A pre-flight checklist for a creative batch

This piece is now part of a longer guide: Hooks and creative briefs: the complete guide.

This exists because we have got each of these wrong at least once, and each one cost a day or a reshoot.

Before the shoot is booked

1. The question. What this batch exists to answer, in one sentence.
2. The variation axis. What changes between assets and what is held constant. Written down, not implied.
3. The opening. Specified, and more than one. If the brief does not name the first second you will shoot a body with no head.
4. The role, not the demographic. "Sceptical, has tried alternatives" directs. "Woman, 30s" does not.
5. Product confirmed in hand. Right variant, right colourway, physically present. Late or wrong product is the most common cause of a reshoot.

Before the day

6. Approvals sequenced. Script, casting, location, product, each with a named approver and a date. Most delays are escalations, not disagreements.
7. Compliance line agreed. What cannot be claimed or depicted, and who can approve an exception by name.
8. Fallback framings planned. At least two angles per beat so the edit has options.
9. Asset count target. How many finished assets this day should yield. If nobody has said a number, the answer will be four.
10. Destination known. Where these ads will send people, and whether that page repeats the promise the ads make. If the answer is a product grid, fix that before spending on production.

Why the last one is on the list

Because it is the only item that can invalidate the entire batch after it is made, and it is the one most often left to someone who is not in the room.