Briefing in Wonderland

“Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.”

“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen.

In the fascinating world of advertising, design, and marketing, a key element for the success of any project is the creative brief.

Seeking to better understand the challenge of creating/receiving good briefs, we went to the source and interviewed different people who are “on the client side” creating the briefs. We also spoke with creatives and directors from agencies who receive that information in order to do their work. “The success of a project depends on a good brief, as it determines whether the project flows smoothly or ends up going back and forth without reaching any destination,” says Agus, who has experience on both sides of the story: receiving briefs from clients and now creating them to send to the creative agencies they work with. “I’m fortunate to have been on both sides and to be able to brief others the way I would have liked to be briefed.”

In theory, the brief should contain information about the objective and purpose of the project, the target audience, the spirit of the message to be communicated, the tone and style, the budget, expectations regarding timing, and any relevant information that could impact the creative work.

But in practice 🙈… let’s just say it’s not always like that. “That brief is one in a million for me,” says Ale, founder of a creative agency that goes through briefing processes all the time. Most of the time, briefs are too vague, confusing, or contradictory, and they often come with impossible deadlines and, in many cases, barely defined budgets. “Many times, there is no willingness on the other side, no time, no information that one really needs to start working… Or sometimes, it’s true, even the client isn’t quite clear about what they want.”

And here, the key! Sometimes, it’s difficult for a client to express what they are looking for. So, if the client can’t put it into words, just picture the creative team.

When we asked advertising and creativity experts (both from agencies and clients), “What could be improved in the process?”, the answer is the same: “Definitely the brief. The more insightful it is, the better we can work.”

Say Hi! Formula

Imagine a space where creativity flows freely, where collaboration is key, and where ideas are generated not only quickly but also in a fun way.

Ladies and gentlemen, we want to tell you that at Say Hi! we have found a formula to solve this challenge (hello! We love challenges 🤓). We decided to develop our own way of obtaining the necessary information so that our creative proposals not only meet the expectations of our clients (and our clients’ clients) but also come together in record time.

What is this magical formula all about? We like to add “magical” to decorate it a bit, but it’s nothing more than another way of applying innovation to communication challenges.

As in any process, we always start with a Kick Off with the client to understand what they are looking for, and with that in mind, we conduct research that allows us to not only understand the market and the competition but also the current state of the brand.

So far, it seems like a normal process, right? Hold on! Here comes the best part… At Say Hi!, we don’t wait for structured briefs in which the client answers a series of questions and sends their responses by email. Instead, we build the briefs together through a Creative Workshop.

The Workshop is an experience of no more than an hour and a half in which a team of collaborators from different areas of the brand/organization immerse themselves in creative and agile dynamics that facilitate the emergence of ideas and alignment of the team regarding what they are looking for and expecting.

With the preliminary information from the research plus the information extracted from the Workshop, we design the creative proposal. How long does the process take? One week. Yes, you read that right: if a Workshop is held on a Monday, by the following Monday (or even sooner), we have a ready proposal. And since the client was part of the process, success is almost guaranteed, and expectations are met.

“We help them communicate what they want to communicate… It’s a joint, collaborative effort. It’s very collaborative. It doesn’t work if it’s not done this way,” Gas told us when we talked about his brief process, and the truth is, he put into words what we also do.

Bonus Track

The Creative Process doesn’t just result in a concept. At Say Hi!, we have witnessed the impact our clients get from this experience.

The people involved in the process leave inspired and motivated, becoming ambassadors of the proposal. Another type of connection and reconnection between collaborators emerges, improving communication and collaboration in the future. New ways of working are experienced: more agile, more effective, and above all, more fun.

Our Creative Process goes beyond the mere conceptualization of a campaign, brand relaunch, or activation. We like to believe that we are not simply service providers, but rather allies in the creative process, offering a truly transformative experience.

Ultimately, as the queen told Alice, believing in the impossible is a matter of practice. This is the only way we can make what seemed impossible to be, be.