Could your agency use a new set of briefs?

April 15, 2007 | Author: Tim Williams

If agencies expect to be able to produce non-traditional solutions to marketing problems, we can't continue to work in traditional ways. We need new approaches and new tools to help us break out of our familiar patterns that tend to result in familiar solutions.

Sociologist Abraham Maslow said "He who is good with a hammer tends to see everything as a nail." Because agencies are skilled at advertising, we tend to produce ads. But increasingly, conventional advertising isn't always in the best interest of the brand.

One of the ways we can break our mass media-centric habits is to transform the way we develop briefs. For years the creative brief has been the mainstay of agencies. This type of brief is incredibly important, but because of the way it's structured it often perpetuates our tendency to solve problems in conventional ways. More importantly, the creative brief should come last – not first – in the problem-solving process.

Essentially, an agency's output can be thought of in two broad ways:

Contact: Reaching consumers at the right time, in the right place, with the right channel.

Content: Developing the right message.

Too often we view the creative process as the Content part of our job (developing the right message) and we neglect to apply an equal dose of creativity to Contact (reaching consumers with the right channel). Contributing to this problem is the fact that most agencies only have the equivalent of a Content Brief. We also need a Contact Brief, and this brief should come first in the process.

Here are the key questions a Contact Brief should answer:

Who is the best customer for the brand?

This is an enormously important question that many marketers overlook in their quest to build the brand. The 80/20 rule applies to almost every brand on the planet; that is, 80% of the brand's revenues are generated by 20% of its customers. This section of the brief identifies the characteristics of this 20%.

What is the customer journey?

For every brand, customers go through a rational and emotional "customer journey" that has well-defined stages. Consumer wants, needs, and interests are different in each of these stages. In this section of the brief, these stages are identified and named.

What are the touch points at each stage of the customer journey?

Each stage in the customer journey presents its own set of unique touch points. This section of the brief identifies how, when, and where the consumer comes in contact with the brand.

What channels can be used to address the touch points at each stage of the journey?

Each touch point presents an opportunity to identify a channel that can be used to communicate with the consumer. If the right channels don't exist, we can create them. This is the section of the brief that helps spark much more creativity in "media" choices.

Of all the stages in the customer journey, at what point is the brand most relevant in the life of the customer?

The answer to this question can lead to a completely different "media" strategy for the brand. Instead of choosing channels based on cost efficiencies of traditional media, you instead choose channels based on relevance to the brand. Wisk, the household laundry product, answered this question with the insight that the Wisk brand is most relevant "at the point of dirt," and modified its media strategy accordingly.

Armed with the insights from the contact brief, we can now develop the content brief. The Content Brief is much closer to the creative brief we all know and love, but with one key difference. The central question a Content Brief must answer is this: "What messages are relevant at each stage of the customer journey?" Just as each stage of the customer journey requires that we select (or invent) relevant media channels, each stage also requires that we deliver a relevant message.

Brands are built differently in 2007, and a new set of briefs can help us explore new territory in the multi-channel world.

Creating an agency of believers

March 15, 2007 | Author: Tim Williams

Profit is not at the center of your business. People are not at the center of your business. Not even the client is at the center of your business. Your purpose is — or should be — at the center of your business.

Your purpose is the agency's reason for being. Don't confuse purpose with the typical weak, soggy "mission statements" that hang unnoticed in the lobbies of countless companies across America. Most mission statements are a mélange of hyperbole that is neither unique nor motivating. How motivated would you be by meaningless "mission statements" like these?

"To be an integrated marketing communications firm providing our client's brand with strategic marketing insights, strategic marketing planning and strategic creative solutions."

"To be the agency of choice, recognized as a leader in marketing, driven by creativity, measurable results and community service."

"To help make clients successful by generating results through effective advertising, public relations and related marketing communications."

Is it any wonder why nobody reads or cares about the company mission statement? It hangs in the lobby in an aluminum frame like a historical relic instead of a living document.

Any guesses as to the most commonly used words in agency mission statements? How about "creative" and "results." When words like these get overused, they completely lose their meaning. Not to mention the fact that they provide absolutely no point of distinction.

What's really needed in place of the tired mission statement is to discover a strong sense of purpose — the thing that makes you and your associates come to work every morning. The notable agencies have an ambitious reason for being. They have a purpose that goes beyond drawing a paycheck.

Consider what your purpose would be if you were leading a movement rather than a business. Movements are about meaning, not commercialism. Movements are about making a difference in the world. They intrinsically motivate people to action. They are filled with a sense of purpose.

A strong purpose makes the agency feel as if it's engaged in something that's honorable, almost a holy crusade. This creates not just a company of workers, but a company of believers.

If you work for Crispin Porter + Bogusky, you know that your company's purpose isn't to create ads. It's to become a catalyst in changing popular culture. That's a pretty motivating reason to come to work every day.

Defining your sense of purpose is a liberating process. But it takes some dedication. It's an off-site exercise, requiring the full attention and best intentions of your senior staff. Get a good outside facilitator to help you plumb the depths of your organization to begin to answer questions like:

1. Besides making money, why did we get into this business in the first place?

2. What is the meaning in what we do? Can we serve a higher purpose than just providing a paycheck to our employees?

3. What kind of contribution or difference can we make in our business and in the world?

How do you know you've reached deep enough to find your purpose? The acid test is that you find it inspiring and motivating.

Remember, the truly outstanding agencies are not just trying to create advertising, but in some small way change the world.