A GOOD BRIEF

What is a brief

To understand what a brief is let us

understand the role of those who
write it
 What is a brief?
• If a servicing persons responsibility
was to mediate between the client
and the creative then we would not
be here talking about this subject
• It is the servicing persons
responsibility to give a sound
marketing perspective to
advertising and to make sure that
advertising achieves its objective
 What is a brief?

• Could you believe it, all of this is

done through a piece of paper
• Through what we call a creative
brief
 What is a brief?
• A brief is a simple document that
clearly outlines what advertising
has to do
• How is it to be done
• For whom is it to be done
• A document that takes into
account the brands need and
provides the creative with the
necessary ammunition to
 A good creative brief
Is brief and single minded
Is logical and rooted in a compelling
truth
Incorporates a powerful human
insight
Is compatible with the overall
strategy
Is the result of hard work and team
work
The good the bad and the
ugly

• The basic purpose of writing a brief

is to provide a clear and concise
direction to the creative team
• A spring board on the which the
creative team can take creative
leap
The good the bad and the
ugly
• But good briefs do a lot more than
that. They not only give direction
but also provide inspiration to the
creative team
• While a bad brief does the
opposite. They are very vague and
clueless
 How to tell you have a
good creative brief

• When you read one you’ll be able to

easily and quickly imagine all sorts of
ideas for ads
• If your mum could read and
understand it
Writing the creative brief
The 7 questions to 7+
 Leo Burnett creative brief
format
What do we want advertising to do?

Who are we talking to? And what insights do we have about

them?

How do we want them to describe this brand-How would they

talk about its future essence and personality?

What is the single most important thing we want them to take out
of the advertising?

How can we make this believable?

Is there anything else worth thinking about that might help us

get great creative work?

Are there any executional mandatories?

1. What do want the advertising to
do?
What do want the advertising to
do?
• Clearly state what do you want
advertising to achieve. What is the
problem we are trying to address and
what opportunities can we exploit.
Understand clearly that advertising is
just one part of the marketing mix and
therefore can only achieve objectives
that are influenced by it

• Try to be specific about what you want

it to achieve
What do want the advertising to
do?

• Try to be specific about what you

want advertising to achieve:
Increase involvement, create
preference, convince new users Etc
• Advertising can only take a customer to
the showroom but it cant make him buy
the car
What do want the advertising to
do?
• This is were your advertising
strategy comes into play. You
know what you want advertising to
achieve, now clearly define how.
What do want the advertising to
do?
• Good (Mercedes E-Class)
Build an emotional connection with the
E-Class by evoking the serene
experience of driving Mercedes
• Bad (Goldstar TV)
To create awareness for…Goldstar TV.
Couldn’t have been more vague
 The DNA of a good brief

• Remember a good brief is one that

is always based on a solid
strategy and an irrefutable
human insight
 What Is an Advertising
Strategy?
• The backbone of a good brief is its
strategy
• The objective of an advertising strategy
is to identify the means to the end. To
specify the marketing task that
advertising would perform
• It is one coherent idea about how the
advertising is going to work
 What Is an Advertising
Strategy?
• Quite simply it answers these
questions:
– What is the advertising going to do?
(Role)
– Who is the advertising going to do it
to? (Target)
– How is it going to do it? (Content)
– Where and when? (Media)
 Elements of the Strategy
Role of Advertising
– Advertising is a collection of words
and pictures, so what can it
realistically achieve?
• Generate awareness, familiarity, top-of-
mindedness
• Inform, demonstrate, argue, claim
• Create images, associations, feeling
• Address a negative
 Target Audience
Defining the Target
– Who do we need to aim our advertising at?
– How do they perceive the brand?
– What sort of relationship do they have with
it?
– What are they like as people?
– What are their motivations for purchase?
– What makes them susceptible to the brand?
 The Content (How)?
• The one thing that we can say to the
target audience about the product that
will motivate them in such a way as to
achieve the advertising objective
• It should be:
– Single-minded
– Focused
– Simple
This Is the Spark to Light the Creative Flame
 Where and When (Media)
• Media strategy and creative strategy
need to be developed together
• How much have we got to spend? What
will it buy?
– Choice of media
– Time length / space
– Time of advertising (seasonality of
sales, Christmas special?)

These Should Be Detailed on the Brief:

However, Keep an Open Mind
 2. Who are we talking to?

&
What insights do we have about
them?
 Who are we talking to?
• Stop treating your target audience as
objects and so avoid describing them as
“AB housewives between 20-40 years”
or “Cool urban teens”. Remember that
your consumer is a real living person
• Your target audience must be focused
otherwise you will leave your creative
team clueless
• Define whether the target audience is a
current user, lapsed user, medium user
or light user.
What insights do we have about
them?

• Before we try to uncover consumer

insights let us understand what is
an insight at the first place
 Insights

An insight is a simple human truth

that evolves from our
understanding of the world around
us
 A human insight is more
than…
• Just a thought
• Any observation obvious in
retrospect

It taps into an emotional hot spot. A

bundle of emotional confusions…
wonder, desire, shame,
inadequacy, boredom… whatever
 Have you ever…

Heard a story, anecdote or

simply a feeling from
someone else and
FELT….
 …relieved about
discovering that you are
not the only one who feels
that way
 “When my house looks
shabby I feel ashamed and
try to avoid calling anyone
home”
…your entire being agrees
with it - heart, mind, body
and soul?
 “For me going-back-home is
about anticipation, faces from
the past suddenly popping back
and forgotten conversations
suddenly recalled”
…Heard something and felt the
urge to contribute at least one
personal story or anecdote to
build on it?
“I once had a teacher who
was really interested in my
giving him the wrong
answer so that he could
make me feel stupid…
Whenever I actually gave a
right answer, I could see
irritation and
disappointment on his
Stuff that makes you feel like
that
…is an
INSIGHT
How does one get to it?

