When you think of a creative brief, what does that conjure up for you? Most associate the term with graphic designers and branding/ad agencies.
Thorough creative briefs are also vital documents for any copywriter on every project they work on; it doesn’t have to be pages long nor should they be. A creative brief should be all about providing the ground-level “building blocks” or top-tier details of a project; background, purpose, company story, objectives, timelines, target demographic, positioning, differentiators, brand identity and style, and perceived competition.
The gist of a creative brief should answer the question “Why are we doing this in the first place?” If a definitive answer doesn’t materialize, that is a reason to take a collective pause. Why? Because you need to establish if your effort is to gain brand awareness or convert on sales, those are the top two reasons for most of the projects I write for. I then craft and finesse wording around the message to support the mission. If you don’t know why your “big idea” matters it will be really hard for any writer you hire to articulate that either.
Get Everyone Rowing Towards the Same Outcome
Think of a creative brief as a roadmap to get everyone from a starting point to a desired destination. Creative briefs organically should point everyone in the same direction and touch on all the essential elements of any scope of work.
As a writer on many varied types of assignments, creative briefs showcase for me, from a client’s perspective, what general expectations are. I ask for them before we step into any kind of discussion or discovery as I tend to have additional queries that stem from reviewing a creative brief.
I want to write effective and compelling copy for all my clients, and a creative brief helps me understand if they don’t know what they don’t know OR if they want words to do too many things. I have worked on a litany of projects that have included teams in both of those camps.
When It Comes to Writing Copy, the More Details Provided Ahead of Time the Better
Writing almost always informs design so if I know there will be supportive images or graphics that need to be incorporated that guides me as I write from the outset. Finding that out after the fact and having to then parse word work isn’t always an easy task. A fully vetted creative brief shares those details from the get-go which mitigates rework in many instances.
A strong solid creative brief is far more than a checklist. It sets the tone and the way forward for each project. Ideally, it serves as a catalyst for the brainstorming process and acts as a hub of information for me as a writer to reference.
A well-thought-out creative brief is imperative no matter the scale of the project. From quick turnarounds to long drawn-out projects, a solid creative brief is the one document all parties refer to throughout the life of the campaign or launch.