The Brief Bros.

Creative Director. Executive Creative Director. Chief Creative Officer. CEO. Chair. And now Certified Coach. All the aforementioned at TBWA\Worldwide. First in  Los Angeles , then in  New York . Rob Schwartz  has worn many hats in his illustrious career. He was even my boss at Team One Advertising in the late 90s before he moved on to TBWA\Chiat\Day. And today, he is our guest for Part 1 of a two-...

Part memoir, part textbook for all creative entrepreneurs,  Nick Cohen 's  Honest! A True Story of a Ridiculous Attempt to Make Advertising More Truthful  is a must read. It's fun, funny, and an improbable tale of 15 years of creative genius and ground-breaking work. And it's the unforgettable story about the founding of a brilliant shop,  Mad Dogs & Englishmen , almost twenty years after its...

What do you get when you combine erudition, deep research, and a copywriter's dexterous poise with a sentence?  You get  The Road to Hell: How Purpose Leads to a Worse World.  Our guest on The Brief Bros. this week,  Nick Asbury , tackles a timely and provocative subject, purpose. And  Henry Gomez  and I take a stroll down this road with Nick and we dissect the strange and often disconcerting purp...

Join us for Part 2 of our first-ever all-creative panel discussion. We continue our talk about our industry, the state of creativity, and the role of AI. Co-host  David Moore , who sits in for the traveling  Henry Gomez , and I join seven of our friends and colleagues: Gene Payne  in Chicago,  Nic York-Bogen  in LA,  Monique Thomas  in Minneapolis,  Sara Rosinsky  in Colorado,  Lisa Lorraine  in L...

In a first for the Brief Bros., we've assembled a panel of seven advertising creatives to talk about our industry, the state of creativity, and the role of AI. The discussion was so lively and robust, we talked for more than two hours. Today's episode is Part 1. Part 2 airs next Wednesday. Joining me and my friend and reliable substitute co-host  David Moore , who sits in for the traveling Henry G...

A good strategist can walk a mile in the shoes of the customer. And a good novelist must do the same, except in the shoes of many characters.  Henry Gomez  and I are excited to introduce you to a practitioner of both skills—strategy and  novel writing. His name is  Tim Maleeny  and he is the chief strategist and innovation officer at  Havas  in New York City. Tim has won awards in both his fields,...

He's the first to appear on The Brief Bros. three times. And we're delighted and privileged to have him back.  Cameron Day  joins  Henry Gomez  and me today to talk about his new book,  Stones & Sticks . It's the third book in his trilogy  The Advertising Survival Guide : Stage Three: The Highest Altitudes of Your Career. Listen to a professional describe what it takes to join the...

Creative briefs are a vital element in advertising, but so are brand manifestos. Our guest today is  Lonnie Elliot t, creative lead at Meta, and the founder of  Manifestowriting.com. Lonnie shares with  Henry Gomez  and me examples of great manifestos, some of which you may recognize. And he talks about his plans to expand his growing collection of manifestos. You might call him the head librarian...

Four months ago,  Carmichael Lynch  in Minneapolis created the postion of Chief Operating Officer. They created it with one person in mind, our guest today on The Brief Bros.:  Stacy Janicki . A legacy advertising agency needs a great leader, and CL found it in Stacy. Join  Henry Gomez  and me as we chat with this dynamic and laid-back personality. CL's mantra is "Come Together. Stand Apa...

Luckett Vanguard  oozes all the qualities you want in a strategic planner: curiosity, gregariousness, passion, the team player.  FCB  in Chicago hired him a year ago from the  Hubbard  School of Journalism and Mass Comm. Kudos to our friend  Mark Jenson  for the rec! And already he's made his mark. Henry Gomez  and I quizzed him on the unusual path he took first to Hubbard, then to his first j...

She was a founding partner at  Mad Dogs & Englishmen  in New York (thank you  Dave Dye  for your encyclopedic memory!). And today, she runs her own strategy consulting firm,  Open Mind Strategy . Henry Gomez and I are thrilled to welcome  Robin Hafitz  to a sit-down chat on The Brief Bros. Robin was one of the first five American practitioners of account planning, what we now call strategy. An...

Henry Gomez  and I welcome  Mack Saunders , the director of brand experience for  The Annex , a boutique hotel in Toronto. Mack's background and perspective on branding came to my attention when I met him at The Annex on a recent trip to Ontario. Fans of The Brief Bros. will be intrigued by the challenges he has faced in his role. And the intrepid manner in which he overcame these challenges....

