What hides behind the brief?

Creatives should stop using the brief as an excuse for shoddy work.

 

 

Normally our private parts, which in US slang, when used to describe people, are not very complimentary. This piece is not a litany of the client servicing people’s woes, but is a clarion call to the creative people in agencies to stop hiding behind briefs.

 

 

Not for a moment am I defending the lazy servicing types, who wouldn’t think through a problem before briefing their creative team. I am no subscriber to the KKDY (Kuchh kar de yaar, or please do something Buddy) school of briefing. But at the same time, I am not for the creative people who use briefs or lack of it as an excuse for not being creative. “This brief is not very inspiring; I don’t understand the brief; Can you be specific in your brief?” Oft-used, seemingly harmless comments, which more often than not reflect a lazy mind not willing to stretch.

 

Our industry is today plagued by such people who would much rather while away their time.

 

There are enough examples where creative people have accepted the challenge of a sodden brief and have come out tops! Let’s recall one such creative piece. This piece may not have won creative awards, but has stuck in my mind as a brilliant example of work where the brief would have been innocuous. This was an ad released a few years ago for Virgin Atlantic.

 

The ad shows a caricature of veteran Bollywood actresses Jaya Bachchan and Rekha sitting in an aircarft next to each other, angrily looking away from each other (it is alleged that Jaya is not very kindly disposed towards Rekha, because there was a rumour of her husband having an affair with Rekha). And the tongue-in-cheek headline mentions how the travellers can now choose who sits next to them, as they will now get a free ticket for every ticket they bought. The most likely brief for this would have been - “Hey guys Virgin is giving a free ticket for every ticket you buy. Can you do an ad for this promo offer?”

 

Now this is what I call creativity. Putting two dissimilar, apparently unlinked facts together, and creating a memorable communication out of it. And I am sure, before this communication got created, the normal creative-servicing dialogue would have happened — what are the insights, who is the target audience, what is the response we seek.

 

 It is regrettable that today, in our industry, we are faced with a lot of such failures. They blatantly hide behind briefs given to them. If they were genuinely non-creative, I would understand this. But, they are extremely aware, extremely articulate and extremely intelligent.

 

Superman wears his brief on the outside

 

It is anecdotal that once upon a time a brief was given by servicing which actually was used as is, in a piece of communication. This brief was for Allen Solly (remember the “Friday Dressing”?). The brief goes - “a week according to Allen Solly — Friday, Friday, Friday, Friday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.” Now, while this is an inspiring brief, such briefs are one in a thousand. The creative people have a choice - they can either keep waiting for such ‘once in a blue moon’ briefs, or pull up their socks and start to deliver creativity, which by the way, is the very reason for their existence.

 

It’s time they shed their laziness, and start to be creative. It is time they stopped to look at the glass as half-empty, and call it half-full instead. It’s time they stopped cribbing, and start to crow. Or else, they will be the ones who will be squarely responsible for the value erosion that is plaguing our industry today.

 

 

Co-ordinated by Anushree Madan Mohan