Moving from product-led thinking to genuine human needs.
Most briefs start with a product.
We have a new product.
We need to launch it.
We need people to know about it.
We need them to choose it.
And then the agency gets to work.
Positioning.
Campaign idea.
Key visual.
Content.
Media.
Activation.
But what if the brief should start somewhere else?
Start with the need, not the product
One of the ideas from my Cambridge studies that made me rethink the way we approach marketing is the distinction between needs and desires.
The distinction is simple, but the implications are quite big.
Human needs are fundamental. They include things like connection, protection, identity, freedom, participation, understanding, leisure and creation.
The ways we satisfy those needs, however, are not universal.
And this is where product-led thinking can become limiting.
The course gives a simple example:
Instead of asking:
“What drink could we create to help people socialise with their friends?”
we could ask:
“What new ways of socialising with friends could we create?”
The first question keeps us inside the category.
The second one opens it up.
The category can become the constraint
When we start with the product, we tend to optimise the product.
When we start with the category, we tend to optimise the category.
But when we start with the human need, we can rethink the problem altogether.
A skincare brand might start by asking how to sell more anti-ageing products.
But the underlying needs might be identity, confidence or belonging.
A mobility brand might start by asking how to sell more cars.
But the underlying need might be freedom, connection or access.
A food brand might start by asking how to get people to buy another product.
But the underlying need might be nourishment, convenience, pleasure or social connection.
The product is only one possible answer.
This changes the brief
A product-led brief says:
Here is what we have. Make people want it.
A human-needs brief asks:
Here is a human problem. What could we do about it?
That difference creates space for better strategy.
It can change the innovation conversation.
It can change the creative idea.
And sometimes, it can even change the product itself.
Because if we genuinely understand the need we’re trying to solve, we are no longer restricted to the solution that already exists.
What does this mean for creativity?
It actually makes the creative challenge more interesting.
We’re not just looking for a new way to communicate the same thing.
We’re asking whether there is a better way to solve the problem.
This is particularly relevant as brands increasingly talk about purpose, sustainability and social impact.
Adding a sustainability message to an existing product isn’t necessarily transformation.
Sometimes the bigger opportunity is to rethink what value the brand is actually creating.
Can the product last longer?
Can ownership become access?
Can repair become part of the experience?
Can the service solve the need with fewer resources?
Can the brand create value without simply creating another reason to consume?
These questions move us from communication into strategy, innovation and business design.
The brief is more powerful than we think
A brief doesn’t just define the work.
It defines the problem we’re allowed to solve.
And if we define the problem too narrowly, we can produce brilliant work that solves the wrong thing.
That’s why I increasingly like the idea of starting briefs with a simple question:
What human need are we really trying to satisfy?
Not what product are we launching.
Not what message do we need to communicate.
Not what behaviour do we want to drive.
But what are people actually trying to achieve in their lives — and what role could this brand genuinely play in helping them do it?
Maybe the best brief is the one that challenges the answer
The most interesting briefs don’t always lead to better advertising.
Sometimes they lead to a better product.
A better service.
A better experience.
Or a completely different solution than the one we started with.
And that’s perhaps where the role of marketing gets more interesting.
Not simply making existing answers more desirable.
But helping businesses ask better questions in the first place.
Because sometimes the biggest creative opportunity isn’t hidden in the idea.
It’s hidden in the brief.
Leave a comment