writing great briefs
DESCRIPTION
A talk I gave to young brand managers at the PANA Brand Camp 29 March 2012TRANSCRIPT
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WRITING GREAT BRIEFSPANA Brand Camp29 March 2012
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As a planner, I
readwrite
and rewrite a lot of briefs
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Writing a brief is
filling up a formnot simply about
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It is the first stepin the creative process.
creative task.Writing a brief is a
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repeatedly producebrilliant creative performance?
What factors allow top creatives to
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IDEA-FOCUSED COMPANY VISION(prioritizes great ideas and allows a creative work culture)
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IDEA-FOCUSED COMPANY VISION(prioritizes great ideas and allows a creative work culture)
CLIENTS WHO ENCOURAGE GREAT IDEAS (and are not just open to them)
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IDEA-FOCUSED COMPANY VISION(prioritizes great ideas and allows a creative work culture)
CLIENTS WHO ENCOURAGE GREAT IDEAS (and are not just open to them)
SURPRISING/INSPIRING INFORMATION(deeper insights about the product, target, competition or brand)
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IDEA-FOCUSED COMPANY VISION(prioritizes great ideas and allows a creative work culture)
CLIENTS WHO ENCOURAGE GREAT IDEAS (and are not just open to them)
A FASCINATING CLIENT BRIEF(defines the problem in a way that is inspiring and exciting)
SURPRISING/INSPIRING INFORMATION(deeper insights about the product, target, competition or brand)
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IDEA-FOCUSED COMPANY VISION(prioritizes great ideas and allows a creative work culture)
CLIENTS WHO ENCOURAGE GREAT IDEAS (and are not just open to them)
A FASCINATING CLIENT BRIEF(defines the problem in a way that is inspiring and exciting)
SURPRISING/INSPIRING INFORMATION(deeper insights about the product, target, competition or brand)
AN INSPIRING CREATIVE BRIEF(has a single-minded proposition that is focused and exciting)
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3 out of 5have to do with the quality of the brief
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Write it in a way that inspires the best solutions
The author of the briefis the
owner of the problem
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Great solutions require
great problems
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“Please paint the ceiling.”
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“Please paint the ceiling.”
“Please paint the ceiling using red, green and yellow paint.”
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“Please paint the ceiling.”
“Please paint the ceiling using red, green and yellow paint.”
“Please paint biblical scenes on the ceiling using some or all of the following: God, Adam, angels, cupids, devils and saints.”
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“Please paint our ceiling for the greater glory of God and as an inspiration and lesson to his people.”
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Give the agency the problem you
want to solve, not the solution you want
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A brief typically contains:MARKET AND BRAND SITUATIONTHE PROBLEMOBJECTIVETARGET AUDIENCEWHAT WE WILL COMMUNICATEREASONS TO BELIEVECHANNELSBRAND ESSENCE AND PERSONALITYEXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES
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MARKET AND BRAND SITUATIONThis is the background to the brief
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Context is everythingIt puts color and meaning into what the campaign must achieve
Are there category issues affecting the brand? Unilab vs. genericsAre there external factors threatening the brand? e.g. Coke and the economic crisis
Are there internal factors that pose a challenge? e.g. a price increaseAre there new trends that are repositioning you? e.g. herbal medications
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The background to the brief should be written
to set up the problem that the campaign needs to solve.
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THE PROBLEMArguably the most important part of the brief
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There are different levels of problem
Business
Marketing
Brand
Communication
Channels
Creative
Eg. Profit margin is too low to sustain share price
Eg. Price premium unsustainable
Eg. User imagery is wrong
Eg. No awareness of the product range
Eg. Can’t afford TV
Eg. People don’t understand the advertising
Diagnosing the right problem is essential
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How you define the problemdefines the solution
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BackgroundPizza Hut wants to grow its non-pizza business because this helps attract people to dine in more frequently (which will help grow revenue)
To do this, it will launch a pasta line called Pasta Perfetto
The pasta line was launched (and failed) twice in the past 2 years
The Problem as stated in the original brief:
How can we excite people about the new and improved Pasta Perfetto line?
Key competitor is a specialist pasta chain called Pastamania!
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SkepticismThe Real Problem
Singaporeans refuse to believe that Pizza Hut can make good pasta because the brand name suggests it’s good at pizza, not pasta
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SkepticismThe Real Problem
Singaporeans refuse to believe that Pizza Hut can make good pasta because the brand name suggests it’s good at pizza, not pasta
How do we prove to skeptics that good pasta can actually come from a place like Pizza Hut?
