Writing an Effective Creative Brief

1. How to write a creative brief

2. Agenda • What is a creative brief? • What a creative brief is not. • How to write a creative brief. • Some examples. • Your turn.

3. What is a creative brief? • cre·a-tive (krea tiv), adj. • 1. having the quality or power of creating. 2. resulting from originality of thought; imaginative. • brief (bref), adj. • 1. lasting or taking a short time. 2. using few words; concise: a brief report. 3. abrupt; curt. 4. a short and concise statement or written item.

4. A creative brief is not… • A list of instructions. • A checklist. • A form to fill out. • A copy and paste job. • An easy document to write.

5. How to write a creative brief • Job description • Target audience • Objectives • Single minded proposition • Substantiation • Key response • Desired brand character • Mandatory inclusions

6. Job description What do you want the creative team to produce? A banner campaign? An email? A website? Tip: This is one sentence. Not a background essay!

7. Target audience • Men aged 35 and over with a large household income. • Michael Jackson • Clint Eastwood • Richard Branson • The bottom line: You need to provide more than just demographics. You need to get inside the consumer’s head.

8. Target audience • Who are we talking to? • How old are they? • Are they male or female? • How much money do they make? • What do they read? • What TV shows do they watch? • What do they think? Feel? • What are their likes? Dislikes? • What are their dreams? Their biggest fears? • What kind of house do they live in? • What kind of car do they drive? • What sort of job do they have? • Where do they shop? • Are they customers? Prospects? • Do they love our product? Hate our product? Why? • How does the product fit into their lives? • What makes them tick?

9. Target audience • Interrogate them • Get the word on the street. • Put up research surveys • Become them • Read their magazines. • Watch their TV shows, movies. • Listen to their music. • Shop where they shop. • Eat where they eat. • Join a support group. • Use the products they use. • Get close to them • Visit a call centre. • Talk to sales people.

10. Objectives • What is the advertising intended to achieve? • Is it realistic? • What do we want the target audience to do / think? • Buy something? Use more? Switch brands? • How are we going to do this?

11. Single minded proposition • sin·gle-mind·ed (snggl-mndd), adj. • 1. having one overriding purpose or goal. 2. steadfast; resolute. • prop·o·si·tion  (prp-zshn), n. • 1. a plan suggested for acceptance; a proposal. 2. a matter to be dealt with; a task. 3. an offer of a private bargain, especially a request for sexual relations.

12. Single minded proposition • The single idea that makes the ad. • The first and last thing creatives look at in the brief. • Give the creative team an ‘angle’ to work from. • Take the first leap in imagination. • Write the first ad in the campaign. • The bottom line: “If the creative brief is not itself creative, if it does not suggest solutions to problems, present information in an expansive and interesting way, and interpret the information with imagination and flair, then its authors and presenters have no right to expect anything different from the creative team.”

13. Single minded proposition • What is the single most motivating and differentiating thing we can say about the brand or product to the target audience to make them act in the desired way? • Single minded - ONE compelling reason

14. Single minded proposition • What’s in it for the consumer? • Rational and emotional benefits? • Disadvantages of non-use? • Product characteristics? • Ways of using it? • Price characteristics? • Newsworthiness? • Product heritage? • Image characteristics? • Performance compared to competitors? • User characteristics? • How it’s made. • Surprising facts about the product, users or usage.

15. Single minded proposition • Rational and emotional benefits • Thirst, hunger, social status, self-confidence, peace of mind, being a good mum/wife/husband, a leader not a follower. • Disadvantages of non-use • Missed opportunity, risk of damage. • Ways of using it • To share, give, treat yourself. • Price characteristics • Better value, money-off offer, cheaper, more expensive. • Newsworthiness • Surprising facts, unusual attributes, new, improved. • Product heritage • Old-fashioned quality, ‘what your mom used to use’, trusted name, founder’s philosophy.

