You’re briefing tasks when you should be briefing problems

A client recently told us, “We want your brains, not your hands.“ It was one of the best things they could have said. It showed trust, respect and a genuine desire for partnership over transaction. We hear this more often than you might expect, and it never stops being flattering.

But the briefs that come in after a great starting conversation don’t always match the intention. What arrives in the inbox is often a task, not a problem. A deliverable, not a question. "We need a landing page. Here's the copy. Here's the wireframe. Live date is the 15th."

That's not a brief that wants brains. That's a brief that wants hands.

There’s a gap between intention and behaviour

This isn't a criticism – it’s just a pattern we’ve noticed. And it's understandable.

Task-based briefing feels efficient. You already know what you need, you ask for it, you get it. Clear scope. Easy to sign off.

It also feels safer. Sharing a problem you haven't fully solved can feel exposing, especially with people you don’t know well. What if the agency thinks you should have figured this out already? What if they come back with something you can't sell internally?

Some agencies prefer it this way. Execution is easier to price, scope and deliver. Not everyone wants the complicated conversations.

So, the habit reinforces itself. Briefs become instructions and agencies become suppliers. The relationship stays transactional even when both sides want something more.

What gets lost?

When you brief the task, you've already closed down the area you’re operating in. The agency can optimise your solution, but they can't question whether it's the right one.

That’s when you lose the value of outside perspective. The pattern recognition that comes from seeing similar challenges play out across sectors. The "have you considered..." that might change everything. You get exactly what you asked for. But not what you didn't know to ask for.

Take Guinness. Pouring a pint takes two minutes for the full ritual at the bar. If you're a drinks brand competing for attention in a busy bar, that's a problem. The obvious brief, how do we make people choose us despite the wait?

But that's not the question that led to one of the most iconic campaigns in advertising history. The reframe was bolder: what if the wait isn't a flaw? What if it's the point?

"Good things come to those who wait" turned a product weakness into a brand ritual. That reframe only happens when the agency is given permission to think. And permission to think starts with how you brief.

What a better brief looks like

A problem-based brief doesn't need to be longer. It just needs a different starting point. 

Here's the same scenario, positioned in two ways: 

1. Task-based
"We need a landing page for our product launch. Copy attached. Wireframe attached. Live by 15 June." 

2. Problem-based
"We're launching a new product in June. The challenge is that our existing customers don't yet see why they need it. We want sign-ups, but first we need to shift perception. We’re open to ideas on format and approach."

The second version doesn't take more time to write. But it opens the conversation completely. It invites the agency to think about the problem before jumping to the solution.

And if you're not sure what the problem is? Say that. "We think the issue is X, but we're not certain" is a brilliant brief. It's honest. It creates space. It tells the agency exactly where to focus.

An invitation, not a criticism

None of this is to make clients work harder but it's to help you get more value from an existing relationship.

Good agencies want to be challenged. We want the knottiest problems, the unclear briefs, the "we're not sure where to start" conversations. That's where the interesting work lives. A neatly defined task is a closed door. A problem is an open one.

So, before you send your next brief, ask yourself one question before you send it: Am I sharing the problem, or just prescribing the solution I expect?

If you'd like to talk about how we work with clients — and how we like to be briefed — take a look at our approach or explore our strategy thinking.