Downloads

I owe a lot of what you’re about to read to some very erudite creative professionals. I’ve learned from every agency I’ve been in. Good and not so good. Mostly, better than good. Especially, my fellow colleague at Wunderman and Executive Creative Director, Steve Harrison, probably the world’s most recognised DM guru and master-grafter, master-crafter.

The brief is the most important, exciting document you can hold in your hands, if it’s written properly. But it’s not just a writing task, it’s also about thinking – clear, honest, smart thinking.

If it’s flawed (in any part) it will fall short of the objectives you’ve set for yourself.

There’s an expression in the ad industry –

There’s never enough time to do it, but there’s always enough time for a reprint.

Unless you’ve screwed up right royally on delivering a shoddily executed/proofed ad/DM/webpage/email; the reason for having to fork out for doing it all over again is often because the brief was wrong in the first place.

Mind you, there’s really no excuse for cocking up a great idea that has everything going for it, by not getting it proof-read and signed off by key stakeholders before it gets published or goes to air.

BEFORE PUTTING PEN TO PAPER

Remember this. The solution is in the problem. Not your problem, but your targets problem. For example, they need to deliver a service to a certain standard to their own customers. Currently, for them to do this, it is labour intensive, and wastage is too high.

Can you solve their problem? If the answer is yes, however, they don’t perceive you as being able to do it for whatever reason, then that is key to the brief.

The creative people who will be given your brief will be looking to deliver a ‘big idea’. In fact, it is you who delivers that, long before creatives get to see the brief.

The creative team will simply be asked to demonstrate or dramatise your idea in a way which makes it clear, memorable and hopefully, actionable.

A well articulated problem also leads to an opportunity. There in lies your ‘big idea’.

To have big ideas, you need a well-furnished mind.  So, this is the kind of thing you need to know before you can start writing a brief.

CURRENT ADVERTISING

An absolute must, as is Previous Work (dating back at least two years). The reasons why are obvious. To begin with, you’ll avoid approving an idea that ran a couple of years ago. More over, you need to give the creative team a feel for how the brand is communicated and how the product or service is described.

COMPETITIVE ACTIVITY

It is vital that we all know how our rivals are positioning and portraying themselves. Imagine embarking on the same creative idea as that currently appearing in a competitive ad. It can happen. And it will require more than a couple of ads and a brochure to be sure we’re clear. Don’t just rely upon what falls out of this month’s magazines. You should be building a portfolio of your competitors work.

Refer to all the trade papers every week or month and get ads from there. Get Tearsheets from clipping services if necessary. Clip coupons, subcribe to e-newsletter and offers and get on your competitors mailing lists.

There is also excellent online information services that literally scour the web for stories, releases, articles and white papers based on an agreed set of keywords. One such company is www.meltwater.com

This gathering of intel should be an on-going quest.

RESEARCH AND PRODUCT ANECDOTES

Again a must. And once more, it’s a continuous endeavour. Try to gather as many case studies, testimonials, lab tests, comparative analyses, etc. as possible. Also editorial comment from the newspapers and trade journals (inc. blogs) are extremely useful. You’ll find all these things provide the support to your proposition. Indeed, when you are preparing your brief you may well find that they provide the proposition itself.

THE BACKGROUND

OK. You’ve absorbed all the above.  Now, we are asking you to use all your newfound knowledge to put the brief in context. Tell us about the product, or service we’re selling. How long has it been available? Describe what it does in plain English. Assume complete ignorance on the part of the creative team and, if you’ve got to use technical jargon, explain it in full.

Describe what the main competition is. What is your share of the market in comparison to theirs. (You will, of course, attach competitive ads). Whose product is best, and why?

Having identified rivals, try to list their claims and describe the style of their advertising. When you write the brief, you’ll be trying to find a point of difference for your product/service. This background work will be a great help to you. In fact, the gathering of all the material mentioned above is designed as much for your benefit as that of the creative team.

