Of Briefs and Propositions

As I was reading about different kinds of briefs and “briefing formats”, it struck me how the notion of a good brief (and indeed, “briefing”) is changing.

Years back, we used to focus on the proposition as the core of all briefs. I believe today, the proposition is just one more small part of the brand’s offering. As product parity becomes a norm, the more important part of the brief are the values our brand stands for. That could be a far greater differentiator. Not that this is new in itself. What is new, I think is the relative importance of What I (i.e. the brand) Do vs. Who I Am.

The What I Do for you way of approaching most brand issues seems naïve in today’s complex environment. Beyond a point, a soap isn’t going to do anything dramatically different from what it did 20 years back; nor is a detergent or a bank or a biscuit. Behavioural and cultural insights can be mined to an extent but there’s a limit on how far they can take us. Laddering product benefits can make the output even more farcical – as someone once said when you want to sell a shoe, just sell the shoe and don’t sing the national anthem while you are at it.

In such times a bigger opportunity for a brand could well be, to adopt values and a personality that resonates with its consumers. Nuanced correctly, these values could make a person look at a brand much more positively. Today, as our society (at least parts of it) moves from scarcity to plenty, people will move towards buying brands that stand for what they as individuals stand for. That’s the Who I Am part of the brand.

Obviously some categories are closer to this station than others; but more will reach here eventually. Deciding Who I Am is not as simple as it sounds. The old answer that used to be the last part of the “brief” – my brand stands for honesty, warmth and contemporariness won’t cut ice. People will make their decisions about your brand as much for who you are, as for who you are not. People bond with real values and a real personality, not some cardboard cut-outs. This in turn will call for some serious introspection on the part of marketers and agencies; and horror of horrors, having to make some decisions and tough calls. We can no longer be traditional yet contemporary, or go-getting yet warm. We need to take a stand and hope that stand is in consonance with the stand of the people we want as consumers.

This part of the briefing process used to be considered “soft” and tucked away at the bottom (I suspect, because it is so nebulous and hard to pin down.) I reckon it’s time we learn to get comfortable with this.