When the right brief lands in our inbox, the project tends to run itself. When the wrong one does, we spend the first three weeks redoing it. After ten years of reading briefs from across Nigeria — from founders, marketing leads, ministries, brands two weeks old and brands two decades in — these are the parts that matter.
What to put in
Outcome, not output.
“We need a 60-second commercial” tells us what to make. “We need to reach mid-market families across Abuja and Lagos with a campaign for our new product” tells us why, and often suggests a different output entirely. Lead with the outcome. Let us argue for the right format.
Who you’re talking to.
A specific person, not a demographic. “Office workers, 25–45” is a hundred million people. “Tomi, marketing manager at a mid-sized fintech in Lekki who picks reels she’s seen on Instagram for inspiration” — now we know who we’re making this for.
What you can’t change.
The non-negotiables. Brand colours that have to stay. A spokesperson who has to be in the film. A legal disclaimer that must run on every cut. List them up front. The earlier we know, the less we waste.
Timeline and budget.
Both, even ballpark. A six-week timeline and a six-month timeline are different projects. Same goes for budget. We won’t quote you up; we’ll quote you accurately. Ranges are fine.
What you’ve already tried.
Old campaigns, old assets, what worked and what didn’t. We learn more from your last three years than from a research deck.
What to leave out
The “how”.
Don’t write the storyboard for us. Don’t specify the music genre, the colour grade, the font. That’s our job. If you’ve already designed the project, you don’t need an agency — you need a vendor.
A pitch deck for the project.
A brief is a working document, not a sales document. Save the polish for the campaign itself.
Filler.
Five pages of brand history we can read on your website. Skip.
What happens after you hit send
We read it. If something’s missing or unclear, we send back one round of questions — usually within 24 hours. If it’s the right fit, we propose a scope: timeline, deliverables, cost, and a single person who’ll own the project from your side and ours. If it’s not the right fit, we say so, and where possible we point you to someone we trust who handles that kind of work.
That’s it. No pitch theatre, no four-week chemistry meetings.