Before choosing the format, follow the problem

Most briefs arrive with the format already decided. An event. A video. A campaign. The format is rarely the problem, but it is often where the thinking stops.

Start underneath the brief

The most useful question is not "what should we make?" but "what needs to change?" What do people need to understand that they do not understand now? What should remain with them afterwards?

Let the format follow

When the problem is clear, the format usually chooses itself. Sometimes it is the event you expected. Often it is something smaller, stranger and more precise.

Two of our projects began this way. The Foundational Pillar arrived as a request for a launch event; the real problem was whether people would believe the strategy. The Experience Beyond the Room arrived as a question about gifting; the real problem was what delegates carried forward once the day was over.

What this changes

Work that starts with the problem has a reason for every decision. That is what makes it easy to explain, easy to build on, and hard to forget. It is the thinking behind everything we do, from strategic ideation to bespoke gifting.