16. Single minded proposition • Image characteristics • High quality, good value, friendly service, contemporary, irreverent. • Compared to competitors • Price, product, service. • User characteristics • Celebrities use it, experts use it, the #1 brand (most people use it), exclusive (only a few use it).

17. So, when it’s written, how do you know • if it’s an engaging proposition?

18. Single minded proposition • Is it instantly clear and does it communicate exactly what you want to say? • Does it contain a fact about the product you didn’t know before you started writing? Is it surprising or thought-provoking? • Does it contain a strategic insight? • Does it contain a benefit to the consumer? • Do you believe it? • If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these, it isn’t an engaging proposition.

19. Single minded proposition Some examples • Lanson champagne makes any occasion more special. • Lanson – the champagne for people with the imagination to create their own champagne occasions. • The Independent – for people who like to make up their own minds. • The Independent – not written for sheep.

20. And how do you know if you have a single-minded proposition?

21. Single minded proposition • Count the thoughts! • Does it have any ‘and’s’? • Or ‘but’s’? • Or brackets? • If the answer is ‘yes’ to any of these, it’s not single-minded.

22. Single minded proposition • Sony Camcorder – an example • Product attributes • Powerful zoom lens • CCD imager with many thousands more pixels • Single-minded proposition • The powerful zoom lens allows you to spot a bee’s balls from ten paces.

23. Single minded proposition Isuzu Rodeo – an example • Target audience • Rodeo buyers see themselves as different. They are cooler, more adventurous, fun. They want their vehicle to be a sort of a tool, to help act out and express their active lifestyle. It has to be able to be pushed, and they will push it to the limits. These are the kind of people who will want to get their vehicle covered in mud on the first day they own it. • Single-minded proposition • The normal restrictions don’t apply with an Isuzu Rodeo.

24. Single minded proposition • Isuzu Trooper – an example • Target audience • The Trooper buyers are process-oriented. They like knowing all the details before they buy; they don’t just buy. They don’t buy things for what they say, but instead for what they do. They want to know the features and functions. These are the kind of people who when asked why they bought a Trooper could list about a thousand reasons. They like to be prepared in any eventuality. They are looking for an SUV that can handle anything that might be thrown at them. • Single-minded proposition • Trooper is exactly the right equipment for life’s great expeditions…it’s the Swiss Army knife of SUVs.

25. Substantiation • The deal clincher. • Why should I believe you? • Supports the single minded proposition. Makes it credible. • Not facts separate from the proposition! • Not extra propositions! • Tip: If you put ‘because’ before each proof statement it should follow on from the proposition.

26. Key response • What do we want the prospect to do as a result of the advertising? • Call a number? • Visit a store? • Tell a friend? • What beliefs, attitudes, opinions, behaviour do we want to change? • How do we want people to think and feel about our brand? • Tip: Should be written in first person.

27. Desired brand character • How would you talk to your target audience? • How do we want people to feel about the brand after they’ve seen the advertising? • Avoid ‘fat’ words, ie warm, aspirational, confident. Choose strong, edgy words ie righteous anger, sinful, joyous. • If your brand were a person, who would they be? • Patronising? Respectful? • Humorous? Matter of fact? • Sophisticated? Irreverent? • Contemporary? Old fashioned?

28. Mandatory inclusions • Logos • Taglines • Phone numbers • Call to actions

29. Guiding principles • Know your product or service inside out. Search for intriguing angles and insights. • Make it lean and to the point. Keep it short. Keep it simple. • If it’s not relevant to the consumer. It’s not relevant to the brief. • Get in the consumers mindset. • Ultimately the advertising must sell to consumers, not the client. • Use simple plain language. No jargon. • Go further than the client’s brief – challenge yourself (and them)! • Don’t just accept what your client tells you. Your value to them often is thinking further than they have. • Bring the brief alive. Remember your job is to inspire great creative. • Involve account planning and creative in the process.

30. A final thought Remember, You are PART OF the creative process.