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Questions to Consider for your Creative Brief 

 Note: Assignment #1 has two parts. The questions below apply to the second part of Assignment#1 only. The first part is to do a brand analysis as described in the course outline.

You may not be able to answer all these questions, nor will all apply to your brand. Thequestions below are primarily intended to be food for thought. You don’t need to answer them, but you should think about them as you prepare a brief like the samples on the following pages.

1. Why do we need marketing communications? A brief overview of the client'scurrent business situation and the problems that are being addressed by MarCom.

2. What do we want to accomplish? What is the marketing communications trying

to do? What will happen as a result of this advertising? Be clear and realistic. Prioritize.

3. Who are we talking to? Demographic information, sure, but let's get beyond the "furs

and station wagons" categories. Who is this person we are trying to focus on?

4. What do we know about them that will help us? What makes them tick? Whywould they care about this product or service? What is their relationship to our brand?What is their relationship to the category? What is the product's role in prospect's broader context of life? What kind of language do they use? What experiences or anecdotes mayhelp?

5. What is the main thought we need to communicate?  NOTE: thought not thoughts.

6. What is the best way of doing this? OK, we know who the target is, what they're

like, and the role this product plays in their life. We know the ONE thing we mustcommunicate. Now, how would YOU do it? Come up with many possibilities. Give ideasthat don't lock you in. Start your ideas with "Think about..." or "Perhaps..." or "Maybe..."

Prioritize your ideas. Which of them might be more involving, motivating, emotionallylinked to the target? Brainstorm with creatives. Show us how YOU would achieve theobjective. This is your chance to demonstrate your creativity!

7. How do we know we're right? Support your ideas. What is it about this product or service that backs up the claims you're making for it? What facts backup your ideas?What research or other insight shows you're right? If it’s guesswork or just a hunch,

that’s OK. Just say it’s guesswork.

8. Details / “Mandatories” / Miscellaneous

Are we missing or forgetting some little detail? Does the client require a special logo or colour to be used? Is there a weird spelling we need to be aware of? Has an address or  phone number changed? Have we missed anything?

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Sample Creative Brief 

Product: Kodak EasyShare Camera

Target Audience: Amateur photographers looking to capture life’s little moments, age15 to 30. They have adequate disposable income to enjoy various events. The camerasare purchased as an introductory digital camera. These individuals do not have the timeor the expertise to decipher various camera options. They live in a world that demandsrapid results and they feel no differently about their photos. As a result of fast pacedlives, these people feel that the every day is a memory to be captured. It is important tothis market to be trendy therefore the EasyShare’s stylish configuration creates isappealing. Currently, females tend to be the major purchasers and users of these camerasas they are often more aware of the creation and retention of memories.

Objectives:

1. Increase Kodak product usage in male target audience

2. Make the market aware that Kodak technology has become equivalent tocompetition

3. Reinforce Kodak’s reputation for easy picture taking

Key Consumer Benefit: Kodak allows the consumer to make everyday events becomelifelong memories with just the press of a button.

Support: EasyShare cameras offer much more than style and ease of use. Along with point-and-shoot photograph capabilities, these cameras have frustration free navigationmenus. Buttons are clearly marked for actions such as downloading pictures from thecamera onto a computer, sending pictures through email or printing pictures on an

EasyShare printer dock 6000. Ranging from 3.1 megapixels to 6.1 megapixels,EasyShare cameras allow for various levels of image quality depending on consumer  preferences. Prices for EasyShare cameras range from $199.95 US to $499.95 US. Withoptical and digital zoom, these cameras offer a wide variety of picture taking optionswithout the fuss. All EasyShare models are ready to accept accessories such as printer docks and lens and filters. With built in memory capacity of either 16 or 32 megabytesand additional memory sticks available for purchase, taking pictures has never been soeasy. Some models even offer the option of creating short real-time video clips.

Personality: A 20-something woman, Kodak EasyShare Camera is tall and trendy. Sheis single, with no children. EasyShare makes every experience an adventure to be

remembered. With lots of friends, EasyShare always has plans for the weekend.Relaxed, but not lazy, all eyes are on EasyShare with her out-going personality and her hearty laugh.

