Well-defined roadmaps are essential for successful execution of creative projects. Creative briefs serve as roadmaps that can ensure that everyone involved in a project is working towards a common goal. Think of creative briefs as the compass and map for a creative project, providing direction and clarity from the project launch.
In this guide:
- What is a creative brief?
- Why are creative briefs important?
- When should you use a creative brief?
- How to write a creative brief.
- Creative brief examples.
- Best practices for writing effective creative briefs.
- Who should fill out the creative brief?
- Common challenges and pitfalls.
What is a creative brief?
A creative brief is a document that defines the scope and goals of a project and outlines the key elements. It serves as a roadmap for creative teams, providing clear instructions and guidelines to ensure everyone is on the same page and working towards a common goal. It’s important to remember that a creative brief should focus on providing direction and not specific concepts. The brief should provide a framework and guidelines for the creative team, allowing them to explore ideas and develop concepts within those parameters.
Why are creative briefs important?
A creative brief is a powerful tool that can be the difference between a project that flounders and one that flourishes. It’s the key to unlocking efficient workflows, minimizing miscommunications, and ensuring that the final product truly shines. Creative briefs are essential for several reasons:
Team alignment.
They ensure that all stakeholders, including the client, creative team, and project managers, have a shared understanding of the project’s objectives, requirements, and deliverables.
Efficient project execution.
A clear creative brief streamlines the creative process by providing a clear direction from the start, minimizing misunderstandings, and reducing the likelihood of revisions and delays.
Risk mitigation.
By identifying potential challenges and constraints upfront, creative briefs help mitigate risks and ensure that the project stays on track.
Brand consistency.
Creative briefs help maintain brand consistency by ensuring that all creative output aligns with the brand’s identity and messaging guidelines.
When should you use a creative brief?
Creative briefs cover projects of different shapes, sizes, and styles. Because of this, a tiering system is applied to projects to show what level of briefing is required. We explain Tier 1, 2 and 3 below:
- Tier 1: Non-standard, non-iterative, highly conceptual work. This work is the most prone to being ambiguous, which means creative briefs are a requirement. Otherwise, team members may not know where to start or get started and have a high risk of going in the wrong direction. An example is a full advertising campaign, which will require a lot of direction from the client before your team begins work.
- Tier 2: Execution of previous work across deliverables. This deals with already defined and completed work, so it doesn’t need the detail of a Tier 1 creative brief. But your team will still run a risk if they don’t use one. This could be a website landing page for an internal client. Chances are, you’ve already created dozens of these, so you have a general idea of the expectations. However, it’s always good to make sure you have all the information you need before you start.
- Tier 3: Edits, revisions, templated work. This tier requires the shortest brief of all, but even though it’s simple you’ll want a project description. Plus, if you let the little things through with sticky notes and hallway conversations rather than requiring some form of a creative brief, you’ll quickly run into problems.
How to write a creative brief.
Follow these steps to create a comprehensive and effective creative brief:
- Define the project and its objectives: Give a summary of the project, including its purpose, background, and goals. This should include a quick company history and the corporate value proposition, along with key products, competitors, and customers.
Next, clearly define objectives that the project aims to achieve. When developing your creative project objectives, consider these key questions: Timing, anticipated results, goal-setting, and measurable data. - Identify your target audience: Provide a detailed description of the target audience, including demographics, psychographics, and their needs and pain points. The more insightful the target audience information is, the better the opportunity for the creative team to create a piece of work that will resonate with this audience.
- Craft compelling messaging: Determine the key messages you want to communicate to your target audience. What is the main takeaway? What tone of voice should be used?
- Outline the deliverables: Specify a list of the specific deliverables expected from the creative team, including formats, sizes, and specifications. Be sure to include the file formats you need (for example, JPG, PNG, PSD), size information (for example, 300x250 pixels), and any other important details needed to deliver the right creative assets.
- Establish a timeline and budget: Set a realistic and clear timeline for the project with deadlines for each phase and a defined budget for the creative work. Most creative briefs include a project schedule with deadlines for milestones and deliverables.