For if you know the market background, your products competitors, how they compare, how they have advertised themselves previously, what the papers, the public and the pundits say about them…then from this wealth of facts and insight comes your big idea.

Like I said, all the background data and detail is designed to make it easier for you to write the brief. Don’t touch a keyboard ‘til you’ve absorbed it all.

In fact, after you’ve considered all this information in relation to your problem, now is a good time to meet with me in a pre-brief discussion. This get-together is primarily for your benefit. It is to help you discuss that problem and explain your proposed solution.

At this get-together we can discuss preferred media, your proposition in term of its creative communication strengths.  After that, you will be able to go away and write your brief with confidence knowing we have agreed parameters.

WHAT IS REQUIRED?

For example – Media:

An unspecified TV or Radio spot time means you’ll probably get a sixty second commercial. Similarly, if you simply say Press, you’ll probably get a DPS instead of the 20 double you’ve budgeted for. (Incidentally, if it is a 20 double or whatever size, make sure you mention this at the pre-brief. Ask for creative in-put on media before you write the brief.)

We need the same precision when it comes to Media and Production budget. Declare your budget at the outset. Keep in mind how many people you hope to reach with your campaign. There’s no point in assuming you can effectively communicate ALL you want to achieve nationally with a regional budget. So, be realistic.

TIMING PLAN

You need to be clear about exactly when you need to present work to stakeholders in the approval process to ensure media deadlines are met.

Ideally, you should allow at least two weeks from brief to first presentation. For more complex briefs, three weeks is the ideal. Only in extreme circumstances, should you aim for anything to be turned around in less than a week.

WHAT IS THE BRAND IDEA?

Our job is to enhance the way prospects and customers feel about your products and services.  We are adding “perceived value”.  In many cases, much of this value is derived from the prospect/customer’s relationship with the brand.  As such, each brief should providethe idea/insight into that relationship.  One that lies at the core of all our marketing activity for your brand.

John & Mary live in Tonbridge. He works in London. She helps out in a local library. They enjoy travel….

Most pertinently, start thinking about the need that if fulfils and the problem’s that it solves.

WHAT DO THEY ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT YOUR BRAND/PRODUCT?

Please answer the question: tell us their feeling about the brand first, then the product. Please be honest. If it’s negative don’t be afraid to break the bad news. Also, if the prospect rarely thinks about your product, say so.

If it’s of little relevance, we should take this onboard too, we need a realistic appraisal of the part your product plays in the prospect’s life. If at all.

You’ll also find it useful here to think in terms of how the prospect thinks about the category. How does your product compare with its rivals. What is lacking in your offering… and what is missing from theirs.

Most briefs are an exercise in Problem Solving. Ask yourself: what problem does my prospect have that we can solve with this product or service? What gap is there in their lives that we can fill?  What need is there that we can meet? What can we do for them that our rivals cannot?

Then write this down in terms of what they think at the moment.

WHAT DO WE WANT THEM TO THINK?

How do we want the consumer to react after he has seen our ad/received our communication? How will we have altered the way he thinks about us? (Remember we’re just talking about the impact of the message, not how he feels after he’s bought the product).

Don’t claim that an ad will change the prospect’s life.

However, if you’ve set up a problem, a need, a gap in the above section, then here’s where you talk about the solution and the advantages that your product/service will bring.

 WHAT DO WE WANT THEM TO DO?

Keep it short and single-minded. Call for more information…trial an offer …send a cheque…go to the store and buy your product…that sort of thing. One thing only, though. Not all of them.

THE PROPOSITION

This is the single most important thing you can say about your product – a promise designed to bring about the change in our consumer’s opinion of our product/service and feelings towards your brand.

Please do not try to write it as a headline. Others are paid to do that – your job is hard enough. Express it clearly and simply in plain English.

