The Creative Brief

How to Start New Projects on the Right Foot

from Second Wind Refreshing Insights on the Advertising Business

2004 Second Wind Ltd.

1 - The Creative Brief

It All Begins with a Great Beginning

For years, both advertisers and agencies talked about selling ideas. What they usually meant by this were slogans which, more often than not, were based upon distinct product attributes. Rooser Reeves of Ted Bates was probably the most articulate proponent of this philosophy of advertising. In essence, Reeves told advertisers to nd a point of difference in the product, turn this into what he called a unique selling proposition or USP, and repeat it ad nauseam. Great examples of this style of creative are: 1. Anacin kills PAIN, PAIN, PAIN. 2. Certs is TWO, TWO, TWO MINTS in one. Today that seems old-fashioned. Compare the selling proposition with a new concept, the buying idea. The concept of buying ideas shifts the emphasis from the point of view of the advertiser to that of the consumerfrom what you are selling to what they are buying. To accomplish the transition from unique selling idea to unique buying idea, agencies have placed more and more emphasis on a process called account planning. Planners are the buyers advocates in the agency, and spend their time helping creatives create advertising from the viewpoint of the buyer, not the seller. In my life, I was taught by some very smart advertising people to use the Who, What, What process to create better, more buyer-relevant advertising. Who Who do you want your advertising to reach? What What does he/she think and feel about your product? What What do you want your audience to think and feel about your product after seeing your advertising?

Most of this is put forward in a creative brief written by the account executive and/or the planner for each project. The creative brief is probably the most important tool your agency can use to bring forward great creative. Following is an example of a creative brief. Please review it and change yours accordingly to reect the buying, rather than the selling, idea in your advertising.

2 - The Creative Brief

Guidelines for Obtaining Creative Input

Background: It is important to gather as much information as possible about the clients product/service, competition, relevant market facts, etc., to develop a complete background. Ask for the following information when taking input from the client. 1. A complete explanation of the product/service and its unique feature(s). 2. Benets of the product/service to the consumer. 3. Type of communication project (print/direct mail campaign, ad series, cross-media, etc.). 4. Products/services current standing in the market; are they the recognized leader? Second? Third? 5. Will geographic consideration dictate execution? 6. Will selected media dictate execution? 7. Who is the primary competitor and how does their product/service compare with ours? 8. What is the timing for the communications project? Will timing potentially impact (be an additional incentive to consumer) the sale of the product/service; i.e., seasonal features? 9. Will additional incentives to purchase be offered? 10. What does the client most hope to achieve through this communications project? Mandatory Elements: Any mandatory budget, corporate policy or restriction that must be considered. Review the following. 1. Corporate identity standards that must be adhered to. 2. Corporate statement or safety disclaimers that must appear on all communications vehicles.

3 - The Creative Brief

3. Required allowances for coupon/retail space in all print materials. 4. Budget limitations. 5. Specic inclusions or restrictions by client. Creative Elements: If the client has no specic instructions regarding sizes, types of direct mail pieces, TV/radio spot lengths, color restrictions, etc., the creative team will recommend such parameters as they deem appropriate to the project. Target Audience: A clear understanding of the target consumer allows us to create a product/service message designed to specically appeal to the desired audience. Look at: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Age group Gender Household income Available research (buying habits, demo/psychographic data) Unique characteristics, i.e., Personality traits. Geographic area Communications Objective: What single message are we delivering and what desired reaction are we aiming to inspire in the target audience? Main Copy Points: Each point should directly support the communications objective. List the following. 1. 2. Product/service features and related benets. The incentive to purchase and the duration of its availability.

If the client offers a copy point that does not directly support the communications objective, query the reasoning behind its inclusion.

4 - The Creative Brief

Sample Creative Brief

Positioning: For ___________________ (the target audience dened in terms of benets sought) ___________________________________________ (brand) is the ________________________________________ (competitive set/category) which ________________________________________________________ (differentiating benet or U.S.P.), e.g. For health-conscious coffee lovers, X is the brand of decaffeinated coffee that offers all the coffee avor with none of the extra caffeine. Target Audience: (Who are we talking to and what do they know or believe now? What are their demographics, psychographics, lifestyles, perceptions, beliefs, etc.?) ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Primary, e.g., heavy users, etc. ______________________________________________________________ Secondary ______________________________________________________________ Task: What action is desired? What do we want them to do? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Promise: What is the single most important thing we can say that will persuade them to act as we wish; the principal benet? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Support: Why they should believe us; attributes ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Brand Personality: (Tone/Manner/Style): Dening the product or service in terms of adjectives associated with the brand ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

5 - The Creative Brief

Creative Strategy Brief

Client: Job No.: Date: Product: Account Executive:

(Sample #1)

Communication Objective:

Target Customer: Demographics, psychographics, current beliefs, etc.

