Rethinking The Creative Brief

Creative briefs are being written upside down these days. This is not a time of aspirations for marketing to try and create. So what do I mean?

The assumption has been that with the right imagery, positioning statement and all that, one can engineer the audience toward whatever the aspiration is. We pretty much could for a while. But as culture is shifting and splintering in many ways, as demographics are less meaningful as an insight tool, manufacturing aspiration isn’t where marketers should be focusing today.

Take the shift towards using older faces in campaigns. During times of economic growth, perceived stability and energy, the faces of youth reflect that subconscious in consumers. As times shift, like they are now, to economic uncertainty and social anxieties, we seek older faces as a semblance of stability.

So aspirations are derivatives of the underlying conditions of culture. In times like these, that age old question of “what is our audience aspiring to be?” doesn’t sit well in a creative brief. It's upside down. I think it’s better to ask “ what does the audience ‘feel’ right now?” Then add in “what aspiration(s) does that result in?”

Our own research has shown that the two things consumers seek the most right now are trust and identity anchors. While we all still have our aspirations, today they are less lofty, a little less ambitious and more about stability, grounding. So those wildly aspirational ad creatives? Not so much. It’s why nostalgia in creative is resonating so well. Culture is going through a bit of a “thing” and that’s consumers finding their way. Help them navigate and you’re positioning your brand for when things get better. The old map is not the territory right now.