“Why do we care so much about the Creative Brief­, surely it’s the creative work that makes the difference to our clients brands, business and reputations?”

The person who said this didn’t have a long or illustrious career in our industry. So why are we investing so much time in making our Creative Briefs the best they can be, and bringing over a top London agency trainer in the next few weeks to give a two-day workshop for staff and clients on producing and presenting effective briefs?

Better briefs and better briefing create better work which is right first time which makes our clients happier which improves our margins which makes us all ecstatic.

The Brief is a key document for everyone involved in the process of developing creative work. Account handlers, creative teams, producers and project managers, planners, media partners and most importantly our clients. It’s three main purposes are…

To give information – task definition and listing the deliverables.
Secondly, control – a strategic touchstone and a mutual contract.
And finally – inspiration the catalyst for great work.

The Creative brief is the start point for everything in Marcoms. It must be understood, irresistible and ‘un-put-downable’.

It’s the single most important piece of paper in maximising communication effectiveness. A piece of communication, regardless of medium, will almost always be as good as the brief. Experience has shown that the more time, effort and clarity you shovel in at the beginning, the speedier you will harvest the Jewel in the end.

There have been books and books written on the Creative Brief but this is as good a recipe as you’ll need.

1. It should be clear, self-contained and explanatory
2. It should be… well… brief
3. It should be “joined up” and tell the story
4. It should be inspiring
5. Does it work?  Could you write to it?
6. A brief should always be single-minded
7. It should be linked to the business issue
8. It should be based on a consumer insight
9. It should be simple

We’re looking forward to the training session with Paul Burns, formerly Saatchi & Saatchi’s Training and Development Director. He has won more Advertising Training awards in the UK than anyone in the advertising industry, IPA Gold awards in 2006 and 2002 and a Silver in 2004, and has also been recognised with two special awards from the IPA for long-term commitment to training and development and for being the best training director.

The training session promises to be creative and as brief as possible. As Mr Picasso said “Creation is not about how much you add but how much you resist adding”