W+K Creative Brief
A brief built for inspiration—clarity, emotion, and creative invitation.
Most creative briefs are forms to fill out. Wieden+Kennedy's is different—it's designed to inspire, not constrain. Simple questions. Human language. Space for emotion. The W+K brief doesn't tell you what to make—it tells you why it matters and who you're making it for. Clarity without bureaucracy. Strategy without jargon.
Background
What's the context? What's happening in the market, the category, or the culture that makes this work necessary right now?
Not a history lesson—a snapshot of the moment. Why does this campaign need to exist today?
Who Are We Talking To?
Not demographics. Not personas. Actual human beings with desires, fears, and motivations. Who are they emotionally?
Example (Nike): "Athletes who push through doubt—not because they're fearless, but because they refuse to let fear win."
What Do We Want Them to Think/Feel/Do?
The objective. Not business metrics—human response. What emotion should they feel? What action should they take?
Think: "I can do this." Feel: Empowered. Do: Start running tomorrow morning.
What's the Insight?
The human truth that unlocks everything. The thing they believe or feel but haven't articulated. The insight is the foundation.
Example (Nike): "Your body will tell you to stop long before you actually need to."
What's the Idea?
The creative concept. The big thought that organizes everything. Simple, memorable, extendable. "Just Do It" isn't a tagline—it's the entire strategic platform.
The W+K brief is short by design. No room for fluff. Every sentence has to earn its place. The discipline isn't in adding more—it's in saying less, better. A great brief fits on one page and makes the team want to start working immediately.
Dan Wieden and David Kennedy founded Wieden+Kennedy on April 1, 1982, in Portland, Oregon. Their first and only client: Nike. The agency was anti-Madison Avenue from day one—no suits, no pretense, no 40-page briefs.
Dan Wieden believed that great creative comes from emotional truth, not research data. The W+K brief reflected that philosophy: short, human, inspiring. It asked planners to write for creatives, not executives.
In 1988, Wieden coined "Just Do It"—three words that came directly from the brief's simplicity. The tagline became one of the most famous in advertising history, helping Nike grow from $800M to $9.2B in revenue over the next decade.
1982 Portland vs. Madison Avenue: Wieden and Kennedy started W+K the same year BBH launched in London. But while BBH was post-recession Britain, W+K was Pacific Northwest counter-culture. Portland wasn't New York. The agency embodied that difference—casual, direct, anti-establishment.
Nike in the 80s: Nike was scrappy, not dominant. Reebok was winning the aerobics market. Nike needed to stand for something bigger than shoes. W+K helped position Nike as a brand about athletic determination and personal excellence—not product features.
The Brief as Philosophy: W+K's brief wasn't just a tool—it was a statement about what kind of work they valued. Emotional. Human. Honest. No corporate speak. No bullshit. The brief reflected the culture: West Coast simplicity meets creative ambition.
Why It Endures: The W+K brief remains the gold standard because it prioritizes inspiration over information. Most briefs are written for clients to approve. W+K's brief is written for creatives to feel something. When the brief is inspiring, the work is better. Simple as that.