Elements of a Great Creative Brief
Not long ago, a client of ours shared a creative brief they had received from another agency.
The “brief” was a 200-slide presentation deck. It was chock full of information—some of it no doubt relevant—but it failed to clearly lay out answers to critical questions.
That document was more an information dump than a brief, and at VShift it prompted a conversation about what makes an inspiring brief for advertising, social posts, ABM campaigns, videos, podcast messages, landing pages and the like.
As we see it, a creative brief:
Makes choices, articulates priorities. A brief is not open-ended; it tells the creative team what needs to be communicated, and why.
Describes what the advertising is intended to accomplish. A brief is a narrative connecting the brand, product or service to its audience. It articulates the hoped-for change in the audience’s knowledge and behavior.
Empowers creative people to be creative. By making strategic choices, the brief enables creative people to focus on ideas and execution.
Must be read and understood. This may sound self-evident, but the creative brief is not ancillary to the creative process—it is essential. Creative teams need to understand it fully and ask questions as necessary.
Think of the brief as a vehicle for telling a story: What is the brand, and who is it for, and why do they need it, and what makes it better and how will it change people’s lives. The brief not only guides creative teams, but it also provides a framework for reviewing creative concepts. Every creative review—internal or with a client—should evaluate how well the proposed creative approach satisfies the brief.
At VShift, a campaign brief typically addresses:
What is the current market situation? Is our brand a category leader, a challenger, an unknown upstart? Who are our competitors? Is the market changing, and if so, how do we expect that change to affect our brand?
What is the objective of the campaign? Are we introducing a new product, changing perceptions about an existing brand, announcing an offer or promotion? Stating the objective is essential; the creative team—and those reviewing creative options—must be able to evaluate whether a proposed solution is likely to satisfy the campaign objective.
Who is the target audience for this campaign? What are the audience segments, what are each segment’s needs, what do these segments currently think about our brand? What insights into our audience do we have? (In B2B sales, decisions are often made by a committee comprised of decision-makers, influencers and subject-matter experts. Each of these can be thought of as an audience segment.)
What do we want the target audience to think? What, in a sentence or two (plain language, not ad copy), is the major message of this campaign? What do we hope our audience segments will know or believe as a result?
What are the support points / reasons to believe? Which product attributes and claims will give our audience reasons to believe the major message? Sometimes the most important support points are referred to as the “messaging pillars,” figuratively holding up the major message.
What is the call to action? Specifically, what action do we want our audience to take? Visit a website? View a demo? Request more information? Have a salesperson contact them? Relatedly, how will campaign performance be measured?
What marketing channels do we plan to use? Understanding channels – e.g., digital display, social media, out-of-home, TV—helps the creative team craft the campaign with an idea of how to adapt it for specific purposes.
What are the rational and emotional benefits? Rational benefits are specific and quantifiable, e.g., Process insurance claims 33% faster, or Save money when you subscribe. Emotional benefits are non-rational, e.g., Feel more confident or Look more youthful.
What is the desired tonality and brand voice? Brands have personalities and marketing campaigns can reinforce or, if desired, evolve those personalities. Some examples are: authoritative, fun, serious, helpful, friendly. A brand might have many characteristics; the creative brief should identify the most salient.
What is the timeline and budget? This information guides the creative team’s thinking as far as scope. The world’s best creative ideas are nonstarters if they can’t be executed within the available time and budget.
Yes, the above does seem like a lot to include in a couple of pages. Think of it as a challenge to focus your strategic thinking and support points and ensure they tell a clear, coherent—and brief—story.