2013 brief workshopeec

CREATIVE BRIEF WORKSHOP

Wacarra YeomansDirector, Creative ServicesResponsys@wac_intoshwyeomans@responsys.com

Chris BaggottTitleCompendiumcbaggott@compendium.com

Agenda

• What makes great creative• How to create great content• What makes a great creative brief• How to use a brief to evaluate creative• Tips for giving creative feedback

What makes great creative?

What makes great creative?

Your brand

The inboxCall-to-action

How we read email

pop quiz

How many pandasdo you see?

Example: REI

Example: Schwann’s before after

Example: Comcastbefore after

How to create great content

Personas

Jill BrownSingle Working Mom

“There is always something to be done. I need tasks to be simple and easy so I can focus on the more important things in life, like my son Brady.”

Behaviors & Culture• Slightly unorganized• Very practical but easily flustered• Honest and sincere• Passionate

Sample Search Queries• Apartments in safe

neighborhoods• Affordable apartments in

St. Louis• How to downsize living space

Challenges• Managing multiple tasks at once• Coping when “life” happens and

goes against her “plan”

Fears• Feeling unaccomplished• Something bad happening

to her son• Getting off task

Needs & Expectations• Simplicity• Affordable housing options• Products and services that are

easy to understand and choose• Anything that is in the best

interest of her son

Motivations• Checking things off her

“to-do” list• Quality time with her son• Feeling accomplished

Known Information:

User Category: New Apartment TenantAge: 38

Race: White

Education: Associate Degree

Employment: Full time

Household Income: $40,000

Family: Divorced, Single mother

Customer Engagement Cycle

Stage Questions Asked

Awareness How can I find/fix/help __________?

Consideration What do I need to consider when purchasing __________?

Inquiry What options/solutions does this company offer?

Purchase Why is it better to purchase from this company over another?

Retention What would make me purchase from this company again?

Topic Modeling

Topic Modeling

Editorial Calendar

Customer

Customer

Repurposed

Existing Content Repurpose Existing Content As:

News Releases • Rewrite in conversational tone and post on content hub

Video of CEO Annual Meeting

• Post video on YouTube• Convert audio to MP3 for downloadable or streaming podcast• Transcribe speech and post on blog

Customer case studies • Create PowerPoint and post on SlideShare• Record PowerPoint with voiceover as video and post on YouTube• Post video (YouTube embed code) on content hub

Self-published articles • Rewrite in conversational tone and post as a month long blog series• Combine similar articles into an eBook and write a post promoting it’s

download

Evergreen Content • Find content that has performed well before and link to it from a new piece of content or promote it through social

FAQ

Demonstrating Content Value

Exercise!

What makes a great creative brief

Why briefs?

• Think about briefing as a process and not just a document

• What are you trying to achieve?• How does this project fit into your marketing

strategy?• How can you ensure all parties are on the same

page?– Nail down the strategy before someone even

opens photoshop or word– Someone is designing, someone is doing copy, need to

break down silos

Why briefs?

• The Brief is the primary indicator that a goal has become an actual project

• A way to document the project goals• A document that can be referenced along the way• There’s a lot of assumptions that someone

understands the nuance and detail that you’re not communicating

2 kinds of projects

1. Production: Campaigns that use the same framework or template

• Briefs can be prescriptive• Sometimes all that is needed is the new image and

messaging direction

2 kinds of projects

2 kinds of projects

2. AdHoc/New Program: A new program or project that doesn’t follow an existing template

• Absolutely make recommendations and references• Frame the ask as a visual problem to solve

Exercise!

Time to sketch

• Break into teams• Review your assigned brief• In your group, agree on a sketch or

wireframe of how you think this message will look

• Be prepared to answer questions

Exercise

• What kind of project was this? Production or Adhoc?

• Was this brief effective in communicating what you needed to sketch out the campaign?

• What was missing?• What was helpful?

Briefing a new Adhoc Project

Objective

• How will we know success?

Context

• Marketing Strategy

• Segmentation• Brand

Guidelines• Reference

Direction

• Identify the problem you want solved

• Let your team decide the “how”

The Briefing Document

Objective

Which of these is more clear?• Drive conversions?• We need to upsell hotels to people who

have purchased airlines.• Currently 5% of our customers who

purchase flights also purchase hotels. We’d like to see 10% by the end of this campaign.

