After years of preaching that the creative brief is about the content, not the template, I’m about to commit heresy. I’ve changed my mind. But only a little.
The creative brief template is just a set of questions, sometimes statements, requiring thoughtful responses. Emphasis on the word thoughtful.
Now I think that is not enough. Here’s why: The creative brief is, in the end, for the creatives. It’s meant to inspire them to creative brilliance. That part hasn’t changed.
The creative brief is also meant to be an inspiring document for the entire team to rally around. The “team” could be on the client side or the ad agency side.
But let’s look at the discipline from which the creative brief springs: account planning. At its most basic, account planning speaks for and embodies the consumer. The thoughts, feelings, aspirations, hopes, needs and wants of the human beings who buy the stuff we sell. The creative brief, therefore, addresses what we know about them.
So what if we changed the nature of the template to reflect this reality? I’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands, of creative brief templates in my career. A tiny fraction do in fact take this approach. The vast majority do not.
What kind of change am I speaking of?
An adaptation, not a wholesale revision. A subtle, but significant, shift in thinking.
We need to introduce, or re-introduce, the first person “I” into the creative brief. I’ve seen plenty of briefs that use “we.” This is not the same thing.
The brief, after all, addresses the customer. The brief talks “to” the creative team, of course, but it’s “for” the customer.
Here are the questions I use on the creative brief template I teach in my workshops.
- What is the problem we’re trying to solve?
- Why are we communicating?
- Who are we talking to?
- What’s the background?
- What is the single-minded proposition?
- What’s the proof that the SMP is true?
- What is the key emotional benefit?
- What do we want people to feel after seeing the communication?
- What is the desired tone and mood?
These are the basics. I exclude things like budget, media, mandatories, copy points, approvals. Those things tend to be straight-forward. These nine questions require thought. (Some of you may wonder about the difference between #7 and #8. There is a big difference. You’ll have to attend my workshop or read my book to understand my thinking).
So what if we made a subtle change from first person plural (we) to first person singular (I)? How would this change the way we think about both the brief and the work it produces?
Let’s try it:
- Why are you bothering me with this communication?
- Why should I pay attention to this communication?
- Show me how well you know me.
- What do you know about me that I may not know about myself?
- What’s in it for me?
- Why should I believe you?
- Why is this important to me at a gut level?
- How will I feel after I’ve seen this?
- What am I supposed to feel about you?
Notice how I connected #8 and #9: they are meant to confirm each other.
In fact, if you look closely, using the singular first person connects many of these questions in a way that the royal “we” does not. It makes the brief feel more intimate. It’s less a brief and more a letter that requires…honesty, authenticity, truth.
Notice as well that #3 is no longer a question. It’s a statement. Actually, it’s a taunt, so it’s question-like. I could have phrased it, “How well do you know me?” But that’s not open-ended.
I like where this leads. I think it shifts our thinking from what “we” want to what our customer wants.
I’m counting on you to revise and edit this further to suit your particular situation. I’m sure you could hone my questions to make them even better. Whether you adopt these question on your brief or not, I hope they make you think about how you craft this document.
It’s not a form to be filled out. It’s a thinking person’s document.
