A creative brief is a document that outlines the deliverable factors and strategic aims of a creative project. These briefs are often developed before the start of marketing, advertising and branding campaigns. They are essential documents that help clarify communications between agencies, clients and departments within businesses. They provide employees with solid documentation that they can refer to when making decisions about branding and design.
As well as helping creative employees to work towards strategic aims, the creative brief may also be written with clients and stakeholders in mind. During the project initiation phase, stakeholders and clients need to be let in on the reasoning behind strategic creative decisions. A creative brief is the perfect tool with which to illustrate this reasoning and the intended impact of a creative project. Most creative briefs contain a relatively standard set of sections, although special sections will need to be added in order to convey information unique to each project. Here is a very ‘brief’ guide to the main segments of a creative brief used by marketing and advertising project managers.
Reasoning
Most creative briefs start with an ‘argument’. This argument outlines the reasoning behind the aesthetic and strategic choices that are laid out in the rest of the brief. They help clients, stakeholders and creative workers to make a real connection with the project. Creative decisions cannot be made flippantly: every aspect of a creative brief needs to be justified in the reasoning section. Clients do not want to waste money commissioning agencies to complete work that will not guarantee them results.
Objectives
The objectives of the creative project should be clearly defined and very specific. The failure to specify objectives is one of the so-called ‘seven sins’ of creative briefing, according to Forbes contributor Derek Rucker and Kellogg Institute professor Kevin McTigue. If everybody knows their objectives, they can work more effectively.
Target Audience
Who is this creative project aimed at? When looking at how to write a creative brief, knowing the target audience for creative content is immeasurably important. Proper market research should be conducted to ascertain the needs, desires and aesthetic inclinations of the target audience. The results of all this research should be displayed clearly in the creative brief.
Competition
Always consider the competition! A creative brief should outline the key competitors that run up against the client or major stakeholders. The brief should outline the success levels and market shares that these competitors have and should discuss ways in which the creative project about to be undertaken could potentially disrupt the market share currently owned by competitors in favor of the client.
Client Expectations
Many clients have unique expectations, which need to be conveyed effectively to people working on a creative project. All of the desires expressed by a client should be clearly communicated in the creative brief.
Aesthetic Identity
What does the client want to convey with the product that the creative project results in? Client expectations and market research should drive the development of an aesthetic ‘look boo’: a project guide to aesthetic ideals. Creating a design aesthetic is immensely important to the creation of a brand identity. Design aesthetics should not be developed in the dark. Instead, they should relate directly to the results of market research and trend forecasts.
Timeline
A creative brief should contain a realistic timeline that plots out the completion of key tasks. These tasks are known as Key Progress Indicators. If they are completed according to the timeline outlined in the creative brief, then the project can be considered to be going to plan. The timeline outlined in the creative brief should be as clear and as realistic as possible. Stakeholders and creative workers should be consulted before a timeline is produced. The expertise of creative workers regarding the time it will take to complete creative tasks is extremely valuable. Stakeholders will often have their own reasons for implementing time constraints.
Budget
All employees and stakeholders need to know the financial constraints that they are working with. Stakeholders and clients will generally try and work with the smallest budget possible in order to maximize the net gains provoked by completed creative projects. This desire for good value project completion should be balanced against the realistic needs of the people actually working on the project. There are plenty of hidden costs involved with the completion of a creative branding project, for instance. An agency may need to license software or purchase the rights to use certain assets in order to complete a project properly.