What’s the marketing problem we are trying to solve for __________?

Detail the overall marketing situation: business background, why we’re here, etc. Focus on
getting to a clear, concise, direct statement of the marketing problem we need to solve. A
sentence.

Who’s our audience? What are our key insights into the target audience that are
relevant to solving this problem?
Who do we want to reach? What do we know about these people that will help us solve our
marketing problem? What’s important to them? What’s going on in their lives? What do they
know, and what don’t they know?

What’s happening in culture (good or bad) that we can tap into?

What’s going on in the world that affects how we think about our marketing problem? What
cultural truths can we tap into to solve our issue?

What’s our key insight?

What is the tension we want to act on?

What is the key takeaway for our marketing effort? / What’s our main idea?
Add all the insights up: audience, culture and brand/product. Where does it lead us? A sentence
that sums up what we’re trying to accomplish.

How do we support this?

What are the brand truths and product truths we want to shine a light on? What’s important about
the brand/product? What insights can we use to go right after the issue?

What’s the tone?

What’s going on in the world that affects how we think about our marketing problem? What
cultural truths can we tap into to solve our issue?

What should we make or do to maximize results?

What are our initial thoughts about media and channels? What should we be making to bring
solve the problem? How should we act in the world to bring the idea to life? Are we an
advocate? Are we trying to engage our audience?
What are the metrics for success?

How will we know we’ve won? Keeping score matters. Work with the client to define the goals so
you know where to shoot.

What are the executional mandatories?

The stuff we need to have. Logos. Assets. Partners. Etc.

What’s the budget and timing?

Don’t treat this as an afterthought. Every game has a time limit, and every idea has a cost
attached. Be awesome with reality.