We get one kind of brief more than any other: "We need a film about X." The problem is — that's not a brief. That's a delivery format.
Once a year, almost like clockwork, a CMO will tell us they need a launch film. Sometimes they do. Most of the time they need the room to want their product, and a film is one of nine possible answers.
The shortest path to better work is admitting, out loud, that the brief is rarely the question. The question is hiding inside the brief.
This is what we mean by problems first. Not problem-solving theatre. Not strategy decks that arrive 90 pages thick. Just a conversation, usually 30 minutes, where we ask three things: What's not working? What needs to change? What should people think, feel or do differently?
If we can't answer those three questions, picking up the camera is just a very expensive way to feel busy.
Written by the studio
RELATABLE is a Bangalore-based storytelling, production and brand experience company. We help brands, marketing teams, and founders solve communication problems — before we pick up a camera.