By Queen Nwabueze
Somewhere between a WhatsApp voice note and a 3-slide PowerPoint deck titled “Big Idea,” another Nigerian marketing campaign has entered the world screaming in confusion.
A TVC nobody understands. A hashtag that makes no cultural sense. A billboard that says everything and nothing at once. And then comes the collective head-scratching: “What happened? The agency nor try?”
But maybe the problem didn’t start with the agency.
Maybe, just maybe, the brief was already broken from day one.
Nigerian Briefing Culture: A Comedy in Three Acts
Act I: “Make It Viral”
What does it mean? Nobody knows. But it sounds urgent. Add some TikTok dances, maybe a skit. Slap on a Gen Z influencer and hope for the best. We are marketing in faith, not strategy.
Act II: “We Want Something Like That Airtel Ad”
Ah yes, the famous brand envy syndrome. No need to study the campaign, understand the insight or context. Just clone and hope. If Airtel did it, it must work for us too. After all, they have red, we have red.
Act III: “We Don’t Have Budget for Research, Just Use Vibes”
Data? Consumer insight? Why bother? We have our gut feeling and our gut says the market will love it. Let’s create based on assumptions, not audience behaviour. And so we go again: Shooting arrows in the dark.
But wait o! What is a Good Brief?
A brief is not a suggestion. It is the Bible of the campaign. The blueprint. The north star.
But in many Nigerian companies, the brief is:
• A recycled Word document from last year.
• Something hurriedly typed up because the MD said, “Launch this week.”
• Written by HR or admin staff because “marketing is everybody’s job.”
A good brief should:
• Define the problem clearly.
• Identify the target audience with actual detail, not “everyone.”
• Outline the objective (hint: “brand awareness” is not always the real goal).
• Set metrics for success.
• Provide cultural and category context.
• Be simple, strategic and inspiring.
Instead, what we often have are vague instructions like: “We just want something catchy that will blow.”
And blow it does – straight into the garbage bin.
The Real Enemy: Confused Objectives
One brief. Five conflicting goals:
• Build awareness.
• Drive sales.
• Launch a new SKU.
• Win awards.
• “Make noise” on X.
You can’t target everyone, everywhere, with everything and expect excellence. Yet this is the cocktail served to Nigerian agencies daily. The result? A diluted campaign with no spine.
A campaign trying to be everything to everybody will be nothing to anybody.
The Rise of the “Forwarded as Received” Brief
WhatsApp is not a project management tool. Yet, here we are, sending briefs as voice notes, screenshots and midnight DMs.
“Hi boss, please find below brief for that TV ad. I just typed small idea. Let them use their creativity to interpret.”
Creativity thrives on clarity, not chaos.
An agency cannot interpret what you didn’t articulate.
Honestly, stop blaming the agency. Agencies in Nigeria are underpaid, overworked and often expected to perform miracles.
But even the best chefs can’t cook gourmet meals with spoiled ingredients. A poor brief is like handing your designer yam peels and expecting pounded yam.
So when you see a bland, confusing, or cringey campaign, ask first:
• What was the brief?
• Who signed off on it?
• Did we even brief or just “talk something” in a meeting?
Nigerian Case Studies (No Names, Just Vibes)
1. The Telecom Skit Confusion: A leading telco hired 3 top skit makers to promote a new data plan. Problem? Nobody understood the data plan. The skits were funny but completely off-brief. Or maybe the brief just said “Make us laugh.”
2. The Beverage Billboard That Said Too Much: One ad had a full paragraph, 5 call-to-actions, and 3 hashtags. The design looked like PowerPoint 2003. When asked, the brand manager said, “We just wanted to say everything.”
3. The Bank Influencer Madness: A bank tried to go youth-friendly and paid influencers to tweet Gen Z slang. Trouble is, the influencers mixed up their account types and called the debit card a credit card. Chaos. But the brief was just one sentence: “Make us trend.”
So What Should Nigerian Marketers Do?
1. Train the People Who Write Briefs
If your brief is written by someone who doesn’t understand marketing, you’re already failing. Brand managers, learn the basics of strategic briefing. Attend workshops. Read actual case studies.
2. Start With the Consumer, Not the CEO
What you like is not the point. The audience is the point. Start with their truth. Their pain. Their culture. Their wallet.
3. Collaborate Early with Agencies
Don’t treat agencies like tailors who only come in when it’s time to sew. Bring them in during ideation. Build the brief together. Alignment breeds brilliance.
4. Less Jargon, More Clarity
Drop the MBA-speak. Use plain English. Say exactly what you want. Don’t say “360 brand infusion,” say “we want a campaign that drives foot traffic to 50 stores in 6 weeks.”
5. Review and Revise the Brief
A good brief is not written once and forgotten. Review it. Test it. Pressure-test the assumptions. Make it airtight before execution.
You want to read my final thoughts? Here please: The Brief is the Beginning.
If your campaign flops, don’t just call the creative team.
Call the mirror.
Because in Nigeria, we have a habit of skipping strategy and expecting magic. We celebrate execution but neglect direction. We prioritise “packaging” over positioning. That’s how trash campaigns are born.
Marketing is war. And the brief is the battle plan. If it’s wrong, every soldier – copywriter, designer, media planner, influencer is going into battle confused.
So dear Nigerian marketers, brand managers and corporate comms leads: Before you say the agency failed you, check the brief. It might be the real villain of the story.
Your campaign is only as good as its brief. Treat it like your campaign depends on it.
Because it does.
