In public communication, clarity is the creative brief.

Information, Education and Communication campaigns carry a responsibility most advertising doesn't: the audience may need the message to claim a benefit, stay safe or protect a resource. Being clever is optional. Being understood is not.

One message per film

Departments often want every scheme detail in thirty seconds. The better approach is a family of short films, each with one action, supported by print and outreach material that carries the detail.

Language is more than translation

A message written in English and translated literally can lose its meaning. Writing for each language — with local idiom, local faces and local settings — is what makes a campaign feel like it was made for its audience.

If a citizen has to work to understand it, the campaign has already failed.

Accountability is part of the craft

Clear approvals, documented scripts, versioned masters and complete handover files are not paperwork around the creative work. In public communication, they are part of doing it well.