Team Strategy Session Form

Describe the problem you need to solve. Don’t just write down what the client says. She may not even realize the problem is deeper or different than what she thinks. When the client is briefing you, dig at the problem to find the root cause. Ask question after question after question to get past what the client thinks is the problem or the pain she feels to understand the core issue.

Who is the target audience or persona? How is this consumer group solving their pain points now? What other options do they have? Communications all boils down to influencing a change in behavior. To change it, you first have to understand what they’re doing now and what options they have that they’re (not) embracing. What are the demographics of your customers (Geographical, (Country, State), Gender, Age Bracket, Languages) What are the psychographics of your customers (habits, hobbies, spending habits and values, interests, publications, associations)

Seems self-explanatory -- just remember that a confused mind says “no.” Keep your positioning clean and easy to understand. Also, don’t confuse the potential buyer with so many choices, they'll tune out.

What type of marketing has worked for your business in the past?

Listing the competition can give your creative team a better understanding of the market and what competitors are currently emphasizing in their advertising and campaigns. In addition, by reviewing these competitors, our team can hone in on the differentiating factors of the brand and bring these to the surface in the final project.

The brand makes a promise (#4). So make the buyer care about it. What is it about that promise that is going to change her life for the better? There needs to be an emotional subtext to all of the rational proof we offer (X% of doctors recommend brand X over any other brand). Make the person receiving your messages give a damn.

Obviously, you want them to become your client’s customers. But each communication channel and vehicle that you use needs to have a call-to-action (CTA) that helps the buyer move forward at that stage in her buying process. And that CTA should leverage the medium it’s delivered in. A video ad CTA will be different than a print ad CTA that’s different from a CTA in a blog post. They may not all say the same thing, and they may not all result in the same thing being delivered. Mapping out the buyer’s journey identifying her questions and concerns along the way, and where she goes for her information will help answer this question.

**NOTE** This answer will be emailed directly to the client so please be detailed

Is there a start and end date? Are there any key dates during the campaign? Is the offer time sensitive – if so why and by when?

How will we measure the success of what you’ve done? What metrics will show that you’ve moved the needle and achieved her goal? Before you even begin, set SMART goals so everyone is clear on what really matters -- getting results you want. Please decide on agreed goals: Phone Calls Online Enquiries Downloads Facebook Lead Forms Landing Page Conversions / Signups Facebook Engagement Facebook Video Views Other

Explain the strategy and the use of ingredients. Clients pay for your insight, expertise, and opinion. They want to hear your strong opinion -- especially if it keeps them from making big mistakes. The best agencies always bring that opinionated perspective to the table. And in the creative brief, it’s essential, especially if the client has left something out, or demanded something, that’s going to interfere with the solving the problem. This is a section where you get to mouth off (appropriately). Keep it short, keep it clean, and use it only when you really need to. Your client may not always like hearing what you have to say, but if she’s smart, she’ll at least hear you out.

Links to extra useful material