Strategy7 min read
How to brief a creative agency (and get work you actually love)
A good brief is short, specific and a little bit uncomfortable. Here's the one-page template we wish every client sent us.
By Rosie Callaghan
The quality of the work rarely exceeds the quality of the brief. Yet most briefs are either a single vague line or a forty-slide deck nobody finishes.
The sweet spot is one page that answers five questions honestly.
The five questions
What's the problem, in plain words? Who exactly do we need to reach? What do we want them to think, feel or do? What's the single most persuasive truth we have? How will we know it worked?
If any answer is 'everyone' or 'everything', keep going until it isn't.
Share the awkward stuff
Budget, internal politics, the idea the CEO secretly loves — tell us early. Constraints don't limit creativity; surprises do.
