I want to make something very clear, I’m not going to give you the secret recipe because there isn’t one, but I’m going to tell you about a study that has been around for a long time and one more that we did at the agency a few weeks ago.
First of all, you will ask yourself: why did I start to inquire about the topic of the brief? Well, it’s not really trending on Google, nor is it a new term or methodology in our industry. Actually, it is something that has been used for a long time and it will not stop being used, it will evolve, but, in reality, it all started when I was invited to be part of a CMO course for one of the most prestigious universities. here in Puebla, where I’m from.
Since then I began to study more and investigate the subject and a few months ago, I was invited to give a workshop on the subject for AMCO, where I began to investigate more and where we did this study that I was telling you about. I didn’t want to stay with the theory so I found a study that had already been done before, very late because mine had already started, and I leave you the results of both:
In a survey answered by 30 people, these were the most relevant results to three simple questions:
- For you, what are the characteristics of an ideal brief?
- Objective: It serves to understand a need, a problem to solve or an opportunity to pursue.
- Sure: It is clear enough to be a compass and open and elastic enough not to be the finished map, it must have the guidelines of the make, do’s and don’ts and if the client is willing to break the rules.
- Inspire/detonate the thought and construction of solutions for the needs of the client and the end user.
- Although it is usually landed in a document, the document only serves to filter and structure the information, but un brief is more than a document and if it is well built, it is alive and can evolve.
- Therefore, the document does not have a defined format or extension, but the more concise (brief), clear, focused and elastic it is, the better.
- What element of a brief does not usually work for you?
- Information that does not reveal anything about what needs to be resolved or achieved, information that has not been approved by the decision makers.
- Unrelated data with the problem or need.
- Too much theoretical information or very technical language that only causes confusion.
- Problems, challenges and ill-defined objectives or that they are not, for example: “Objective: to carry out a campaign”.
- poorly defined targetsfor example: “Men and women, NSE C, C+”
- too much of something (lack of focus): too many objectives, too many targets, too much context, too much company information…
- What element do you think that if all the briefs had, it would make everything else superfluous?
- An clear goal and well defined.
- Clear description of the problem that we want to solve or the opportunity that we want to capitalize on.
- Data about the brand (other than the one you find on the internet).
- Alignment 100 percent of everything that is going to be done with the decision maker(s).
On the other hand, the study I was telling you about is from Planning Dirty and is called “Sacred Six Elements of a Creative Brief” by Baiba Matisone, Julian Cole and Antonio Frongia. In it, they analyze more than 30 creative briefs and arrive at the 6 key inputs to have a great creative brief, which ensure that the brief falls short (brief) and that it remains powerful. These elements appeared in 50% of the templates.
These 6 elements are as follows:
1. Goal – Objective; which appeared in 60% of the briefs.
The business objective of a campaign must be SMART, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and tied to a timeline. In other words, what does our client’s business want to achieve?
2.Target Audience; 83% of the briefs.
It’s about really understanding the group of individuals with whom we want to connect to achieve our goal. What attributes unite this group?
3. Problem; 73%
That something that is a barrier for the brand and its objective. What is stopping the brand from achieving its goal?
4.Insight; 73%
It is the information that changes the way our audience sees and deals with the problem, the product or the category. What could we say or tell them so that they see the problem from another perspective?
5. Single Minded Proposition; 57%
The only message we want to tell our audience. How does the brand or product help us use the insight around the problem?
6.Action; 70%
The business objective written from the consumer’s point of view. How do we want our consumer to think, feel or behave in order to achieve our goal?
I highly recommend going to planningdirty.com There is a lot of fascinating information and examples on filling out briefs, as well as common mistakes in filling them out.
Anyway, I hope this has been relevant and helpful for your day to day life.
Comments, doubts or complaints: [email protected]
www.birth.mx