How to write a creative agency brief

Merry Baskin and Kate Waters

Source: WARC Best Practice, August 2017
Downloaded from WARC

This article provides agencies with a best practice guide for writing an effective creative brief, which
can form the foundation for the disruptive, breakthrough thinking that can really make a difference to a
client's business.

Although the communications landscape has changed radically over the last 10 years, leading to
an evolution in the way that briefs are written, the core elements of the creative brief remain the
same as they have always been.
Developing the communications strategy, defining its role in addressing the brand's problem, and
transcribing it into a brief for the creative department, is a key way in which an agency can add
value.
A good creative brief should be concise, clear, consistent and creative.
Briefs should include: the business background and commercial context; the role for
communications; an illuminating definition of, or insight into, the target audience; the key thought
or creative springboard; supporting evidence or stories; relevant brand values and suggested
tone of voice; and any legal, regulatory or client mandatories.
Sport England's 'This Girl Can' campaign provides an example of the core requirements of a good
creative brief.

Jump to:
Where to start | Essentials | Checklist | Further reading

Why do agencies find it necessary to rewrite the client communications brief, transcribe it into their own formats
and fill out their little boxes with their special headings before heading into creative development?

Is it about control? Is it because client briefs are notoriously inadequate? Is it because clients don't know how to
inspire creative agencies? Agencies certainly train their people to question everything in the client brief, not to
take anything at face value and to keep asking 'why?' like annoying toddlers.

In fact, developing the communications strategy, defining the role it has to play in addressing the brand's
problem, and then transcribing it into a brief for the creative department is a critical way in which the agency can
add value. It has been said that 90% of the creativity in great communications is in the brief. An exaggeration,
perhaps, but it is the foundation for the disruptive, breakthrough thinking that can really make a difference to a
client's business, as evidenced by all those award winning papers in the IPA Effectiveness archive. This could
be via a refocused interpretation of the brand benefit or communications problem, or an original insight into the
consumer or a fresh lateral perspective on the category the brand is operating in. The AA, for example, was
transformed at the briefing stage from a car breakdown rescue service into 'Britain's fourth emergency service'.

Distilling the communications strategy into the brief is an art in itself and demands intellectual skill, creative flair
and discipline.

The fundamental role of both the client and the agency briefs is to make the process of developing brand
communications more efficient and effective. In the case of the latter, its additional role is to inform and inspire
the creative team in equal measure; to empower them to deliver more distinctive, engaging, creative solutions to
brand problems more quickly than they would have otherwise. If shared with the client, (and not every agency
does this), it marks the first step towards meeting agreed objectives and demonstrates that the agency
understands the problem. For these stakeholders, it forms an agreed basis for judging the output. Those who
choose not to share their briefs with clients perhaps gain more freedom to push the thinking in a specific
direction, but may have to work harder to get the client to buy in to the creative idea, particularly if it is a
significant leap from the client brief. But the target audience for the creative brief is, after all, the creative team
rather than the client.

Where to start
A brief history

Creative briefs first made an appearance when planning departments were created, in recognition of the need
for the creative strategy to be summarised in a form that made the client brief more relevant and inspiring for
creative teams. Although their basic structure remains the same (see 'core components' below) the nuances
within them, and the questions that are prioritised, reflect the way in which thinking about brand communication
has evolved over time, as well as the philosophies of individual agencies.

From proposition to creative 'springboard'

Proposition-led briefs define the single-minded message that the brand wants to convey to its target audience.
These briefs assume that this will enable consumers to take away a clear view of what the brand is offering.
Success is measured by people's ability to recall and replay this message.

Stimulus and response briefs recognise that the consumer is not a passive, rational receiver of information
but has a fundamental contribution to make in how communication is processed and interpreted – there is a
complex set of interactive variables at play, because communication works in many different ways. What you say
to people is not necessarily what they hear.

Creative springboard briefs aim to express the core strategic idea or jumping off point for creative teams. Not
necessarily a proposition nor a response, they might express a purpose, an attitude or tone. Springboards
recognise the need for a core idea to ground the brief and give creative teams a starting point for their thinking.
They also reflect the opportunity for a brand to engage its audience more deeply or broadly than a single
message allows.

