BetterBriefs x IPA
Best Practice Guide
The most downloaded and widely used resource in the world when it comes to writing briefs.
Rediscovering a lost art...
Stories of great briefings
A brief is a document. A briefing is an experience. Or at least, it should be!
This collection of stories celebrates the marketers who went one better - transforming routine briefings into moments of ceremony, and showing how creativity in the meeting can spark creativity in the work.
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We ran a briefing for Budweiser in the lead-up to the biggest marketing event of them all - the Super Bowl. We put the brief on the back of a coaster to ensure the brief was small, focused and to the point, and rather than just email the brief over, we created a briefing experience at a cool speakeasy in Manhattan. And of course we had the actual beer to inspire the creative team! The briefing was so different that it really engaged our creative partners to come with their best work possible.
A few years ago, I was involved in a creative briefing for a cold sore product, where my role was to vividly bring the target audience to life for the creative agency. With only 10% of the population suffering from cold sores, many people are unaware of the emotional toll and impact on self-esteem that a cold sore can cause. To foster genuine empathy and understanding, I had key members of the creative agency wear a simulated cold sore on their lip for five full days. This experience allowed them to truly grasp the inner emotional turmoil, the diminished self-esteem, and the feeling that people see the cold sore rather than the person. It also highlighted the significant impact on the quality of daily life.
One briefing that stands out was for high-end DSLR cameras, when the challenge was all about increasing market share. To inspire us, Canon brought in a National Geographic professional photographer. He spoke for an hour about his work, how he approaches the art of photography, and why this particular brand of camera meant so much to him.It was incredibly powerful. At the time, smartphones were gaining serious ground on traditional cameras, so hearing directly from someone whose livelihood depended on his gear really landed. He made us realise that these cameras weren’t just pieces of equipment - they were tools capable of delivering so much more than any smartphone could. We talked about this experience for a long time afterwards, and the inspiration across the European teams was clear.
Working on TENA Pants, we ran a briefing I’ll never forget. Incontinence is a low-involvement category for non-users, so instead of just describing the challenge, we wanted the agency to experience it firsthand. Everyone attending the briefing meeting was asked to wear incontinence pants, sparking a few awkward laughs, and some very interesting conversations. The agency left engaged, inspired, and ready to think outside the box.
AT&T and DC invited us onto the Warner Bros. lot to walk the Justice League’s world—costumes, sets, artefacts, archives. Seeing the texture of capes, the scale of props, and the grit of Gotham gave us a visceral understanding no deck could deliver. That immersion became the foundation of our brief, and the spark for everything that followed.In stores nationwide, we aligned hero powers to product benefits—The Flash’s speed with AT&T Fiber, Wonder Woman’s protection with network security. Our Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston flagships became fan zones, showcasing life-size statues and screen-used costumes that pulled people in off the street.The pinnacle was San Diego Comic-Con. For Batman’s 80th, we partnered with DC to transform the Comic-Con Museum into the Batcave, giving fans the feeling of becoming Batman. Outside, lines snaked through Balboa Park for Batmobiles, arcade battles, and the Dark Knight Dive: an on-site skydiving booth where fans donned cowl-shaped helmets, VR goggles, and flew through Gotham chasing Scarecrow. We won a Golden Clio.
When I was on the agency side, our client, a major tequila brand, insisted we go to their distillery in the agave region of Mexico before we could start any work for them. We toured the facilities, met with the experts crafting the tequila, and got a true sense of what it took to deliver on the high standards this tequila brand had set for itself. It was an inspirational way to deeply understand the brand, and it inspired all of our creative efforts after that experience. Every time we developed a brief, executed a campaign, shot photography, worked with influencers, and implemented events, the purpose of the brand wasn’t just words that we had to remember – we experienced the brand’s purpose through our senses: Literally seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting the brand. We didn’t just become the agency supporting a brand, we became part of the brand – even personal advocates for the brand outside of our work. When we get closer to the product, the people behind the product, and what fuels the brand’s purpose, we can be better and more effective marketers. No doubt, this was an expense. Some might have seen it as an all-expense paid trip to the heart of Mexico, and a waste of money. But I can confirm the ROI was there, and made a huge difference for the client and how we supported them.