Name
The Death of the Brief: Why the Best Ideas Don’t Come from the Deck
Date & Time
Tuesday, April 7, 2026, 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM
Thea Neal
Description

In this session, you’ll learn why perfectly polished briefs are killing your best ideas, and how to pivot to creative briefing for 2026. 

The internet moves fast, culture moves faster, and your marketing needs to keep up. We’ll break down how to ditch the overthinking, tap into what’s already trending, and create content that actually feels like it belongs in the feed (not in a boardroom). You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how modern marketing teams operate in real time—less “let’s circle back,” more “this is trending, we have two hours, go.”

After this session, you’ll be able to:
- Spot trends early and turn them into content fast using simple (but powerful) team rituals
- Replace long, overbuilt briefs with short creative prompts that unlock faster, more interesting ideas
- Make content that actually performs by leaning into lo-fi, native, “this shouldn’t work but it does” energy
- Build campaigns that don’t die after launch by planning for reactions, remixes, and unexpected moments

Location Name
Great Lakes C
Session Type
Creativity, Differentiation & Cultural Relevance Track
Session Topic
Content, Creativity, Internal Operations, Cultural Trends