From attitude to behaviour

For many years, the prevailing school of thought was that advertising was there to change attitudes, which in
turn influenced behaviour. However, the growth in popularity of behavioural economics coupled with recognition
that attitudes are often shaped by behaviour rather than the other way round, has led some agencies to focus
briefs on behavioural insight and ways that communication can influence consumer behaviour. The UK agency
Krow, for example, has a brief that specifies the behavioural outcome and the 'trigger' for the desired
behavioural change. Many other agencies use a 'think, feel, do' framework as a way to capture both attitudinal
and behavioural change.

From rational to emotional

Most brands are no longer differentiated by a 'unique selling point'. The focus has shifted to creating brands that
have a distinctive personality or tone of voice, and to a world in which we recognise that most decisions are
driven by emotion, and often subconsciously. The implication is that people are just as influenced by
communications processed with low attention and minimal conscious recall as by rational, factual messages
consciously processed. So executional elements – visuals, sounds, symbols, music, gestures, casting, location
and context – all contribute to any brand communication, over and above verbal content. Measuring success
based on message transmission is deficient. Tracking should focus on how people behave. Increased
preference/favourability is communication's true objective.

From product truth to cultural insight

Cultural insight is, increasingly, a common feature in creative briefs, reflecting the opportunity for brands to
shape or respond to popular culture. Evidence from the IPA's Marketing in the Era of Accountability
research, which identifies 'brand fame' as the most effective communications strategy, may also have
contributed to this shift in emphasis. Brand fame requires an understanding of what type of content is most likely
to be shared, and what cultural trends can be leveraged by the brand. So the jumping off point for
communications is more likely to be a cultural insight than a product truth. Taking this even further, content
agency Sunshine's creative brief identifies entertainment opportunities for the brand and ways that the brand
can 'contribute in a relevant and meaningful way to people's lives through the world of entertainment'.

From advertising to almost anything

As there are now more and more types of creative agency (social, digital, advertising, experience etc),
unsurprisingly, there are more noticeable nuances in the way questions are framed, designed to reflect the
agency's specialism or ethos. In CRM and digital agencies, for example, there is often a greater focus on the
customer journey and/or experience, whereas ad agencies will search for the unifying insight that can lead to a
brand idea.

From baton passing to collaborative effort

The writer of the creative brief has traditionally been the planner. But today's creative briefs, and the process
that surrounds them, reflect the more fluid and collaborative working practices within agencies and clients. So
while planners are frequently still the main brief writers, the brief is often now a collaborative effort involving
creatives in the writing of at least the proposition/springboard, account handlers in providing business and
commercial context, and technologists, experience planners and UX designers in articulating the insights that
underpin the brief.

Essentials
The creative brief's core four Cs

Concise Whether it is a noun, a verb or an adjective, 'brief' means short. Forget this at your peril. Deciding what
to leave out is tough. Clients invariably ask for too much and sacrifices must be made. (As always, there is an
exception to this rule. Wieden and Kennedy, one of the most creatively awarded agencies, often writes very long
briefs – not packed with client information, but with inspiration, thought starters and ideas for the creatives to
consider.)

Clarity and simplicity are also crucial characteristics; creative people do not speak marketing or client jargon;
they have to communicate with real people. They should not get too embroiled in the client's version of events.
Use precise, carefully chosen language.

Consistency of internal logic within the brief is essential. It should hang together, with the pieces fitting snugly
like a jigsaw, building to form a complete picture.

Creativity If there is a leap at the briefing stage, there is more likely to be a leap in the ensuing creative idea.
Or, put another way, if the brief is lacking imagination and flair, then you can't expect anything different from the
creative team.

The core elements

The core elements of the creative brief – from the business background through to regulatory constraints –
remain the same across discipline and channel. This is despite the changing landscape for communications, the
nuances of agency specialisation or ethos and the burgeoning communications opportunities for brands.

