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The Switch, a new MarkLives column by Alistair Mokoena (@AlistairMokoena) As a trained lawyer, one of my favourite legal subjects was Contract Law. If you memorised the textbook definition of a contract you were guaranteed five marks in the exam and if you could cite cases that helped illustrate the various elements of a contract you could score a further five marks and so it went. The definition of a contract is a legally binding agreement between two parties where one party to the contract undertakes to perform an act or deliver goods or services to the other in exchange for payment.

For a contract to be enforceable a few requirements have to be met. Firstly the contracting parties have to be legally capable of contracting. In alistair makoenaother words they should have the authority to contract. Secondly there has to be consensus or a meeting of the minds between the parties. Any misunderstanding or error in relation to any part of the contract renders the contract null and void. Thirdly the contract has to have a win-win outcome for the parties. In other words both parties have to benefit.

It is my submission that applying these rules to advertising briefs would be of great benefit to the creative development process. If anything, they serve as a good barometer for what makes a good advertising brief.

An advertising brief is meant to assist in converting strategy into magic. In other words a brief is meant to distill a client’s strategy and marketing objectives into a concise document that inspires the flow of creative juices.

The more concise the brief the less likely you are to see confusion and misinterpretation of what needs to be achieved. Lack of clarity and brevity in a brief often results in a laundry list of Marketing objectives as found in Phillip Kottler’s Marketing textbook. The creative output will most likely be a confusingconvoluted message about nothing.

The important thing about strategy though is that it’s about making choices which help you win customers’ hearts. It is not, contrary to what we’ve seen in many briefs, the kitchen sink.

Ever received a brief for a campaign that requires you drive awareness, retention, trial, consumption and repeat purchase all in one go? Another example that comes to mind is a brief for a campaign to drive acquisition and retention using one execution. Without a single-minded articulation of what needs to be achieved it is not possible to have a meeting of the minds between client and agency, and therefore no contract.

Another point that complicates the creative development process is receiving a brief from someone who does not have the authority or mandate to brief. And I’m not referring here to a brief from a junior marketer,but a brief from a senior Marketing Manager who labours under the belief that their brief accurately reflects what “the boss” wants achieved only to have the “the boss” change the brief midstream.

One of the unsaid yet immutable laws of Marketing is the client’s right to change their mind after the initial briefing.It’s fine if this happens once or twice, the problem is when clients do not apply their minds to the brief as a matter of course knowing that that they can fine tune it as they go along. Not only does it cost the client money but a constant shifting of the goal posts often leaves the creative team deflated and confused. If this were a contract such changes in scope would render the contract null and void.

The ideal partnership is one where the agency and client have intimate knowledge of each other’s businesses. For this to happen both parties need to fully immerse the other party in each other’s businesses. This takes trust and maturity on both parts.

The benefits of such a close partnership are innumerable. It makes for co-creation of work and with that comes shared successes and failures. The best outcome is where the agency’s success is closely linked to the client’s success. This drives a sense of financial responsibility on both parties. It has the effect of forcing the parties to deliver creative work that is more likely to positively impact the client’s financial performance, which in return results in the agency earning a performance bonus. After all a contract is meant to have a win-win outcome where both parties benefit.

So the next time you draft or receive a brief for a campaign ensure that it is concise, single-minded, both parties share a common understanding of the objectives, it is results-oriented and promises mutual benefit for both parties.

Alistair Mokoena (@AlistairMokoena) is a Unilever-trained Chartered Marketer with lots of blue-chip marketing experience. He’s currently MD of Draftfcb Joburg. Mokoena contributes the monthly “The Switch” column to MarkLives.com.

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Published by Herman Manson

MarkLives.com is edited by Herman Manson. Follow us on Twitter - http://twitter.com/marklives

2 replies on “The Switch: What contract law taught me about agency briefs”

  1. Marketing briefs should be like the briefs (undergarments). Interesting what they reveal but critical what they cover. Keep It Simple S……

  2. Great article and I couldn’t agree more. The briefs determine the strategic output. All too often you find that the briefs have very little true insights and relevant information, they are usually a copy and paste job from a previous campaign and a mindset of “I have ticked the box and followed the process”.

    As you put it so very well, “an advertising brief is meant to assist in converting strategy into magic. In other words a brief is meant to distill a client’s strategy and marketing objectives into a concise document that inspires the flow of creative juices”, a poor brief will result in a poor and ineffective strategy.

    If the brief changes anywhere throughout the process (the strategy needs to change, the messaging will need to change, ultimately everything will need to change) and let’s be honest, where has there ever been a brief where along the way there were no client amendments. Another frustration is how often briefs never have any real measurable objectives or quantifiable targets (how are they planning to measure the success of the campaign). I think the hesitation there is that once you include measurable objectives you can be held accountable.

    In summary, the input determines the output.

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