Bad briefs, not budgets, are why your campaign fell flat
Shrinking budgets are a distraction: bad briefs and vague metrics are what really leave campaigns flat, and audiences disengaged, writes Sharon Zeev Poole, Founder at Agent99.
Sharon Zeev: Briefs may tick the right boxes, but often miss what matters most.
If you work in marketing right now, you don’t need yet another person telling you it’s a challenging environment.
Budgets aren’t just tight, they’re dissected at every line. You’re expected to deliver cultural relevance and commercial impact, whilst defending every decision because leadership teams want certainty in a market that offers very little of it.
At the same time, there’s an internal pull towards safety. Nobody wants to be the one who backed that risky idea. But all the while, externally, the brands that are winning attention are the ones doing the exact opposite and taking clear, confident positions.
There’s a clear gap between where we currently are and where we want to be, and it all starts with the PR brief.
It isn’t a budget problem. There’s a growing narrative that shrinking budgets are behind underperforming campaigns.
But that’s not the reality. Most brands don’t have a budget problem; they have a clarity problem. Clarity on who they’re talking to, what the behaviours they are trying to shift and how success will actually be measured.
Without this clarity, the work simply becomes reactive. We optimise for platforms instead of shaping a story. We add channels to hedge risk, and we increase spend to compensate for a lack of precision.
And of course, the result is predictable when we ultimately see more activity that results in less impact.
Where briefs fall apart
One of the biggest misconceptions in our industry is mistaking context for insight.
“Consumers are busy.”
“Competition is increasing.”
“Attention spans are shrinking.”
That’s not insight. It doesn’t explain behaviour or give creative teams anything meaningful to solve. Layer on top of that a vague audience, and the problem compounds.
Briefs that list target audiences as “18-54” or “Gen Z and millennials” are infuriating because they aren’t specific audiences. They are generalised demographics you might tick off on a patient intake form.
When you try to speak to everyone, you flatten your message. And once the message is flat, an agency’s output can only go so far. In other words, garbage comes in, and garbage goes out.
The ‘bad brief’
Here’s a version of a typical client brief we see far too often:
Objective: Drive awareness and engagement
Audience: 18–54, skewing female
Insight: Consumers are busy and value convenience
Channels: Tiktok, Instagram, Youtube, PR, influencers
Tone: Bold and disruptive
Measurement: Reach, impressions, engagement
It looks complete. And whilst it “ticks the boxes”, it’s missing everything that matters.
There’s no clear audience identifier, no defined behaviour to shift or a clear ‘why’. So then, in turn, why should this audience care? And even more importantly, there is no meaningful way to measure success beyond surface-level vanity metrics.
As a result, our ideas become outsized, and we find ourselves in a position where we add on more paid partners that, in the end, offer minimal cut-through. The so-called strategy feels active, but doesn’t move the needle.
Further, RFPs almost always underdeliver on two things: who they’re talking to and how they’ll measure success.
Who are you trying to influence? What do they think, feel or do? What tension exists in their world?
But once the audience is nailed, trade-offs disappear. Not everyone needs to care, and that’s what sharpens the work and drives insights that actually solve a problem
Measurement has the same issue. Too many briefs default to outputs: reach, impressions, engagement. Easy to report, but they don’t show impact. Like the audience, measurement should tie to a real brand problem.
If you’re concerned about your brand perception, then measure that. Is demand lacking? Let’s track behaviour and see how it shifts. If you’re trying to stand out amongst a sea of competition, then measure the quality and your share of voice.
Define it upfront, because when the audience and success criteria are clear, stakeholders get actual evidence and see numbers that matter, which is the only thing that has true value in the end.
Unlocking clarity
Recently, we ran a mass-activation for Kodiak as part of the wider “Drop Bear” campaign, built on a clear understanding of the audience from the outset
The challenge wasn’t just launching a product, but positioning Kodiak, an Aussie-owned cooler and drinkware brand, as a relevant challenger in a market dominated by global players.
Our focus was a specific audience: 25-40-year-old weekend warriors who spend most of their free time outdoors, moving from activity to activity, and need products that are unfussy, reliable, and visually appealing. Understanding this helped shape a campaign that resonated culturally and creatively.
Before developing the creative, we identified a key tension among this audience: the frustration of warm drinks on hot summer days.
The solution to this was a pop-up at Coogee Beach where drones, nicknamed Kodiak Drop Bears, delivered chilled drinks in branded tumblers to people who opted in. It was playful, attention-grabbing, and aligned with the audience’s sense of humour.
Kodiak’s “Drop Bear” activation used drones to deliver chilled drinks on Coogee Beach.
Rather than spreading across multiple channels or relying on endorsements, the campaign concentrated on this defined audience with measurable goals. It had a focused hook and a clear understanding of how your audience can drive engagement and interest, particularly for brands entering a competitive market.
There’s a lot of conversation about brands needing to be braver, but bravery doesn’t start with the idea or a dollar sign; it starts with clarity. Clarity on who you’re for, the tension you’re solving and what success looks like.
That’s what truly creates a good brief and a solid foundation for a great campaign.
So, before asking for something bigger or more “disruptive”, ask a simpler question: Is the brief clear enough to make that possible?
It’s a real “help me help you situation.”
We want to take risks but need a solid launching pad. Right now, that’s the real constraint on our industry.
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