TheDavisGroup_HDLhandout

There is no one way to approach a creative problem, brief or strategy document. There is no template, no formula or recipe for creative

business solutions. If a solution was eective, it was developed from a custom designed strategy. This framework will help you organize

the elements involved and focus on seeing the threads that exist between creative and strategy. First, populate each category below by

thinking through all potential target groups, product attributes & brand information, features and corresponding beneﬁts. Do the same

with any messaging or client objective. After achieving quantity, reﬁne for quality. Now look across the categories at what’s left.

CREATIVE STRATEGY FRAMEWORK BY DOUGLAS DAVIS

Target Brand or Product Name Here Feature / Beneﬁt Message or Objective

OBJECTIVE: Connect the most viable target, with a relevant fact about the brand/product/service, a speciﬁc feature and corresponding

beneﬁt to a client message or objective. This tool will help you focus the creative work on elements that will ensure you remain on brand,

on strategy and on message. This method will yield multiple viable solutions to explore while creative problem solving. Try it and see.

- Deﬁne targets

in fragments that

state demographics,

psychographics & or

behavior.

- Look here for segmentation

examples.

- Decide whether the job

should be focused on the

brand or a particular product

or service within the brand.

- Look beyond the brand’s

website for good and bad

items to list here. Blogs and

reviews will show any gaps

between what the company

says and what the customer

is experiencing.

- A Feature is a physical quality

or tangible attribute that

deﬁnes the product.

- Tangible features often have

intangible beneﬁts and thus

these are written as a ratio.

This Feature/enables this

corresponding Beneﬁt.

- A Message is what the

target should take away

from your brand

communications.

- A client Objective usually

begins with a verb: Convert,

Drive, Engage, Build, Grow,

Increase, Decrease etc, by %

among X target.