02: Campaign Brief: “You’re Not Crazy”

This is how I’d actually produce a campaign at Zerorez, and how I’d increase creative output without growing the team or the budget. Same four documents every time (Campaign Brief → Creative Briefs → Pre-Production → Preparedness Index), so the team learns the rhythm and every request looks identical. The less anyone has to guess, the more we ship.

What we’re trying to accomplish (objectives + KPIs)

KPIs are the Media Buyer’s lane, not the creative team’s, but the brief states them up front so every asset is built for the right job. A top-of-funnel view-getter is not designed like a direct-response ad, and treating them the same is how budget gets wasted. So before anyone shoots, we agree on what each piece is for.

Objective: brand awareness plus lead gen for the 14 corporate offices, then a template the franchisees can run.

The numbers are placeholders to show the shape; the Media Buyer sets the real targets. The point for the creative team: we know before the shoot whether a piece is a view-getter or a closer, and we build it that way.

I plan the year, not the week

Before the year starts (end of Q4 at the latest), the whole next year’s offer schedule and seasonal campaigns are mapped, so every promo has lead time and nothing is a scramble. When the C-suite asks “has anyone thought about Black Friday?” the answer is yes, six months ago. Every row below is the same “You’re Not Crazy” platform with a seasonal hook and a pre-planned offer.

Black Friday’s offer is locked by Q2, not invented in November. The single-campaign system below is how each row gets produced.

The brief

• Campaign: You’re Not Crazy
• Owner: Adam Garceau (Marketing Director)
• Objective (output, not KPIs): Produce one full-funnel creative package from a single concept, ready to test at the 14 corporate offices and template to franchisees. Increase shots-on-goal and localizable assets without growing the budget.
• The concept (one line): The cleaning is what’s making her carpet dirty (soap is a dirt magnet). She figured it out, everyone said she was crazy, she was right.
• Audience: the Happy Valley Pet Mom. Hook flexes by segment; body stays the same.
• Position it carries (shown, not said): the only clean that stays clean. Billboard: “THE SOAP WAS THE DIRT.” Tagline: “We clean up after your carpet cleaner.”

Deliverables (the package, one shoot)

Roadmap (Day 0 = kickoff; buffer built into every internal date)

Every internal target sits ahead of the real deadline. The hero’s hard deadline is Day 18; my team’s internal due is Day 16. Two days of slack, deliberately, so we still hit the date when something goes sideways. We protect the date, not the excuse.

Approvals (two gates)

• PRE-production: the script and the offer are pre-approved before anything is shot or a dollar is spent.
• POST-production: the finished cuts and the billboard are approved before they go live.
• Sign-off roles: VP (Lauren), Media Buyer, CEO. I run it as Marketing Director. Every gate is a weighted row on the Preparedness Index.

The output engine (how output goes up, budget doesn’t)

One ~$4,800 one-day shoot produces ~40 assets: the hero, every funnel cut, four hook variants, the billboard, the social statics, and the franchisee template. One concept, one shoot, every market. The designer builds the offer and CTA cards; my edge is scripting the repetitive video end-cards in DaVinci Resolve or After Effects instead of hand-editing each cut, which saves about 2.5 days an edit cycle. Franchisees recast the local face, price, and phone, so 14 corporate tests become a library every owner can run. That is more shots-on-goal without more headcount.

The Preparedness Index (the one sheet that runs it)

Every piece on one sheet: deliverable, deadline, status, approval gates. 100% = on track. Anything that slips, I own it and recover to 100% by Friday. You glance at this and know exactly where everything is, so nobody has to ask and nothing gets chased.

Rules: every deliverable has an owner and a date, status updated daily, a missed or at-risk row drops the readiness score and gets a same-day recovery plan. You don’t manage me. You glance at one sheet and get back to your day.