Objective

Objectives should include a measurable metric– This clearly outlines expectations for the

projects– Objectively enables you to determine if the

project was successful– Gives the team a common goal to work toward

and guide their decisions.

Context

Sum up the overarching marketing strategy

• How does this project fit into the way we’re talking to our customers in other programs?

• Are there materials that have already been created that we should reference?

• Do we have previous performance metrics we can refer to?

Context

Brand Guidelines– Brand guides are like giving the creative team

a map to your organization– Good brand guides should include:

• Messaging/Tone• Color palette• Font sizes/weights

Context

Examples/Reference– Are there programs that your company has

already done that we should refer to?– Do you have an example of a brand who has

accomplished your same goal?

Context

Segmentation– With the proper marketing information

(demographics, etc..) your creative team can craft a message to the appropriate segments.

Direction

• True direction requires trust– It’s important to identify what problem this

project will solve and let your creative team come up with the solution

• You can contribute Why and What, but you have to let your team decide how

• If you can explain why your subscriber should care, your creative team can tell that story visually

4 Components of a great brief

Objective

• How will we know success?

Context

• Marketing Strategy

• Segmentation• Brand

Guidelines• Reference

Direction

• Identify the problem you want solved

• Let your team decide the “how”

The Briefing Document

“If I only had one hour to solve a problem, I would first spend 55 minutes making sure I’m asking the right question.”- Albert Einstein

Creative Brief Checklist Dated title of email contact Target Audience

Audience Profile where appropriate Segmentation and Versioning, where appropriate

Subject Line Direction Primary Message Objectives

Primary content objective: what do we want the subscriber to do?

Specific outcomes desired, when appropriate Traffic/Engagement to Online Experience X Traffic/Engagement to Retail Store Experience X

Creative Input Summary:

Primary Secondary, where appropriate Tertiary, where appropriate Promotional, where appropriate Preview, where appropriate Social, where appropriate

Template considerations, (optional) required, recommended, prohibited

Images: (optional) required, recommended, prohibited Copy: (optional) required, recommended, prohibited Disclaimers, where appropriate

Recommended Product Individual product and/or product categories supporting

messages

Summary of deliverables required Count of files Description of files/format

Personalization Elements, where appropriate Objective Simple

Field names and application

Dynamic Content Segment(s) names and application Field names and application

Testing Elements, where appropriate Objective Assets required for execution

Landing Experience(s): CTAs required, recommended, prohibited Description of Landing Page requirements expected from Online

team Product(s) recommendations and/or count Category recommendations and/or count Seasonal Landing Page recommendation Email Specific Landing Page recommendation

Agency-Generated Landing Page Creative Direction (aligned with Email specifics, above + Landing

Page requirements from Online Team

Analytics Requirements

Exercise!

Time to sketch

• Break into teams• Between yourselves come up with an

upcoming project that needs a brief• What’s your objective?• What context would you need to provide?• How would you write direction for your

team?• Be sure to keep the brief you write

4 Components of a great brief

Objective

• How will we measure success?

Context

• Marketing Strategy

• Segmentation• Brand

Guidelines• Reference

Direction

• Identify the problem you want solved

• Let your team decide the “how”

The Briefing Document

Creative Brief Checklist Dated title of email contact Target Audience

Audience Profile where appropriate Segmentation and Versioning, where appropriate

Subject Line Direction Primary Message Objectives

Primary content objective: what do we want the subscriber to do?

Specific outcomes desired, when appropriate Traffic/Engagement to Online Experience X Traffic/Engagement to Retail Store Experience X

Creative Input Summary:

Primary Secondary, where appropriate Tertiary, where appropriate Promotional, where appropriate Preview, where appropriate Social, where appropriate

Template considerations, (optional) required, recommended, prohibited

Images: (optional) required, recommended, prohibited Copy: (optional) required, recommended, prohibited Disclaimers, where appropriate

Recommended Product Individual product and/or product categories supporting

messages

Summary of deliverables required Count of files Description of files/format

Personalization Elements, where appropriate Objective Simple

Field names and application

Dynamic Content Segment(s) names and application Field names and application

Testing Elements, where appropriate Objective Assets required for execution

Landing Experience(s): CTAs required, recommended, prohibited Description of Landing Page requirements expected from Online

team Product(s) recommendations and/or count Category recommendations and/or count Seasonal Landing Page recommendation Email Specific Landing Page recommendation

Agency-Generated Landing Page Creative Direction (aligned with Email specifics, above + Landing

Page requirements from Online Team

Analytics Requirements

Using the brief to evaluate creative

Tips for evaluating creative

Objective

• Will the creative solutions lead to us meeting our goal?

