In this short, slightly, scrappy, 10-minute bonus episode, the strategist’s strategist Julian Cole joins me again - this time for a real-time riff on how to devise a usable strategy brief… when you don’t actually have one.

Julian has worked with Uber, Apple, Facebook, Disney and more, and is known for demystifying strategy and making it accessible. In our previous full-length episode, we got so deep into strategy chat that my producer gently told me off for going way over time. So here’s the fun bit we couldn’t bear to delete.

Where to start when no usable brief exists

• Julian shares his “brief audit” approach — the mandatories, the nice-to-knows, and how to avoid reinventing the wheel.

Live strategy development: The Dog Teeth Whitening Brief

• Yes, really. We take a fictional vet chain launching a dog teeth-whitening service and unpack:
• The business problem vs the consumer problem
• How to explore audience motivations, goals and fears
• Why aesthetics is never really about aesthetics
• How social connection, status and even loneliness show up in strategic thinking

Inside Julian’s strategic process

• We walk through:
• Defining goals and problems
• Using goal/fear dynamics to find emotional territory
• Spotting potential insights
• Building three “strategy napkins” — quick, rough territories you can test with clients or creatives

Why messy thinking is part of the process

• Strategy rarely arrives fully formed. This episode shows the real-world expansion phase — the part most people never see.

If you ever need to develop a strategy without a proper brief (which, let’s be honest… is more often than we may like), this episode gives you a practical, human, and transparent look at how a top strategist begins to approach the problem.

About Claire Bridges 

Claire Bridges is Chief Spark and Founder of leading creative training consultancy Now Go Create, whose philosophy is that everyone can be creative.

Claire worked as Managing Director and Creative Director working with global brands including Starbucks, Kellogg’s, Unilever, P&G and Danone in her previous PR career. Upskilling individuals, teams and organisations with practical creativity tools is Claire’s mission. 

She’s one of only 250 people globally to hold an MSc in Creativity, Leadership & Innovation, and authored an Amazon best-selling creative handbook In Your Creative Element based on her academic studies.

Claire and her hand-picked team of experts have worked on thousands of creative projects and trained over 40,000 people around the world since starting Now Go Create in 2011.

Join our weekly email for free resources and worksheets to go with the podcast.

Connect with Claire:

Website: https://nowgocreate.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowgocreate/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NowGoCreate

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/claire-bridges-b6205b14

About Julian Cole:

Julian Cole is a strategy consultant to leading brands including Uber, Apple, Facebook, and Disney. 

Previously he was Head of Comms Planning at BBDO New York, where he oversaw a team of 15+ strategists who created award-winning work for Bacardi, Footlocker, Mountain Dew, GE, Snickers, M&Ms, Lowes, Interscope Records, Bombay Sapphire and the Sandy Hook Foundation.

Prior to that he was Head of Communications Planning at BBH New York, helping to launch the PlayStation 4 to be the highest selling console launch in gaming history.

With a void of practical strategy education, in 2019 Julian started the Strategy Finishing School and he has taken his world class experience and taught it to over 4,000 strategists.

Connect with Julian:

Website: https://strategyfinishingschool.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliancole/

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk