Call To Action 162: Howard Ibach on why better briefs breed better results.
May 2, 2025
54:06
This week we kept on adding more and more and more irrelevant attachments to our so-called brief, in order to earn ourselves a swift rebuke from the marketing world’s Brief Batman – Howard Ibach.
Inventor of the Creative Brief Mastery program, Howard is on a mission to make marketing briefs more meaningful. An advocate for clear thinking, proper collaboration and the single minded-proposition, Howard has been helping marketers all over the world put their bad briefing habits to bed (and then press a pillow over their drooling faces). He’s also an instructor at the Association of National Advertisers’ Marketing Training and Development Centre, the author of the brilliant ‘How To Write An Inspired Brief’ and host of the ‘Brief Bros’ podcast – confirming his undisputed status as the industry’s beefiest brief brain.
In this episode, Howard will pick the art of briefing down to its rickety bones, sharing his invaluable expertise on what the perfect brief should say, be and do.
This episode is proudly dedicated to Tom Jordan.
Follow Howard on LinkedIn.
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Timestamps
03:45 - Lessons from Stonemasonry
06:14 - Path to Writing and Advertising
08:36 - The Influence of Advertising on Howard
12:29 - The Importance of a Good Brief
16:12 - Issues with Copying Client Briefs
19:49 - The Disconnect Between Clients and Agencies
24:24 - Collaboration in Brief Writing
32:13 - Commonalities in Effective Briefs
46:02 - Banishment of Purpose Advertising
Howards Book Recommendations are:
Chew with Your Mind Open by Cameron Day
Spittin' Chiclets by Cameron Day
Stones & Sticks by Cameron Day
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Inventor of the Creative Brief Mastery program, Howard is on a mission to make marketing briefs more meaningful. An advocate for clear thinking, proper collaboration and the single minded-proposition, Howard has been helping marketers all over the world put their bad briefing habits to bed (and then press a pillow over their drooling faces). He’s also an instructor at the Association of National Advertisers’ Marketing Training and Development Centre, the author of the brilliant ‘How To Write An Inspired Brief’ and host of the ‘Brief Bros’ podcast – confirming his undisputed status as the industry’s beefiest brief brain.
In this episode, Howard will pick the art of briefing down to its rickety bones, sharing his invaluable expertise on what the perfect brief should say, be and do.
This episode is proudly dedicated to Tom Jordan.
Follow Howard on LinkedIn.
/////
Timestamps
03:45 - Lessons from Stonemasonry
06:14 - Path to Writing and Advertising
08:36 - The Influence of Advertising on Howard
12:29 - The Importance of a Good Brief
16:12 - Issues with Copying Client Briefs
19:49 - The Disconnect Between Clients and Agencies
24:24 - Collaboration in Brief Writing
32:13 - Commonalities in Effective Briefs
46:02 - Banishment of Purpose Advertising
Howards Book Recommendations are:
Chew with Your Mind Open by Cameron Day
Spittin' Chiclets by Cameron Day
Stones & Sticks by Cameron Day
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