Success depends on a great brief

Our co-creation process came about due to our drive to ensure we had really insightful briefs to work from. After all, a centimetre out at the start results in an end product that is a mile off course.

Our briefs are navigation maps for designers of all disciplines to follow. They are clear and inspirational, backed up with the confidence of being consumer informed. As a result, they produce focused and highly effective creative – whether it’s created by our own designers or another agency.

Often when we describe what we do to designers, their first question is “Isn’t this simply painting by numbers?” Well no… The visuals we use to explore issues with consumers never look anything like the final product or design. They’re not pretty pictures and their sole purpose is to explore issues and dissect questions. These ‘visual games’ will never see the light of day, they are purely a means to an end.

Our briefs eliminate the variables, give a clear rationale for the goal and have solid evaluation criteria to benchmark against. They contain some (or all) of the following direction:

• The brand positioning – in detail, if repositioning or creating a new brand.
• The brand’s personality and tonality.
• A visual springboard – an emotional and visual capture of the goal – created by designers for designers.
• The current role of each of the different design elements – and brand attributes they’re communicating.
• How to describe a new product so consumers easily understand it.
• Colours and their effect on consumers’ perceptions.
• What can best help consumers navigate between products within a range – colour, names, visuals.
• The brand’s visual equities that can be dropped, have to be retained or can be evolved.
• Which claims should be on the front of pack and how to make them compelling.
• How to convey the product and ingredients in the most evocative way.
• What engages or turns off consumers about the brand in the competitive context.