getting brilliant briefs from your client
DESCRIPTION
Making sure that we really understand the Client's requirements and objectivesTRANSCRIPT
Getting Brilliant Briefs From Your Client
Making sure that we really understand
the Client's requirements and objectives
Warm up
• Get into pairs
• Sit back to back
• Person 1 does a quick line drawing
• Now person 1 instructs person 2 to replicate
what they have on the sheet in front of them
• 5 minutes
• How did you get on?
Client perspective on briefs
Oh no another bloody
brief to write!
Excuses, excuses, excuses
• A recent IPA study
found that clients
receive little if any
formal briefing training
Source: IPA(2011) Briefing an Agency: A best practice guide to briefing communications agencies
I don’t have
time
The agency already
understands what’s
needed
No one taught
me how to
It’s a quick
turnaround
project
Agency perspective on Client briefs
Oh no another shit
client brief!
Check your attitude!
Clients get the work
they deserve
It’s your job to sort it out!
It is the role of the agency (especially
the planner and the account manager)
to develop the right communications
strategy to meet the client’s objectives
STEP 1: A brilliant client brief
Why brilliant Client briefs are so important
To clarify, and agree what the client wants to
achieve ...
...Which will help them recognise great work when they see it...
... Which allows the best, most effective, work to be conceived
ALSO it saves a lot of wasted time and money and makes remuneration fairer
Why brilliant Client briefs are so important
The equation is simple, tightly written briefs plus
passionate briefing equals engaged agencies,
impactful campaigns and strong market results
Source: Dominic Grounsell, Marketing Director, Capital One
What do we mean by a brilliant Client brief?
Clear about what
is needed
Objective Succinct
Clear definition of
the problem or
opportunity
Objectives/KPIs
defined and
quantified
Honest
The bones of a brief
CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL
GOAL
Why we are advertising,
what we want to achieve
KEY MESSAGE
The most important thing
you can say or do to
achieve your goal
REAL AND RELEVANT
SUPPORT
Proof points, emotional
and functional benefits
BELIEVABLE HUMAN
INSIGHT
Audience thoughts,
feelings, behaviour
How we can help
What can we learn from the pop
princesses?
1. Talk
95% of clients and
agencies prefer
written and verbal
briefs but less
than 50% are both
2. Be cruel to be kind
Build time in
Mandate it
3. Know everything about your client
Know their position and potentialShare, YOY growth, profit,
forecasts, share price, key issues
Know how they make money (and if they are)
What parts of their business/product are most
profitable? What affects their profitability? How much do they
have to invest, really?
4. I mean everything!
Know their agendaWhat do they want on their CV?
What are they bonused on?
Know their preferencesWhat are their favourite and hated
ads? What would they love and hate to see as a result of this brief?
5. Give them an education
Why it’s important
How to do it
Client briefing workshops
Agency inductions
6. Give them a format
Client
Brand/Project
Agency Project Lead
Client Project Lead
Approvals Names of all parties who need to approve this activity
Requirements What are the deliverables and do you need them in a particular format?
Budgets What level of spend is behind this activity? And what does it have to include? Please provide breakdowns of budgets if this brief covers a number of elements.
Media Weight For usage considerations. TVRs? Reach? Impressions? Number of sites/titles? Mailing volumes?
Timings On air from X to X OR media booked from X to X, first presentation, final presentation, final client sign off, key research dates
Mandatories For example: corporate or brand identity guidelines, campaign theme, brand icon, spokesperson, copy lines that must be used, legal copy
6. Give them a format
Where Are We Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently.
Where Do We Want to Be?
Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability?
What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief
Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way?
Who Do We Need to Engage With?
Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible.
Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them?
What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience?
How Will We Know When We Have Arrived?
Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates,attitudes etc.
Anything Else We Really Need To Know
Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
Life with bad briefs
BACKGROUND Sales of faggots have fallen, we
need to sell more.
Horsegate has been a bit of a
problem.
AUDIENCE Everyone, except vegetarians.
DELIVERABLES Campaign to do this.
Completely open brief.
Could be regional or national.
