A Toast To The Perfect Brief

A perfect Pinot grape can’t grow from any old soil.

And a creative project can’t develop as it should from a bad brief.

Whether it’s a massive product launch or an A4 poster, a thorough and detailed creative brief is everything – ensuring the process goes down smoothly and the end product is as close to your vision as possible. 

We’ve had creative briefs of all shapes and sizes, from scribbles over the phone to Word doc masterpieces. We know one thing’s for certain – the better the brief, the better the outcome.

A good creative brief not only allows us to know exactly what you want to achieve, but it also encourages you to explore every aspect of a project, from concept to delivery, and gain a better understanding of exactly what you want.

Here are five essential elements needed for a great creative brief:

1 - Project scope – what are your main objectives and what goals do you want to meet?

2 - Target audience – who are you aiming the project at? Knowing this from the beginning allows you to decide what ideas will work and which won’t

3 - Key Stakeholders – who are the key decision makers and how will they impact the project?

4 - Timeline – what do you need doing and by when? This allows us to set clear deadlines and goals and work as efficiently as possible

5 - BUDGET – defining a clear budget from the beginning allows us to know exactly what we can produce/achieve and saves a lot of time later on

We’ve asked a variety of Avvio Replyers what makes the perfect brief:

Matt Hill (Head of Digital): “I’m a problem solver. So the clearer a problem is the better I can solve it.”

Jemma Dormer (Designer): “Background information is important. That way I know if a hanging banner is actually the most effective way to get the message across.”

Andie O’Leary (Design Director): “Put yourself in the position of the designer. Then you’ll know if there's anything missing or if you need to ask more questions before you finalise the brief.” 

Megan Mileham (Junior Account Director): “Get us up to speed as if we work in your company. It’s so easy to take valuable information for granted. Don’t be afraid to explain the things that may seem obvious to you.”

Beks Crook (Account Director): “Refine, refine, refine. Quality not quantity.”

Writing a great brief can be a challenge, but like growing the perfect Pinot, the more effort you put in, the sweeter the fruits of your labour. Cheers!