Once upon a time… there was an impossible brief

Are you sitting comfortably? Then let me tell you a story…..

Once upon a time there was a digital agency. This digital agency had a well-known technology client who they worked with regularly. This client decided that they wanted to create a digital asset to position their business as experts in the cybersecurity space. This asset was to be a 10-page guide. Exactly 10 pages. No more, no less. The agency hired a copywriter to produce the asset.

As with many of these big orgs, multiple stakeholders were involved in the process of deciding what they wanted included. And a few days later, the brief rolled in. It was big. Huge.

The copywriter, with nearly 9 years of experience in writing assets just like this knew.... to talk about everything that they wanted to include in 10 pages would be impossible. Well unless they only wanted her to write two lines on every bulletpoint they'd included in the brief.

So the copywriter spoke to the agency about the dilemma. "You're never going to get all that in there", she said. Sure, she could do exactly as instructed, but then the client would end up with an asset that simply wasn't worth the digital paper it was written on. Something so top-line simply can't convey the wealth and breadth of experience the client has. If it doesn't offer their clients value, it's a total waste of money.

Numerous conversations ensued, both about extending the length of the guide and trimming down the content to be included to ensure that the final asset would be extremely valuable to the client and really illustrate their knowledge and position in the market. Better still, the copywriter also provided a list of ways that it could be repurposed, to really help them get the biggest bang for their buck from it.

The agency really valued the copywriter's experience and contribution, as did the client. They agreed that next time, it would be more useful to get the copywriter's steer on asset creation at the brief stage. Everyone got paid on time, and they all lived happily ever after.

The end.