“We need a campaign.” “Let’s do an event.” “We need an activation.” “How about building an app?” Almost all of these requests share the same first step: the brief.
In day-to-day marketing, phrases like these tend to show up as the starting point for new projects. The problem is that, more often than not, they don’t present the challenge. They already present the answer.
And when the solution comes before the problem, creativity starts out with less room to explore.
That doesn’t mean a campaign, an event or an activation is a bad choice. The real question is whether it is, in fact, the best answer to what the company needs to transform. After all, it’s entirely possible to execute a solution perfectly and still solve the wrong problem.
Before the “what,” comes the “why”
An effective brief shouldn’t start with the deliverable. It should start with the context.
- What’s happening?;
- Why does it matter to the business?;
- Who is affected?;
- What is that person going through?;
- Is there a behavior or perception that needs to change?;
- What has already been tried?;
- And what don’t we know yet about this challenge?
These questions help turn a request into an opportunity for investigation.
“We need to create an activation to increase store traffic,” for example, already defines a big part of the path. But realizing that a significant number of people move through the space without engaging with a particular category opens up a far more interesting discussion: how can we make this journey more relevant?
An activation may still be the answer. But now it’s one possibility among many — not a decision made before the problem was understood.
A good brief opens up possibilities
There’s an important difference between giving direction and dictating the solution. A good brief needs to be clear about the challenge, the audience, the objectives, the context and the constraints. At the same time, it should leave room for the team to question assumptions and explore different paths.
It’s precisely this combination that can make the creative process more powerful.
When the brief says “do X to achieve Y,” the discussion tends to focus on how to do X as well as possible. When it says “we need to achieve Y because this is the scenario we’re facing,” the question becomes “what’s the best way to get there?”
It may seem like a small difference, but it can completely change the outcome.
The solution might lie in a physical experience, in content, technology, service, communication, environment, journey or a combination of different possibilities. The format stops being the starting point and becomes a consequence of the strategy.
So where does experience come in?
With whoever is on the other side.
A good experience doesn’t come only from what the brand wants to communicate or offer. It needs to take into account the context of the people who will live it. What do they expect? What could create friction? What’s relevant at that moment? What role does the brand play in that journey?
When these questions make it into the brief, the project stops being just about a deliverable and becomes about a transformation.
This perspective also helps avoid one of the most common mistakes in experience projects: creating something interesting for the company but not very relevant to people.
An idea can be beautiful, innovative and technically flawless. But if it doesn’t respond to a real need or doesn’t make sense in that context, it’s unlikely to be a good experience.
The brief doesn’t need to come with a ready-made idea
Perhaps this is the main shift in perspective: the brief isn’t there to say exactly what should be created. It’s there to create the conditions for the best idea to emerge.
That means spending more time understanding the problem before rushing to the solution. It means questioning requests, investigating behaviors, acknowledging constraints and leaving room for possibilities that weren’t on the radar yet.
In the end, the more clarity there is about the problem, the more freedom there is to think about the solution.
This is the mindset Alice Wonders brings to turning business challenges into experiences. Combining strategy, creativity and a people-centered approach, we help brands break away from ready-made solutions and find more relevant paths for what truly needs to be transformed.
Because a good experience may start with an idea. But a relevant experience starts with a good question.
Want to uncover new possibilities for one of your brand’s challenges? Talk to Alice Wonders.
Inscreva-se em nossa Newsletter
Receba no seu email todas as novidades do nosso blog sobre tecnologia e varejo, além de ficar por dentro do novos projetos Alice Wonders.
Thank you for subscribing.
Something went wrong.
Respeitamos sua privacidade e levamos a sério a sua proteção
