The Creative Brief Blueprint: Crafting Strategy That Generates More Effective Advertising

As the world of marketing communications has become more tactically complex, the strategy behind the work has suffered. Most ads aren't good. They don't achieve the results that the company desires. They end up costing precious time and money. Neither you nor the target like to look at them either. Humanity has been creating marketing communications for over 8000 years. You would think people would be good at this by now.

The problem is people aren't good at it. Rather, as technology has improved, people have become better at learning just how bad they are. As brands are able to test more efficiently, they are witnessing less effective and even ineffective advertising. As brands have become able to produce spots more effectively, they're seeing more rounds of development that increase costs. And, as brands continue to recognize the value of clear marketing communications, the client-agency relationship has continued to deteriorate. A vicious cycle is upon us where brands are spending large sums of money to learn that the advertising was ineffective; rather than fix the problems, they simply repeat―we are in our very own version of "Groundhog's Day."

This book is designed to give readers the tools they need to achieve meaningful improvement in their communications now and in the future. This book seeks to break the cycle of ineffective strategy and creative and help brands steer their marketing communications towards meaningful results and success. In the Creative Brief Blueprint, Kevin McTigue and Derek Rucker merge decades of academic insights and practical experience to offer an approachable and actionable guide to crafting successful communications strategy. This strategy is brought to life via a concise and precise "creative brief" that acts as the blueprint for creative work.

In each chapter, the authors explain a particular part of the brief, review the value of the brief element to both clients and agencies, identify why brands fail and how to succeed, and answer common queries with regard to myths, misconceptions, and other questions.

Tactics will continue to evolve at a rapid pace, but the need for sound strategy is present now more than ever. This book gives readers the tools they need to achieve meaningful improvement in their communications now and in the future.

Kevin McTigue is a clinical associate professor of marketing at Northwestern
University's Kellogg School of Management teaching multiple classes for the
MBA program and executive education, where he is a two-time winner of
the Core Course Teaching Award. His career spans more than twenty years
in teaching, consulting, brand management, and advertising. He has written
or evaluated hundreds of creative briefs for everything from social media
for a children's hospital to Super Bowl ads for consumer-packaged goods.
Before his full-time appointment at Kellogg, Kevin led the strategy
and consulting practice in the central region of the US for global digital
agency SapientRazorfish. His work focused on driving value for clients in
the digital age. He advised senior Fortune 500 clients on how to best leverage
digital platforms to create value, from marketing strategies to digital
transformation road maps to the creation of entirely new businesses.
Prior to SapientRazorfish, he spent seven years in brand management
with Tyson/Hillshire Brands/Sara Lee leading businesses including Jimmy
Dean, Ball Park, and Hillshire Farm. Over this time he developed and
launched multiple products, repositioned and developed new campaigns,
and led all activities related to planning and running the business. Kevin
spent significant time working in digital and traditional advertising at
agencies such as marchFIRST, JWT, and BBDO. He also led brand strategy
and campaign development for clients including Nestlé, Unilever, and
Mars/Wrigley. Dr. Derek Rucker holds the Sandy & Morton Goldman Professorship of
Entrepreneurial Studies in Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management.
Trained as a social psychologist, his academic research interests and
pursuits focus broadly on consumer behavior with an emphasis on advertising,
persuasion, social hierarchy, and compensatory consumption. He
explores questions related to what makes for effective advertising and what
motives underlie consumer consumption. He has contributed to more than
130 academic publications including leading journals such as the Journal
of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of
Marketing, and the Journal of Consumer Psychology. His research has been
covered in major media outlets such as the New York Times, Time magazine,
and ABC News.
Dr. Rucker currently teaches advertising strategy at Kellogg. The course
focuses on basic psychological principles to better understand how to plan
and execute successful advertising. A central aspect of his course is the writing,
evaluation, and revision of creative briefs. His students have gone on
to do impressive brief work for brands such as Mattel, Old Spice, Unilever,
and Tyson. In recognition of his commitment to teaching excellence Dr.
Rucker has won both the Sidney Levy Teaching Award and the Top Elective
Professor Award. In addition to his work in the classroom, Dr. Rucker is
a co-instructor of the annual Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review.