From Brief to Blueprint: Agencies Rethink The Start of Strategy

By India Fizer

Rachel Pool on what’s replacing the brief — and why agencies need to keep up

Campaigns move fast. So why are briefs still static? Rachel Pool, Head of Strategy at Ogilvy New York, says agencies need more than a new format; they need a new mindset. In this Q&A, she discusses how briefing is becoming a continuous, collaborative process and why that’s leading to better work.

How are client briefs evolving in 2025, and what’s prompting that shift?

Let’s be real: most client briefs in 2025 are still stuck in 2015. While we’ve revolutionized almost every aspect of how we create and distribute work, the brief—that critical first step—remains largely unchanged. A PDF or slide deck, passed from client to agency, filled with the same sections we’ve used for decades.

The traditional brief is dead weight in an age that demands velocity and intelligence. What we need isn’t a better template—it’s a completely new approach to how we frame problems and ignite solutions.

The most forward-thinking clients and agencies have already abandoned the “brief as document” model entirely. Instead, they’re building what can be called “problem spaces”—digital environments where challenges are defined, data flows continuously, and both human and machine intelligence can explore solutions together.

The best briefs now:

1. Start with raw problems, not polished asks. “Our Gen Z audience sees us as their parents’ brand” is infinitely more useful than “Create a TikTok campaign that appeals to 18–24-year-olds.”
2. Include live data feeds, not static research. When our briefs connect directly to sales data, social sentiment, and competitive activity, we can spot patterns and opportunities in real time.
3. Evolve continuously and encourage iterative “approval.” The most successful campaigns of the past year came from briefs that were constantly refined as new insights emerged.

We’re seeing more co-creation at the briefing stage — how does this change the dynamic between strategist, creative, and client?

The old model was a relay race: client hands brief to strategist, strategist hands creative brief to creative, creative presents to client. That sequential process is dead in any agency that wants to remain relevant.

What’s emerging instead is what we call “parallel play”—where client teams, strategists, creatives, and AI tools all engage with the problem simultaneously but from different angles.

The strategist’s role has evolved from being the brief writer to being the “problem architect”—creating the space where the right questions get asked and the most useful connections get made.

For creatives, then, instead of responding to a fixed brief, they’re often in the room when the challenge is first articulated, bringing their unique perspective to how we frame the opportunity. And rather than presenting a few “big ideas,” they’re continuously exploring and refining directions as new data and insights emerge.

Clients who get this aren’t just “partners” in the traditional sense—they’re active participants in the creative process. The most successful clients we work with have dismantled the wall between their internal teams and our agency, creating shared workspaces (both digital and physical) where we can collectively explore challenges. This isn’t just faster—it produces fundamentally better work.

With real-time data now a constant part of campaign planning, how is it influencing the way briefs are shaped and refined? Are there any other resources or partners that you bring in to inform and assist in delivering a campaign?

Real-time data has completely transformed what a brief is and how it functions.

The most effective briefs now have “living metrics”—dashboards that continuously update as campaigns run, consumer behavior shifts, or competitors make moves. This means we’re not just measuring results against the brief after the fact; we’re allowing the brief itself to evolve based on what we learn.

This requires Strategists to rethink their major and minor capabilities to include the ability to put on new hats:

1. Data translators who can turn complex patterns into actionable insights in real-time
2. Behavioral scientists who help us understand the “why” behind the data
3. Cultural radar teams who track emerging trends and shifts before they hit the mainstream
4. AI ethicists who ensure our use of data and automation remains responsible

The most significant shift is that the brief is no longer something we reference at the beginning and end of a project—it’s a living tool we engage with continuously. When a campaign element underperforms, we don’t just change the creative; we revisit and refine the fundamental problem we’re trying to solve.

As AI and automation become more embedded in strategy and creative, how do you see the briefing process evolving in the next five years?

The brief of tomorrow isn’t a better document—it’s a smarter conversation. It’s a space where human insight and machine intelligence collaborate continuously. It’s a process that respects the complexity of the challenges we face while maintaining the clarity of purpose that has always defined great work.

1. Continuous intelligence briefs that automatically update based on market conditions, campaign performance, and even world events. Imagine a brief that alerts you when a competitor changes strategy or when your audience suddenly develops a new interest.
2. Multi-scenario planning where AI helps us explore dozens of strategic approaches simultaneously, allowing us to “war game” different solutions before committing resources. The brief becomes less about defining a single direction and more about mapping possible paths.
3. Predictive briefs that anticipate challenges before they fully emerge. By analyzing patterns across industries and cultures, these systems will help us get ahead of problems rather than just reacting to them.
4. Personalized brief interfaces where different team members can engage with the challenge through their preferred lens—whether that’s visual, data-driven, or narrative. The days of one-size-fits-all briefs are ending.

But here’s what won’t change: the need for human vision and judgment. AI can process information at incredible scale, but it can’t care about outcomes the way we do. It can’t understand the subtle cultural contexts that make ideas resonate. It can’t feel the emotional impact of a concept.

The most successful agencies won’t be those who use AI to automate the briefing process—they’ll be those who use AI to elevate it, freeing human minds to focus on the aspects of strategy and creativity that machines can’t touch.