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How to Write a Good Creative Brief

picture of dart hitting a bull's eye to signify that the creative brief is good

Nailing the creative brief is harder than you think.

Your creative brief is the GPS of a great campaign. Without it, you and the creative team are flying blind. Sure, you know your product. You’ve researched your competition, done a SWOT analysis, completed market research, created personas, and maybe even held a focus group (hey, it’s been known to happen). All the marketing intelligence is done. Now you can go ahead and cut and paste all of that into a creative brief template and call it a day, right?

You can’t possibly think I’m going to say yes.

A useful brief is concise, specific, and targeted, yet gives the creative team the freedom to experiment and iterate. At its best, it fosters collaboration, supports avenues for constructive feedback, and provides boundaries in which the creative team can flourish. Writing a good one is hard.

Take the time to do it right.

It may take some time staring into space and a bit of serious thought before you’re able to strip your marketing insights down to their very essence, but that smoke coming off your brain right now is worth it, because a good brief enables your creative team to:

  • Nail down the core consumer insight. This is what your customer feels, needs, or desires.
  • Unearth the big idea that flows from the customer insight.
  • Develop a creative execution based on the big idea. This is where the designer and writer collaborate to develop the core concept in a creative, original way.

 

The payoff is a persuasive campaign that boosts brand awareness and increases sales.

A good creative brief should cover these areas.

  • The campaign objective or problem to solve. This objective should be achievable and measurable.
GOOD: While Widgety Widget’s new, improved widget was launched last quarter, sales remain flat due to lack of awareness. We will increase online sales of the new widgets by 10% through a series of digital display ads.
UNHELPFUL: Increase sales of the new, improved widgets.
  • Primary and secondary audiences. If possible, include demographics, psychographics, or combination of both.

GOOD: Parents of college freshman who are living on large- to medium-sized campuses, primarily women age 45-65.
UNHELPFUL: Everyone needs the new, improved widget.

  • Consumer Insight. Insights are not behaviors; they are universal truths based on emotion. It’s often something your customer wouldn’t necessarily tell you unless probed.
GOOD: Parents of college freshman living on larger campuses are often concerned for their safety. “I have no idea what my son is doing, and he doesn’t text me back right away. I mean, would it kill him just to let me know he’s OK? I don’t want to be a helicopter parent, but this is new for me, and I worry all the time.”
UNHELPFUL: A study by Psychology Today concludes that 58% of parents of college freshman are unsatisfied with the amount of contact they have with their children.
  • Key Benefit. A single benefit important to the target audience. What will consumers gain from the purchase of the brand?
GOOD: The new, improved Widgety Widget lets parents know their kids are OK without intruding on their lives.
UNHELPFUL: Proprietary Widge™ technology allows 5G of data to stream in less than one second from their pocket to your phone.
  • Tone and Manner/ Brand Personality: Provide three to four adjectives describing the personality that the communication needs to convey. What feeling the customer should have when engaging with the brand?
GOOD: Reassuring. Empathetic. Confident.
UNHELPFUL: For more than a decade, Widgety Widget has helped hundreds of thousands of parents track the whereabouts of their children.
  • Initial Deliverable.
GOOD: Digital display ads (spec sheet attached) placed in X, Y, and Z, to run through Q3.
UNHELPFUL: TBD

The rewards are worth the effort.

Next time you cringe at the thought of drafting a creative brief, consider the ultimate rewards: Fewer rounds and creative iterations, less frustration, and memorable campaigns that increase brand awareness and generate revenue.
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