Your questions answered: How to balance efficiency and creativity, and get buy in for your creative briefing process

During my recent Adweek webinar, sponsored by OpenText Hightail, I shared some Agency Mania research that uncovered eight ways advertisers often drive their agency partners crazy, some key lessons that can be learned from them and how to write better creative briefs and statements of work (SOWs) to ensure client/agency expectations are in alignment.

In looking at the questions I received from the webinar attendees, I found two key areas that particularly are creating challenges in the client/agency relationship: (1) the balance of needing speed and efficiency while also fostering creativity and (2) the difficulty in getting everyone involved to buy in to improving briefing processes. Since some of the questions asked during the webinar were asked by multiple people, I thought I would share some of my answers in this post for others who might be experiencing the same challenges.

• Efficiency vs. Creativity

Sometimes the need for speed and providing guidance can be at cross-purposes with the reason the client hired the agency in the first place. One of the top ways clients drive agencies crazy is by asking to rush work that is strategic and requires quality thinking. It’s a common balancing act that clients struggle with, as evidenced by some of the webinar questions:

• I know you said not to ask strategic work to be rushed, but sometimes strategy AND speed are a necessity. Any suggestions on how to make those requests more palatable to the agency?              

Finding the right balance is key. Not all work is strategic in nature. You may choose to optimize for speed. But then be realistic about your expectations.

• Sometimes providing direction can stifle creativity. Are there any tips you can provide to encourage creativity, in addition to having a structured brief?

The key to maintaining creativity is to brief assignments by stating a problem, not a solution. The brief must allow enough room for the creative team to collaborate on problem solving. Too many briefs are set up as order forms. If the work is highly tactical, it might be justified. But you ultimately get the work you deserve based on the quality of your briefing.

• Getting buy in

One-third of client budgets are wasted due to poor briefing, so it’s quite shocking that so many companies have yet to take action to correct their scoping and briefing process. This could be due to anticipated roadblocks, including your organization’s tendency to favor the status quo and be resistant to change, which is very common when the benefits are not clearly understood or quantified. Several of the webinar attendees wanted to know how to get that buy in internally, as well as with external partners:

• Process changes are difficult for some people in my organization to accept. Do you have any suggestions on how to get buy in from my peers and/or leadership to change the way we do briefs?    

Any type of change requires some type of change management. To get buy in, you need goal clarity – a true sense of benefits for the organization. You also need executive air cover. Finally, you need a way to measure the improvements – fewer revisions, qualitative assessment about the quality of the brief from the agencies.

• Is it even realistic to expect the client to write the brief? Isn't that why they hire the agency? What's the best way to get a client used to doing this?

It’s absolutely realistic to have the client write the brief or at the very least, initiate it and collaborate with the agency to complete it. The best way to get a client on board with doing it is to make them aware of how this will impact their ability to be more effective with their time and resources (and yours). To get started, invite them into a pilot to realize the benefits.

How can one tactfully express this need to a client who does NOT provide SOWs?          

I would encourage you to ask your clients questions to gently expose some of the opportunities that would result from having SOWs in place. Share examples of clients who do and how it’s impacting your ability to provide better work.

• We have a hard time getting our clients to write "good" briefs. How do we initiate the conversation to get better information out of them?

I highly recommend reviewing the brief with them in person or by phone. This is a good opportunity to bring up potential information gaps.

• Any best practices you've experienced as a client where an agency pushed you to handle briefing more effectively? Always challenging from the agency perspective to find ways to push the client to adopt these practices.           

It’s not easy for an agency to raise concerns about briefing quality with clients. It is however a topic that should be discussed during quarterly business reviews or during the annual or semi-annual reviews. The best time to address these concerns is immediately upon receiving the brief. It could be handled by sending a list of clarifying questions about the brief and holding a call to discuss it.

• What's the #1 quick fix to someone's brief process you'd suggest?          

The #1 quick fix is having a strong template to capture the information you deem most important and getting them to commit to using it consistently.

A recent Hightail blog post provides a full overview of the 8 lessons I shared that can keep clients from driving their agencies crazy. You can also watch the webinar on demand or check out my new book, Agency Mania, 2nd Edition, for more brand/agency relationship insights.