'What's a creative brief - and why do I need one?'

Are you planning a new website or other marketing materials, content or advertising? Do you plan to hire a graphic designer or writer to help? Then you’ll need a creative brief. Without it, you run the risk of disappointment – or worse, making expensive mistakes.

So what is a creative brief? A creative brief is a guiding document used by most advertising and design firms (including ours) that helps you give your creative professional clear direction on what’s important you to and your brand. It helps you give them direction in what is a subjective area – creativity – so they can develop what you need within a set of parameters you set with them. It’s also a chance to have a good dialogue with your designer so they can get to know you and what’s most important to you and your customers.

Essentially, a creative brief is like a questionnaire. Your designer or writer will like give you one that fits their work style. If they don't give you one you should make up one of your own using the outline below. Remember to give them as much detail as you can on each of these topics:

• Project name
• What’s your marketing objective and how will this project fit into it?
• Who is your audience? Provide any information you have on your typical or desired audience.
• What message do you want to convey?
• What is the project’s tone (somber, friendly, happy, professional, etc.)?
• What is the call to action – what do you want people to think, feel or do with the information?
• Should this project be linked to any existing campaign or other projects?
• Which elements are mandatory to include? Examples here include your logo, colors, official fonts, photos, address, phone, website, etc. If you don’t have these your designer may be able to help you decided on them.
• What is the project timeline? When do you need it done and delivered?
• What is your budget?
• Who will approve the project?
• Additionally, it’s helpful to give your designer or writer links to competitors or any sites or materials you find inspiring.

As you can probably see, assembling this relatively simple list of information can only be helpful to your writer or designer. Without it, they’ll be taking a shot in the dark – and that can lead to frustration, disappointment and ultimately missing the mark. However, by fully briefing your creative partner you can both succeed brilliantly and end up with a project that will really resonate with your most important audiences.

Next time

We'll take a look at promotional marketing – and give you some tips to help you make the most of logowear, branded client gifts and more.