Eight years after the publication of its white paper, Better Creative Briefs, the Association of National Advertisers released new research in June 2025. And that's our topic today on The Brief Bros . Henry Gomez and I do an overview of their findings. And let me be upfront: I was interviewed and credited in the 51-page PDF. A handful of sampe briefs populate the research, including an example of how to fix a weak brief. Plus survey results and essays by industry leaders on the importance of cle...
Jul 23, 2025•39 min
Originally aired September 21, 2022 This week, Henry Gomez and I are joined on The Brief Bros. by a luminary in the field of marketing: Professor Mark Ritson . Our guest has earned a well-deserved reputation for pulling no punches in his commentary on and assessment of marketers and their brand management. Plus Henry is an alum of the two wildly popular and well-attended mini-MBA programs Ritson teaches online. And Ritson has the distinction of being both an insightful academic (or ex-academic a...
Jul 16, 2025•1 hr 10 min
True or false: when you write a brief for a B2B client, you can't use a B2C brief template. It's an oldie but goodie, one I've heard for years. Henry Gomez , too. And perfectly timed after our episode last week about Go Daddy at Cannes. Today on The Brief Bros . we dispel the myths around B2B creative briefs. And we do it in ten minutes. Are they alike? Or are they different? Show us the money and explain! Don't miss this one! There's no Grassy Knoll here, folks....
Jul 09, 2025•10 min
Special thanks to our friend and loyal viewer Brian Sherwin at Della Famina in New York. Because of Brian, The Brief Bros . discusses a popular win at Cannes. Brian shared a break-down of a Cannes Grand Prix winner in B2B for Go Daddy . The information he shared with me comes from Joe Burns , a noted strategist with an impressive resume. And Henry Gomez and I have a fun conversation. We talk about Joe's analysis of the spot and, oddly enough, how the client originally claimed it didn't need stra...
Jul 02, 2025•16 min
A shout-out to our friend and past guest on The Brief Bros. , Lance Saunders . He shared with us a fascinating article about The Open Brief . It gave Henry Gomez and me a brilliant topic for today's discussion. And it triggered memories of past lives where we both had experience with a version. Is the open brief a valuable concept, a path to creative innovation? Or an invitation to disaster? Henry and I have fun in our exploration. Where do you stand? Open Brief or Closed Brief?...
Jun 25, 2025•28 min
Our old friend, Chaz Wigley , returns to The Brief Bros . He reminds us why his 100 Things Planners Should Know is a font of wisdom. His insights, collected after decades as a strategist, are the building blocks for a stellar career. Chaz shares his favorites among the 100 Things. But this conversation is mostly about the bigger picture. About where strategy is today, the role of brands, the influence of AI and more. And all from the perspective of an industry insider who is former chairman at B...
Jun 18, 2025•50 min
Returning to our Lightning Round debates, The Brief Bros. today ask: Which is more important on the creative brief—brand truth or human truth? Howard sides with Brand Truth. Henry lines up with Human Truth. In this short episode, we offer insights to help brief writers tackle their next brief. What's in your brief?
Jun 11, 2025•10 min
Four-plus years in, The Brief Bros. finally get around to asking an important question: When did the creative brief make its first appearance? Henry Gomez did quite a bit of research on this. Because it's what good strategists do. So we decided to do a brief history of the document. Who was the first to use the term, creative brief? Stephen King? Stanley Pollitt? Tune in and find out what we found out. History buffs, this one's for you!...
Jun 04, 2025•22 min
Part Two of The Brief Bros .'s Lightning Round, inspired by my buddy Giles Edwards , who puts his podcast guests through a series of five or six quick-answer questions. So we ask, Which is more important on a brief, the insight or the SMP? Henry Gomez tackles Insight, and I give you my best thinking on the Single-Minded Proposition. Now don't be fooled into thinking one part of the brief is actually more important than the other. Both play their roles. Thanks to Giles's inspiration, Henry and I ...
May 28, 2025•11 min
Today on The Brief Bros ., we borrow from our buddy Giles Edwards who puts his podcast guests through what he calls a Lightning Round. Each guest is hit with a series of fast-delivered questions and expected to deliver fast answers. So Henry Gomez and I took this concept and adapted it to our show. This is the first in an on-going series. Each of us takes one question on a brief and makes the case that it's the most important. We're not truly arguing against the other question, but instead helpi...