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Sample Creative Brief 

Product: ASPIRIN Arthritis 650mg

Target Audience: Men and Women above the age of 50 who are health conscious are

the target of ASPIRIN’s advertising. They lead busy lives and have surpassed thegrowing family phase. They are ready to concentrate on themselves and are seeking outthe best products for their bodies. These individuals are well educated, many holdingcollege or university degrees. For a typical health conscious individual purchasedecisions are based on personal research, doctor’s recommendations and prior experiences with the product. It is likely that they have heard about the benefits as wellas possible negative side effects of taking ASPIRIN.

Objectives

1) Reinforce belief that ASPIRIN is a trustworthy brand that can help make dailyactivities easier with anti-inflammatory ingredients. (attitude)

2) Create awareness with customer that taking ASPIRIN for pain is acceptable whiletaking ASPIRIN Daily Low-Dose for prevention. (knowledge)3) Increase baseline sales for ASPIRIN pain products.4) Increase baseline sales for ASPIRIN Daily-Low Dose.

Key Consumer Benefit: The product has been proven to extinguish arthritis and joint pain. ASPIRIN is also a key preventative measure in preventing cardiovascular disease.

Support:

ASPIRIN is a well-known brand among this age group. The trusted ASPIRINshield is indicative of a quality product that fulfills its promises of delivering anti-

inflammatory benefits and extra strength potency that is second to none. ASA (Acetylsalicylic acid) otherwise known as ‘aspirin’, the main ingredient

works by inhibiting the production of pain-enhancing chemicals (prostaglandins)found in the body.

Customers trust the brand because it has fulfilled many areas of concern in both pain management and prevention tactics. The ASPIRIN line consists of regular strength, extra strength, stomach guard, children’s dosage, arthritis relief, cold andflu remedies as well as cardiovascular disease prevention. This particular segment would be best served with the ASPIRIN arthritis product as this is the period in the life cycle that most individuals have increasing aches and pains.

Personality: The personality of the product as reflected through the advertising should be light-hearted, informational and sensitive. The usual over-the-counter analgesicadvertising is focused on competitive comparisons, numerous facts and concentrates onthe athletic abilities of their consumers. The tone of this advertisement should be light-hearted while promoting that this older target market needs to get back to what it is theyWANT to do. Since the target market consists of conscious consumers, facts should begiven in the advertisements, but this should not be the main feature.

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 The creative brief is the foundation of any advertising or marketing campaign. It's the treasure

map that creatives follow, and it tells them where to start digging for those golden ideas. Or at

least, it should, if it's any good.

A good creative brief is hard to come by. A combination of lack of knowledge, increasingly

tighter deadlines, bad habits, laziness, poor account management, bad creative direction, or

all of the above, contribute to this document becoming an afterthought in many agencies. But

done right, everyone benefits.

So, although it would take a book to explain how to write a great brief, here is a step-by-step

guide to getting on the right track.

Difficulty: Hard

Time Required: 1 - 2 weeks

Here's How:

1. Start With The Client

A creative brief is an interpretation of the client's wishes. As a good account manager or

planner, it is your job to extract everything you can from the client, and condense it. You

want to know as much as you can about the product or service. So sit down, in person if 

you can, and ask every conceivable question. What, why, when, how much? Squeeze

every last drop of info from the client. You'll need it.

2. Use The Product Or Service

 This is crucial. If it's at all possible, get samples of the product you're selling. If it's a

service, test it out. If it's a car, drive it. If it's fast food, go and eat it. Experience

everything. The more you know, the better your brief will be. You can explain the

strengths. You have personal perspective. Great advertising, like the original VW

campaign, is based in the product. It's focuses on it. Soak it all up before you write.

3. Put Everything Down On Paper

Or on your screen. But get it all down. Write about first thoughts you had, the goal of the

client, the budget, the time line, the obstacles, and everything else that you have

collected. Spew it all out, because you'll be using this to make a great brief.

4. Organize Your Thoughts

Now that you have everything you need to work with, it's time to start putting it into

something useful. Every creative brief is different, but they share similar traits. Here are

the most common sections of a creative brief, your information should go into these:

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Background

 Target Audience

Objectives

 Tone of voice

Single Minded Proposition (Also called USP, Key Message, Direction)

Key benefits

Reasons to believe

Audience Takeaway

Deliverables (Outdoor, Print, TV etc)

Budget

Schedule

2. Spend The Most Time Writing Your Single Minded Proposition

Focus all of your energy on it. The rest of the information is just that really. It's

information. But the SMP is the strategy behind the campaign. It's the arrow that points

your creative team in the right direction. You need to boil down everything you have

collected, talk to the creative director, other account people in your team, and get to theessence of the project. How would you sum it up in one succinct sentence? Do you know

which creative team will be working on the job? If so, talk to them. They can help, and as

they'll be working on the project, they should be more than happy to help you craft a

great proposition. It makes their lives easier.

