The creative brief: why we find it so crucial to the success of client projects

A creative brief links the creative team with the client.

A (good) brief is a vital asset in the creative process. You learn so much more about the client and what’s important to them if you take the time to develop one. 

We’ve witnessed first-hand the value of working from a creative brief when multiple agencies are involved in a project. To give an example, Copestone routinely works with consumer healthcare brands, where there is a primary creative agency that sub-contracts the specialist content to Copestone. We’re working with such a client and agency right now. 

This client needed marketers and copywriters who understand their industry, as healthcare marketing – or marketing for healthcare professionals (HCPs) – is such a specialist area. In turn, we wanted to help our client be more focused on each project’s goals and objectives, and to help them understand what information we need as creatives and copywriters to achieve those goals and objectives. 

Whether we’re creating a leave piece or discussion guide, or slides for a KOL speaker presentation, we need a lot of information at the outset. Getting all the information together ahead of an internal project’s kick-off is important, but it’s especially important when multiple external stakeholders are working together to deliver it. 

For example, we need to know specifically who we are writing for – there may be a primary and a secondary audience. We may need to mention specific products with specific names or communicate a key message or achieve a specific goal. 

And ultimately, we need to know what the problem or challenge is that needs to be solved. If we understand this, we, as an agency, can help find a solution that could save the client time and money. In our experience, having buy-in from all stakeholders makes for a stronger, clearer creative brief.

What is a creative brief? 

For Copestone, a creative brief defines the purpose, scope and deliverables of a project to a creative team. A brief should get every stakeholder aligned so it is clear:

•    What the objective is
•    Who the audience is
•    What the main messages are
•    What the problem or challenge is that needs to be overcome
•    What the deliverables are
•    What the expectations are
•    What the timelines are
•    How success will be measured

Like a brand style guide, a creative brief is an ever-evolving source of key information. Once it’s been created, share it with the creative team, then host an in-person or virtual meeting to discuss the brief where you can deal with any potential issues or obstacles to project success. Following this meeting, update the brief where necessary and recirculate it. 

If, like Copestone, you’re working more directly with subcontractors, a good brief should allow you to get inside the client’s mind. If there are multiple minds behind a project, then a brief can help a client to focus their collective thoughts and be clearer on what they want out of a project.

Gathering the information we need

To get the information we need for a project for our consumer healthcare client, depending on the type of asset that needs to be created, we typically ask some of the following questions:

•    Why are you creating this item (leave piece, guide, presentation, etc)? What does it need to achieve?
•    Who is the target audience (or audiences)? 
•    In what setting/context will this item be used?
•    What is the key message you would like to convey to the target audience?
•    What problem (if any) is this item trying to solve?
•    What tone of voice would you like us to use?
•    What brands are you seeking to promote? 
•    Who are your key competitors (if relevant to this item)?
•    What supporting reference materials will you supply to assist in creating this item?
•    Is there a specific CTA? 
•    What are the timelines/deadlines?

A brief is supposed to be just that: brief. We’ll ask only the most relevant questions to define the business need and scope of the project. This information will help us achieve the client’s goals and create something of real value to the target audience.

And though we’ve used a healthcare brand targeting HCPs as the example in this context, this approach to creative briefs is equally relevant to the engineer personas targeted by our heavy lift solutions client, or the ingredients buyers of our industrial sugars client.

Creating your own creative briefs

We’ve realised the value of creative briefs in keeping everyone on the same page and clear on what a project should achieve, both for the client and target audience. 

Why not make creative briefs a feature of your brand’s marketing activities? If you need marketing support – or to consult on putting an effective creative brief together – contact Copestone today. 

If you need support to write engaging, audience-driven content for your B2B brand or agency, contact Copestone today.