creative brief breakfast
TRANSCRIPT
Writing creative briefs
28th October 2009
Role
Proposition
Writing
Briefing
• Define the task at hand
• Act as a platform for great ideas
• Inspire everyone on the project
• Inform people of the key points for communication
What they should do
• Copy and paste the Client brief
• Rushed and last minute
• Dull
What they shouldn’t
What is the problem we are trying to solve?
Where to start?
Define the comms/biz objective before writing the brief
Role
Proposition
Writing
Briefing
The hardest part of the brief
Insights required
• Inspire original thinking
• Ensure distinctiveness within the market
• Achieve channel cut-through
How to get there…
Consumer Market
Competition
Product/Company
Technology
Research
Assess
Establish insights
Proposition
Consumer
Who are they?
What’s their current relationship with the brand/product?
What are their attitudes towards its?
What do they do with their spare time?
What’s the most important thing in their life?…
Who is the competition in the sector?
What are they saying? To whom?
How much do they spend?
Where do they advertise?
How are we different?
Competition
Market
How big is it?
Is it growing/flat?
What is our market share?
Is there any innovation?
What factors are shaping it’s future?
Technology
What is the role for digital?
What examples of innovation are there?
How are people using social media/mobile?
Role for website/search?
How do our audience use it?
Product/Company
What are the core attributes?
Are these differentiating?
Is it first/cheapest/most highly rated?
What is the company’s history/mission statement?
How is it performing financially?
Distillation
Solid performance Trust crucial for consumers Sleeping giant Digital under used
Weathering the storm Consumers feeling the squeeze
Retaining front of mind
Being relevant and personable
Market leader
Maintaining position
Market Commercial Consumer Brand Technology
Insig
htCh
alle
nge
Syno
psis
Solid performance Trust crucial for consumers Sleeping giant Digital under used
Weathering the storm Consumers feeling the squeeze
Retaining front of mind
Being relevant and personable
Market leader
Maintaining position
…staying there requires commitment
…consumers needreassurance
…brand need to do more for less
…in a space thatdemands attentionIts tough at the top
Market Commercial Consumer Brand Technology
Insig
htCh
alle
nge
Syno
psis
Developing a proposition
What is interesting in all this?
Brand Truth, Consumer Truth, Market truth, Digital truth?
Combine the most telling insights to create the story…
For this generation the future has never been
more uncertain
More people have personal pensions with Standard Life than any
other provider++
Consumer truth Brand truth
The future, designed by you
You can take control of your future online
Digital truth
++
Developing a proposition
Role
Proposition
Writing
Briefing
It is not…The media placement
It is…Exactly what it is we are promoting
It is not…An endless list of product attributes
It is…The core product benefit to the consumer
It is not…A broad brush stroke or one liner from the
client segmentation
It is…A tight description of the exact person we
are talking too – including attitudes, behaviours etc
It is not…An end line
It is…A creative platform for the work
It is not…A list of all your research
It is…The reason to believe the proposition
It is not…A generic statement about the product
It is…A consumer insight that supports the
proposition
It is not…The media schedule
It is…The expected creative deliverable
It is not…“N/A”
It is…Amplification thought starters
It is not…A list of random adjectives
It is…The brand’s personality
It is not…A detailed breakdown
It is…How much we have to produce the work
It is not…“See brand guidelines”
It is…The absolutes the Client cannot live
without
It is not…A repository for things you forgot
It is…Other campaign activity, similar previous
work
Role
Proposition
Writing
Briefing
Briefings
Have the product present
Go outside the office
Make it enjoyable
Don’t just sit there and read Client documents
Talk about things!
Remember – you won’t crack it in the briefing