The Gate Worldwide Creative Brief Manual

THE GUIDE FOR BETTER CREATIVE BRIEFS The creative brief is the piece of document that kickstarts the creative process. It’s a contract that binds you, the Creative, and the Client. It’s your tool to ensure the creative work is effective and strategically honest.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

a good creative brief opens more doors than it closes

INSPIRING A good brief should be motivating enough to the Creative (not ‘just another job’) and help them to make the creative leap easily, with the right direction and level of information.

CLARITY Be absolutely clear and single-minded about what you want to communicate with the brief.

TRIM, TRIM, TRIM Filter unnecessary information that will not impact your final message and deliverables, or will not be helpful to the Creative. Remember, you can always verbalise more information in the briefing session.

INFORMATION ORGANISATION Determine the chronology of information to be presented. When necessary, use tables, pictures, charts, timeline etc. to organise facts and numbers (especially promotional mechanics).

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THE 8-STEP GUIDE FOR BETTER CREATIVE BRIEFS

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WHAT IS THE PROJECT / DELIVERABLE?

After writing this section, you should be able to have an idea of how to frame the proposition.

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BACKGROUND

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REASONS-TOBELIEVE

Who are they?

• Demographics – age, gender, location, profession - be specific and try to define a bullseye target.

This will be the answer to ‘why should I believe your proposition / key message’?

The bare minimum that the project has to deliver, as requested by the client. Still, leave options for the Creative to suggest other relevant ideas and mediums.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Think of this as the build-up to your ‘strategy’.

Why exactly are we doing this?

Understand the client’s reasons (business-wise, communicationwise) for this piece of communications.

Insights • What are some ‘hot buttons’ about the target that can help shape our message? Can be framed in 3 ways: – Consumer Insight: An understanding about the target’s attitude, behaviours, feelings and usage towards the category / product – Category / Product Insight: What are some inside knowledge and conventions of how the category & product works that motivates / frustrates the target?

– Brand Insight: How do the targets think and feel about the brand?

Do not be lazy and simply copy and paste every product feature that you know into this section.

Select and prioritise the important ones that supports your proposition / key message.

TONALITY

The best way to describe tonality is to put them in human terms:

Helpful questions that may be directed to clients: - Any research / competitive / category / consumer / sales info - Performance of past campaign – what can we learn? The reason why we need a new campaign?

THE PROPOSITION

What do you want to say and tell the target audience?

If the final creative product is the ‘how to say’, think of this as the ‘what to say’ that addresses the marketing and communication objectives.

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There are 2 tricks that can help you focus on finding the ‘what to say’:

OBJECTIVE / DESIRED RESPONSE

“Think of a streetwise person – clever, always thinking of a way to save time and money, takes shortcuts, likes to show off to his friends whenever he discovers new ways to be smarter”

“Like a respected schoolteacher from your childhood – strict on the outside, but noble, caring and full of good intentions”

“Reflective of a smart housewife – confident, very clear and discerning about her choices when making purchase decisions to save and ‘gain’ from good deals”

Avoid citing the usual brand values, personalities e.g. professional, contemporary, high class, warm, etc.

Way #1: Fill in the blanks Try to fill in the blanks of a statement and experiment variations 1. Tell the target that Bank XYZ’s tax loan is the smarter way to achieve better cash flow / financial flexibility because we offer the highest loan amounts - twice the amount of your tax bill The proposition: Bank XYZ Tax Loan – the smarter way for better cash flow

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Marketing objectives • ACQUIRE – get new drinkers / users / subscribers / visitors • EXPAND – get existing drinkers / users / subscribers / visitors to purchase / use / visit us more • RETAIN – maintain the usage of our drinkers / users / subscribers / visitors

THE BRIEFING SESSION

Can be modified to be really specific to help you isolate the intended results from the communications objectives:

2. Tell the target to use Brand A cooking oil instead of Brand C because we are the healthier oil to complement the best ingredients in your dishes (followed by stating the RTBs) The proposition: Brand A cooking oil - the best ingredients deserve the best cooking oil.

Desired response • THINK - To improve awareness, to educate, to establish a positioning • FEEL - To change a perception, to change a particular feeling towards the brand • DO - To get the target to do something – purchase, repeat purchase, swipe their credit cards more often

Way #2: Put down your thoughts (your ‘strategy’) of what you want the communications to do before crafting your proposition

1. The thought: Position taking tax loans as a smart move to ease cash flow during tax seasons The proposition: Bank XYZ Tax Loan – the smarter way for better cash flow

2. The thought: Instead of looking at tax bills as burdens, think of tax bills as ‘passports’ to obtain more cash and better cash flow to spend on ‘dream’ purchases / major life events / investments.

The proposition: Bank XYZ Tax Loan allows you to cash in on your tax bill and enjoy better cash flow

3. The thought: We know that the target takes a lot of effort to buy and select the best ingredients for their dishes. We can bring their attention to the fact that only by using the best quality oil, can they truly do justice to the best ingredients in making the perfect dish.

Just as important as the written brief itself.

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• Avoid giving a brief by simply reading out from the paper – often boring, uninspiring, not getting the attention you need from the creatives.

• Use a visual aid – Powerpoints are the easiest as you can copy and paste content from your written brief.

• Let the creatives experience the product / category and see your POVs – Show competitive ads and TVCs – Videos of researches (interviews, focus groups) – For example, if the brief is about ‘the lightest running shoes’, bring in a few pairs of running shoes and let the creative touch and weigh the products themselves.

– Convincing and often, fun icebreakers for the team

The proposition: Brand A cooking oil - the best ingredients deserve the best cooking oil.

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