CHANNELS Adverts and cool social stuff.
BUDGET “There is no budget for ideas”
What happened?
Mind went
blank?
Wrote the
ad for
yourself
Over
complicated
things
Defined
versus
competition
Made stuff
up
The bones of a brief
CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL
GOAL
Why we are advertising,
what we want to achieve
KEY MESSAGE
The unique points through
which we can engage the
audience
REAL AND RELEVANT
SUPPORT
Proof points, emotional
and functional benefits
BELIEVABLE HUMAN
INSIGHT
Audience thoughts,
feelings, behaviour
23
Some general advice
• Get your story straight beforehand
• Take your time
• Keep it focused
• Be concrete, not abstract
• Speak English
Remember the goal is always great communications
The bones of a brief
CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL
GOAL
Why we are advertising,
what we want to achieve
KEY MESSAGE
The unique points through
which we can engage the
audience
REAL AND RELEVANT
SUPPORT
Proof points, emotional
and functional benefits
BELIEVABLE HUMAN
INSIGHT
Audience thoughts,
feelings, behaviour
Brilliant client brief template
Where Are We Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently.
Where Do We Want to Be?
Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability?
What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief
Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way?
Who Do We Need to Engage With?
Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible.
Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them?
What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience?
How Will We Know When We Have Arrived?
Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates,attitudes etc.
Anything Else We Really Need To Know
Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
How to get to your goal
1. Define the single most
important marketing issue
this activity is aiming to
resolve i.e. Why are we
doing this
advertising/activity?
2. Articulate what
communications can do to
help
EXAMPLES
People don’t know that...
People don’t know why we are
better
People don’t know what we sell
SO WE NEED TO…
Raise awareness
Demonstrate the benefit
Create an exciting brand
personality
Make our product as relevant
Top tips for writing a goal
• If it sounds like marketing
take it out
• Define what it is we want
people to do
• Start with a great verb
• Be imaginative
• Make it measurable
• Be realistic
EXAMPLES
Persuade
Surprise
Seduce
Tempt
Motivate
Invite
Enthuse
Inspire
Client brief to creative brief
Source: Mawdsley (2007) Sainsbury’s – It’s always worth trying something new
CLIENT BRIEF
Help Sainsbury's
deliver an
additional £2.5bn
in sales revenue
over 3 years
ADVERTISING
STRATEGY
Get each shopper
to spend £1.14
more per trip
CREATIVE BRIEF
Get each shopper
to add one more
item to their trolley
Clear inspirational goal
What is the challenge for
faggots?
What is the task for
communications
The bones of a brief
CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL
GOAL
Why we are advertising,
what we want to achieve
KEY MESSAGE
The unique points through
which we can engage the
audience
REAL AND RELEVANT
SUPPORT
Proof points, emotional
and functional benefits
BELIEVABLE HUMAN
INSIGHT
Audience thoughts,
feelings, behaviour
Brilliant client brief template
Where Are We Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently.
Where Do We Want to Be?
Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability?
What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief
Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way?
Who Do We Need to Engage With?
Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible.
Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them?
What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience?
How Will We Know When We Have Arrived?
Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates,attitudes etc.
Anything Else We Really Need To Know
Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
Tips for writing about your audience
• Describe only the people who are most likely to help you deliver your
objective –you can’t please everyone!
• Describe them as individuals not demographic groups
• Explain their relationship with the brand – current or existing users? Lovers
or haters? Frequent or infrequent?
• This is about their relationship with the brand, categories and channels –
not just anything interesting about their lives
• State their current thoughts/feelings/behaviour and how we want them to
change
• Say it out loud to check it’s real
• Be aware that people change – try to keep insights as topical as possible
• Make them someone you like – don’t be disparaging
34
Some key points to think about
• How interested are they in the product?
• How often do they use it?
• When do they use it?
• How do they feel about it?
• How do they feel about our brand vs. the competition?
• What do they ultimately want the product or brand to do for them?
Don’t go overboard: only include what is truly relevant to the
problem the advertising must solve
Believable human insight
• Who are the audience
we can realistically
motivate to buy (more)
faggots?
