We Are Problem Solvers.

How many times have you received a brief with the medium already baked in to the assignment? We need a print ad. We bought some radio time.

We come to work to solve our client's problems. For the creative team to really be able to do our job, we need the flexibility to think independently of the medium.

Matt Ingwalson already touched on the problems hidden inside each brief. But what about the problems on the surface? The first step is correctly identifying them.

I've seen countless briefs where the goal is to drive trial. Gain new users. Increase market share.

The client thinks that their problem is not enough sales. Yes, that's a problem. And it's a problem that great work can solve. But it's not the problem that the creative team should be thinking about.

The real problem is a little more complicated. It might be that people think that making their own pizza is more complicated and doesn't taste as good as a pizzeria. It might be that too many people think the beach is their only relaxing vacation option.

Once you identify the problem, it should be up to the creative team to come up with an idea on how to solve it. And that includes the right mediums to execute your big idea.

If that's not how it works, you're not really solving your client's problems. You're just completing assignments.

There's room for a creative spark on every assignment. And the better the brief, the bigger the spark.

Via The Denver Egotist.