This is a lost art of deeply understanding the complex purpose of a job and codifying it into simple language. Fortunately for us, Steve Harrison(pictured above) left an important document on how to write a perfect brief.
Describing the job with jargon
I hate jargon. And it’s not because I don’t understand it. It’s because I do. But most in the room don’t, and they have to pretend they do. This only leads to doing the job in a cloud of confusion.
Execs use industry jargon for a few reasons. One, they love to hear themselves speak. Two, because they are painfully aware of the knowledge they lack, they compensate. “Now I know more.” He deludes himself.
Number three, an inferiority rooted in toxic cultures of working. I find this often in Asian working environments. In the West, people are comfortable with having “nothing to add.”
In the East, not having anything to add automatically puts you in the crosshairs of your superior. It is seen as a clear sign that you’re not fit for the job, you’re not working hard enough, and you are stupid. It is toxic.
This toxicity, has killed (literally) many hardworking Asian men and women. But instead of getting rid of this disease, for reasons that are beyond me, the toxic culture is perpetuated. It always finds to live and devour new victims. And it is already 2024.
May God be Merciful upon their souls.
If we’re not speaking jargon, what are we doing instead?
We are seeking ‘clarity’. In writing the brief, we are in pursuit of clarity. Every question and answer serves to achieve clarity in identifying a prospect, a purpose, and a promise.
I’ve watched projects go through without a clear brief. Clients, often stubborn, have blind confidence that they know the problem. They’re quick to demand we follow their commands.
Despite the obvious fact: They pay us for our expertise and answers.
Projects with a weak brief usually get completed. They achieve an arbitrary result and call it a success. Then they come back to us with the same problems.
With a weak brief, and an agency always happy to stay silent when someone is making a mistake, these projects suck the life out of those assigned. In return, the agency gets a fat check for doing as they’re told. Without exhausting any resource to actually solve a problem.
But what if logic is the victor and we are in a timeline where everything makes sense?
Then it’s time to learn about writing a brief.
Steve Harrison’s document encapsulates everything a brief needs in one simple page. And it’s written simply too! Here are 6 questions to focus on. I’ve categorised them accordingly:
Finding clarity on a prospect
- Who are we talking to?
- What do they think before receiving our message?
Finding clarity on a purpose
- What do we want them to think after receiving our message?
- What do we want them to do after receiving our message?
Finding clarity on a promise
- What is the proposition?
- What is the support of the proposition?
Guide your thinking through this process
The guiding thought is this: Your prospect has a problem that your client can solve. Keep this in mind as you answer the first 6 questions.
(Question number 7 helps beef up your promise. So if your client’s product contain bonus benefits that absolutely interest the consumer, include it.)
This guiding thought gives you the necessary constraints when ideating. Without it, you’ll find yourself pulled into many directions, ending up confused and lost.
One Response
This is gold. Thanks for sharing this Arshad