Here are some examples of great SMPs:

 There's More To Iceland Than Anyone Ever Knew - Iceland Supermarket

(HHCL/Red Cell)

 To Our Member's, We're The Fourth Emergency Service - The Automobile

Association (HHCL&Partners) Don't Let Your Illness Cripple Your Family - Abbey Life Insurance (written by

 John Hiney at Payne Stracey)

We're Number Two. We Try Harder - Avis (DDB)

3. Simplify, Simplify

Now that you have a killer SMP and all the information is down on paper, it's time to get

your red pen out and slash some ink. Lots of ink, actually. Your job here is not to impress

people with how much research and data you've collected. Your creative brief should be

 just that - creatively written and concise. Cut it to the bone. Get rid of anything

unnecessary. You're aiming for one page. There's rarely any need to go beyond that. All

of that research you did, the product background, competitive ads, they are all supportdocuments. They play no part in your creative brief.

4. Get Feedback From Your Creative Director

A good creative director will insist on seeing every brief that comes through the

department. After all, it's his or her job to oversee the creative work, and the brief is huge

part of that process. Don't just do a drive by, or email it, actually sit down and go through

it. That way, you have time to take feedback, ask questions and get direction. Trust me,

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you will rarely hit it out of the park on your first effort, at which point, you'll be repeating

steps 5,6 and 7 at least once more.

5. Get The Client's Approval

 This is hugely important. At this point, showing the client is paramount, because you need

their approval on the agency's direction for the campaign. Not the creative, but a

direction. This is key. If, when the time comes to present the work, the client says "I don't

like it, that's not what we wanted" then you can go back to the creative brief and say "

actually, it is." The creative brief was signed by the client, they agreed to it, if they need

different work, they need a new creative brief and, more importantly, you get more time.

Plus, the work you've already done is billable, not throwaway.

6. Finally, Present Your Brief In Person

When you have a concise, creative brief that has approval from all parties, it's time to

brief the creative team. Please, do it in person. Don't get lazy and send an email, or

worse, leave a photocopy on the desk with "any questions, gimme a call" scrawled on it.

 This is not only your opportunity to start the project right, it also gives the creatives achance to ask questions, clear up an possible gray areas, and feel you out on other issues

that may come up.

Follow these steps, and you should be well on your way to writing a brief that gets results,

not just creatively, but financially. Go for it.

What You Need

• As much information as you can get about the product or service

• A notepad and a computer

• Plenty of time to think

• A quiet place to work

•  Article and research by DesiCreative reader Anas KA. Reprinted with permission from his

site Kikkidu.

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•

•  

• Brand: Hero Motocorp

Owned by: Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (Formerly Hero Honda Motors Ltd.)

Logo Designer: Wolff Olins

• Design brief:

“The new logo stands for the new face of India – that youthful energy and ‘can do’ spirit. It is in true

sense the “Indian Catapult” which signals that while it is deeply rooted in Indian values, it is also

 poised to go for global expansion – a Leap of Faith.

The new ‘Catapult’ logo

• Before discussing the logo, let us talk about the new TVC. The updated slogan that comes with the

new logo is “Hum mein hai Hero” (A Hero lives in us). The new ‘Hero Anthem’ TVC features our 

‘Mozart of Madras’ A R Rahman.

The logo revolves around high energy and space. The colour red in the logo depicts continuity and

change. It also depicts confidence. There is an ‘H’ formed in the logo. The angular formation of ‘H’

symbolises that Hero is no longer dependent on foreign expertise for its brands. It will be focussing

on its own engineering capablities.”

http://thebuildnetwork.com/leadership/creative-brief/http://beloved-brands.com/2012/05/28/creative-brief/http://eportfolios.ithaca.edu/rberger1/docs/Adcopy/Creative.pdf http://www.mohawkconnects.com/feltandwire/2011/02/08/the-creative-brief-10-things-it-must-include/