Over the course of developing a brand strategy business I’ve been lucky enough to work with quite a number of clients. Some work has been pro-bono. Other full blown. I’ve been employed to develop master brand strategy, write marketing plans and even hired to write complicated positioning brochures and websites. My rigor doesn’t really change but the output does.
In some cases, when hewing to the budget I hack my way to efficient use of time employing short cuts.
The brand brief is a key tool I use for most all projects. It’s a document that, when written properly, tells a story using a smart sales logic. When it is tight, I’m able to create more comfortably and sleep better at night. When it includes bumps in the road, that road is less comfortable, and my work takes longer. Some of those hacks, ways to get to the brand claim and proof planks more quickly, don’t use the brief. Rather, I collect my inputs, classify them into key care-abouts and good-ats, and boil away to my brand strategy answer.
It has created a bit of a chicken and egg dilemma. Brief first? Or brief last?
Hacks are great to save time. In my business though storytelling is where my clients light up. Nod their heads. Say I “get” them. So brief first is preferred.
Peace be upon you.
