Shop Talk's Master Marketer: The Brief Statement That Breeds Success

By Carol Worthington-levy

What to include in a creative brief?

As I mentioned, each organization seems to develop their own special version. A general form of a brief may include:

Project description: Why is this being done? Marketing objective? Response? Awareness?
Situation analysis: background information, state of the market, customer buying habits, new product change, competitors? What have you done before, and with what result? Solid numbers are really important.
Audience: age, hobbies, why they want your product or service, first-time buyer? What's their perception of their need for your product? How should this change the way your customer behaves? Every effort must change something, from generating more loyalty to turning the tide and getting them to buy from you! How's your product or service different from the competition? Is it stronger or weaker? Be honest with yourself and your creative team so you can be ready to address such issues.
Offer: What do you have in mind for an offer, and why is it a good offer? Are you open to other offers? What's the time limit for the offer to be fulfilled? What must customers do to take advantage of the offer? How much per unit/sale of this product or service is expected? In the front-end and the back-end? This will likely determine whether this is a lead-generation effort or a direct-selling effort. What's the goal for the number of units/sales? This, with your budget, is key to what creatives will actually do in the end to make your effort successful.
Deadline: What is it to go to the printer? How about publication? Do those dates coincide with any special event?
Budget: How much do you have to spend on the total project, including printing, mailing, creative, etc.? I know, this is a tough one to answer. But you must identify your budget and give your team full advantage of it so they can work with you on how to spend it. And you may be surprised; your creative team may put more of your budget into printing, and pay themselves less, just to make the project more successful.

Whew! Looks like a lot of work! Who fills out this brief?