Why the Fundamentals Matter (More Than Ever)

Marketing Fundamentals and AI

Let’s talk prompting. We’ve all heard the sermons: write a clear prompt, refine it, engineer it, sprinkle some magic dust. Maybe use a tool like Prompt Genie. Refining and creating a thoughtful prompt definitely improves the output. 100%.

But every time I’m crafting or reviewing a prompt, I’m instantly back to my early days as an account manager at an ad agency.

If you haven’t lived that life: the account person is the human bridge between the external client and internal teams. You manage the client relationship, keep the work on track, make sure the creative actually meets the brief and more importantly moves the needle, and—keep everyone reasonably happy. (Creatives, I love you. Truly. Even when the feedback is “Can we make the logo bigger?”)

It’s a tough role. You juggle ambitious timelines, scope creep, and the occasional Frankenstein request: “Let’s take a little of concept A and mash in concept B.” As hard as it was, it turned out to be a fantastic foundation for learning many of the core skills for product marketing.

Why? Because it forces you to live in both hemispheres of your brain. Cross-functional collaboration, ruthless prioritization, timeline triage (project managers, you are saints), and a laser focus on what resonates with the audience.

And at the center of it all: the creative brief.

A great brief is everything. It can be the difference between work that sings and work that just… exists. Or to put another way…..

Rubbish in = rubbish out.

Clients hand over a brief, but it’s the account manager’s job to fill in the gaps—add the context, instill insights, add business needs, brand needs —and translate it into something the creative team can use.

That exact skillset maps beautifully to product marketing: we get a product requirements doc, then we enrich it with competitive intel, customer research, and insights from sales and success. Spin the plates, shape the story, drive the impact. If we fail to provide our partner teams with the information they need to truly understand the need, the work output suffers.

So… what does this have to do with AI?

Everything.

Prompts are just modern day creative briefs. The same fundamentals apply.

Rubbish in = rubbish out.

The clearer the ask, the more thought that’s put into the prompt (and refinement) the better the output. What are we making? For whom? Why now? What’s the tone? What constraints matter? How will we know it worked? What do we not want it to look like? Show examples to guide.

AI can make you faster but it cannot replace judgment and critical thinking. It can’t tell you if the campaign actually moved the metric that matters. That comes from living the work—shipping, learning, adjusting. I like this framing: Knowledge comes from learning. Wisdom comes from doing.

In this context, “doing” means writing real briefs, testing, reading the output with a critical eye, and refining. Then doing it again.

Of course with LLMs (learning language models) like ChatGPT and Claude, the stakes are lower. A poor prompt isn’t the same as a poor creative brief that can result in hours of wasted manpower hours and an irate client but ultimately, depending on the application of your work, it can result in sub par work and impact.

Enter my new favorite word - Workslop! I think it speaks for itself. Let’s try to leverage AI as best we can, spend the time and energy to think through asks, refine with attention, and explore how we can make our work better - not just faster.

A Tiny Prompting-As-Brief Checklist

So before you hit “Generate,” think about the fundamentals. Pause, reflect and consider the: 

• Objective: What outcome do I want? (Be specific.)

• Audience: Who is this for and what do they care about?

• Inputs: Must-include facts, data, voice of customer, constraints.

• Tone & Format: Friendly? Expert? 500 words? Bullets? CTA?

• Guardrails: What to avoid. brand no-nos, compliance notes.

• Success Criteria: How will I judge a “good” output?

• Examples: Share examples of what you don’t want and do want.

Start there, and your prompts will stop being fishing expeditions and start being creative direction. 

If you want a marketing partner who’s lived both sides—agency and product marketing—Trellis can help you level up the fundamentals: sharper briefs, smarter prompts, and work that actually moves the business. Warm coaching, a little humor, and a lot of wisdom included.