Do you have ideas on how Science Centre Singapore can improve its briefs?

We’ve all come across them – the nightmare briefs. These briefs are mysterious in nature, often saying nothing at all ,and yet everything at the same time. Agency friends, you know what we are talking about. Clients, you too know what we are talking about.Aiming to change this for its own organisation is the Science Centre Singapore (SCS). SCS decided that it wanted to create a great brief. No, scratch that. It wanted to create, “The Best Brief” for its engineering exhibition targetted at youths deciding to join the field.In a conversation with Marketing, Clarence Sirisena, deputy chief executive, SCS said the idea came while working on the engineering exhibition as the SCS team felt that agencies are roped in only at the last minute to simply market an idea for the client. This time around, SCS wanted agencies to help co-create an idea. He said:Our goal is to create an experience that becomes a defining moment for the young adults in realising the potential and exciting possibilities of a career in engineering.  At this stage we do not have a definitive answer on how to achieve that.And that is why, there is a need for an amazing brief.This brief, Sirisena explained, is the first step in SCS’s journey to co-create the exhibition in partnership “with the best marketing minds in town – and together identify the right solution to achieve this goal.”“ A good brief is the first step towards achieving your desired goals and it is important to take the first step in the right direction,” Sirisena said. He added that over the years SCS has put forth different types of briefs for various projects and always "intended to identify the most suitable partners".While it generally follows standard processes and protocols, this time it wanted to create brief that does not simply require a communications partner to promote any pre-defined exhibition. Rather, it wanted an agency to co-create one that appeals the most to visitors.When asked what issues SCS itself faced when creating briefs, Sirisena said the organisation has  standard framework and protocols that it needs to follow to create comprehensive briefs. And despite each project team trying to customise their briefs in order to achieve the best results, these briefs are often created from the point of view of scientists and science communicators and not through the creative eyes of agency partners.As such, the exercise was an eye opening one for him and his team. He added that in asking for agency feedback, the organisation also realized several important takeaways.“Many highlighted the need for deeper research, data and insights into the target audience. A clear understanding and articulation of the specific objective is also deemed critical and in case of multiple objectives, there is a need to prioritise in order of importance,” he said. Most agencies have also highlighted the need for clear objectives, single-minded messages, specific target audience insights, defined and measurable Key Performance Indicators and timeline.He added:An indication of budget was also important to agencies. Unfortunately, this would be against SCS protocol and as such SCS may not be able to implement it.Sirisena added that so far, the response has been overwhelming. When asked for his personal favourites, he said one while eluded to the fact that Michelangelo could not have painted the Sistine Chapel without good supplies and timeline. Another recommended the client to come up with an elevator pitch to sum-up the brief to be delivered in one breath. He added:My favourite is to include in the brief a point about asking agencies to have fun in the process of developing the proposal.  (Photo courtesy: 123 RF)