Welcome to Episode 26 of Navigating the Fustercluck—a podcast full of snackable insights to help you navigate the topsy/turvy world of creativity.My name is Wegs, like eggs with a W, joining you from Deaf Mule Studios in Dallas, and we’re here to talk about creative briefs.At its core, a creative brief should be two things:* Creative* BriefCreatives are our audience, and we need to help them focus.Need to Know Trumps Nice to KnowWhile there may be plenty of rich background information for the creatives to know, not all of it belongs in the brief itself.What does belong in the brief is a focused framework to solve a client’s challenges.Russ Klein, the former CMO of 7-Eleven and Burger King developed the chassis of the following brief format. It has been adopted and modified with great enthusiasm and success by many of the leading creative agencies.The Tyranny of the Single Most Persuasive ThingYou’ll notice that it doesn’t contain a section with a single most persuasive thing to say. Instead, it frames the problem to be solved with a question.Why?Well, it has to do with brain scans.Yep, brain scans.When you’re simply told something, brain scans reveal limited brain wave activity.But when you ask someone a question, his or her brain lights up like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.Great Answers Start With Great QuestionsQuestions create involvement. Passion. Partnership.They are an invitation to collaborate.To build something together.Questions also unleash the intuitive marketing skills of your team, especially Creatives.Great questions lead to great answers. And great success.The key to forming the right question is to understand what lies below the surface.People’s emotions, fears, hopes…These things create tension.And like a bow and arrow, or any great story, tension needs to be released.When you can release someone’s tension with your story,you can really move that person.You can change their hearts.Their minds.And even pop culture.Not to mention sales.An Invitation to CollaborateInstead of an invitation to collaborate, the Single Most Persuasive Thing to Saytoo often becomes the tyranny of what to say. Creative handcuffs. Something clients expect to see as a piece of copy or a tagline. As Ideasicle says, the creative brief is just the beginning, it’s not the solution. The Single Most Persuasive parades itself as the solution. Answering questions, on the other hand, opens up our minds and expands our creative palette.The Meat of This Brief is Flame-BroiledThe following is an example of how a question-based brief works.It’s the Burger King Whopper Love brief.And from it sprang a number of iconic campaigns and success stories:* Whopper Freakout* Whopper Virgins* Whopper SacrificeWhat follows on the next page is the four-box format and actual Whopper Love brief:Whopper LoveSTORYWhat is the most relevant and differentiating idea that will surprise consumers or challenge their current thinking or relationship with the brand?The Whopper is “America’s Favorite Burger” (This was a claim based on a survey.) TENSIONWhat is the psychological, social, categorical or cultural tension associated with this idea? (Stated in the voice of the consumer.)“I don’t trust people who brag.”QUESTIONWhat is the question we need to answer to nail the assignment?How do we show people’s love for the Whopper without it coming across like typical advertising hot air?THOUGHT STARTERSWhat facts, figures, insights or seeds of ideas can potentially move the development process forward in an impactful way?* A national survey says that the Whopper is “America’s Favorite Burger.”* A blind taste test* The Whopper is flame-broiled, McDonald’s fries their burgers* Have someone else brag on us, i.e., testimonials told in a unique wayA recap of the resulting work:RESULTING WORKThree major campaigns were i...