Lighting a fire for briefing​ for Vodafone

We signed up for an Unlock Amazing Briefs workshop but Alex and Chris delivered so much more than that! The energy that Chris and Alex brought to the subject was a joy to experience. 
Orla Nagle, ​Head of Brand, Vodafone ​​

The need to raise the floor on briefing capability

​Vodafone is a global telecoms giant. They never struggle to recruit top-tier marketers. Their challenge was getting their marketers to produce top-tier briefs that inspired quality creative work and drove business performance. ​​

We came on board to help Vodafone unlock the full potential of its marketing team by improving briefing capability, one of the most critical skills in marketing.​

A form filling exercise​

From the the off, we could tell Vodafone’s marketing team were an ambitious bunch. They knew the troubling industry stats: 33% of budgets wasted on poor work, with only 10% of agencies believing marketers write good briefs (Better Briefs, 2022), and were determined not to be one of them.​​

The issue at Vodafone was that many viewed briefing as a form-filling exercise rather than a strategic process. They hadn’t realized the importance of thorough upfront thinking before drafting a brief. ​​

Our solution was an inspirational one-day workshop to excite the 20-strong team about the true function of a brief, and equip them with the skills needed to write and deliver amazing briefs.​

The solution

Understanding the Why

We opened the workshop with a game and lively group discussion to engage the team on WHY briefing matters. It’s much easier to get to outstanding results when you understand your purpose from the get-go.​

The foundations of a good brief  ​

As Vodafone is a big business varied experience & approaches to brief writing across its 20-strong marketing team, we tailored the workshop to spend more time aligning the team on the core inputs of a good brief.  ​

A structured, simplified approach was needed:​

• We headlined what mattered most​

• We broke briefing down into understandable pieces​

• We introduced our LockPicking Toolkit, a strategic tool to structure thinking, stay focused on the consumer challenge and arrive at the foundations of a good brief.​

Full Immersion​

The final part was focused on execution: how to write and deliver an amazing brief. After a few hours of full immersion in group brief writing and role play, the team produced a brief for Vodafone’s new TV service, ready to present to their advertising partners at Grey London.​

Immediate impact

Vodafone’s new briefing skills quickly paid off with a campaign that surpassed all key metrics. The live brief from the training led to the epic “Nothing Brings You Closer” TV Play campaign.​

Most importantly, briefing at Vodafone has become a more collaborative and enjoyable process to be part of, boosting motivation and improving team dynamics. ​

We’re here to help

For more information or to book a training course, contact us at chris@locksmith.works or alex@locksmith.works. Let’s unlock your team’s potential!