- Determine key stakeholders and responsibilities: Identify the key stakeholders involved in the project and clearly define their roles and responsibilities. Marketing and creative teams are certainly essential in the execution of a creative brief. Additionally, social media teams, web developers, external agencies, clients, or partners are key stakeholders in all projects. Make sure all these stakeholders (and their responsibilities) are identified in your brief.
Creative brief examples.
Different projects require different information based on their participants, scope, and size. To help you get started, here are a few examples of creative briefs for different types of projects:
Website design.
This creative brief would focus on the website’s purpose, target audience, desired functionality, and overall aesthetic. It would include details such as sitemaps, wireframes, and design inspiration.
Marketing campaign.
This brief would outline the campaign goals, target audience, channels, content strategy, and key performance indicators (KPIs). It might include examples of successful marketing campaigns and competitor analysis.
Video production.
This brief would detail the video’s purpose, target audience, key message, style, and distribution channels. It would also include information about the video’s length, format, and any specific requirements for scripting, filming, or editing.
Best practices for writing effective creative briefs.
These best practices can help make sure that your brief is clear, actionable, and aligned with strategic objectives. This sets your team up for smooth and effective project execution. Here are key principles to keep in mind when writing an effective creative brief.
- Keep it concise: A creative brief should be clear, concise, and easy to understand. Avoid unnecessary jargon or overly detailed information.
- Be collaborative: Involve key stakeholders in the creative brief development process to ensure everyone is aligned and their input is considered.
- Review and revise: Before finalizing the creative brief, review it carefully and make any necessary revisions to ensure it is accurate and complete.
- Incorporate data and research: Building data and research into the creative brief adds valuable context and support for the project's objectives and helps the creative team make informed decisions.
Who should fill out the creative brief?
The team member who fills out the creative brief depends on the company. If you’re an agency or an in-house agency, the best practice is to have the representative from client services, or the assigned account manager, meet the client to go through the creative brief. It may make sense to include the creative director as well to make sure everyone has a sound understanding of the project requirements.
If you’re an in-house creative services team, you will need to determine what process works best for your team’s unique workflow. Perhaps it makes the most sense for the creative director to meet with the internal client to complete the brief. Maybe your team has traffic managers or production managers that would better fill that role.
At the end of the day, the thing you want to avoid is sending a document to the client to fill out on their own. This can lead to several problems:
- Client takes too long to fill it out
- Client doesn’t fill it out at all and gets frustrated
- Client only fills out some of the information
- Your team reads the brief and doesn’t understand it
To save time and frustration, whether you’re an agency or an in-house team, have an initial meeting with your client to fill out the creative brief together and clarify points as needed.
An alternative is to use a marketing work management software like Adobe Workfront with built-in creative briefs where, upon initial request, the client is required to provide certain information for the team. Even in this scenario, as a best practice it’s recommended you take the time to meet with the client and ensure everyone is on the same page before production begins.
Common challenges and pitfalls.
While creative briefs are essential for successful projects, there are some common challenges to avoid:
Lack of clarity.
One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that the brief is clear, concise, and easy to understand. Avoid ambiguity and use precise language to define project objectives, target audience, and deliverables.
Insufficient detail.
A brief that lacks sufficient detail can lead to misunderstandings and rework. Ensure that all essential information is included, such as project background, target audience demographics, messaging guidelines, and specific deliverables.
Overly prescriptive.
While it’s important to provide clear direction, avoid being overly prescriptive. Allow the creative team some flexibility to explore ideas and develop innovative solutions within the defined parameters.
Lack of collaboration.
Failing to involve key stakeholders in the creative brief development process can lead to misalignment and dissatisfaction. Ensure that all relevant parties have an opportunity to provide input and feedback.
Create a creative brief that avoids these challenges to effectively guide your project and set it up for success.
Mastering the art of the creative brief.
A well-crafted creative brief is the foundation for successful creative projects. By providing a clear roadmap and guidelines, it empowers creative teams to deliver high-quality work that meets the client’s objectives and resonates with the target audience. Following the steps outlined in this guide can help you master the art of the creative brief and ensure that your creative projects are set up for success.
And for those looking to streamline the creative brief process and enhance collaboration, Adobe Workfront offers a powerful platform for managing and executing creative projects. With Workfront, you can automate workflows, track progress in real time, and centralize all project-related information so your creative briefs are always accessible and up to date.
