To get high-quality, on-brand output from AI, teams must invest more time in the initial strategic phase. This means creating highly precise creative briefs with clear insights and target audience definitions. AI scales execution, but human strategy must guide it to avoid generic, off-brand results.

The Budweiser Red Light campaign was born from a perfect brief: a clear goal ("own hockey") paired with a significant constraint ("we just lost the NHL rights"). This tension between ambition and limitation forced the team to think beyond conventional advertising, leading to a breakthrough idea.

Creativity thrives not from pressure, but from a culture of psychological safety where experimentation is encouraged. Great thinkers often need to "sit on" a brief for weeks to let ideas incubate. Forcing immediate output stifles breakthrough campaign thinking.

To consistently produce award-winning work, the intention must be set from the project's inception. Instead of retrofitting a campaign for an award entry, agencies should analyze the client brief through the lens of what would constitute an award-worthy idea, strategy, and execution from day one.

To get breakthrough creative work, brands must be excellent partners. This means providing crystal-clear briefs with budget parameters, onboarding agencies as extensions of the team, and delivering consolidated, actionable feedback. The quality of the output directly reflects the quality of the client's input.

To get high-performing assets, move beyond simple messaging points in your briefs. Get 'maniacal' with details: specify lighting, shooting style, and even how to engage with the brand's posts. Reference the influencer's own past successful content as a 'North Star' to guide their creative freedom within your brand's guardrails.

Transform a creative department from a production house into a strategic partner by changing how you brief them. Instead of giving prescriptive directives, present the business problem that needs to be solved. This empowers creative minds to contribute to strategy and deliver more impactful solutions, not just executions.

To combat 'crappy first drafts' from AI, teams should double down on fundamental processes like the creative brief. Requiring a human-completed brief ensures strategic thinking, context, and alignment before execution. This 'slow down to speed up' approach uses the brief as a strategic anchor for AI-assisted work.

For its rebrand, Hint Water's creative brief had one clear goal: change people's expectations of water. By avoiding the temptation to accomplish multiple objectives, the brief provided a focused path for the creative team, which is crucial for challenger brands without massive budgets.