Context

• Does this solution make sense with the rest of my consumer communications?

Direction

• Does it fit your “what” and “when” criteria?

• Is there a solution to the problem we identified?

Tips for evaluating creative

Use the 7 principles of user experience• Hierarchy• Utility• Usability• Aesthetics• Identification• Stimulation• Value

7 principles of user experience

Hierarchy• Is the first element I see the most important

part of the message?

7 principles of user experience

Utility• Is this the right channel or delivery method

for this message?

7 principles of user experience

Usability• Does this email function like I would

expect?

7 principles of user experience

Aesthetics• Does this represent our brand?

7 principles of user experience

Identification• Can I identify myself with the product or

message? Does it fit into my daily activities?

7 principles of user experience

Stimulation• Does the message give me inspiration?

Or wow experiences?

7 principles of user experience

Value• What’s in it for me?

Exercise!

HIERARCHYOn a scale of 1-10, is the first element I see, the most important one?

UTILITYOn a scale of 1-10, is this the right channel or delivery method for this message?

USABILITYOn a scale of 1-10, does this email function like I would expect?

AESTHETICSOn a scale of 1-10, does this represent our brand?

IDENTIFICATIONOn a scale of 1-10, can I identify myself with the product or message? Does it fit into my daily activities?

STIMULATIONOn a scale of 1-10, Does the message give me inspiration? Or wow experiences?

VALUEOn a scale of 1-10, what’s in it for me?

Exercise!

Critique

•Hierarchy

•Utility

•Usability

•Aesthetics

•Identification

•Stimulation

•Value

Critique

•Hierarchy

•Utility

•Usability

•Aesthetics

•Identification

•Stimulation

•Value

Critique

•Hierarchy

•Utility

•Usability

•Aesthetics

•Identification

•Stimulation

•Value

Giving Feedback

Giving Feedback: Copy & Design

• Assume every word, punctuation mark, color, font and pixel are there for a reason before giving direction

• Let the team explain creative decisions• The writer and designer are counting on you to make sure

the work meets business objectives• Try to differentiate client direction from your personal

preferences (Both are valid! But in different ways)• Ask questions and make suggestions, so the writer and

designer have a choice and trust your team• Be specific about what isn’t working• If there are more than a couple stickies or emails, TALK

Giving Feedback: Copy

• It looks easy, but it’s not • Give direction rather than rewriting• Ask questions about word choice• Keep the editing within the

copy discipline– When typos happen,

it’s a reflection on the writer

• Include examples so thewriter can easily understandwhat you’re looking for

Giving Feedback: Design

• At first glance, what are you immediately drawn to?– In two seconds can you tell what this email is about?– Do you look at the primary message first?– Is a secondary message bolder and

carrying more visual weight?

• Be specific about what isn’t working• Keep the end user in mind

– How will a subscriber interact with this message?

• Decide whether your responsesare personal preference orbusiness objectives

Do’s and Don’ts

DON’Ts• Say “I don’t like that”• Stand over someone while they make changes,

unless you are invited

DO’s• Keep the objective in mind – is this meeting the

objective?• Think about your word choice when giving feedback• Be specific about what you’re looking for

Exercise!

Feedback

•Hierarchy

•Utility

•Usability

•Aesthetics

•Identification

•Stimulation

•Value

Feedback

•Hierarchy

•Utility

•Usability

•Aesthetics

•Identification

•Stimulation

•Value

Feedback

•Hierarchy

•Utility

•Usability

•Aesthetics

•Identification

•Stimulation

•Value

Let’s evaluate our briefs

Exercise!

• Find your team’s original brief• Share it with the team next to you• As a group, you have 7 minutes to come up

with a wireframe for the project

Exercise!

• Now use the 7 principles of user experience to evaluate the wireframes

Exercise!

• For our final exercise, let’s practice giving feedback!

Questions?

Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least. - Goethe

Wacarra YeomansDirector, Creative ServicesResponsys@wac_intoshwyeomans@responsys.com

Chris BaggottTitleCompendiumcbaggott@compendium.com

Thanks!