The brief is the first text of a campaign, and it shapes everything that follows. If it is vague, the team reading it will fill the gaps with assumptions. Some will be right and some will not, and you will find out at the first presentation.
It does not need to be long. One or two pages are enough, as long as they answer the right questions.
What it should include
A practical brief answers seven questions. If you do not yet have an answer to one of them, write that it has not been decided, so that you discuss it at the start and not halfway through the work.
- Goal: one, and specific. What do you want to have changed when the campaign ends?
- Audience: who they are, what they already know about you, what concerns them and where they come across you.
- The one message: the single phrase you want the audience to remember.
- Constraints: brand guidelines, legal matters, product availability, what must not be said.
- Budget and timing: a budget range, the dates and anything that cannot move, such as an opening or an exhibition.
- Measurement: how you will judge whether the campaign succeeded, with which tool and compared with what.
- Approvals: who decides and how many rounds of feedback are planned.
One message, not five
The most common problem with a brief is that it wants to say everything: quality, price, service, fast delivery, experience. A campaign that says five things rarely leaves any of them in people's memory.
Try writing the message in one sentence, without “and”. If you cannot, you may have two campaigns, not one. The other advantages are not lost: they go on the landing page, in the FAQs or in a later campaign.
If the message does not fit in one sentence, you may have two campaigns.
Vague and clear, side by side
The difference is easiest to see with examples:
- Goal. Vague: “Increase sales.” Clear: “More quote requests for corporate gifts from businesses in Attica, before Christmas.”
- Audience. Vague: “Everyone, aged 25 to 55.” Clear: “HR and office managers at companies that organise corporate gifts themselves and have little time for it.”
- Message. Vague: “Quality, good prices, fast service.” Clear: “Corporate gifts with your logo, ready in one week.”
- Measurement. Vague: “We'll see how it goes.” Clear: “Requests from the landing page form, compared with the same period last year.”
A clear brief is not longer. It is more specific, and that is why it leaves the creative team time to work on the idea instead of guessing what you meant.
After the brief
A brief is not an order you send and then wait. The team that receives it will have questions, and your answers become part of the brief. Keep them in writing, so everyone can see them.
If something changes along the way, such as the budget, the date or the product, update the brief and note what changed. That way the campaign is judged against what was actually asked for.
If you are not sure where to start, send us your goal in two lines. We will fill in the rest together.