Working to a Brief

Contractual Brief

Definition: A contractual brief is a legal document, which is created between an employee and a client. It outlines the duties that will be required by the company, and how the company organises their work. It is a document which states the expectations of the client, the prices they agree on, as well as the the payment terms.

Formal BriefDefinition: A formal written brief is a document that

includes detailed information about what the client wants the company to achieve. It is usually a straightforward document, which refrains from including any unwanted information. The brief itself may not always be classified as a legal document.

Informal BriefDefinition: An informal brief is less professional than that of a

traditional brief, where it outlines the project verbally, as this particular type of brief does not require any means of a written document. There is a discussion conducted between the client and the employer, where they will come to a general agreement over the details of the contract.

Advantages: A advantage is that there is no real guideline to the brief, it is very free, and the employer will be allowed to manoeuvre and influence their own opinions into the document, before the client finalises it.

Co-Operative BriefDefinition: This is where two or several production

companies are employed to operate upon a set brief, which they complete in unison on a team basis. The project has to be completed before a certain deadline, otherwise the client will be extremely dissatisfied, and will not employ the selected companies in the future.

Negotiated Brief

Definition: This is where the client and the employer will come to a specified agreement upon the brief of the project, which will include the final ideas of both the employer, as well as the client. It is important that the client and employer/company agree on the brief, or it will cause inevitable problems in the future.

Commission Brief

Definition: A ‘commission brief’ is where a large corporation, such as The Daily Mail, employ an independent company to create their product/project for them. It is notable that this type of brief is negotiated between two media companies, as opposed to an external client, who may receive the product once it has been established.

Tender BriefDefinition: A client will produce an advertisement

stating that they require a media product to be created. A potential employer, such as a production company, initiates a brief, a budget, as well as a proposal, which is then pitched to the client in order to secure their chance of obtaining the work that was previously advertised by the employer. The client decides upon the most impressive proposal featured from their group of candidates.

Reading the BriefWhy is important to thoroughly read your brief?

It is extremely important for an individual to read through their brief, otherwise they may complete the project with errors, which the client will be unhappy about, and it is likely that they may not pay the employer the full agreed wage.

Not reading the brief often leads to employers devising a project based on their own thoughts, instead of incorporating the wishes of the client.

If it is a contractual brief, the employer is likely to be scrutinised for their inability to complete a set project expressed in the legally-binding document. The company/employer will then lose money, and their reputation as a corporation will be immediately diminished.

Negotiating a Brief

Why is it important to discuss the brief with your client prior to production?

It gives you a chance to share queries regarding the project, and state your views and interpretations of the client’s brief.

It gives the client and you an opportunity to discuss the brief, which will become a legal document once it has been finalised, so if there are any problems, you must state them before it is too late to alter it. It is vital for both you and the client to read over the terms, so that there are no disagreements between you in the future.

Negotiating a BriefWhat are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion with a brief?

An advantage in employing discretion within the brief is that it enables you to complete the project in the most efficient way, without any interruptions from the client, who may require several drafts of the work to be sent to them via email, which is likely to disrupt your workflow.

On the other hand, by using discretion, the client is literally ‘left in the dark’, where they will have little of no news on the progress of their project, which may unnerve the client, who wants to know how the work is going, and whether you are committing any serious errors within the assigned project.

The lack of communication between you and the client may create a sense of isolation, where you do not operate in unison, which means that there will a state of distance, and it will inevitably affect the final outcome of the project/product.

Negotiating a BriefAre there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the brief’s proposed product?

When initiating a product, you and the client have to list any ethical issues in the brief, which may arise in the near future. The client would have to state that their product does not infringe on copyright, and that everything listed within their brief is completely original, as opposed to incorporating the work of others into their own work, which would be illegal.

Also, the client would have to discuss with you whether any moral/ethical issues would be touched upon in the process of making the product. It is notable that the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) may have to be involved in the creation of the product, due to the fact that when the client advertises their brief, they would have to monitor it to check if it is suitable for publication, and that is does not offend any members of the public

Negotiating a Brief– The product– The budget– Target audience profile:

• How would you define this audience?• Demographics? Psychographics? Behaviour? • How useful is each type of profiling method?

– Industry requirements:• What medium is it in?• When will broadcast be scheduled (TV and radio)?• On what channel (channel profile)?• How will it be distributed (Film)?• How will customers buy it (Newspapers and magazines)?