We read a lot of briefs. The best ones are short, honest and a bit uncomfortable. The worst are forty pages of brand onion with no budget in them. Here’s what we wish everyone sent.
Fit it on one page
If it doesn’t fit on a page, you haven’t decided yet. That’s fine, and we can help you decide, but it’s worth knowing before you send it.
Answer five questions
- What has to change? Sales, awareness, who buys from you, how you feel about your own brand.
- Who are you trying to reach? Real people, not “18 to 65”.
- What’s the date? The real one, the one you can’t move.
- What’s the budget? A range is fine. Without one we’re guessing, and so are you.
- What can’t change? Your name, your colours, the board’s favourite photo. Say it now.
Write the uncomfortable sentence
The best brief we ever had said: “Our product is better than theirs and nobody knows.” That one sentence did more work than any mood board.
Tell us what’s keeping you up at night. That’s the brief.
Don’t write the answer
It’s tempting to describe the poster you have in mind. Try not to. Tell us the problem as clearly as you can, and let us surprise you. If we come back with your poster, we haven’t done our job.
If you’d rather talk than write, that works too. Fran will book a thirty-minute call and we’ll write the brief together.
