It’s All About the Brief: Creative Brief Secrets, Unlocked
So the last thing you want to do is write a creative brief. Who has that kind of time? After the downsizing, you’re doing three people’s jobs. And you just want an email done. It’s not brain surgery.
I understand the feeling. I have to write briefs myself for our creative teams.
But I can 100% tell you that investing time in a good brief saves time and frustration later. When we have a good brief, a good creative will get the work right (or close to it) the first time. When the brief is incomplete or not thought through, you end up adding rounds to the process. It adds more emails, more meetings, more reviews versus a focused 20 minutes writing a great brief.
So what makes a great brief? I went to two people who have written some of the best briefs HCC has ever received and asked for their tips, tricks and perspective. You’re welcome. Now put it to good use.
Meet Ed Castillo, former CSO of TBWA\Chiat\Day NY, current Founder of Brand Disposition, Inc. (www.BrandDisposition.com). @xandnotx
HCC: Ed, why is a good brief important?
Ed: Creatives (and other makers) should be free to create with informed-direction without also having to navigate the politics and biases of clients and agency management. While briefs certainly can be "inspiration" for creating communications, my 25 years in the business suggest that they are more likely to be 'political' documents that keep the confusion of rapidly changing points of view - among those commissioning the work and those overseeing the work - at bay and focused in a particular direction. What's most important is that the agency actually does something beyond discussing the situation; briefs help ensure that that something actually happens.
HCC: How did you learn to write a good brief?
Ed: By writing a lot of bad ones and taking the feedback from creatives seriously.
HCC: Any brief war stories from your past?
Ed: In 2002, I wrote my first real brief ('real' in that I was solely responsible for its content and work developed on its behalf). When first-round ideas came back at a meeting with the agency CEO, CCO, and the CSO - my boss - in attendance, it was clear that they had little connection to the brief.
Trembling a bit with anger I picked up the brief, turned it to its blank back-side and said "There must be something wrong with the printers here...you all must have received this [gesturing to the blank page]; I'll make sure this doesn't happen next time."
The meeting ended abruptly after my comment, and the CCO was visibly upset with me.
Later that afternoon - over agency-sponsored beers (remember those?) - I mentioned to the CEO that I was now worried about my relationship with the CCO.
His response: "[The CCO] doesn't pay you - I do. Keep it up!"
HCC: How long do you think it should take to write a good brief?
Ed: Briefs are a means to an end and nothing more. If you make a passing observation about the world and it helps the creatives make something effective, you've delivered a "good brief" even if it took you 3 minutes to arrive at the observation. That said, I typically write something, put it away, re-read it, and then remove 30%-50% of the unnecessary language before delivering a brief (this, of course, assumes I've been thinking about the problem and know something about the brand, its marketing needs, the target, and the cultural context for the ask).
HCC: What’s a sign that a brief isn't where it should be?
Ed: If you can't write it on a single page it isn't a "brief".
Meet Amanda Weymouth, VP, Marketing at Tinyhood.
HCC: Why is a good brief important?
Amanda: A brief is the “contract” between a marketer and the creative team. It is the source of truth that is the foundation for any great creative - whether it’s a big idea down to a tactical execution. Without one, creative quality will be impacted - and the entire marketing process will likely be less efficient.
HCC: How did you learn to write a good brief?
Amanda: My first “crash course” was during my time on the Campaign Management team at the Ad Council, a non-profit that has an incredible mission of using communications to solve social issues at scale (think “Smokey Bear” to more recent movements such as Love Has No Labels). As a Campaign Manager, I was responsible for working with top-tier ad agencies to develop “from scratch” branded marketing campaigns. I saw firsthand how meaningful consumer insights drive strategy, which drives “the big idea,” which then drives compelling and meaningful marketing communications. I had incredible mentors and bosses at the Ad Council who pushed me to think with a consumer-first mindset, and be rigorous about “going deep” into everything from consumer pain points to specific creative requirements so that everyone was on the same page and working from the same set of knowledge.
HCC: Any bad brief war stories from your past?