Sport England's This Girl Can - giving judgement the finger, Grand Prix winner of the APG's Creative
Strategy Awards in 2015, illustrates how a good brief encompasses many of the following core elements.
1. The business background and commercial context

A good brief must state the problem clearly. Depending on your agency, there may be a preference to quantify
this in business terms (how much profit or revenue is the client hoping to attain?) or to frame it in terms of the
marketing challenge (are we trying to grow market share or grow the category, and by driving penetration or
frequency?)

This Girl Can: to get more women from the age of 14-40 regularly active and into sport and to keep them
playing.

2. The role for communication:

Within the brief it's important to distinguish between the overall objective for the campaign and the role that
communication can play in achieving that. This is often an area where great planning can add real value by
defining the problem in a more precise or insightful manner that articulates how communication needs to work to
have its impact. A problem well defined is a problem half solved, so spell out the specific goals or objectives you
are hoping to achieve

This Girl Can: To liberate women from the judgements that hold them back.

3. An illuminating definition and insight about the target audience

This section of the brief requires you to do two things: define (and sometimes quantify) your audience, and
identify the insight (or insights) that will underpin the creative idea. It's critical that you describe the audience
sympathetically and in terms that make them feel 'real' to the creative department. Agency folk are very different
from the audience groups that we are frequently asked to engage, so ensuring that everyone has a good
understanding and 'feel' for what the audience is really like, is critical if we are to produce work that will really
touch people emotionally. It's also very easy to rely on facts or observations rather than identify a real insight.
The difference is that facts and observations describe, insights explain 'why'.

This Girl Can: Women aged 14-40 who are currently inactive. They know that they should be exercising and
say they want to do more, but aren't. We know that there are many barriers stopping women from exercising,
but underlying them all is a single, unifying barrier: a fear of judgement. Women worry about being judged on
their appearance, during and after exercise; on their ability, whether they are a beginner or 'too good'; or for
spending time exercising instead of prioritising their children or studying.

4. The key thought

In the case of Sport England's 'This Girl Can', the key thought was also expressed as a manifesto.

Variously described as the proposition, the key message, the trigger or the creative springboard, this is the
strategic idea that you believe will engage the audience and inspire them to act or respond in the way you want
them to. Traditionally the key thought is expressed as a short and single minded sentence, reflecting the belief
that the more single-mindedly focused and well defined the better, since the more complex and multi-layered the
thought, the less chance it will be noticed and taken on board. Creative teams respond well to the confidence
and discipline of a clear direction.

This Girl Can: It doesn't matter how you do it; the brilliant thing is that you are doing it.

5. Support

The support part of the brief provides some tangible reasons underpinning your strategic argument. These can
be product proof points or 'reasons to believe', or they might be stories, case studies or examples that can act as
creative inspiration.

6. Relevant brand values and suggested tone of voice

How to deliver the message is often the most neglected part of the brief, but is an essential part of the
relationship between the customer and the brand, and an increasingly important way to create distinctiveness
for a brand. While the brand values should remain the same, the tone of voice can change to reflect the context
of the media environment. Instagram, for example, has a very different tone to Twitter, and the way in which
brands speak and behave on these channels reflects this.

This Girl Can example: empowering, inclusive & authentic with a 'don't give a damn' attitude

7. Mandatories/considerations

Any other relevant background data, legal requirements from regulatory authorities, mandatory client details or
stimuli. The key word here is 'relevant' – this is not a dumping ground for all the other stuff you could not
squeeze in elsewhere.
'Optional' elements

Depending on your agency's discipline, philosophy and way of working, there may be other elements to your
brief that you need to consider.

Media channels/context: If the brief is for a media neutral idea, your agency or client may choose not to
specify when and where the communication will appear. However, if available, the more detail you can provide
about the context in which the communication will be consumed, the better. In online channels especially, this
enables the creative execution to be tailored and personalised, making it more relevant and therefore increasing
the potential for it to engage.

Creative starters: Many agencies now include thought starters or creative inspiration as a section on the brief.
Sometimes this is to demonstrate the potential fertility of the strategic areas you've identified, but can also be a
way to nudge creative teams down particular avenues of thought or to help them explore the breadth and depth
of the strategic territory. It's your opportunity to express your creative side and to inspire rather than just inform.

