Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

The Best Advertising Briefs?

Posted by Anonymous on 2/5/2009 at 10:56 AM ET 75 Points
Hi all,

I'm new to the Advertising area and have just been asked to create an Advertising Brief for an agency. What should I include in this? What should I not include in this?
And is there any good sample/templates online of the very best of Advertising briefs?

Items I currently think should be included:
- Target Audience (Not just a general term such as 'Businesses', but very specific e.g. 'Advertising Manager in a manufacturing Business within the Food Industry with over 15 employees')
- Overall Message
- Budget
- Timeline (when Ads should be published & for how long a campaign it should run)

I look forward to your thoughts & advice.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 2/5/2009 at 3:26 PM Accepted
    The headings I've used previously are as follows:

    1. Why are we advertising? - Define the goals and objectives of advertising.

    2. Who are we talking to? - Define the target market. Demographics, interests, passions, likes, dislikes...

    3. What do they currently think? - Explain their current attitude towards the product/service. Are there any problems or opportunities you can take advantage of?

    4. What do we want them to do? - Include your call to action here. do you want them to shop? Buy now? Remember the brand? If there is contact information, include that here.

    5. What's the ONE thing we need to tell them? - include only ONE message. Keep it simple, and use an action verbs

    6. What are the unique benefits of the product/service? - List the unique selling features and how they can change the life of the target market. Should complement the one key message from #5.

    7. What is the brand character of the product/service? - List the characteristics using adjectives. Are you witty? Smart? Light-hearted? Genuine?

    8. Where are we telling them? - any consideration put into your message vehicles : magazines, newspapers, radio, tv, etc.

    9. How much? - budget

    10. Mandatory items - the logo. contact info.
  • Posted on 2/6/2009 at 11:55 AM Member
    Great information above.

    Let me add that great strategy and great creative are driven by insights. Insights into your audiences emotions, feelings, thoughts about the product segment or brand are key. You can have all the general requirements of a brief buttoned down, but if you're strategy isn't derived from insight, the creative team will have to wing it. As the one responsble for writing the brief, you don't want to leave it to others.

    Jaime Collins
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 2/8/2009 at 9:46 PM Accepted
    Couple of additional points as the above is already quite comprehensive:

    1. What do WE want our Value Proposition to be, to the target audience?

    2. What does the target audience think the Value Proposition is, at the moment?

    Then the creative/account management role is to ensure the response to the brief moves the target audience perception from where it is now, to where you want it to be.

    Easy, huh?

    Hope that helps.

    ChrisB
  • Posted on 2/12/2009 at 2:26 PM Author
    Thanks all for your advice & insights.
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