Creative Briefs and Briefing

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Creative Briefs and Briefing

• Black Pencil Academy,
• Toronto

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Agenda

• 1. What is a Brief?
• 2. Filling in the Boxes
• 3. The Briefing
• 4. A Case Study
• 5. Conclusion

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1. What is a Brief?
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What is a Brief?

• A creative brief is the most important piece of
  paper an account team produces
• It is a demonstration of how good you are
• Therefore, it is how a creative team
  judges/curses you

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What is a brief?

• A distillation of everything you have learned
• All the information that must be conveyed by the
  advertising
• A contract for you, the Creatives and the Client
• A team effort

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What it isnt ...

• Set in stone
• Sole property of the planner
• A place to copy out the client brief
• A place to show off every fact you know or
  marketing term you have learned
• Primarily for placating the client
• The same as the strategy or the advertising

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The Advertising Process

• Develop the Strategy
• Write the Brief
• Write the Ads

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The Advertising Process

• Advertising tries to get the consumer to do
  something that will benefit the client
• The Strategy is the plan for achieving this goal
• Who do we want to talk to?
• What do we want them to do?
• What can we tell them about the brand so they
  will do it?
• We develop the Strategy and the Creatives
  carry it out

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The Advertising Process

• The Brief is their road map
• If the directions arent good, theyll get lost

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What Makes a Good Brief?

• Direction Inspiration

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Direction

• What is the one thing you want the advertising to
  say?
• If you cant explain it to your friends in one
  sentence, start again

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Inspiration

• The most powerful advertising contains insights
  that truly resonate with the consumer
• One important insight should be at the heart of
  your brief

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What makes a good brief?

• Direction Inspiration
• One clear and compelling thought about the brand

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Why Briefs Go Astray

• I didnt have time
• The Client made me write it this way
• There was nothing to say
• There were too many things to say
• We didnt have enough information
• The Account Team couldnt agree
• Make No Excuses!

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• Believe in the possibility of every assignment

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• Every new campaign is an opportunity to reinvent
  advertising

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The Goal

• The best briefs are so good you cant wait for
  the account team to leave your office so you can
  get started
• Unidentified Creative

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Some General Advice

• Get your story straight beforehand
• Take your time
• Keep it focused
• Be concrete, not abstract
• Speak English
• Remember the goal is always great advertising!

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2. Filling in the Boxes
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Filling in The Boxes

• These can be confusing
• What goes where?
• What are they for?
• Just remember, they all have to lead to one main
  thought - the proposition
• Include only what is both necessary and
  illuminating

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1. Whats the reason for this brief?

• What you need to explain
• What is the background/context for what we are
  doing?
• Why the heck are we advertising this brand
  anyway?
• What do we need the advertising to do for it?

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1. Whats the reason for this brief?

• Objectives must be realistic
• Advertising objectives, not business objectives
• Keep it to the point

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1. Whats the reason for this brief?
A bad example

• The product has a severe saliency deficiency so
  it does not get into the targets consideration
  set. The leading brand sets the category values
  and our brand is seen as a me-too because of
  these dominant associations. Alternatively, a
  proportion of the target segment have a
  dissociated perceptual set with respect to the
  brand.
• The campaign objective is to increase saliency
  and to communicate a brand identity which is
  motivating and more appropriate to the products
  experiential manifestation

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1. Whats the reason for this brief?
A good example

• Cheers main benefit is to keep colours bright,
  but most people dont know this. We need to make
  them understand so that they choose it for its
  own merits and not as a second best to Tide.

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2. Who are we talking to?

• Be as specific and vivid as you can
• Women 18-45 not very helpful
• Neither is laundry list of meaningless adjectives
  and media cliches
• Try to describe a real person
• But, dont tell whole life story
• Include only what will help Creatives to talk to
  them

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2. Who are we talking to?
A bad example

• Young adults 18-25. Someone self-assured,
  active and energetic, self-reliant, positive,
  optimistic, individualistic, self-centred, not
  superficial, irreverent, somewhat cynical,
  skeptical, savvy, fashion-conscious, honest,
  straight-forward, computer-literate,
  entrepreneurial, self-indulgent, hedonistic,
  likes having new things, doesnt change opinions
  to please others, doesnt change behaviour in
  order to be liked, thinks of him/herself as an
  individual but has a powerful need to fit into a
  group, preoccupied with sex/gender-related
  issues, has short attention span, wants instant
  gratification AND likes chocolate bars

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2. Who are we talking to?
A good example

• A 19 year-old guy who likes to think hes the
  life of the party. Hes into South Park, Mike
  Meyers, etc. and is constantly repeating comic
  catch-phases like he wrote them himself. Hes a
  little too mainstream to be truly hip, but hes
  still very concerned with his image.

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3. What do they currently think?

• This is not about their life in general
• Rather, their relationship with the brand, the
  category, the advertising

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3. What do they currently think?

