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Write a Brief for a Creative Advertising Agency
Creative advertising agencies use briefs to help them develop a clear direction for the advertising campaigns they are to execute for clients. Creative briefs are written by account managers or marketing managers after they've had the opportunity to discuss a client's business and needs during initial meetings about the product or service to be advertised. AdCracker, an online resource for creative professionals, describes a creative brief as a road map for creating print, web, television and radio campaigns.
Instructions
1. List the people who will handle the creative and account management for the client. Include the account manager's contact information so that the client can reach her for questions, to provide information or if problems arise.
2. Provide background details that cover information on the industry and the market, addressing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and potential threats. How Design, a magazine and online resource for creative professionals, suggests including the brand's history in this section, as well.
3. Identify the client's current problem that the agency needs to solve through the advertising campaign.
4. Outline the client's target audience. Provide details that give the art director, copywriter, and designers insight into the relevant demographics and psychographics. Focus on the target group's buying habits, how they think, what motivates them to buy, and their current relationship, if any, with the client's brand.
5. State how the company wants its target audience to view them. AdCracker refers to this portion of the creative brief as "the single most important thing to say." Be specific.
6. State the overall objective of the advertising campaign. Outline the types of results the client wants to produce, whether it's: an improvement in sales, greater brand recognition, or increased media coverage.
7. Examine the product or service you're creating the campaign for, and outline the features and benefits. Getting Attention!, an online resource for nonprofit marketing, notes that this section should also cover why the target audience will value the features and benefits and how the client compares to the competition.
8. Add fundamentals that cannot be omitted. This may include the website address, special certifications the company or employees have, how long the company has been in business, colors, and the logo. ClickZ, an online resource for marketing news, refers to these items as "mandatories."
9. List the deliverables. These may include web copy, a print advertisement, TV commercial, or banner ads.
10. Develop a schedule which outlines when each deliverable is due, both the initial drafts and final due date. The schedule can also include how edits will be handled.
11. Note the budget for the project. Break down each aspect of the project to show how the pricing is applied.
