A creative brief is an essential document for any creative agency or freelancer. This is your opportunity to get your requirements heard, your questions answered, and to make sure you get what you need. We’ve put together this mini-guide to creative briefs to look at what you need to include, how to format it and how to write the best creative brief.
What Is A Creative Brief?
A creative brief is a document that describes the goals, audience, and desired outcome of a creative project. It provides a clear overview of what is needed from the creative team and is an important tool for both the creative team and the marketing manager. A creative brief helps to focus the creative team on what is needed from a marketing perspective and how to best approach the marketing objectives.
Sometimes a creative brief is a contract to confirm that a project is on the right track and that all parties understand what to expect from each other. It is a document that you can use to get to know your client and for your client to get to know you.
The creative brief is critical to an effective design project.
What To Include in Your Creative Brief
Creative briefs should include an outline of the problem that needs to be solved, the objectives of the project, the intended audience, the amount of time available, the budget, the overall tone, and the desired demographic, to name a few.
The Details and Background About the Project
Give a brief overview of the creative project so the reader can understand what is happening at a glance.
Your Audience
Who are you creating something with? Who do you want to see it? You’ll have to answer these questions in order to define the target market and determine who exactly should receive the message. Think about who might care enough about the topic to buy it or even watch it being created.
Core Business Objectives
Also, make sure to include your core business objective to ensure it’s being met. Take some time before beginning to think about the purpose of your campaign. What does it do? Who will benefit from it? How are they going to feel when they see it?
Your Message
What is your creative project trying to convey? Your campaign needs a big idea. If there isn’t one big idea, then break up the ideas into smaller ones: these should be grouped under themes such as brand promise, target market, product benefits, etc.
Due Date
When is the creative project supposed to be done?
3 Awesome Examples of A Creative Brief
1. Quaker
2. PayPal
3. Reebok
FAQ’s
What is the most important to keep in mind when writing a creative brief?
But be sure to put your own twist on things. Give the brief an ‘edge’ or something unique that makes it unique to you or your company. The unique brief will get you more results than a ‘cookie cutter’ brief.
Can creative briefs be used in other sectors besides design?
YES, creative briefs can be used in any sector/industry where the stakes are high, the goals are big, and the value of what you are creating is not trivial. I personally think that creative briefs are one of the best tools in the creative arsenal for designing for the web. As you will now see, creative briefs are not just for web projects.
What is the most common mistake people make with creative briefs?
Creative briefs are a great tool for when you’re in need of a great website, but they’re not always used correctly. The biggest mistake that people make when coming up with their creative brief is not defining their task properly. Make sure you know exactly what your brief is and what you want to accomplish before you even begin. If you don’t, you might end up in a situation where you need to start over and you don’t want to do that.
Conclusion With Writing A Creative Brief
Whether you’re a freelancer or a business, a creative brief can be a powerful tool to help you get a clear vision of a project. In a creative brief, you can lay out the scope of a project, the desired results, and the following deliverables.
This makes it easier to get everyone on the same page and to get started on a project. We hope that this blog will inspire you to consider creative briefs as a useful tool for your business.
