Every brief we receive has a question hidden inside it.

It's not the question the brief asks. It's the question behind it. The one that, if you answered it clearly, would change everything about how you approach the work.

We call it the question behind the brief. And most brands never write it.

What the brief usually says

'We need a new website.' 'We want to refresh our brand.' 'We need a social campaign for Q3.' These are briefs. They're specific and actionable requests that give an agency, team or freelancer something to respond to.

But they're answers to the wrong question.

A website is a channel. A brand refresh is an output. A Q3 campaign is a moment in time. None of them are the underlying idea, the strategic intent that makes the work mean something when it gets done.

The question behind the question

When we start working with a new partner, we ask one thing before we look at any brief: what do you want your audience to think, feel, or do differently when they see your brand?

That question is harder to answer than it sounds. It requires you to think about your audience, to put yourself in their shoes, not focus solely on your product. It requires you to be honest about where you are now versus where you want to be. Ultimately, it requires you to commit to a direction, which means ruling things out.

When you can answer that question clearly, everything else gets easier. The brief writes itself. The creative has a direction. The work has a reason to exist.

Strategy is the reason the work works. The brief is just where the conversation starts.

Why brands skip it

There are three reasons brands skip the question behind the brief.

The first is time. It feels like an extra step, another conversation before the real work begins. But the brands that invest an hour conversation seeking the answer to that question save weeks of iteration.

The second is confidence. Answering 'what do we want our audience to think?' means committing to a point of view. That's uncomfortable. It means accepting that not everyone will agree, and that it’s okay. Distinct brands are decisive brands.

The third is habit. Most briefs are written the same way they've always been written, because that's how the process works. We'd challenge you to break it, just once, and see what changes.

What the question behind the brief looks like

It doesn't have to be long. In fact, the best version is a single sentence:

'We want [audience] to believe [X] so that they [do Y].'

That's it. Fill in those three blanks honestly, and you have a strategic intent. Everything — the brand identity, the campaign, the copy, the channels — should be a direct response to it.

The difference it makes

We've worked on projects where this question was answered clearly from day one, and projects where it wasn't. The difference in the work, and the speed in getting there - is significant.

When the strategic intent is clear, there's no ambiguity about what 'good' looks like. Decisions get made faster. Creative gets braver. The work lands harder. Results are more impactful.

That's the question behind the brief. It's not a new concept, but it's a consistently under utilized one.

If you're about to brief an agency or your team and you haven't answered it yet, start there. It's the most valuable hour you'll spend on any project.

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DARE is your strategic creative partner based in Ireland. We solve brand challenges through integrated thinking, from strategic foundations through to breakthrough execution. If you've a problem you're tired of talking about, we'd love to help you solve it.