May 21, 2025•8 min
Our friend Marc Lewis joins Henry Gomez and me today for a major announcement: The School of Communication Arts in London now offers a six-month fully online course for portfolio development. And he's got a special offer for viewers of The Brief Bros .: a coupon code worth $500 off tuition—BROS500. The April cohort is underway, and the US is well represented, with almost half the attendees. Plus, SCA online is supported by instructors from some of London's finest creative shops. Watch as Marc la...
May 14, 2025•22 min
Creative work presented to the client gets killed with alarming frequency. The average number of rounds today is...five...before the client signs off. Scary, yes. But today Henry Gomez and I talk about the immediate problem: how to recover, regroup and come back with your best thinking. The task requires leadership from both the brief writer/stragetist and the creative director. Howard and Henry break down the challenge from both perspectives....
May 07, 2025•14 min
In another "Nuts 'n bolts" discussion, Henry Gomez and I talk about the rare but not unusual occasion when your client says, "Start over." This is different from those presentations when the client rejects the work, but not the brief. Something more serious happens and you're instructed to begin again. Henry and I will tackle the former challenge in an upcoming episode. Today we dissect the process brief writers sometimes face when the brief may need adjusting. And then the creative team needs t...
Apr 30, 2025•23 min
Our friends at BetterBriefs , Pieter-Paul von Weiler and Matt Davies have delivered more scathing survey results. This time on the subject of evaluating creative ideas presented by agencies to clients. Why are ideas so difficult to judge? Why have rounds of creative presentation grown from an average of three to five before clients sign off? Henry Gomez and I share one juicy survey result from the lot and break it down for you. it's a sad situation, and it's both not surprising and shocking. We ...
Apr 23, 2025•14 min
Kit Altin is chief strategy officer at The Gate London . And she made a splash last year at Austin's SXSW with queues round the block waiting for her workshop. She was so popular, she was invited back last month. And she's now a fixture at the annual festival that celebrates tech, film and music. Kit joins Henry Gomez and me to talk about her journey from journalist to copywriter to strategist and renowned creative educator....
Apr 16, 2025•55 min
You're given only eight hours to write a creative brief. What now? According to our guest, Dan Carlton , it's not a common event, but it's not rare either. Dan is the CEO and founding partner of The Paragraph Project , a company that develops "human-centered strategies" for marketers and agencies alike. And he's created an online training for strategists in a pinch for a quick-turn brief. It's an hour-by-hour structured training to move from blank page to a finished brief. He's even offering Bri...
Apr 09, 2025•31 min
Meet Kevin Le , content creator and podcast producer. A chance encounter on a business flight led to a three-hour non-stop conversation. And in invitation to join me on The Brief Bros . Kevin's enthusiasm for podcasting is infectious. And his deep experience opened my eyes. And since so many of Henry Gomez 's and my colleagues are dabbling in podcasting, this was an ideal time to delve into the topic. As you'll discover, Kevin will open your eyes too. Which online tools work best for podcasters?...
Apr 02, 2025•55 min
Henry Gomez and I return to discuss an important "nuts 'n bolts" topic: why is there tension between strategtists and creatives? Alex Morris joined us a few months ago to share results from his own informal survey on this topic. But Henry and I decided it merited further exploration. When the relationship works, the results are magic. When it doesn't, the work suffers. Henry and I share our thoughts on how to foster this important partnership. Creatives and strategists, pull up a chair....
Mar 26, 2025•21 min
Henry Gomez and I welcome Fab Nolan and Adam Green from 99Ravens.ai this week. 99Ravens is a new company in Toronto. And it makes a big promise: to improve the quality of client briefs to their ad agency clients. How? By using its AI-trained tool. Fab and Adam explain how it works and why they deliver on their promise. And they provided us with a demonstration video . It's a fascinating and provocative topic certain to generate discussion. And today, we get it started....
Mar 19, 2025•55 min
Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications student Alex Chrislu joins us today. She graduates in May and as you'll soon discover, she explodes with enthusiasm and confidence. And it's not hard to picture her in a senior leadership role in a short time. Henry Gomez and I revel in meeting young talent like Alex. For all the oldsters we talk to who lament our industry's future, the Alex Chrislus of the world inspire us and give us hope. So sit back and watch as this young woman draws a cl...