A lot of it is about…
 Search of your mental
library
• All of us have lived our lives on this
planet, in these surroundings, with
fellow men and women we
communicate to
• Scores of experiences and relevant
observations come alive when we
recollect them
• Most of us have experienced similar
situations or have similar reactions or
thought processes
• Catch yourself unawares in the act of
living
 Candid Observation

• One of the things “insight sensitive”

people are good at
• Whether you are a good creative guy or
a Star planner
– You observe people play out the drama of their daily
lives
– All plays out and unfolds in front of you as people go
about their daily lives
– Ultimately, we are not “buyers” who live to purchase
things, we live life and also purchase a few things we
feel good about
 Anecdotes
• Listen for anecdotes – at focus groups,
on the field, from consumers of your
product, or those of competitors
• Or anyone talking about his interesting
life experiences
• Friends, family, your Mom
• Because true insights lie buried in these
anecdotes or little stories
How to communicate the insight?

Can you pick it out?

 If you feel and know…
• That you have hit upon the insight, you
may not always be able to articulate it
well
• It takes a little practice to pick out the
insight from a story where it lies buried
and then to articulate it well
• In the meantime, convey the anecdote
to somebody else who is good at
articulation
 Do not begin “thinking” for an
insight.
It is more like Wordsworth
recollecting the tune,
“long after it was heard no more”
3. How do we want them to describe the
brand?
 How do we want them to describe the
brand?

• How do want them to describe the

essence and personality of your brand
• Don’t use manufacturers line such as
“Mcdonalds offers you a great time and
great taste” Speak to your consumers in
their own language.
 How do we want them to describe the
brand?

• Your brand is a combination of rational,

emotional and self expressive benefits
that it delivers. So how do you want the
consumer to relate to it and describe it
• Every brand needs to have a brand
essence because it is your brands
essence that drives the tone, style spirit
of your communication
 How do we want them to describe the
brand?

• Good
Vicks knows how I feel when I’ve got a
cold. Its like your mum when you were a
kid. Full of warm human understanding
and able to put everything right
• Bad
Vicks is the best solution for cold. As I
constantly suffer from cold I always
make it a point to keep Vicks with me
 How do we want them to describe the
brand?

• While you might thing that in your

brand you have a winner, be
realistic and clear about what your
brand can do for the consumer. Be
absolutely simple and single
minded about this
• Make sure that in your
communication you are not
making promises that your brand
 4. What is the single most
important thing we want them
to take out of advertising?
 The single most important
thing…
• Remember while your consumer is most
important for you, you may not be that
important for him. He is busy and
indifferent to most ads and he has
choices for everything
• So make it easier for him and most
important of all make it relevant and
important to him
• So make promises that are deliverable,
unique and benefits that can make a
difference to his life
 The single most important
thing…
• Though you might be advertising for a
bar of soap, or a car or a soft drink you
must understand that you are not just
competing with your competitors but
with every other brand that is being
advertised
• You are competing for that little bit of
space a consumer has in his mind to
retain things
• So if you are not single minded, your
communication will be lost in the clutter
of all other ads
 The single most important
thing…

• Good (Danish Light Beer)

• Beer without the belly

• Bad (Liril)
• Liril icy mint. Ice try karoge
5. How can we make this
believable?
 How can we make this
believable?
• Now think of those elements in your
brand that deliver the promise your
communication is making
• Your promise is only as good as its
support
• Give rational reasons to your consumer
to believe in the promise
• List only those supports that are directly
relevant to your promise
 How can we make this
believable?
• Good (ICICI)
Reduced interest on car loans
(only 9% as compared to 11% from
other banks)
6. Is there anything else worth
thinking about to help us get
great creative work?
 Is there anything else worth thinking
about to help us get great creative work?

• Don’t list down facts that are nice to

know
• If it doesn’t help your creative team, it
is not required
• This is best opportunity to put on the
creative cap
• If written well, can enable a creative
person to take a creative leap
 Is there anything else worth thinking
about to help us get great creative work?

• Good
We need to focus on the fit yuppie
and implicitly reposition the
regular beer as not meant for fit
people. However we also need to
be mindful of the fact that Danish
light is not a health drink
7. Are there any excecutional
mandatories?
 Are there any excecutional
mandatories?

• This is purely for brand identity,

corporate guidelines, legal mandatories.
Basically the do’s and don'ts
 Lets do it again..
Is brief and single minded
Is logical and rooted in a compelling
truth
Incorporates a powerful human
insight
Is compatible with the overall
strategy
Is the result of hard work and team
work
 Summary
• A good brief is one which is based on a solid
strategy and an irrefutable insight
• Is logical and rooted in a compelling truth
• Is single minded
• Clearly defines the problem and role of
advertising
• Talks the consumer in his own language
• Provides a spring board to the creative team to
take a giant creative leap
• Results in advertising that is clutter breaking
 Leo Burnett creative brief
format
What do we want advertising to do?

Who are we talking to? And what insights do we have about

them?

How do we want them to describe this brand-How would they

talk about its future essence and personality?

What is the single most important thing we want them to take out
of the advertising?

How can we make this believable?

Is there anything else worth thinking about that might help us

get great creative work?

Are there any executional mandatories?

 And finally…
• Remember, a good brief is like a G-
string:
Concise, covers the essentials and
very inspiring.

• A bad brief is like a pair of boxer

shorts:
Broad and boring but it covers your
ass.