My 5 sins (when writing a creative brief)

I recently held an annual performance review with one of the most talented, creative, and hardworking designers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working alongside. During this review, she highlighted the same challenge in her role as had been highlighted in the previous three years.?

“I struggle with the briefs I am given. We need a better briefing process”.

I realise that this was more of a reflection of me as her manager and ‘client’. During the five years working together, I had struggled to address one of my failings as a marketer.? The inability to give a brief that defined the task, established the standards, and inspired and motivated her to do great work (actually, she always did great work, I just didn’t always help the process!).?

I am not alone in this. In a recent survey by Adage, 81% of clients admit that they provide unclear briefs (the remaining 19% probably don’t want to admit it).?

But what is a good brief then? In the words of Unilever:

‘A brief is more than a list of requirements, it is an inspirational call for greatness’.?

To do my best work, I need high-performing creative people around me. So, as I enter the next phase of my career with a global challenge ahead of me, the importance of writing inspiring creative briefs will never be more important in making an impact.???

Marketers, we need to write briefs that bridge our great strategic thinking with great creative marketing, energising and unleashing creativity and getting the ideal response from the creatives in our teams or the agencies that we are working with.?

So what should a good brief be? Very simply, a good brief should be simple, interesting, and open. The brief is the starting point of the creative process and should be developed with as much care as you expect your creatives to apply to the task you're giving them. It shouldn’t be a long, boring dissertation or a rushed work order (again, sorry to my ex-colleagues!). It should be kindling to your creative’s spark!?

So, over the past 15 years of writing briefs, here are five sins that I have committed and will be working on never doing again.?

Superficiality

Highlighting generic claims as the key message, rather than focusing on what’s truly unique and interesting.?

Arrogance

Turning the brief into an opportunity to show off what I know and stuff every research point learned about my audience or the category (if you must, link to a short deck or one-pager).?

Being contradictory

Asking creatives to communicate two (or more) incongruous messages. We marketers can love to stuff every ‘key message’ into every ad or marketing asset.?

Authoritarianism

Being far too strict with what must or mustn't be in a final piece of creative (although this still battles in my head with something I learned on the Mini MBA in Brand Management - if in doubt, codify EVERYTHING).?

Laziness

Providing a lack of direction, leaving creatives to figure out what I wanted on their own.?

I’m fortunate that I have this time and space in my life and career to reflect and work on areas where I can improve myself and the work and invest in myself. I’m sure my former colleague wishes I had done this five years ago!?

As ever, I’d love to hear your thoughts and see your good and bad briefs written or received over the years.?