Bad briefs are long. They list deliverables, deadlines and brand values, and they never say what the work is for. Good briefs are short, specific and a little uncomfortable, because they make a decision.

The five questions

We ask clients to answer five things on a single page: who is this for, what should they do afterwards, what is the one thing they must believe, what are we afraid of, and what would make this a failure even if everyone liked it. The last answer is usually the most useful.

The constraints matter as much as the goals. A fixed budget, a hard date and a non-negotiable partner logo are not obstacles. They are the shape the idea has to fit.

The nervous sentence

Every brief we write ends with a sentence that makes the room go quiet, for example: we are choosing to be known for one thing, and it is not everything we do. If the sentence feels safe, the brief has not decided anything yet.

Send us a page like that and we will send back work that surprises you.