuji this helped the client and the creative teams understand what to do and what not to do. Similar experience with Wrangler jeans where a brand mapping exercise demonstrated to the client they had spent all of their money to date trying to occupy the same space as Levi.
There is without question far too much verbosity around so the challenge to a marketing person in charge of briefing agencies is to ensure his team and the agency team strip down the thinking to essential points only, avoid jargon, use normal language and don't be afraid to say things in a simple and understandable way. I have met prospective clients many times and I know they want to sell more of their products or services. Never ever do people say this, they will rattle on and on about a wide range of issues. My approach is then a few basic questions: "what are the obstacles to you selling more?", [please answer in language I understand] and "why would consumers consider buying more of your product/service?". Simple questions often very hard to answer. If I don't know the answers to these two questions then I have to start at the begining before I can get anywhere near writing a creative brief.
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