Ask Us Anything webinar

BetterBriefs hosted a webinar where marketers and agencies could literally ask us anything as long as it was related to briefs. Below you’ll find a selection of our favourite questions and how we answered them.  

Question: How do you include sufficient detail to guide execution while avoiding over-specification that stifles creativity?

Matt Davies: "This is tricky, and many people get this wrong. As a marketer, you’re briefing specialists to do a job you can’t do yourself. Your job is to define what success looks like—objectives and a picture of success provide the backbone for creativity. The brief is the what (what we’re trying to achieve); creativity is the how (the bridge between the brief and what lives in the world)."

"As soon as you find yourself giving answers, e.g. writing taglines, scripting messages, dictating a storyline or suggesting characters, you’re putting handcuffs on creativity. Channel constraints can do the same. Ask your agencies: “Is this too much? How would you like the information organised?” Every agency is slightly different, so invite feedback."

"And be specific on deliverables: what are we looking for off the back of this brief, and why are those deliverables right for the audience we’ve chosen (not just “because we’ve always done it”)? Clarity on deliverables is useful; prescription of the idea is not."

Question: What’s the best approach to writing B2B campaign briefs that offer strategic guardrails but allow room for creative interpretation?

Pieter-Paul von Weiler: "A B2B brief should not be approached differently from B2C. Best practice is to use one brief that makes the key decisions and is strong and clear enough to distribute to all agencies. In the deliverables section, you can be specific about what you need from each agency, but the core brief remains the same."

Question: How do you balance not asking too many questions in the brief with getting sufficient information to act?

Matt Davies: "Don’t ask questions in the brief document. A brief is a series of choices a brand has made, not a series of questions. If you have questions, get them answered before handing over the brief. Of course, you can ask your agencies questions during the briefing, and they may have answers you need—but the brief itself should summarise your decisions, not your uncertainties."

Question: What’s your advice for managing volatile briefs where details and direction change—even after the agency has been briefed?

Matt Davies: "Treat the brief like a contract. If you keep changing the brief, things get messy—timelines, budgets and expectations all unravel. We need fixed briefs that lead to better ideas that last longer."

Question: How do you create more accountability for poor briefing when jobs take a long time due to lagging approvals or scope creep?

Pieter-Paul von Weiler: "Closely track the time spent and the number of rounds/reworks. Put names on templates, make people responsible, and ensure the people who approve the brief are the people who approve the idea. Be clear from the start which brief will be used to evaluate the work: the marketing brief written by the brand or the creative brief written by the agency."

Keywords: how to write briefs, creative brief writing, marketing brief writing, briefing