The Problem in Brief

In most agencies you spend a lot of time discussing the brief that you (normally) get from clients and internal briefs as well. What's the objective and what are we asked to do (campaigns, product development etc.).

In some projects we get a very clear and very detailed brief and everybody is happy. Now we know exactly how to approach the project and maybe even what to deliver. And within the limits of the brief we can be extremely creative.

Lately things are changing dramatically. Since we preach a more holistic and multi disciplinary approach the briefs and projects Advance get involved in become complicated. And it's hard to be creative, because you lack information or a complete overview.

Part of the solution is to spend more time on defining and discussing the problems that we are trying to solve rather than a predefined brief. What kind of problem are we trying to solve with a campaign and can the problem really be solved with a campaign. Today I saw an article in a danish new paper discussing if brands can buy a better image (making campaigns). See it here http://www.business.dk/media/kan-man-koebe-sig-et-nyt-image

Of cause they can't, but if the problem is a poor brand image, there are solutions to it (a complete product, organization and communication solution would be an Advance bet). But if the brief is a campaign, you never get to the right solution.

This means that creativity from an agency perspective is also in the way you approach the problem. And the clients will have to approach the agencies with a more (open) problem oriented discussion. At least to get the most effective solution and more value out of the agencies. I'm sure that the concepts that we get out of this will be more holistic and much more relevant than traditional solutions. And fortunately we can see it working with the most courageous of our clients (and client owners within the agency). The beauty of it, is that you produce an alignment between clients and agency (you measure against the ability to solve a problem that you agree on) and between competencies within the agency. Long term I believe only agencies that can facilitate this proces and who can create a trustworthy relationship with the clients will make it to the top. And that's our ambition.