Competitive Environment: A brief, concise statement regarding the arena in which the product competes. Include competitors tag lines, slogans, product names, ad samples, etc.

Positioning Statement: To (our customer), (our product/service) is the brand of (product/service category) that (benets/unique features provided) because of (support/attributes).

Key Benet(s): Support: Desired Customer Action: Mandatories: Due Dates:

6 - The Creative Brief

Creative Brief
Job No.: Date: ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES What should our message be?

(Sample #2)
Client: Account Executive:

Who is our target audience; what are their characteristics? (If possible, provide demographics/psychographics/geographics/level of decision-making, et.al.) What are the benets to the consumer; why should they choose our product/service over the competitions? (Prioritize in order of importance.) Features: Benets: KEY SELLING POINT In one sentence, identify the most important benet/point we need to communicate to the prospective consumer about our product/service. (If we could only name one benet, what would it be?) ACTION What action do we want the prospective consumer to take; what do we want them to know, believe or think? EVALUATION How will we determine if our communication was successful, i.e., made the consumer take the desired action? How will effectiveness be measured? ESSENTIALS List the mandatories, policy or corporate requirements or limitations we must meet. COMPETITION Who are the principal competitors; what are their strengths and weaknesses? Client has approved this information as accurate and authorizes agency to proceed to concept stage, with concepts to be presented per attached schedule. Client signature: Date: 7 - The Creative Brief

Creative Brief
Client: Project or Campaign: What does the client want to achieve?

(Sample #3)
Job No.: Materials needed:

What are we selling?

To whom are we selling? (Include demos)

Why should they buy it? (Key product distinctions or features; unique selling proposition)

Who else is selling it? (The competition)

Any ideas from the client or account service?

What are the budget limitations?

What are the mandatories and limitations? 1. 2. 3. 4. Date: Developed by Account Service Agreed upon by Client Based upon Research Open to Suggestions/discussions Concept Yes Yes Yes Yes Account Executive: Status: No No No No

8 - The Creative Brief

R.O.I. Helps Develop Creative

Heres a neat little add-on to your creative input system. Its called Instant R.O.I. R.O.I. stands for Relevancy, Originality, and Impact. R.O.I. is a planning system designed to lead to advertising that possesses all three of these qualities and that focuses all available information upon the specics of the advertising problem at hand. R.O.I. also means Return On Investmentmaximum return on the clients money, plus maximum return on time and talent invested in developing a campaign. Using a logical approach to advertising problems, an agency can begin to improve their creative product. Try this approach to problem solving. 1. Describe the action you want the advertising to cause as well as the action you wish to replace. If possible, describe behavior with one action verb. I want the prospect to (action) __________________________________________________________________________________________ instead of (action). __________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Write a paragraph describing the target audience as one person. Demographic and psychographic characteristics are important, but even more important are any feelings, attitudes and beliefs held by the prospect that relate to the product and encourage or inhibit the action you hope to create.

__________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Complete the following sentence to reect the conclusion you wish the prospect to draw from the advertising. When I (action) __________________________________________________________________________________________ I will (experience) __________________________________________________________________________________________

because (support)... __________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Use two adjectives to describe the product/service personality you wish to emerge from the advertising.

__________________________ and ____________________________.

9 - The Creative Brief

Second Wind White Papers were conceived to provide condensed, topic-focused information packets to our customers seeking help in specic areas of their business.

The Creative Brief: How to Start New Projects on the Right Foot A Second Wind Publication Published by Second Wind Ltd. 1120 Hobart Avenue, Suite C, P.O. Box 6284 Wyomissing, PA 19610-0284 Phone: 610-374-9093 Fax: 610-374-9238 Email: info@secondwindonline.com Website: www.secondwindonline.com Copyright 2005 by Anthony P. Mikes and Second Wind Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law. Printed in the United States of America Layout design and illustrations by Stacey Nosek

10 - The Creative Brief