Writing a Creative Brief

Client : 'Is Ad..main kuch maja nahi aaya'..'Itni badi ad li but response hi nai aaya ...'

The head of the team is pissed off with the blame game and so after coming back to the office , the first question in the 'rapid fire round ' is  'Brief kya tha'?? There is a murmur among the team members and finally every finger is towards the Account Executive . The Account Executive mumbles few words that 'there was no brief as such..just a mail saying the client wants to release an ad for XYZ product'...And here the importance of the 'Brief' comes in picture.

For any advertising a creative brief is the most important document which outlines the directions and instructions for the creative team .The main objective of giving a brief to the creative team is to ensure that every member in the team which is going to work on a particular ad , gets the same direction the basics of which were discussed and mutually agreed upon by the client and the AE. But a lot many times either it's the AE who is least interested in putting some efforts to make a creative brief or  a 'super creative person ,with extra-ordinary ' analytical skills who is simply not interested in going through that 'piece of shit'.

On the basis of my few year's of experience , i am trying to outline the important steps which go together in writing a Creative Brief which may be useful for the beginners / freshers:

• Before starting with the Creative Brief , go through all the points which you had discussed with the client regarding the ad .If possible jot down the main points while you are still discussing the topic with the client .It will help you in ensuring that you have not missed the minutest of detail.
• If possible , do some research about the product , other players in the same industry domain, past advertising and marketing strategy /initiatives of the company.
• Also go through the earlier ads or any form of communication of the company, which will help you get an idea about the tone of communication used in the past.

A creative brief always takes following points into consideration :

1. Communication Objective :  This is the most important part of the process as it helps the creative team to decide upon the direction towards getting the desired response from the Target Audience.The objective should always be crisp and written in a lucid language so that there is no space left for any kind of ambiguity.  
2.  Defining your Target Audience: This is the second important step in defining who your target audience is as the sole purpose of the ad is to make them react and feel in a certain way . For this purpose , one should try to get every possible details about the demographics, psychographics, beliefs ,attitudes etc .
3. Proposition : The proposition is a statement / message that you want your target audience to focus on.As such it is the sum and substance of the exercise.You don't have to use ornamental language while writing the proposition statement.Remember that you are not writing a headline so keep the proposition statement as simple as possible.
4. The Reason why? : This section covers the rationale ,competitive advantage of the products and other support points as to why the Target Audience should believe whatever you are saying through the ad.
5. What should be the 'tone' of communication? You should also consider defining the tone of the communication to be used while talking to your potential and existing customers. The tone can be dynamic , funny ,warm ,direct or formal. This helps the creative team to decide upon the selection of visuals ,colors and words.
6. Deliverables : Clearly define the list of deliverables with details regarding the size , number of pages (incase of leaflets/ brochures) etc. Incase of print jobs ,involve the production team as well right from the first step so that they are also aware of the ideation process and can keep you well informed about the limitations during the production process.
7. Other important points:
1. Who are your competitors?
2. Mandatory / 'No-Go' areas .Provide the Brand Manual (if any) which will ensure that the creatives strictly adhere to the guidelines defined.
3. Deadlines
 

In most of the agencies, there is a specific format /form to write a creative brief. Even if you have to write it on your own, just follow these simple steps and you can be assured of not leaving any space for a 'mishap' in the way of your bang-on communication plan.

Chandana Mungre Kashid

Contact me: chandana.mungre@gmail.com

Picture Courtesy : Ojas Parkhi