Lance Saunders , strategic consultant and an adjunct professor at York University in Toronto, returns to The Brief Bros. to talk about the inaugural essay he contributed to my blog titled, "Beyond The Brief." It's all in celebration of the recent addition of more than 50 briefs to the  Creative Brief Archive , a repository of finished briefs available free to anyone who signs up. The...

Our guest this week is  Vasanth Seshadri . He is the founder and creative director of  The Sunnyside , a virtual ad agency in Singapore. Vasanth's story will resonate with creatives everywhere. The route he took from newbie copywriter to the founding of his own shop covers a journey of thousands of miles and tenures with many legacy agencies. Including Wunderman, BBDO/NY, Edelman and JWT. The...

Say "AI" to anyone in our industry, and it will likely cause a wince, a pucker, even a laugh. And probably a few other reactions. Say it to our guest,  Ross Patrick , Creative Lead and Director of Advertising at  Academy of Art University  in San Francisco, and you'll be in for a passionate discourse on the technology's many benefits. That's why  Henry Gomez  and I wanted him...

Henry Gomez and I welcome  Tim Nudd , a journalist who covers creativity for  AdAge . Tim was the host and narrator of a popular podcast called  Tagline , sponsored by Muse by Clio. It was a feast of backstories and wonderful anecdotes about some of the most iconic ad campaigns produced by our industry. Henry and I talk at length with Tim about his role at Tagline, how he got it started, and what...

Jon Steel 's book,  Truth, Lies & Advertising  is the bible for strategy, creative briefs and what makes great creative campaigns. Now in its 26th year, it remains fresh and relevant, even if the advertising referenced in it are from the 20th Century. His thinking proves that new and shiny pales against fundamentals and fundamental truths. Henry Gomez  and I are proud and delighted that Jo...

One of them did a trumpet solo and she doesn't play trumpet. The other did six minutes of stand-up comedy and she isn't a comedian. No, they weren't auditioning for Britain's Got Talent. In a return to our New and Emerging Talent series,  Henry Gomez  and I talk to two current ad students at London's famed  School of Communication Arts —the most awarded ad school in the world....

In a first for  Henry Gomez  and me, The Brief Bros. hosts three...ghosts. You'll hear them, but you won't see them. That's because they prefer to let their creative work speak for itself on behalf of their clients. And that's their story. Which we are transparently delighted to share with you. For small group and corporate training in writing inspiring creative briefs, contact How...

Henry Gomez  and I bring you two young advertising talents who started  The Loudest Roar  last year, which they call the "Cannes Lion Fantasy League." It's an online communmity for young professionals to predict the winners at  Cannes , and it's growing in popularity worldwide. We're delighted to welcome  Chirag Khushalani  and  Samita Balakrishnan , two strategists both of w...

Meet the host of  Stuff About Advertising   Ashley Rutstein . She's a freelance copywriter, social media verteran, and the star of her own TikTok page where she talks about, well,  Stuff About Advertising . And  Henry Gomez  and I had a fun and enlightening conversation with her. So many brands want to be on TikTok, but did you know the space is wide open for creatives to show off their wares...

This week  Henry Gomez  and I introduce you to the founder of  DAIVID ,  Ian Forrester . Ian is the brains behind an AI tool that measures the effectiveness of ad creative by pinpointing which of 39 emotions a piece of creative evokes. Yeah, we know—another bogus way to test creative, right? Don't be so quick to judge. Ian demonstrates for us why this tool is different. And, intriguingly, why...

Two advertising industry giants join us today to talk about their new book,  The Howard Gossage Show . Both  Steve Harrison  and  Dave Dye  have talked to us before. But today they arrive together as co-authors of a book as big as its subject matter. And a necessary teaching tool for all of us in the ad game. Sitting in for the traveling  Henry Gomez , our friend  David Moore  matches his enclyclo...

You need chutzpah to land an internship in our industry. Spell it any way you like, you gotta get the decision-maker's attention. Which is why Henry Gomez and I are so delighted to introduce you to Kristina Olsen Pinjusic, a.k.a. "The Kristina," your new favorite intern. She displayed enviable intrepidity and gutsiness and used LinkedIn to announce her intentions. And it blew up her feed. Kristina...

Todd Turner is a talented graphic designer who's carved out a fun niche in Out of Home. Lately, he's formed a partnership with Richard Molinaro called Up to Something in North Carolina. Todd and Richard create unforgettable OOH for brands, agencies and media companies. But it's Todd's side gig that grabbed our attention. Henry Gomez and I talked to Todd about his crazy fun and powerfully effective...