The document summarizes a creative digital brief process for Turkish Airlines' digital agency pitch in 2009. Agencies were given only a keyword ("THYbrief") and had to search various social media platforms to find hidden parts of the brief. The brief fueled new discussions around incorporating digital into all aspects of the creative process. Agencies were evaluated on various criteria including how effectively they spread word of the brief process. Ultimately, Digital McCann was selected as the winner. The innovative brief changed expectations for digital pitches in Turkey.

1. THE STORY OF A CREATIVE DIGITAL BRIEF:
TURKISH AIRLINES
DIGITAL AGENCY PITCH 2009

2. THIS SLIDESHOW TELLS THE STORY OF A
CREATIVE DIGITAL PITCH.
THE CLIENT,TURKISH AIRLINES,
LAUNCHED A DIGITAL PITCH IN JULY 2009. MOST OF THE
MAJOR INTERACTIVE AGENCIES IN TURKEY PARTICIPATED.
“SOCIAL MEDIA IQ”
WAS THE ESSENCE OF THE BRIEF.

3. DNA MEETING
TURKISH AIRLINES MET
PROSPECTIVE AGENCIES
PRIOR TO THE PITCH
TO SEE HOW WELL THEY WOULD GET ALONG.
AFTER ALL, THEY KNOW THAT
COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN THE CLIENT & THE AGENCY
BREEDS SUCCESS.

4. THIS IS YOUR BRIEF.
“THYBRIEF” GO FIND IT!
WHICH IS NOTHING BUT A KEYWORD:

5. IT’S A
SOCIAL
MEDIA
PUZZLE
INSTEAD OF A
TRADITIONAL BRIEF
THUS BEGAN THE NON-TRADITIONAL, “SCAVENGER-HUNT-LIKE”
BRIEF PROCESS. TURKISH AIRLINES ONLY SHARED A KEYWORD
WITH AGENCIES. IT WAS UP TO THE AGENCIES TO FIND HIDDEN
PARTS OF THE BRIEF IN THE VAST SOCIAL MEDIA MAZE. CLUES
WERE EVERYWHERE: BLOGSPOT, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, FLICKR,
FRIENDFEED, MINDMEISTER, GOOGLE DOCS, SLIDESHARE... EVEN
SECRET PASSWORDS WERE EMBEDDED IN HTML SOURCE CODES.

6. THIS BRIEF CLEARLY SET THE BAR HIGHER
IN TURKISH ADVERTISING LANDSCAPE.
IT FUELED NEW
DISCUSSIONS TO RETHINK
THE ROLE OF DIGITAL
IN EVERY STEP OF THE
CREATIVE PROCESS,
INCLUDING CLIENT BRIEFS
AND EXPECTATIONS.

7. FINALLY THE BRIEF IS SOLVED
NOW SPREAD THE WORD!
THE VIRAL CHALLENGE
TURKISH AIRLINES EXPECTED AGENCIES TO MAKE THE STORY OF
THIS BRIEF VIRAL. SEEDING WAS AN ESSENTIAL POINT IN EVALUATION.
SO THE MESSAGE WAS CLEAR:
GET PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THE BRIEF PROCESS ITSELF.
THE MORE YOU SPREAD THE WORD,
THE MORE CHANCE YOU HAVE.

8. SEED IT!
AGENCIES STARTED TO FILL THE
INTERNET WITH THEIR SEEDING EFFORTS.

9. FROM VIRAL TO
MAINSTREAM
ARTICLES ABOUT THE TURKISH AIRLINES
DIGITAL PITCH WERE PUBLISHED ON
MAJOR ADVERTISING &
MARKETING WEBSITES SUCH AS
FAST COMPANY AND BRAND REPUBLIC

10. AGENCY EVALUATION CRITERIA
CLIENT EXPECTATIONS WERE HIGH AND DIVERSE.
THE AGENCY THAT MET THE MOST WOULD WIN.
GLOBAL STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
GLOBAL BUSINESS PARTNERS
BRIEF COMPREHENSION CREATIVITY AND
AND MARKET ANALYSIS PRODUCTION QUALITY
CLIENT - AGENCY FOLLOWING AND
DNA COMPATIBILITY IMPLEMENTING TRENDS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUALITY APPROPRIATE MEDIA SUGGESTIONS
FOR THE DIGITAL STRATEGY OF THE BRAND
DEDICATED TEAM PROFILE
AGENCY PORTFOLIO / SHOWREEL
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT SKILLS
ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS DE-BRIEF PRESENTATION QUALITY

11. THE FINAL
WHISTLE
AGENCIES HAD TO CRACK A
CODE ONE MORE TIME, TO
LEARN THE WINNER.
WHICH WAS
DIGITAL McCANN

12. WHAT’S NEXT?
THE INNOVATIVE CLIENT MET THE CREATIVE DIGITAL AGENCY.
FROM NOW ON DIGITAL BRIEFS WILL NOT BE THE SAME
(AT LEAST IN TURKEY)
AGENCIES; PREPARE FOR DIGITAL-MINDED CLIENTS...
CLIENTS; PREPARE FOR DIGITAL-MINDED AGENCIES...
CONSUMERS; PREPARE FOR TAKE-OFF...