Amanda: Ha! Where things would “go wrong” was when clients would come into a kickoff with not a lot of direction, and say they are “open to anything” in terms of creative ideas -- only to have the breaks MAJORLY pumped when they actually see “the work.” Then, you get into a sticky place where the client just “doesn’t like it” and can’t really articulate why. It is always important to get a full understanding of the client/ lead stakeholders’ expectations and requirements, while still leaving room for creative ideation and letting the creative teams “push” the clients -- but one step at a time. Knowing what you “don’t want” is almost as important as knowing what you “do want.”
Another thing that can go wrong is when brands or marketing teams try to dive head-first into working with a creative team without really grounding the creative team in the overarching brand strategy/ voice. I think it is super important to “over-educate” creative teams to help them understand the full picture of the brand, not just the specific marketing campaign goal, so that when you see the creative work it feels aligned to what the brand really stands for.
Knowing your brand and having a strong point of view in terms of “what makes you different” is really the foundation for any and all creative briefs.
HCC: Tell me about your brief process and timing.
Amanda: It depends on the complexity of the project, but even if something “seems straightforward” - chances are it isn’t, especially if the project is with a creative team you haven’t worked with before. You of course want to be clear and concise, and avoid being too prescriptive, but the more creative teams can “get in your head,” the more they can deeply understand your brand product, and customer -- and this will always save time down the line. And, chances are it will improve your creative product!
HCC: What are some common pitfalls? Signs that it isn't where it should be?
Amanda: One, being too prescriptive. Focus on “what you want” not “how you want it.” The second you start getting into the “how,” you are impeding creativity and frankly this is a huge de-motivator for creative teams.
Two, creative “doesn’t feel right.” Most of the time, if you get round one creative back from a team and it just feels “all wrong” -- sorry to say but that’s probably on you! Instead of getting into nitty-gritty revisions, maybe take a step back and say “hey, let’s take a look again at the brief and make sure there isn’t anything that’s confusing / unclear/ missing.” Or, maybe your creative team just doesn’t have a strong enough understanding of your brand (or maybe you don’t!). Again, this having a clear, well understood brief always saves time in the end and delivers a better creative output.
HCC: Any “secret sauce” Amanda tips?
Amanda: Think in extremes. Don’t just think about what your customer likes -- also think about what they “dislike.” Similar to this, when talking to a creative team about your brand voice/ tone, thinking about what you do NOT sound like is sometimes as helpful as thinking about what you do. This will help to create more opportunities for “tension” in creative, which really creates greater differentiation for your brand and product.
[And] a great brief needs no kickoff meeting. OK, maybe that’s a little extreme. But the point is, if you are in a kickoff meeting to review a brief and you find yourself responding to questions from a creative team with lines like, “oh yes I still need to add this detail” or “I hadn’t thought about that” or “oh I was just going to speak to that but didn’t think I needed to put it in writing” - then chances are it wasn’t a great brief. Before submitting a brief, pretend like you are going to present it. Think about: “What questions might people ask? What haven’t I included?” This will force you to put a little more meat on the bones and make the brief more “self contained.”
HCC: Would you share a sample briefing form?
Amanda: Briefs can take many forms and depending on the scope of the project or specific deliverable, there may be other elements to consider. However, the below brief is a great foundation for the questions you should be answering for the creative team:
Overarching Brand Platform: What do we stand for? What do we stand against? What kind of business are we? Who is our primary customer? What do we offer to customers that no one else can (value proposition + positioning statement)? What emotional benefits does our brand deliver for our customer? What is our brand personality/ tone?
Audience: Who are we talking to for this particular marketing campaign/ asset?
Objective: What is this marketing asset about and what is in it for our brand?
Customer insight: For this topic, what do we know about the customer’s pain points/ needs?
Customer enemy: For this topic, what is our consumer most afraid of?
Call to action: What action do we want the customer to take and why should they care? What is the landing experience?
Primary/ secondary messages: What do we want to say? (NOTE: *Not* copy “how we want to say it.”)
Deliverables/ creative assets needed: Specific needs for marketing asset/ campaign, including visual and copy requirements.
Creative references/ other things to know: Include any details from competitive brands, inspiration, references to another visual that has worked well in the past, etc.
Timing: Due date for round one, round two revisions plus drop dead date for launch