A creative brief is like a road map. A great brief leads to imaginative and persuasive ads, Web sites or videos. And gets you there quickly.
A bad creative brief starts you off in the wrong direction. So you have to stop, figure out where the heck you're going, and start again. Or worse, you follow that brief to Trash Town, a total waste of time.
The AdCracker creative briefs reflect working briefs at JWT, BBDO, Rapp Worldwide, and several in-house marketing departments, such as Apple and Citibank.
AdCracker creative briefs are copyrighted and used daily by ad agencies, marcom groups, freelancers, and design shops from Singapore to San Diego.
Creative Brief Tips & Tricks:
Most creative briefs are simply a list of questions. And most advertising or design shops have one brief. Unfortunately, one size does not fit all. There is no such thing as a single "perfect brief."
What you need in a creative brief is flexibility. You need the flexibility to select questions appropriate to any type of ad or campaign, in any medium. That could be a print ad or mailer or video. And that project could be either direct response or brand focused. Also, you might be working with a client you know well, or a new client that you do not know at all.
Clearly, you need a different brief - a different set of questions - for a new business pitch compared to a Facebook page compared to a TV campaign.
So dump those old writ-in-stone pre-printed briefs. Better to place the brief - the list of questions - on your computer. Then, for each new project, select the questions that are appropriate to the client and the project.
Sure, you'll have some "basic" briefs. But you and your team will also have the flexibility to better handle a wider range of projects, and importantly, to evolve with rapidly changing marketing environments.
Creative Briefs and Clients
Spend a little extra time with both. It's good for your creative karma.
So go ahead. Open your calendar. Pick up the phone. Schedule interviews with key executives in sales, customer service, marketing as well as management.
Obviously, one goal is to learn more about the client's products and market. Another goal is to understand the client's culture and personality. You may want to reflect that personality in your ads - in the way you define the brand, in the way you position the company.
Also, look for interesting stories about the company, the founder / owner, or customers. You might find a campaign idea there.
Be sure to prepare your interview questions in advance. And bring a portable tape recorder to capture comments you can share with your creative partners.
Creative Brief Stuff & Fluff
Great advertising and design briefs have insights and anecdotes - quotes from buyers, interesting stories about the company, key research findings.
Stuff like that.
Bummer briefs are incomplete, or dictate the creative, or use ambiguous language.
Fluff like that.
A creative brief is the first step, and the most important step, towards a successful communications campaign.
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