What makes a good brief?

A good brief sets out the direction for a project. Whether you’re instructing a marketing team, a graphic designer or a copywriter, the brief itself is there to tell them exactly what’s needed.

You can think of it as being like satnav for your team. The brief is a road map which makes sure they don’t turn left when they’re supposed to turn right.

That’s why a good brief is so important: with clear, concise and consistent instructions, there’s much more chance of getting a finished product which meets all the criteria, and saving much needed time and money on edits and revisions.

According to the Marketing Society in 2022[1], around a third of every marketing budget may go to waste due to misdirected work and poor project briefs – highlighting the literal value in getting the brief right.

What is a brief?

Before we go any further, let’s make sure we understand what we mean when we talk about a brief.

In simple terms, a brief is a document which sets out what is needed. In a creative project, that can include brand guidelines, tone of voice and the intended audience, as well as the subject matter and specifics such as the size and format of graphics, or the length of a piece of text.

For marketing campaigns, the brief should include an intended outcome. That might be to sell a certain product or service, to improve brand awareness, or to bring in a certain amount of revenue.

In his 2009 book ‘How To Write An Inspired Creative Brief’[2], Howard Ibach describes the brief as “a document around which we can all huddle”.

He adds: “The creative brief was designed to foster a common vocabulary, to define terms, avoid confusion, and ultimately save time and boat-loads of money.”

Completing your campaign checklist

At MRM, every campaign we work on is guided by our detailed internal campaign checklist.

Our campaign checklist[3] includes:

Commercial materials (e.g. confirmation of items, risk assessments, proforma invoices, NDAs, disposal requirements, etc)
Account creation (Stock codes, Newton account, access to 24/7 client portal)
Lorax setup (to hold and process customer data appropriately)
Testing (a dry run of your campaign to evaluate any issues)

This checklist functions as an extension of the campaign brief. It’s our internal troubleshooting guide and it makes sure nothing is missed when setting up your campaign, to avoid costly problems later.

Creating a good brief template

Templates can help in any creative process, and writing an effective campaign brief is no exception. Just remember that the content of your brief will ultimately determine the success of your campaign – an attractive template alone won’t guarantee a positive outcome.

When creating the template for your brief, try to leave spaces for all of the important elements of your campaign. This will help to make sure nothing is missed when writing the brief itself.

What to include in a project brief

The Data & Marketing Association[4] recommends including the following in your brief:

Standalone or part of a customer journey?
Intended outcome (customer acquisition etc)
Information to convey (e.g. new product launch)
Media channels to use (e.g. direct mail, email, SMS)
How often to contact customers and what time of day?

Working with a good marketing logistics partner will help with many of these, as they should take care of the more technical aspects of the campaign.

New ways to approach a creative brief

If the project brief is there to maximise the value of your campaign, then it makes sense to think creatively about the campaign assets you will produce.

A think piece by the Marketing Society[5] outlined the attributes for a 21st century ‘Creative Brief 2.0’ taking into account the blurring of the boundaries between online and offline marketing.

Some examples of how to factor this into your brief include:

Working with your marketing consultancy

A customer-focused marketing partner will work with you to create the campaign brief, based on consultation, diverse past experience and a deep understanding of what you hope to achieve.

This can fill in some of the blanks in your project brief template, such as the more technical aspects of GDPR compliance and data protection.

It can also give you the benefit of your advertising consultant’s insight into your industry or niche, current consumer habits and sentiments, and the various channels and media formats which are most effective right now.

The benefits of long-term collaboration

Over time, working closely with your marketing support supplier will build a strong, long-term relationship, with them acting more like a business partner than an external consultancy.

Your voice will still be there in every element of the brief, ensuring that you get fully customised campaign assets that match your brand identity, but you’ll also be guided in any areas where you’re not sure of what you want, so that you are not left to work in the dark.

All of this improves the direction given to your copywriters, graphic designers and other marketing creatives – so that they don’t need to perform a U-turn when possible.

Start a new campaign today

To get the ball rolling on a new campaign, contact MRM today and we’d be delighted to have a chat about what you need from your marketing.

Whether it’s a product launch, better brand awareness, or a new commitment to sustainability and the environment, we can help you convey that message to your customers across a variety of media and channels.

Talk to us today on 01858 410 510 or email sales@mrm.co.uk.

[1] https://www.marketingsociety.com/event/global-conversation-brief-better-2022

[2] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mZsXWQC8EA8C

[3] https://mrm.co.uk/our-processes/

[4] https://dma.org.uk/article/dont-underestimate-the-importance-of-a-campaign-brief

[5] https://www.marketingsociety.com/the-gym/evolving-creative-brief-more-compelling-video-content