Guide · 4 min read
The Strategy Sprint, in two weeks.
What a Strategy Sprint delivers, in two weeks
Two weeks to the strategy, two or three concepts, a moments calendar, a casting plan and first frames. Here is how the sprint runs and what comes after.
Why a sprint
Most campaigns stall in the space between a brief and a plan someone can actually make. A Strategy Sprint closes that gap in two weeks. You come out with the idea, the plan and first frames, and the same team can take it straight into production.
It fits a brand with a moment coming and no plan yet: a launch, a season, a store opening, a new market. It also fits a team that has a plan but is missing the idea that makes people care.
The four steps
The sprint runs on the same four steps as every MUUS strategy. Each one hands something concrete to the next, so nothing is lost between thinking and making.
- Listen: the brief, the brand, the moment and the audience.
- Find the idea: concepts, references and first frames.
- Plan it: the moments calendar, the creators who carry it, the budget and the schedule.
- Make it: the same team takes it into production.
How the two weeks run
The first half is listening and finding the idea. We read the brief, talk with the people who own the brand and the moment, and look hard at what the audience already loves. Then we bring two or three concepts to the table, each with references and first frames, so you can see the idea, not only read it.
The second half turns the chosen concept into a plan: when it lands, who carries it, what gets made and in what order. Nothing in the plan is abstract. Every line ends in something a filmmaker, a designer or a creator can make.
What you walk away with
Five things, each built to be used the week after the sprint, not filed.
- The strategy: the idea in one line, and why it fits the moment and the audience.
- Two or three concepts, each with references.
- A moments calendar: the dates that matter and what lands on each one.
- A casting plan: the creators, athletes and talent who carry it.
- First frames: what the work will look like before anyone books a set.
Why the moments calendar matters
Moments are where attention already is. A brief we answered for adidas and JD Sports built a creator year around All Star Weekend, March Madness, Women's History Month, the NBA Playoffs, the WNBA and Pride, and the roster ran on seasonal briefs through the year.
A good calendar names the moment, the date and the piece that lands on it. It also shows the gaps, so you can decide early which moments to own and which to let pass.
Why the casting plan matters
The right people carry an idea further than any ad. The casting plan names the tiers you need, from athletes and musicians to creators and fashion voices, and what each one does for the idea. It is the bridge from the strategy to the Creators work that follows.
Sometimes the casting is the idea. For the Supernova running launch with adidas and DICK'S, the plan was everyday runners filmed on their own routes, and everything else followed from who was cast.
What makes a sprint go well
A few things, all on your side of the table: one person who can say yes, honest answers about what has not worked before, and the real date, not the hopeful one. A sprint moves at the pace of its decisions.
When the person who signs off sees the concepts as they are presented, the second half starts on time instead of waiting on a round of feedback. Bring them in early and the plan you get is one they already believe in.
An idea can be one line
The idea does not need to be long to be clear. For the adidas World Cup 26 away kit launch in Los Angeles, it was 'Not a product shot. A night in LA.' That line became 365 campaign images and the film. A sprint is how you find that line on purpose instead of by luck.
What happens after
A sprint ends in a decision. You own the plan, and you can take it to your own teams. Or the same team that found the idea takes it into production, so it arrives on set intact.
From there we work together as a project, a monthly program or a full campaign. Every engagement is scoped to your goals.
The checklist
- The brief, however rough
- The moment and its date
- The audience, in your own words
- What worked before, and what did not
- Brand guidelines and recent work
- Talent, partners or retailers already in play
- A budget range
- Who signs off, and when
- What has to ship first after the sprint
