Aviation manufacturing CMOs that take an active role in developing the creative brief are rewarded with creative work that is memorable, strategic, and engaging.

Have you ever smiled after reading a magazine ad or felt an emotional tug after watching a video and wondered where the ideas came from? The ideas came from the hard work of the creative team working in tandem with the aviation marketer.

Creative ideas are like seeds looking for fertile land. If the land has been tilled and nurtured, then the seeds will take root. If the land is inhospitable, then the seeds die bearing no fruit.

The creative brief is the plowed field, ready to receive the seeds of creativity from which the ideas grow that make customers emotionally engaged with your brand.

What makes a great creative brief?

In aviation marketing, a great creative brief starts when the creative team is working in lockstep with marketing and manufacturing. Creative development is a social affair, based on exchanging ideas and insights. Each of these groups brings a different perspective to the process based on their unique experiences. Sharing these experiences provides a well-rounded perspective on product attributes and features, as well as insights gained from customer feedback.

Although gathering each group’s unique perspectives can be beneficial, the number of differing viewpoints on how to achieve the objective can be daunting.   Everyone is  looking at the objective though a different window.

The role of the CMO 

The role of the CMO is to be a nurturer, bringing all the different viewpoints into focus for a complete picture. This is not an easy task because everyone thinks his or her idea is the best solution for solving the objective at hand. A good CMO listens and presents counter viewpoints, challenges assumptions, and strives for clarity of thought.

Creative briefs are fluid

Different objectives require different approaches to developing creative briefs. There is no one-size-fits-all creative brief form. Depending on the marketing objective, customer research may be needed to capture snippets of customer attitude and preference for the brand. A second objective may require in-depth competitor knowledge to exploit a technology weakness and turn it into a competitive advantage.

A good creative brief provides a framework for discovery

Creativity is about connecting the dots. However, dots are pesky things with minds of their own, predisposed to wanderlust. The creative brief provides a safe place for the dots to gather and be tamed so the marketing objective may be accomplished.

Everyone has a creative side. When working together to develop the creative brief, the creative juices flow, nurturing the garden the aviation marketer has prepared.