The secret to better content (Oren's Creative Strategy Playbook)
Oren breaks down what a creative strategist does, how to write effective briefs, and the tools and insights needed to create scalable, high-performing content. This blog will teach you how to think, and win, like a content-native creative strategist.
The most in-demand position in marketing today is the creative strategist. This job is a bit of a hybrid between a traditional creative director, art director, social media manager, and influencer manager.
Creative strategists are responsible for ideating content (owned organic content, influencer content, affiliate content) actually briefing that content to get executed, and then feedbacking it with the people they work with so it’s actually good.
But the secret behind being an amazing creative strategist really comes down to making a great brief.
What Makes a Great Creative Brief?
We’re going to go through the format of a great brief with a bunch of content examples. This is rooted in the content, what the differentiators are. We'll build an “insight toolkit” to help make content that works, share exact examples, walk through the psychology of content hooks, and break down some videos. There's even homework if you're trying to do this for the first time.
So if you want your brand content to pop off on social, be able to scale, or just be ultra-equipped for where media is going, this is for you.
What’s in a Creative Brief?
A brief is a document given to someone who has to go create content. Let’s use a Reformation example—because all of these pieces of content started with a brief. Cosmetics, fashion, memes, all of it.
- The Hook
This is the first visual you see (e.g. a guy on the subway in his shoes), the first thing you read (“Can Asher outrun the train in his Mach X2?”), or the first audio you hear. The hook’s job is to get someone to stop. - The Idea
All the references. If you’re trying to make similar content, this is where you'd drop the references. What’s the video about? - The Insight
The core of all art direction. An insight is the reason someone watching will care. This is what separates good content from bad content. Does it make someone stop? Is there a reason to be engaged beyond just selling something?
The Insight Toolkit: A Creative Strategist’s Weapon
If you're a creative strategist, you need a set of go-to ideas that resonate with consumers:
1. Cultural Insight
When your audience shops at Reformation and the brand duplicates a shot from “Severance”, that’s cultural. Everyone’s watching the same thing. A shared cultural moment: Super Bowl, Love Island, Midday Squares, whatever.
2. Shared Experience Insight
Breaking in new jeans, running late while doing makeup, stuff we’ve all been through. That relatability makes content hit.
3. Cost/Barrier Insight
“How to fake an eye lift” is a great example. The desire for a result without the high cost or real procedure. Cosmetics is full of these.
4. Aspirational Insight
“POV: you swore off millennial pan brands and only buy copper and steel kitchenware from Paris.” That’s lifestyle aspiration meets shared experience.
Structuring Content for Scale
Another element in every brief: format. Is this content 9:16? 1:1?
A good creative strategist thinks in scale. One good idea can be a video, a carousel, or a one-shot.
Let’s say a creator makes a TikTok about vintage gear with the hook “Cult of the lawsuit logo.” That can be reused:
- As a carousel (slide format)
- As a one-shot meme or UGC
- As a translated version in another language
Scaling an idea into multiple formats is core to the creative strategist’s job. Especially when running multi-million dollar brands.
Variations and CTAs
You also want:
- Variants: Different intros/outros for testing
- CTA: What’s the end goal? What do you want people to do?
Brief templates should include everything from format and duration to platform, products, and even suggested music. If you're using tools like Foreplay, you can build, duplicate, and share briefs easily.
Hooks: The Other Half of the Toolkit
Hooks are just as important as insights. Together, they make you a creative strategist weapon.
Some hook types:
- Challenge: “Can this guy outrun a train?”
- Negative: “Worst sellers in store”
- Unveil: Unrolling a surprise item
- Displacement: Unexpected visuals (e.g. pancakes in a fridge full of jewelry)
- Drama: “We’re being extorted”
- Curiosity: “Lana Del walks into a coffee shop”
- Adrenaline: Jumping off a roof in full outfit
Build a hook bank just like you build your insight bank. Tag your examples. Use tools like Foreplay to sort and save.
Strategy Tips for Creative Strategists
Being a creator, or at least thinking like one, makes you a better creative strategist.
Examples:
- Related videos: Link short and long form on YouTube
- Trial reels: Test variations of a high-performing video
- ManyChat: Trigger DMs from TikTok/IG comments
- Recreations: Re-make viral videos with your product
Reformation does this well. Taking viral videos and redoing them in their outfits. One creator remade a viral wallet video. The second one did nearly 300k views.
Your Homework as a Creative Strategist
Want to become elite at this?
Start intentionally scrolling.
Block off 20–30 minutes. On TikTok or Reels, save content based on:
- Hook types (drama, curiosity, etc.)
- Insight types (cultural, aspirational, shared experience)
Start a new account or use your current one. Save 10 hooks. Find 5–10 insight examples. Make a Foreplay board for each. Do this weekly. You’ll build a toolkit that turns you into a creative strategist weapon.
There’s a huge opportunity here. You can jump career steps if you’re great at creative strategy. Brands need this skill set now more than ever.
