The creative teams are currently under neck-deep in the most peculiar, mind-boggling client briefs. During this busiest period of the year, starting from August to October, leave agency folks with a barrage of briefs. Some spark creativity, while some are worth a laugh or worse, tears. It’s a special time when clients’ ambitions soar to mystical heights, and their briefs become… well, a mix of confusion and chaos.
Imagine a campaign that tries to capture the essence of all festivals. Santa hangs a kandil outside a house while your mom carefully draws a rangoli next to the Christmas tree. Meanwhile, the youngest in the family is busy splashing colours around as if it’s Holi, and a nearby speaker plays devotional songs alongside ‘Jingle Bells.’ Absurd, right? But that’s exactly what some clients expect. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ festive celebration, like an overambitious cocktail of cultural confusion.
From “Can we capture all festivals in one ad?” to “Make this viral… and heartfelt,” creative heads have heard it all.
As Diwali approaches, these creative folks share the funniest and most confusing briefs they’ve received during the festive season. You’ll be glad you’re not the one executing these briefs.
Umm… What?
Clients rushing to make an impression amid the festive buzz often send briefs that leave creatives scratching their heads or just laughing out loud.
Adyasha Roy Tomar, Creative Director, McCann Worldgroup, was left speechless when a health and wellness brand wanted her to tell people to stop eating mithai during Diwali. “And make laddoos out of protein powder or risk gaining weight. For a festival and food-loving people, that brief blew my mind.”
Imagine trying to sell health shakes and salads during a festival known for indulgence.
Meanwhile, Sameer Sojwal, ECD, Sideways Consulting, had his own bizarre moment when he was asked to do a Diwali campaign… for engine oil. “It was a struggle to find a connect,” he said.
Because nothing says ‘Diwali celebration’ like thinking about your car’s oil levels, right?
Aditya Mehendale, NCD, Leo Burnett, also pointed out that some brands really don’t need to participate in the festive noise. “A razor brand or a plywood brand doesn’t necessarily need to say something during Diwali. Just because it’s a big cultural moment doesn’t mean it’s a huge moment for your brand,” he said.
Mitul Shah, Founder & CCO at Calculated Chaos, still laughs at a brief he received a while ago. The client enthusiastically suggested launching a campaign right after Diwali but before Christmas to “capture the festive spirit of both.” Shah found himself wondering what kind of magic could possibly exist in that brief lull period when most people had already emptied their wallets during Diwali and were not yet thinking about Christmas.
But the real twist came when the client added, “Just keep it general, something that works for all festivals.” Shah’s response? “Yeah, because people love a half-hearted ‘Happy… whatever you’re celebrating!’ Just throw in a diya, a star, and a pinch of confusion, and we’re good to go.”
The absurdity of trying to craft one campaign that vaguely fits every festival still makes him chuckle.
Aalap Desai, CCO & Co-founder, tgthr, had a similarly amusing experience when a client requested a Diwali campaign and an asset that could also work for Holi, Christmas, and Gudi Padwa, all because their yearly budgets were slashed.
Desai said, “We got to know about this during the briefing session and after some pushbacks, requested some time to think about it. We then huddled internally, laughed for 30 mins on it and then got back to the client and declined the project.”
You can’t blame him, right? How does one ad celebrate lights, colours, Santa, and Marathi New Year all in one? But the client is always right.
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Every creative knows the panic of receiving a vague brief, but festive briefs? Those are even worse, some might agree.
“Step one: Find out what the client wants. Step two: Realise they don’t know either,” said Shah. This usually leads to a frantic game of ‘figure it out as we go.’ Shah added, “So you get on the phone, ask them who it’s for, what it’s for, and pray they don’t say ‘viral’.” The game is now followed by throwing wild ideas at the wall in the hope something will stick.
Sojwal shared a similar strategy. “Call the client again and again until you pin them down on what they really want. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time,” he said.
With festive deadlines looming, is there really any time to waste on decoding cryptic messages?
Roy Tomar’s method involves a lot of creativity of course, and chat masala. “You have to be open to mixing things up,” she said. “First, don’t completely diss the brief. Work with, build on it, and give it your own spin. Go back and watch a LOT of festive work that has been done in the same category and try doing something new. Remember, you and your client are on the same side – the brands side.”
One that made them roll their eyes
A recurring theme among the creatives was the common misconception that slapping on a diya or some festive lights instantly connects a brand with its audience.
Shah mocked the overuse of this strategy: “Clients think putting their logo next to a diya will give people warm, fuzzy feelings about the brand. Spoiler: It won’t. People see right through that. They want something that actually speaks to their experience, not just a lazy attempt at looking ‘seasonal’.”
Sojwal highlights another classic client assumption: everyone is ready to spend lots of money on unnecessary things during the festive season.
Mehendale also added that borrowing from Diwali codes in terms of imagery and visuals or playing on value sets that come with Diwali such as, giving, gratitude and big heartedness and so on often makes the communication feel forced and tone-deaf.
Every festive season, a list of buzzwords that comes back from the dead, and the creatives are over it. Here’s a list of words that they would be thrilled to see banned:
So, what do you want?
When it comes to crafting festive briefs, agencies request clients to keep a few key principles in mind to ensure they resonate with creativity instead of despair.
Roy Tomar said, “Tell us in one line what you want the communication to achieve. Leave the rest to the experts. (US!) With a lot of love, and some feedback, we’ll definitely get to something memorable.”
Shah shared, “Keep it simple. Tell us what you actually want—new customers, more sales, or just some applause on LinkedIn. Give us a clue about the culture too; believe it or not, we don’t know every local festival like the back of our hand. Oh, and don’t write a novel. A good brief is like a tweet: short, to the point, and not trying to do too much.”
Desai said, “The festive season is special for all of us. The biggest challenge is that a lot of the briefs are often peppered with personal emotions and the brief is created around that. It’s not always around the brand. Until we present the creative, the difference between the two is also not understood. If we follow the brief, the creative doesn’t follow what the brand does. This back and forth can be avoided.”
The festive season may bring with it a rush of joy, lights, and celebrations, but for creatives, it’s also a time of wild client briefs, last-minute panic, and the occasional laugh-out-loud moment. Behind every perfectly polished Diwali ad, there’s a team of creatives who’ve navigated the chaos, dodged festive clichés, and somehow survived to tell the tale. There is also a client team that has been direct and clear with their objectives.
So, the next time you see a festive ad that seems a little off, just remember: it could’ve been worse. It could’ve been a campaign that tries to celebrate every festival in one go or a Diwali ad for engine oil.
