Saatchi & Saatchi X

Rediscovering The Lost Art of Brief Writing

I guess Im becoming a bit rational. Poor me. One of the problems of adulthood.

Grayson Perry, Turner Prize winning artist

Why the OIIC?

Its a place to put forward the most important elements of strategic thinking A shared language with Saatchi Adapted to demonstrate our shopper point of view

Essentially, the brief describes 3 things

Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How are we going to get there?

What makes a good brief?

Clearly defined objectives Avoids jargon and marketing speak Reflects the personality of the planner who writes it Reduces complex challenges You can see the piece of communication in your mind Just makes sense!

What makes a good briefing?

Using stories to bring it to life Share inspiration from other categories Creative first thoughts Acknowledges the briefs scope (or limits)

Quality ingredients make the recipe

Whats the business objective? Whats the target audience? Whats the issue stopping us from achieving it? What insight do we have that will help us unlock the issue? What is the creative challenge for communications? Heart of the Story Tell me why this is the truth Mandatories/Other thoughts

Whats the business objective?

This is what we hope to achieve as a result of our communications It should be quantified It should reflect the objective for our shopper work rather than the entire initiative

Target audience

This should give the creatives a sense of who our target really is (not just the demographic they are part of) It should also describe the motivations behind their behaviour in that particular category rater than generic statements about what they care about The best target audience descriptions jump out of the page - I know someone like that!

Whats the issue stopping us from achieving it?

The most significant reasons why people arent buying this product currently or why they might not in the future

This is where we put our barriers to purchase developed on the shopping cycle

Examples of Barriers to Purchase

I havent heard of it Im not looking for it I cant nd it I dont think I want or need that I have no inclination to change from what I usually buy I dont understand why it is different

I dont believe it I dont understand how to use it I get the same benet with X I dont know which one is right for me I dont think its worth the price

What do we know about our target which would help?

An insight relate specifically to overcoming our barriers They arent barriers themselves They are nuggets of information that tells us for what motivates shoppers to behave the way they do

What is the creative challenge?

This is often the toughest part of the brief Our mistake is to rewrite the objective It should be about what the piece of communications must DO (what behaviour should it change) The best ones have of a germ of a creative idea in them

What is the heart of the story?

An idea that leverages the insight to make the benefit more meaningful to the target The core idea that the communication should express It should make sense without a lot of background information In the cases when the creative idea is give, it should transform what that idea means for our shopper work

What should people believe us?

The reason to believe - the rationale

The product strengths rather than a list of all the product attributes

The one thing about the product that allows you to deliver on the challenge

Mandatories

Mandatories isnt a word! We need to avoid limiting creativity We need to outline the key brand guidelines that will help shape the work Visual look/feel Equity/tone Legal stuff - what we can say

Other thoughts

Not an appendix for what couldnt fit in the brief A great place for shopper cycles A great place for the articulation of the communications idea

Ariel Style
Objective Use Ariel FusionTabs as a chance to get Ariel into at least 1 million new households. Issue She doesnt use liquid tabs currently and doesnt look to Ariel for anything new and different. Insight She loves her favourite clothes, but takes war with them in the laundry aisle when they become pieces of fabric. Creative Challenge Make Ariel the reminder of the feeling of wearing clothes, not the triumph of defeating stains.

Pampers Premium Care

Objective To relaunch Pampers Premium Care line in Russia (and eventually in China). Although Pampers is considered to be good quality in Russia, it isnt seen to offer the very best in nappies by our target, Innovation Mums. Our ubiquity in supermarkets, range of offering, and perception of being a mass brand, works against us in the premium care tier. This isnt helped by the fact that our premium line is sold alongside our regular products in major stores. Pampers main competitor is a Japanese brand which was born online and now is only sold in speciality baby care stores. Issue Mums feel as though they are already using the best nappies available, and Pampers isnt seen as a brand that would offer the very best Insight Mums believe that the proof of premium is in the details. This point is driven home when they can experience these details for themselves. The brands that do it best seduce their consumers with the quality of the nish. Creative Challenge Romance the technological features of our premium nappy.

The OIIC Surgery

The best way to improve your OIICs is to share them OIIC surgery is an opportunity to share work-in-progress OIICs with other planners for their input We should treat OIICs the way we treat creative work: feed back with care and respect for the author!

The OIIC Surgery exercise

Take out your OIICs and individually spend 5 minutes looking at 2 things Whats working well What needs some improvement Write down your observations The pass your OIIC to the left and do the same exercise with a new OIIC Do this one more time Each group selects one OIIC to share Write each of the sections up as you go and debate its merits - the intention is to create a better brief

Top Tips for Writing a Good OIIC

1. If youre struggling, write down your thoughts on a blank piece of paper. Then fill out the boxes. 2. Share it with other planners and other creatives as you go 3. Think of it as a haiku not an epic poem 4. If its not interesting to you, it wont be interesting to anyone else 5. Be rigorous with asking the question so what? after each point you make 6. Use your instincts - if it doesnt flow well, it probably needs some more revision