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SkepticismThe Real Problem
Singaporeans refuse to believe that Pizza Hut can make good pasta because the brand name suggests it’s good at pizza, not pasta
How do we prove to skeptics that good pasta can actually come from a place like Pizza Hut?
The Solution
Remove the brand name from the picture, and let
the product speak for itself
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Tips in writing a great problem
Describe the problem in three sentences or less
If possible, reduce the problem to a challenging question
State the problem, don’t prescribe the solution
Market research is useful for problem definition
Be excited by the problem
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It is a universal misconceptionthat a wide, unspecific briefing is better because it does not limit
creative people
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THE OBJECTIVE
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Many briefs start with
a poorly stated objective
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“Generic objectives”(not wrong but not specific enough either)
To create awarenessTo increase sales and/or increase market share
To steal share from the competitionTo grab share from Brand X
To encourage switching To generate trial
To increase brand loyaltyTo strengthen emotional affinity
To increase consumption frequencyTo recruit new users
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Metrics are not necessarily the same as campaign objectives
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Campaign objectives are more actionable if they are stated in terms of
Attitudinal change?Behavioral change?Perception change?
how we want the target to respond
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orGOODobjective?
BADobjective?
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Explain BPI’s new housing loan product to first-time home
buyers
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Get moms to cook dishes using Nestle Cream at least once a
week
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Remind teens that Coca-Cola is about happiness
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Encourage more frequent break time consumption
of KitKat
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Convince office workers who endure headaches to take Biogesic at the onset
of a headache
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A useful way of expressing objectives
(it also makes it easier to judge if the creative work meets the brief)
FROM TO
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FROMFamous for cakes
TOFamous for cakes
and pastries
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FROMFor celebrating my child’s 1st and 7th
birthdays only
TOFor celebrating my
child’s birthday every year
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FROMThe drink for special meals with the family
TOThe drink that goes
well with everyday food
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TARGET AUDIENCE
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People, not statistics
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“Classically bad”Males and Females 18-34 y.o., ABC socio-economic classCD moms in Metro ManilaOffice workers 21-45Devoted mothers who want to give their kids the best
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A good target audience description
Demographic description (important but not defining)
Relevant psychographic profile: Habits, attitudes, desires, fears, aspirations, motivations
The target in relation to your brand or category
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Skelan
Arthritis stricken life enthusiasts.
They are 50+ adults from the CD SEC. While they acknowledge pain, anxiety and incapacity are part of the arthritis
experience, they remain positive and optimistic.
In fact they want to continue being able to fully participate in life. They’re not ready to stay home and do nothing.
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WHAT WE WILL COMMUNICATE
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There are different ways to state what we want the campaign to communicate
A benefit; rational or emotional
A product feature, characteristic or attribute
A feeling
A brand belief or philosophy
A mission or advocacy
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Tips in writing what to communicate
Make it clear and concise; If you can’t say it in a sentence, you
can’t say it in 30 seconds or less
Has to be true so that it connects with people
Ideally, differentiated from others in the category
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REASONS TO BELIEVE
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This should support what is being communicated
Not a list of product features that are irrelevant to what is being communicated but you want to see in the advertising
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Do not underestimate the power of the product to inspire Creative Ideas.
Provide technical information; Interrogate the product until it confesses.Examine the product with the eyes of the target audience
Look at the history of the product and the brand Look for a personal truth in the product
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CHANNELS
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Best to not be prescriptive about specific touchpoints to use unless it is a given
Better if you can provide information on how the target audience engages with different channels
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BRAND ESSENCE AND PERSONALITY
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How a brand behaves it just as important as what it says
Keeping the brand essence and personality in mind helps ensure consistency, from campaign to campaign
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EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES
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Avoid this if you can.
Stick only to the real non-negotiables, not a laundry list of things that you will look for in the execution.
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IN CLOSING
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TO WRITE GREAT BRIEFS
DODefine clearly the problem to
be solved
Put in surprising or interesting information - about the problem, the
brand, the target or channels
Be concise; It’s called a brief for a reason
DON’TSet an objective that the campaign cannot solve
Be prescriptive more than inspiring
Overload it with information
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The brief is a starting pointAllow room for conversation, for debate
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Demand courageous ideas, instead of correct ones
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Don’t fix a mediocre idea. It’s better to start with a new one.
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Let’s start problem solving.
@manilapaper