Howard Marguiles on the Creative Brief

Recently, I came across an entry on the Ad Age Small Agency Diary from Howard Marguiles, associate creative director/copy at Palio in Saratoga Springs, NY.

This particular piece was titled “What Are You Packing Into Your (Creative) Briefs?” and was all about — you guessed it — the value of a good creative brief.

An excerpt from Marguiles’ piece:

DiNoto has it exactly right. When writing a brief, you must fully commit to an idea:

  • This is the time to fall on the sword. Commit!
  • Refrain from peppering the brief with ideas; a little bit of this or that. Layering ideas in a painterly way is dishonest. Commit!
  • Say one thing, and say it clearly.
  • Don’t try to outshine the creatives, don’t let your cleverness show; keep the language simple and clear.
  • Anything resembling a tagline should be deleted.
  • Support, amplify, clarify, stay on message.

If you have doubts that you have chosen the right path, find another. The universe has an infinite supply of paths; choose one.

It is a faulty assumption to believe that a killer ad campaign was the product of an unusually imaginative creative brief. Quite the opposite is more likely to be true. It is also not inevitable that any given campaign would result from any given brief. This is a deterministic function of the zeitgeist, the talents and disposition of the creative teams, the openness and receptivity of the target audience, and the ability of an agency and client to celebrate the power of a great idea and run with it.

The Goodby, Silverstein & Partners award-winning “Got Milk?” campaign was based on a powerful, single-minded insight: People wait until they’re out of milk to realize that they need to buy more. The campaign’s scenarios were highly entertaining, but the core message was: “Milk enhances the enjoyment of many foods. Don’t wait until you’re out. Buy some today.” In Goodby’s hands, advertising history was made. At another shop, the spots might’ve sounded like infomercials for the ShamWow!

A truly motivating insight is a secret bit of knowledge that you have about your target audience that you can exploit to make them do your bidding. Don’t squander it.

Regardless of whether you’re on the account side, the creative side, somewhere in-between, or none of the above, take the time to read the entire piece.

Then go practice, practice, practice.

You (and your clients) will be glad you did.

New Hire at Red Sky PR

Red Sky Public Relations in Boise has added Julie Hahn to their staff as an Account Executive.  Julie will lead client activities in tandem with Principals Jessica Flynn, Stephanie Worrell and Robert Deen.

Prior to joining Red Sky, Julie was a Communications Specialist with Boise State University, and also had a number of roles during her tenure at The Idaho Statesman — from Copy Editor to Columnist to Section Editor. She is a graduate of the University of Montana with a degree in print journalism.

Congratulations Julie.

New Leadership for BAF’s 100th Year

At the recent Three Ounces + Ice event, the Boise Advertising Federation announced their new board members for the year, which marks the BAF’s 100th Anniversary.

All the details from the BAF:

The Boise Advertising Federation (BAF) named their 2009-2010 board members to lead the advertising trade organization, effective June 1, 2009. Shane Vaughan, vice president of marketing at Balihoo, will serve as president for the BAF’s 100th anniversary year.

“I’m honored to be elected BAF president in this, the 100th anniversary year of the organization. The talent in the BAF and the Boise advertising community as a whole is stunning. We’re committed to continuing to build outstanding educational, networking and award programming for the advertising and marketing community throughout 2009-2010”, said Vaughan.

Vaughan succeeds Jason Hamilton, Fuel3 Advertising, who will now serve as chairman of the board.

Board members were voted in by the membership at the annual Past Presidents and Installation event on May 28th. Also during the event, Brian Harrison, Almost Live Productions, received the BAF member of the year award for his outstanding contributions to the organization.

Additional board members include:

Edward Moore, DaviesMoore, executive chairman of the board
John Drake, Drake Cooper, 1st vice president
David Jensen, Oliver Russell, 2nd vice president
Carolyn Sali, DaviesMoore, 3rd vice president
Madeline Rutledge, KIVI-TV, executive secretary
Jennie Myers, Drake Cooper, creative awards show chair
Laurie Asin McMichael, KTVB News Group, fundraising chair
Robbin Gibson, Drake Cooper, membership chair
Sandy Anderson, Journal Broadcast Group, creative awards show judging chair
David Noot, Noot Group, programs chair
Laura Herrick, Foerstel Design + Marketing, public service chair
Kelsey Merida, KIVI, education chair
Lindzee Frei, Stoltz Marketing Group, publicity chair
Holly Sue Kerns, Kerns Branding, government relations chair
Crissie McDowell, Stoltz Marketing Group, website chair

The Boise Advertising Federation is a non-profit volunteer trade organization made up of members in the marketing, advertising, design, web, relationship marketing, mass media and public relation industries. As the oldest trade organization in Idaho, the BAF’s primary goals are to educate and promote professional development among the membership; and guide and protect the advertising industry from unwanted legislation. The BAF offers professional development seminars, informative luncheons and industry networking events.

For BAF membership inquiries contact Robbin Gibson or visit www.boiseadfed.org/about.

Headline Roundup: May 25 – 29

A few stories that caught our eye over the past week.

Google Connects Offline Behavior To Digital Marketing – via MediaPost

Anatomy of The Consumer: Touch – via MediaPost

Actors Unions OK Commercial Deal – via MediaPost

Like Lambs to the Slaughter – via Adweek

Nielsen Finds ‘Cord-Cutting’ Is Real, But Cuts Both Ways: Online Video Churns Almost As Much As TV – via MediaPost

Campaigns Address Today’s Anxieties by Looking Back – via The New York Times

When Will Marketers Boost Spending? – via Brandweek

Preparing for the Future – the Benefit of a Succession Plan

Recently, Mark Solon of Highway 12 Ventures wrote a guest article for The Idaho Statesman in which he chronicled the transformation of es/drake into Drake Cooper.  He followed the paths that led Bill Drake and Jamie Cooper to each other, and a glimpse into their plan for the future.

A few excerpts from the article: Accident that could have killed him changes CEO’s priorities

One of the first things that Bill thought about when he got back to work after the accident was the fact that he had never created a succession plan for his business. “Sure, I always thought about it,” he told me. “But life got in the way, and I never got around to it.” He realized that he had not even given a hint of direction to his staff on what to do if he got hit by the “proverbial bus.”

Around the same time, Jamie Cooper was growing restless. Jamie had been a marketing executive at a number of companies, most recently as the marketing VP at ProClarity, which had just sold to Microsoft. Having recently turned 40, Jamie was thinking about “hanging up my corporate badge and having my own business where I could leverage what I’ve learned in my career.”

Bill knew Jamie and was impressed with his thoughtful approach. According to Bill, “Jamie was a client of the firm while at ProClarity, and a tough one. Succession planning was now at the top of my priority list. I wasn’t ready to retire but I was ready to stop and smell the roses a bit more. Because of the extended nature of Jamie’s proposed earn-out, I’d be able to slowly ease out of the business and pass along the knowledge I’ve gained along the way.”

Its a good read, and worth the time to take a look at it.

Also, if you’re in a similar position, something for you to think about:  What plans do you have in place in the event that ‘you get hit by a bus’?

Nothing like some heavy thinking on a Friday…