While some clients do write brilliant creative briefs, the reality truth is they’re few and far between. A bit of a problem when a good agency brief is the foundation of a successful campaign…
Why is it so important? Giving your agency the right creative brief sets out, very clearly, what you, as a client, want to achieve. This not only makes life easier but also means the final campaign has a better chance of delivering results.
So, to give yourself the best possible start read on…
First things first, a creative brief is meant to instruct and direct creatives so when putting yours together, ask yourself: what are we trying to achieve? If it’s more sales, put it in the brief. Also, drill down deeper and be clear about what level of additional sales you’re hoping to achieve, and how you plan to measure that. In short, give your agency every chance to understand how success will be judged so they can start thinking about the problem correctly.
Be clear about what you want
This is no time for beating about the bush. Be upfront. Give an indication of the time frame you’re looking at. And be honest about your budget. Often (OK so maybe not so much in the current economic climate) clients will say they don’t want to constrain creative thinking with a budget, but without one, it can be difficult to identify which ideas are realistic and worth spending time on. So lay your cards on the table. And don’t be shy: we’re used to working with budgets of all sizes.
Signpost, don’t take the wheel
Give directions, not corrections. It’s the writer’s job to write. The designer’s job, to design. So, as tempting as it might be, don’t tell the experts how to do their job or worse still, try and do it for them. Instead, provide clear direction to the destination and then give them the respect and space they deserve to do the creative work to get there. If you really could do it yourself, you would.
Don’t waffle
Finally, keep it simple and to the point. A brief doesn’t have to be pages and pages of information, just enough to set out the challenge. So, include the points above and you’re good to go. Remember, bigger isn’t always better.
If you’re ready to talk about a brief and what 438 can do for your business, get in touch.