Building Better Briefs

Why is it pink?

What planet are they on?

I can’t show this to the MD!

Legal would have a fit!

Have these words (or similar) ever crossed your lips when reviewing artwork from your creative agency? If so, then you need to write better creative briefs!

The quality of the artwork your creative agency produces is in direct correlation to the quality of the brief you give them. In this blog, I’ll give you a few things you’ll need to address in your brief so your creative agency can deliver the output you need.

Most agencies will have a briefing document, some more comprehensive than others. Depending on the size of the agency, you may never actually speak to the creative person that will do the work, so your briefing document needs to contain everything the creative team needs to know. Here are the main things that you need to tell your agency:

Background – why are we doing this? What were the drivers that brought us to this point?

What are we trying to achieve? What does the creative piece need to do? (for example:  drive sales, be informative, be inspirational, be innovative, etc). What are your expectations on results?

What are the main points of the message? Provide your agency with some dot points on the key things you need to communicate to your audience.

What is unique or different about the proposition?  This will help your agency build the “big idea” that will be the cornerstone of your communication.

Why will the audience care about it? Help your agency understand your target market.

What are competitors doing? This will help your agency build your unique position.

What are the creative boundaries? How creative can your agency be on this job? There’s a whole scale from “totally out there, never seen before” right down to “minor tweaks on something done before”. You need to guide this process.

Be specific on imagery. If a particular type of image is a no-no, then say so.

Define the brand guidelines. If you have strict rules on how artwork needs to be presented, then you need to share this with your agency.

Tell the agency about any mandatory items for the job: eg: “must contain link to website” or “must mention the closing date of the offer”. Let them know if there’s a certain way you must describe your product or any legal disclaimers that must be included.

Deadlines – let your agency know as soon as possible what your deadlines are so they can put resources in place and schedule your work. (Let them know as early as possible, particularly if time is tight.)

Budget – give your agency some idea of what budget you have for the project. Your budget will also rein in any “expensive to execute” ideas and help keep it real.

All the little details – you need to tell your agency about things such as quantities, sizes, paper specifications and technical information.

I’d love to hear your stories about creative briefs, please share your experiences (no need to name clients/agencies!)

Contact Jill Bynon at CraftWrite with your next copywriting brief!  jill@craftwrite.com.au