When the Client Says Everyone Is the Audience, Bring an Extra Chair

Imagine asking a client who their new campaign should reach and receiving an answer delivered with the confidence of someone who has just solved marketing.

Everyone.

It is a generous ambition. It is also rather a lot of people to accommodate on one social media tile. We have barely found room for the opening hours.

Before the agency reaches for a very large audience slide, there is a kinder way into this conversation. A client who says “everyone” may simply be excited about their business. They can picture all the people who might love it. Helping them decide where to begin can turn a familiar briefing headache into a useful bit of teamwork.

A whole country cannot order the same lunch

For this story, meet an entirely fictional South African bakery launching a weekday lunch collection service. The owner wants office workers, students, families, tourists and, ideally, that one neighbour who still thinks they only sell birthday cakes.

Nothing wrong with wanting them all to feel welcome. But imagine trying to put every reason to visit into the same advert. Affordable lunch. Artisan baking. Party platters. Somewhere lovely to bring your aunt. Also, parking.

Soon the headline resembles the noticeboard at a community hall. There is something for everybody, provided everybody has twenty minutes to read it.

Ask a smaller question. For this particular launch, whose next visit are we trying to make easier?

The owner chooses nearby workers who need to collect lunch during a short break. Now the agency has a job it can picture. Show the lunch, explain how to order and make the collection details easy to find. Birthday cakes remain very welcome to have their own moment.

Start with a situation rather than a stereotype

It can be tempting to replace “everyone” with an elaborate imaginary customer. She has a name, a favourite podcast and an implausibly coordinated kitchen. Somehow the team knows what shoes she wears but not why she would buy lunch here.

A more useful starting point might be the situation: somebody nearby, with limited time, deciding what to eat before the next meeting.

From there, ask the business what it already knows. Which questions do customers ask? What makes collection confusing? Are people finding the menu? Look at the information available and be honest about what still needs checking.

In our fictional bakery, the owner explains that customers often phone to ask whether an order will be ready when they arrive. That gives the team something to investigate and address. It is considerably more helpful than deciding the audience “values experiences” and hoping the sandwich understands.

Give the other customers somewhere to go

Choosing a first audience can feel uncomfortable to a business owner. They have worked hard to build a place people enjoy, and nobody wants an advert that appears to turn half the neighbourhood away.

Explain the plan in ordinary language. This piece of communication helps one group with one decision. The website can still explain the wider offering. A separate message can speak to people arranging a family gathering.

Think of directing people at a busy braai. You can tell one guest where to put the salad without announcing that everyone else must leave.

The point is to make the next action clearer. It should still feel like the same welcoming business.

If the discussion keeps changing as more people join in, the client with several personalities sharing one email address offers some familiar comic company. There is usually a human conversation underneath the contradictory comments.

Let the client help choose the first step

Bring a clear recommendation and explain the reasoning. Show how the message relates to the launch goal. Invite the client to challenge the assumptions with information from their business.

That gives both sides useful work to do. The agency brings communication skills. The owner brings knowledge of customers and the practical realities behind the counter. Neither needs to win a debate about who understands “the market” more dramatically.

In our imagined example, they agree to test a focused lunch message and decide what to learn from the response. They do not declare victory before the first order. They have simply made the brief clearer and given the idea a fairer chance.

For another look at keeping a project useful as requests evolve, read The Quick Client Change That Became a Beautiful Reminder About Teamwork.

A clearer brief can still have a big heart

The nicest outcome of this conversation is that nobody needs to feel foolish. “Everyone” becomes a starting point for better questions, rather than a quote the agency saves for an angry group chat.

Try asking who needs this most right now, what they need to understand and what the business can genuinely deliver. Leave room to learn. You can welcome a wide community while giving one person a clear reason to act today.

Does your agency enjoy turning a tangled brief into thoughtful work? List your team on CreH8ive. If these creative conversations are part of your podcast, put your show on the map. And sign up for The CreH8ive Times for more stories from both sides of the brief.

Back at our fictional bakery, the lunch advert finally has room to breathe. The opening hours have survived. So has the owner's enthusiasm.

Everyone is still welcome. Now somebody knows what to order.