•   The Brief as a Starting point

The brief acts as the starter activity for the creative team and therefore, has a big influence on motivation and space in all the meetings (deliberations) that follow. Ideally, a brief, if well prepared, can become a love letter to the product; allowing imaginations to run wild. If the brief you produce will work just as well for a competing brand, then you can be certain that it’s too interchangeable and therefore belongs in the recycle bin.

A good brief must have two kinds of information:

·      




The kind of information that restricts the team’s creative search-field. They include budget constraints, the cleint’s ideas and preferences, style requirements, marketing information or concepts that have already been considered but rejected. These kind of information must be kept in the background during the creative phase. (Pricken, 2007. p.16)

·      The kind of information that enlarges the search-field for potential ideas and stimulates that imagination. Example the USP of the product, tone or mood, the product information profile or specs, the target group, among others. These parameters will stimulate the imagination and provide a wider spectrum for ideas to be hatched.

NB: Turn to pages        for sample creative briefs.

What does the Goal Achieve?

·      Reduces a complex brief to a clear strategy or a single-minded proposition.

·      Reduces all the ideas to a single-minded proposition that can be understood by the target group in just a few seconds.

·      The goal acts as the FOCAL POINT leading to a clearly defined objective.

·      It is expressed in the form of a question (How can we achieve X?). the goal makes the team members begin an active mental search process and so acts as a stimulus.

·      The goal keeps team members on track.

Examples of Goals.

·      A formulation that mentions a specific benefit: ‘How can we show in a line of copy that the new TB LENS is the most hardwearing camera lens currently on the market?’ (Pricken, 2007. p.18)

·      A formulation directed towards a visual campaign: ‘ How can we show in an Image that the new TB LENS is the most advanced camera lens currently on the market?’ (Pricken, 2007. p.18)

·      A formulation directed towards a visual campaign: ‘How can we show in a very provocative line of copy that the TB LENS is the hardwearing camera lens currently on the market?’

Seven (7) rules for Goal Formulation

·      A goal should always involve a single-minded proposition

·      A goal should have no ‘ands’

·      A goal is always a question

·      A goal should be short and snappy

·      A goal should be simple enough for a twelve-year-old to understand it.

·      A goal should avoid using foreign words or jargons.

·      A goal should be formulated in such a way that the clients will accept and take forward. (Pricken, 2007. p.19)

The Basis of the Kickstart Catalogue

The Kickstart catalogue offers the strategies likely to promote great ideas for campaigns. It also present techniques used by international campaigns that have received awards at major international festivals.

There are nine (9) different area or factors that will help you understand campaigns and explain their basic structures. They include:

·      The Goal: What needs to be said?

·      Strategy: how should we think about this?

·      Framework: How does the structure of the idea work?

·      Search-fields: Where else could we look for ideas?

·      Point of View: What perspective should we take?

·      Timeline: What time period is involved?

·      Senses: Could the idea be transferred to other senses?

·      Medium: In which other media would the idea work?

·      Implementation: does form match content?