Creative briefs: why templates can stifle great ideas

‘Challenging everything’ in the service of unforgettable creative requires a wholesale rethink of ‘templating’, says Caspar Mason, creative director EMEA, INVNT.

There are some phrases which might strike fear into strategy and creative departments. ‘The client said they don’t have a budget in mind.’ ‘I told them we’d bring the creative review forward to this afternoon.’ 'No, that’s the pitch date. We’re submitting this week.' That kinda thing.

Less common, but no less unsettling, is ‘we’re going to revamp our Creative Brief template’. What follows is weeks, sometimes months, of navel-gazing and back and forth (and I speak as someone who has gazed professionally for many years). Meetings are had, versions are shared and the result, usually, is… fine.

The questions might be sharper, there might be a box or two fewer. But the problem is rarely with the format. It’s that what goes into those boxes just isn’t great. ‘Get To By’: Pollard’s 4-Pointer… a template is only as good as the thinking it contains.

If the strategy is just a description of a marketing campaign or a list of assets, it’s no use to anyone.

Put another way: the best recipe in the world is only as good as its ingredients. No one will ask for seconds when you replace Wagyu beef with Spam.

It’s not just creative briefs. Think of all the templates that surround us. A client brief. A media plan. A procurement portal form. All templates where, if we’re not careful, we fill in all the boxes and miss all the important bits.

Maybe it’s because we’re not made for forms. The human experience is a fuzzy, blurry continuum. We’re not at our best when we’re divided and neatly boxed up. And neither is our thinking, because creativity is a constant exercise in breaking out of well-worn paths and patterns. ‘Challenge Everything’, to borrow the INVNT mantra. Even the freshest idea or latest insight quickly becomes tarnished and tired. And templates, with their format and repetition, can easily guide us towards the same old ways of thinking.

Well-worn ideas and trusted insights are not going to help you stand out and grab attention.

‘Producing assets’ vs ‘producing effective work’ is an important distinction that not everyone gets. To make a difference, you need to break and remake. ‘Template’, derived from ‘temple’, implies ‘a special space’. But if you get too precious about it, you’ll fail.

Which is why I loved ‘Expedition Impossible’, Cannes Lions’ Brand Experience Grand Prix winner by TBWA/adam&eve for Columbia Sportswear. It challenged Flat Earthers to travel to the edges of the world, snap a picture and, in return, they would win…the entire company.

It’s not tricky to spot the basic connection - an outdoor clothing company encouraging exploration - but the genius is what’s ‘wrong’ with it. It’s not aimed (directly) at the right audience. Clothing brands don’t usually wade into scientific controversies with fringe internet groups. Who on earth puts their company up for grabs?

But you can’t argue with the results, or that comment section.

It’s not that all templates are bad. To misquote statistician George Box (‘thinking outside the Box’, if you will), ‘All templates are wrong, but some are useful’. When they sharpen ideas and expose poor thinking, they’re great. But they’re a tool for encouraging great work, not the work itself. And sometimes that means putting them aside and following your gut. To the ends of the earth, if need be.