A question I’m often asked is: why do I need to write a brief? Can’t I just tell you what I want and let you get on with it?
For many people, this relatively simple task seems, on the surface of it, a complete waste of time. But if you want a great creative result, there’s nothing more important than writing and, most importantly, agreeing a great creative brief.
The brief tells your creative team what needs to be done and, most importantly, why you need it. If this information is absent then there is a far greater risk that your finished piece of communication will not meet your requirements. I always refer to the RIRO methodology (which I made up!) when explaining the importance of a brief, as in Rubbish In, Rubbish Out! It therefore makes sense to spend a little bit of time gathering your thoughts and confirming exactly what you want your communications to achieve and why. If you have a good brief that everyone who matters has signed off, you can instantly tell whether the finished piece responds to the brief successfully or not.
It’s therefore very simple – if you can answer these questions in your Creative Brief, then your final communications piece will answer them too.
1. Who is your target audience?
Please don’t say “everyone” or “customers”. An unfocused target will guarantee unfocused and ineffective communications. In order for the creative to understand your target audience, you almost need to paint a picture of who they are, their day-to-day activities, likes, dislikes, habits etc…anything that will help the creative to understand them and therefore be able to put themselves in their shoes and speak directly to them in a way that will appeal to and inspire them.
2. What do they currently think of your product / service and what do you want them to think?
After seeing your creative piece, what is the one thing you want the target to know or think? This is all about perception and gives the creative team an idea of how much of a job they have to do to convince the target audience that they simply cannot do without your product or service.
3. What do you want them to do?
Also called the “call to action”, this is a key piece of information that’s needed to create successful communications. If you truly have no idea what you want them to do after seeing your communications, they won’t either! I’m constantly amazed at how little thought is given to this and how many briefs I’ve received where this information is missing for whatever reason.
There are a few rules to writing a fantastic creative brief:
Firstly, it’s called a brief for a reason. Keep it brief! Tell the creatives everything they need to know but don’t use the brief as an opportunity to show how much you know about your product or service. Creatives do not have the longest attention span (myself included) and if the brief starts to become wordy or repetitive, they will switch off! Keep it short and sweet.
Secondly, really think about what you’re writing. I know this seems obvious but you would be amazed at how often I’ve looked at Creative Briefs only to see generic answers that read more like a succession of PowerPoint slides. Put some real thought into it and the creatives will put some real effort into your project.
Thirdly, have the confidence in your creative team to allow them to surprise you. We all know what we expect. But the death of a creative team is to constantly deliver what the in-house marketing team expects. Be open to something new, unusual and unexpected. That’s how breakthroughs are achieved.
Finally, you’re all on the same team. If you treat your Creative Team as an extension of your own team, they’ll behave that way.