Cultural insight: As described above, cultural insight is playing an increasing role in creative briefs. You might
choose to describe relevant trends, memes, etc.

Customer journey or experience: Understanding the customer journey or experience and how they can be
influenced at each stage is a key requirement for CRM and digital agencies and will often form an important
supplementary element to the brief.

Measurement criteria and methods: You may need to include metrics and measurement details for
evaluating communications performance and establishing accountability.

In adopting the above, it is vital that you get to know your agency's format, and make sure you understand the
thinking and theory behind it before you start blindly filling in those boxes. The brief is meant to be a framework
to help you think and to express your ideas, but you shouldn't be a slave to it. If there is a better way to express
your ideas, which is as clear and inspirational, use it. Many agencies still like their briefs to be no longer than a
page but some creatives like more detail and inspiration to work with. The key thing is to write for your audience
– the creative team, not the client, and not the consumer.

Checklist: Top tips for briefs

Your briefing form is a useful tool; learn how to use it.
Define the problem clearly, precisely and insightfully.
Inform and inspire.
Aim to surprise and challenge preconceptions.
Spin your numbers – make them come to life from a fresh perspective.
Be clear and single-minded.
Make sure it hangs together as a coherent whole.
Could you come up with a creative idea from it?
Check you have the right measurement tools in place for maximum accountability.

The authors would like to extend their gratitude to all the agencies that generously supplied their creative
briefing forms for them to examine.

Further reading
WARC Topic: Creative development

WARC Topic: Creative briefing

WARC Tool: Strategy Toolkit: Building a campaign

WARC Best Practice: Briefing your agency, Merry Baskin, January 2017

WARC Webinar: Beyond boring briefs: How to inspire great work, Faris Yakob, August 2016

The future of strategy, Joseph Clift, WARC Exclusive, July 2017

Rebooting Brand Strategy for the digital age, David Taylor, Market Leader, Q1, 2017

Four ways to create a better emotional strategy, Gordon Euchler, Admap July/August 2017

Practical progress from a theory of advertisements, Stephen King, Admap, October 1975

Three steps to briefing creatives, Nick Southgate, Admap, June 2009

How to write an inspiring creative brief, David Barker, Admap, July-August 2001

How to write a great brief, Steve Henry, Admap, November 1997

Fifty years using the wrong model of advertising, Paul Feldwick and Robert Heath, IJMR Volume 50, 2008

Agile Marketing: Prototype the creative brief, Arwa Mahdawi, Admap July August 2015

Recall or response? Ad effectiveness monitoring: the real issues, Terry Prue, Admap, June 1991

Books:

Strategic Thinking for Advertising Creatives, Alice Kavounas Taylor, 2013

Excellence in Advertising, Leslie Butterfield (editor), 1999

How to Plan Advertising, Alan Cooper (editor), 1997

About the authors

Merry Baskin
Founder, Baskin Shark

Merry Baskin founded planning consultancy Baskin Shark in 2000. A former chair of the Account Planning
Group and JWT planning director, she teaches planning craft skills all over the globe. She is co-editor of A
Master Class in Brand Planning: The Timeless Works of Stephen King.
Kate Waters
CSO and founding partner, Now Advertising

Kate Waters is the Chief Strategy Officer and a founding partner of Now Advertising. Kate has worked across
many communications disciplines including advertising, direct marketing and PR and has won four APG creative
strategy awards and five IPA effectiveness awards.

© Copyright Ascential Events (Europe) Limited 2017

Ascential Events (Europe) Limited
Americas: 229 West 43rd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10036, United States - Tel: +1 212 201 2800
APAC: OUE Downtown 1, #44-03, 6 Shenton Way, 068809, Singapore - Tel: +65 3157 6200
EMEA: 33 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6UF, United Kingdom - Tel: +44 (0)20 7467 8100

www.warc.com

All rights reserved including database rights. This electronic file is for the personal use of authorised users based at the subscribing
company's office location. It may not be reproduced, posted on intranets, extranets or the internet, e-mailed, archived or shared electronically
either within the purchaser's organisation or externally without express written permission from Warc.