• How interested are they in the product?
• How often do they use it?
• When do they use it?
• How do they feel about it?
• How do they feel about our brand vs. the
  competition?
• What do they ultimately want the product or brand
  to do for them?
• Dont go overboard only include what is truly
  relevantto the problem the advertising must
  solve

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3. What do they currently think?
A bad example

• PMB 99If I work hard enough I will get to
  where I want, I dont like taking orders,
  What brands I buy says a lot about me, I hate
  anything that is hype and smacks of phoniness,
  If its too perfect, it cant be trusted

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3. What do they currently think?
A good example

• They chew gum all the time but its not something
  they think about much. As far as theyre
  concerned, all gum is pretty much the same.
  Whats more, theyre completely turned off by gum
  advertising which they see as cheesy and trying
  too hard. Still, they might be persuaded that
  one gum was superior if it made its point
  convincingly and actually managed to be
  entertaining.

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4. Whats single message should this
communication convey?

• Many Creatives dont look at anything else!

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4. Whats single message should this
communication convey?

• The most crucial to get right and the easiest to
  go astray
• Remember, the box says single-minded
• Be concrete, not abstract
• Err on the side of simplicity
• Distinguish between what you tell them and what
  you want them to think
• One clear and compelling thought about the brand!

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Single Minded vs. Double-headed

• Mr. Big is the biggest bar,
• bar none

• Mr. Big is the big bar that wont slow you down,
  now available in new Peanut Ripple flavour

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Concrete vs. abstract

• Abstract ideas are much harder to demonstrate
• Abstract language can make you sound like youre
  saying something important, even when you arent
• Concrete language makes your point for you, and
  doesnt let you hide behind it

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Abstract vs. Concrete

• Brand X is a totally different kind of car
• The Second Cup isthe Ultimate Coffee experience

• Brand X is specially designed for women
  drivers
• Second Cup coffee is the strongest coffee you
  can buy

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Deep Thoughts vs. Simple Thoughts

• These days, its fashionable for advertising to
  make Profound Statements About Life
• It makes us feel better about selling things to
  people
• It can also lead to cliched and generic
  advertising
• More important to be pertinent than to be
  profound

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Deep Thoughts vs. Simple Thoughts

• Dont be afraid that a simple idea is too dull,
  just because it is simple
• A simple idea is easier for the Creatives to work
  with
• Its their job to make it interesting

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Deep Thoughts vs. Simple Thoughts

• Extra is the gum thatwill stick by you in
  todays hectic lifestyle

• Extras flavour lasts a long, long time

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Proposition vs. Desired Response

• Often confused
• Distinction between what you tell them and what
  you want them to think
• Desired response ultimately more important to
  brand
• But proposition more relevant to creative team as
  a starting point

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Proposition vs. Desired Response

• Heinz is the thickest, richest ketchup
• Pizza Pops have a lot of stuff in them

• Heinz is the best tasting ketchup
• Pizza Pops will really fill me up

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The Final Test

• Write it out on a blank sheet of paper and ask
  yourself Can I write an ad from this and this
  alone? If you cant, probably no one else can
  either.

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5. Kick start!

• For proposition to be credible, it must be backed
  by evidence
• Should be one of most inspirational elements of
  brief
• Give Creatives ideas they can dramatize
• Try to unearth interesting nuggets that might
  inspire

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• Proposition Cadbury Milk Chocolate is the
  creamiest milk chocolateSupport Only Cadbury
  Milk Chocolate contains a glass and a half of
  fresh milk in every 225g Holy Shit Factor All
  the milk in Cadbury Milk Chocolate comes from
  Cadburys very own herd of Irish dairy cows

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Brand Voice

• How you say it, not what you say
• Most well known brands have an established tone -
  an essential part of their equity
• Dont list contradictions energetic, peaceful
• Try and do it in one perfect word

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Creative Considerations

• Executional mandatories
• Media ideas and opportunities

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When you think youre done

• Re-read it
• Sleep on it
• Show it to someone older and wiser (not your Dad)
• Get agreement from the Creatives
• Sell it to the client
• And finally, be sure you havent used any of the
  following words...

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Jerk-Off Words to Avoid

• Ultimate
• Experience
• Virtual
• Aspirational
• Contemporary
• Edgy
• Synergy
• Breakthrough

• Savvy
• Modern life
• Empower
• Proactive
• Self-actualizing
• Hectic
• Extreme
• Clever

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• The more we use language rooted in the real,
  ordinary world, the better equipped the creative
  team will be to communicate with it in the
  advertising

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Briefing
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Paper plus Personality

• Both parts of the briefing should inspire and
  excite and motivate
• One part is notoriously neglected

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What is not a briefing?

• Slipping a brief under a Creatives door, or the
  old leave-on-the seat trick
• A rushed, last minute meeting
• Something attended by client
• A formal, boring presentation
• A spoon feeding
• A one-time meeting with your Creatives

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How to Brief

• Set aside enough time
• Show the packaging
• Show historic / competitive ads
• Touch, smell, eat product
• Get out of the office
• Visit the factory
• Use images, music, animals
• Get drunk together and brainstorm

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In Conclusion

• Remember its your road-map for the creative
  team!
• Know exactly what you want them to do and make
  sure they can understand
• Speak English
• Include only what is both necessary and
  illuminating
• Focus on one clear and compelling thought about
  the brand
• Put time and effort into writing and briefing

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• Remember
• Crap in crap out