Mar 12, 2025•35 min
Henry Gomez and I return with a Nuts 'n Bolts episode. Today we share with you a paper written in 2010. It's authored by Merry Baskin, a member of the World Advertising Research Center (WARC). And she writes on writing the agency brief. As Henry points out, this is the topic that triggered a debate between the two of us. The debate that motivated us to launch The Brief Bros. Baskin's paper may be 15 years old, but the topic is as relevant today as ever....
Mar 05, 2025•22 min
Uri Baruchin joins Henry Gomez and me for the final segment of our conversation about frameworks. And today we tackle a brief construct designed to simplify and clarify. Yet too often practitioners flub it. Why? Uri tells us. But he's just getting warmed up. What is the biggest cost of AI? You've heard many pundits pontificate. But Uri's answer may surprise you. All this and more....
Feb 26, 2025•39 min
Our friend Uri Baruchin returns for a two-part conversation. When he joined Henry Gomez and me three weeks ago , we simply ran out of time. It happens. Today, we asked him to expand on a thought: why have brand platforms failed us? It's a master class in strategy. Part 2 is next week.
Feb 19, 2025•41 min
Henry Gome z and I welcome back our friend Reid Holmes . And together, we celebrate the publication of his book Appreciated Branding . It's an enlightening and provocative examination of how to make mature brands, in Reid's words, "irreplaceable." His prescriptions for brands, according to reviewers, are timely and humane. We begin our chat with a little time travel. We revisit Reid's days leading the creative department at the now-defunct Campbell Mithun in Minneapolis. That's where I met and w...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 5 min
We work hard as creatives, strategists and brand advocates. So when it comes to organizing our finances and paying taxes, how many of us are as buttoned-up with the numbers as we are with ideas? This week, we thought we'd pause for a moment and talk dollars and sense. And introduce you to a numbers person who knows creatives, Adeola Mosanya, Founder and CEO of Creatives Accoun t. She is a creative herself, but also dedicates her professional life to helping other creatives with tax prep. And sin...
Feb 05, 2025•19 min
Thanks to our friend and a former gues t, Baiba Matisone , Henry Gomez and I introduce you to Uri Baruchin. Uri is a consulting strategist in London with more than 20 years of agency and brand experience under his belt. And he has more than a few things to say about our industry as he looks back on his career. He is unflinching in his critiques. And grounded in an eruidition most of us should envy. So sit back and listen to a philosopher strategist share his thoughts basic strateg frameworks tha...
Jan 29, 2025•50 min
With special thanks to our friend Marc Lewis , dean of the venerable SCA in London , we present Louie Scott (AD) and Giorgia La Vecchia (CW). Marc recommended both these young people who are deep into SCA's portfolio development classes. Louie's path appears like a long and winding road. Giorgia thought she found a creative outlet in the art world. Find out how they arrived, instead, in Ad Land. They joined Henry Gomez and me this week to share their experiences. And talk about their career aspi...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Our friend Vivek Kuchibhotla returns to talk about the challenges brands face when they search for a new ad agency. He's a veteran of Leo Burnett, where he worked on Proctor & Gamble, first in Venezuela, then Hong Kong, finally in Chicago. He was then put to work on the global MacDonald's business. Vivek is also on the faculty of the Association of National Advertisers. He teaches a variety of workshops on agency search and managing agency/client relationships. Henry Gomez and I are thrilled...
Jan 15, 2025•45 min
Henry Gomez chats me up today about my latest training, a 90-minute webinar on writing the Single-Minded Proposition. It's one week from today, Wednesay, January 15. Today, I give you highlights of the webinar's take-aways. The training consists of 60 minutes of insights into real SMPs on real briefs, plus 30 minutes of discussion and Q&A with me. Writing the SMP is a challenge no matter how long you've been writing briefs. It tends to cause paralysis by analysis. So in this 10-minute episod...
Jan 08, 2025•9 min
Henry Gomez and I welcome back an old friend, Bob Hoffman . He's here to talk about his new book, The Three Word Brief . It's an incisive and n0-holds-barred examination of the ad business and marketing. When Bob speaks, people listen. And on his third visit with us, he has much to say. From the flaws in the agency world to fraud in digital adveriting to frustations with marketing and marketers, Bob's new book and today's discussion will get your 2025 off to a rousing start. Reminder: For a 90-m...
Jan 01, 2025•1 hr 3 min
