POV: Are client briefs getting worse?

"Designers and design writers are no different, watching trends and shifts, trying to discern if the design industry as a whole is collapsing beneath our feet. But surely not the brief. A steering, stabilising document for teams dating back to the mid-20th century, when corporate branding and advertising grew in complexity and deliverables, the brief has long been standard practice."

"I remember a time when the brief was very important. Getting it perfect and approved by everyone and their moms was a 'do not pass go' moment in the process. I haven't obsessed about a brief in years. Most briefs I see today are nothing more than regurgitated objectives from whatever the client said, vague audience definitions, [...] re-iterated objectives disguised as strategies (eg. grow the brand by increasing cultural relevance) and deadlines (eg. tomorrow)."

"Ed Tsue's comments are a pretty damning indictment of the state of the modern creative brief, though they could be chalked up to perspective. Similar conversations have also been bubbling up on Reddit, suggesting that his view isn't entirely isolated. Recently this conversation resurfaced, when, out of a pool of 3,500 marketers, a third identified "knowledge of writing agency briefs" as a skill gap in their business - in larger organisations with 250+ employees, that number rises slightly, to 38 per cent."

Briefs have long served as steering, stabilising documents for teams since mid-20th-century corporate branding and advertising expansion. A recurring view holds that briefs have become superficial, often regurgitating client objectives, offering vague audience definitions, recycled strategies framed as objectives, and unrealistic deadlines. A survey of 3,500 marketers found one-third identify knowledge of writing agency briefs as a skill gap; in organisations of 250+ employees that rises to 38 percent. Clients are attempting to close that gap; for example, a London design agency was asked by a major sports client to run a workshop on preparing effective agency briefs.

Read at Itsnicethat