Learning on the Job: 21-11-2010

If the brief fits, wear it.

That’s precisely the lesson for the day, one that’s been arrived at after five weeks at the new job.

Over these five weeks, I have also realised there are broadly three categories of briefs in advertising, each with their own pros and cons. (But mostly cons.)

1. The Tighty Whities – These are briefs with little or not breathing room, generally designed by the suits, while conspiring with the client. You’ll know you’ve got one of these on when you start  to feel constrained. Mostly by a list of criteria that needs to be met, sometimes bundled into one neat term called “Strategy”. While these are the client’s dream-come-true, they’re often nightmarish for creatives, primarily because they draw inflexible boundaries beyond which you’re not allowed to venture or explore. When you do try to push the envelope, you may sometimes be met with an enthusiastic, “I like that. I really like that.” But don’t be fooled. They’ve just mastered the art of faking it. Because before you get to execute it for real, your piece will go through a few hundred rounds of edits that will leave only one of you fulfilled and satisfied. And that “one” is not going to be you.
2. The Boxers – Offering a nice foil to the former, the boxers are what creatives look forward to. While the band around the waist offers a defining line of sorts, you’re generally free to wander about and find your inspiration. Sometimes it’s because you’ve got what’s known as the “Nice Client”, sometimes it’s because the brief really is just genuinely nice and you got lucky and sometimes it’s because the product/service being advertised doesn’t have a real “USP” and you’re free to make one up as you go along. While you may want to rejoice at being presented with one of these, there is one tiny drawback. With little to complain about, there are also fewer excuses for not being able to perform. So you need to make the most of it while it lasts.
3. Going Commando – At some point in time, you’ll have a client and no brief. Just a simple, “Show me your best move.” And you want to prove it to them that you can do this… that in this new-found creative freedom, you’ll come alive in all your glory. Until you realise that without someone giving you some direction, you don’t know what to do and start fumbling around like a imbecile. But that’s really alright. Because if you are asked to go commando, it’s probably for some scam that you could never dream of doing otherwise… and so you go sans briefs, sans budgets, sometimes sans clients and always sans ethics.

 

Image via Flickr.

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