The best way to think about it is this:-

imagine you are in a lift on the fifth floor of a building.  As the doors open the personification of your prospect steps into the lift.  You’ve got 20 seconds before the lift reaches the ground floor.  What are you going to say to them in that 20 seconds that will make them say “that’s very interesting, tell me more”.

A good rule is to ask yourself what will your product do for the customer that no one else can… or how will it solve a problem better than anyone else can?

Phrase your promise in terms of the customer’s life and needs. This way you will write propositions that promise a benefit and you will avoid empty platitudes i.e. “The best just gets better”, “Expect the unexpected”, and “Seeing is believing”.

If you are tempted to write something like “The best just got better” you can turn this into a meaningful promise by simply asking “Why?”.  What innovation, breakthrough, discovery, new widget, gizmo or gadget has been introduced that makes the best suddenly better?  Then ask why is this an advantage and what does it do for our customer that couldn’t be done before.

Your proposition could be a rational fact. If you really have a single reason why we can claim a better product you’d be mad not to use it. Remember we said that you might find this in the background research and product anecdotes.

If you have done your homework, and you know who your main competitor is  then you can also do your own comparative analysis to prove your product is better, faster, cheaper etc.

It might be that someone else has said yours is better, faster, cheaper – editorial comment, awards juries, satisfied customers. Capitalise upon this.

Please do not be deterred by the common assumption that nowadays there are no USPs and that most products have become commodities.

The brand leaders in most categories are, surprise surprise, the best products on the market and sustain that position simply by maintaining the edge in quality.

In fact, PIMS (Profit Impact of Market Strategy – the only database in existence that includes financial and marketing information on nearly 3,000 strategic business units) has proven that far and away the most important variable associated with good financial performance is ‘relative perceived product quality’. In short, people like buying better products. And it is our job to persuade them that your products are better.

If, having analysed the details you still cannot find a USP, don’t despair. It might be a benefit common to every product in the category. All your competitors, however, may have been too apathetic to use it. If we grab it and own it then we win and they have lost.

Whatever you use, you must be single-minded. One promise only please. All great ads are one single thought expressed simply, intelligently and originally.

Do not come up with a main promise supported by a secondary thought. Avoid deft linguistic concoctions designed to disguise the fact you couldn’t make up your mind. Remember it is always ONE THOUGHT PER PROPOSITION.

THE SUPPORT

You’ve written your promise, now prove it. Give us the facts to back-up your claim. And make sure they are facts – not unsubstantiated claims based upon hearsay…rumour or so-called reputation….

You’ve already done your homework, so all you have to do is précis all the relevant data that you’ve accumulated. It might be qualitative research, lab tests, sales figures, newspaper comment etc.

All of this could be the basis of a campaign, the kernel of a creative idea. Think for a second of some of the most famous campaigns of all time.  There was Bernbach’s  VW “Lemon”. Mould- breaking, it definitely was, but read the copy and you’ll see how the idea proceeded from a tranche of factual information. Think also of the legendary campaigns like Ogilvy’s electric clock in the Rolls Royce… Saatchi’s vomiting fly… Delaney’s Timberlands. Simple facts brilliantly communicated.

Now, there may also be other things we should be telling our prospect that you think might persuade him to buy your product. If so, draw a line under your support and stick this down under the heading OTHER INFORMATION. And please be careful. Do not just write down product features; explain instead what these features mean to the consumer. How they make his life easier or make him richer etc.

Feel free to attach more detail in the Appendices, but be sure you’ve read it all and that in the brief you are clearly pointing to the relevant bits.

TONE OF VOICE

This should come out of your understanding of the brand and the relationship the customer has with the brand. Keep it simple. I've seen many a list which involves Innovative, Empathetic, Knowledgeable, Authoritative, Newsy, Expert, Businesslike manner, and it's all a waste of time.

MANDATORIES/GUIDELINES

Bob Ashwood   11 Rendezvous Street, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1EY t: 07704 325188

Online Shop Creator