Doing a Good Job in Writing a Brief

Gellan Watt reports:

"There are many ways to write a good brief. From company to company, each use a different format or style. The most important thing to remember is to consider each of the following questions. There are no rules that ensure a great brief, but there are some very important principles...What is the objective and role of this communication? Reflect on this for a moment. [It's] the most essential point of any brief – what is the required outcome? Try to convey clearly what you want to achieve. Consider the following: What do we want people to do differently? What are people doing now? What do competitive communications look like, [and] how do we avoid looking like them?...It is vital to consider who the target customer is. Where can they be found and how can they be reached?...Demographics are important, especially for media selection, but more importantly[,] you need to identify the attitudes and aspirations of our target audience...If you understand your target audience, you can start to understand the role your product or brand plays in addressing their emotional and functional needs. This can be the start of a brand promise, with which we can define the entire product [and/or] brand experience. What is the proposition? With each campaign, there is, or should be, a single-minded thought that each communication will bring to life in a compelling way...It is the creative’s job to give the consumer reasons to believe in a product or brand to trust the campaign. Support should be as well[-]planned and thought-through as any creative execution. What is the unique personality of the brand? You use a product, but you have a relationship with a brand...Be as accurate a[s] possible – the mood and tone of the creative will be based on this description...A brief is not an inconvenience – it is an opportunity to do great work, build the brand and ultimately [build] the business. Commit to your brief...The target audience for your brief is...the creative team. It’s not always sales charts, or financial plans that motivate them (although it will some). Creatives must create. They live to devise campaigns that tug on the [heartstrings] as well as the wallet. Inspire them...Don’t always rely on the paper brief. The written work is a great way of collecting all of your notes and all of your points, but a face-to-face brief is a great way of adding to it...Be focused. A great example is to throw six tennis balls to someone in one go. They [won't] catch them all. Throw them one, and they’ll probably make an excellent catch. This thinking should run through the whole brief – focus your goals...Creatives should have access to whatever information...they need, but the ‘essence’ of the argument should be expressed in as few words as possible...[C]reatives don’t work to a brief. Creatives work from a brief. The brief is a starting point, a launch pad to something new, exciting and successful. Be open-minded, and courageous. Most of all[,] invest time in your brief, and encourage your creative team."