• What is stopping them
thinking/doing what we
want?
The bones of a brief
CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL
GOAL
Why we are advertising,
what we want to achieve
KEY MESSAGE
The unique points through
which we can engage the
audience
REAL AND RELEVANT
SUPPORT
Proof points, emotional
and functional benefits
BELIEVABLE HUMAN
INSIGHT
Audience thoughts,
feelings, behaviour
Brilliant client brief template
Where Are We Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently.
Where Do We Want to Be?
Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability?
What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief
Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way?
Who Do We Need to Engage With?
Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible.
Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them?
What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience?
How Will We Know When We Have Arrived?
Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates,attitudes etc.
Anything Else We Really Need To Know
Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
Competitor
comparison/
win
Impressive
price/deal
Service
tool/
initiative
Most
motivating
product
feature/benefit
Surprising facts
about the product,
usage or users
Point of
view
The best thing you can say or do to achieve your goal
Faggots are light but filling
Avoid double-headed propositions
• Think hard – if there’s a mandatory there, put it in
the mandatories or a support can go in the
reasons to believe
• Focus on the single most important, compelling
message given your objective and audience
British beefy goodness
Don’t overcomplicate things
• Give us the unbiased facts
• Be concrete, not abstract
• Don’t try to write an endline
• If it doesn’t make sense to your mum, it doesn’t
make sense
• Simple does not equal dull
Client brief to creative brief
We rescue XXXX
roadside
breakdowns a
year
Fourth emergency
service
Even the simplest, most rational propositions can
create engaging, interesting work, if they can
clearly be linked back to an audience insight or
something new and surprising
Key message
• What is the focus for
faggots?
• What can we say/do to
win more sales?
The bones of a brief
CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL
GOAL
Why we are advertising,
what we want to achieve
KEY MESSAGE
The unique points through
which we can engage the
audience
REAL AND RELEVANT
SUPPORT
Proof points, emotional
and functional benefits
BELIEVABLE HUMAN
INSIGHT
Audience thoughts,
feelings, behaviour
Brilliant client brief template
Where Are We Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently.
Where Do We Want to Be?
Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability?
What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief
Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way?
Who Do We Need to Engage With?
Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible.
Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them?
What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience?
How Will We Know When We Have Arrived?
Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates,attitudes etc.
Anything Else We Really Need To Know
Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
Top tips for writing
• Only pick the relevant stuff – to the audience and this
brief
• Only pick stuff that actually supports the one thing
you want to communicate
• Don’t over claim
• Think of this as the body copy of your ad
• Prioritise – make the important stuff obvious
• Don’t make things up and always try to evidence what
you have in there
• Can be the one place where more is better
Real and relevant support
• What are the reasons to
believe your key
message about
faggots?
Any finally, the account managers’ favourite ...
The detail
Brilliant client brief template
Client
Brand/Project
Agency Project Lead
Client Project Lead
Approvals Names of all parties who need to approve this activity
Requirements What are the deliverables and do you need them in a particular format?
Budgets What level of spend is behind this activity? And what does it have to include? Please provide breakdowns of budgets if this brief covers a number of elements.
Media Weight For usage considerations. TVRs? Reach? Impressions? Number of sites/titles? Mailing volumes?
Timings On air from X to X OR media booked from X to X, first presentation, final presentation, final client sign off, key research dates
Mandatories For example: corporate or brand identity guidelines, campaign theme, brand icon, spokesperson, copy lines that must be used, legal copy
What do we need?
Media – bought vs. mandatory vs. suggested
Budgets
Product inclusion – legals, T&Cs, substantiation
Deadlines
Make it clear what is a nice-to-have vs. a must-have
Make clear the things that can be left out too
Brief each other
• One group play client, and the other account
managers again
• The client group brief the other, you have 5
minutes
• Then the agency have 5 minutes of questions to
interrogate the brief
• Reflect upon your experiences
Example client briefs
• Pick a brief each
• Write a list of questions and queries you would
send back to the client
• Find people who also picked your brief and share
your interrogation