A creative brief is often the bread and butter of dyed-in-the-wool brand strategists, yet it’s the contributions outside of brief writing that can provide great and lasting value.

The brief is the catalyst for creative ideas and campaigns designed in service of a marketing or business need. And whether the brief itself is a single page, single-spaced document, a conversation with a creative, or 25 page Powerpoint, the act of distilling down a complex problem into a simple path forward can be one of the heaviest lifts a strategist can make. Yet it’s just one of many tools in a strategist’s toolbox that helps to identify creative and business opportunities.

Why it’s important to offer more than the kickstart to a creative campaign

The need for strategy and strategists has never been greater, yet their role in making advertising continues to diminish as advertising itself plays an increasingly smaller role in shaping both brands and culture.

So what is a strategist to do?

Be a Swiss Army Knife, and not a switch blade.

A creative problem solver at their core, a strategist needs to approach their work with a singular focus that also entertains a variety of potential solutions. Because not all creative strategy work is “brief-shaped,” it’s often more amorphous and requires the ability to use additional methods and tools to arrive at your client’s desired outcome.

3 ways a strategist can work beyond the brief

As an independent consultant, I’m often tasked with solving strategic problems where the solution is a new understanding or creative path forward, yet the way to get there isn’t through a creative brief. Instead, I’ve found success in using these additional methods to help provide a new perspective and reveal opportunities that couldn’t be reached through a brief alone.