Why is a proper brief important?

So you want to launch an advertising campaign. Getting the right campaign and the results you are after comes down to your ability to brief your advertising agency correctly.

A well-written creative brief will give:

• background information – why you need advertising;
• your objectives and the response you’re looking for;
• what you’re prepared to spend – your budget;
• information about your target audience, usually your customers;
• opinions on style and tone – what’s acceptable to you;
• the content or information you want in your advertisement;
• details who will supply information to your designer or agency, and who will approve the creative work; and
• the deadline – when the work must be completed.

You should also list any other factors that might have an impact on your designer or agency.

Background

It’s always helpful to give background information on the product or service you want to advertise. Past ads, research, views from opinion formers can all provide useful insight into the issues facing you – and how to address them through advertising.

What you’re trying to achieve

Clearly state what the objectives of the advertising will be. Is there a requirement for a campaign or a one-off advertisement? Then set out what are you trying to achieve.

For example, it could simply be to:

• create awareness of a service or product; or
• increase turnover from new customers by 10%; or
• increase sales from existing customers by 35%.

Each advertisement should have one objective. You might also cover several objectives over the course of a campaign. But the overall campaign should offer a single, clear corporate idea. This is usually achieved through a consistent look, feel, strapline or sign-off to your advertising that stays constant.

What you’re able to spend

Whenever possible, provide a clear indication of your available budget. This will help your agency to plan the best mix. Many organisations are tempted to adopt the "you tell us how much we need to spend" approach as this negates the need to make a commitment. The usual outcome of this is that your agency will almost certainly come back with proposals you cannot afford or justify.

Target audience for your campaign

There are various ways of describing the people you are trying to reach. The most helpful approach is to imagine your ideal target person and simply describe them. Try to avoid being too general in your description, as this will not help your agency. Build a picture of them; how much do they earn, where would they be likely to holiday, what part of the country do they live in? Obviously, few will fall into this exact category, but it will help your agency to set the right tone and choose appropriate media. You can then indicate the wider audience if this is appropriate.

Style and tone

Your agency will have an opinion about the appropriate style and tone for your tarhet audience however, you should also set clear guidelines as to visual style and the written tone you believe is most appropriate.

Content

Provide full details of what you want the ads to say. Your agency's writer is there to transform the information you provide into compelling copy, which is well structured, grammatically correct and elicits the desired response.

Try to avoid putting forward suggestions for headlines and concepts as this will limit the creative process and is unlikely to lead to the most effective advertisement. Be precise about the mandatory information the advertisement(s) must carry. Long addresses and multiple phone numbers and logos will reduce the available space. Be particularly careful not to clutter your advertisements with unnecessary information: this reduces impact and lessens the communication potential of the advertisement.

If you do expect your agency to research a particular area, prior to writing copy, then advise of this at the earliest stage. Be clear about your requirements and be specific about the order of priority that the copy must give to certain points.

Contacts and your procedures

At the briefing stage, set out how information will be provided and how you expect your agency to relay information back.

If you are in the position of co-ordinating the campaign and require approval from other people, tell your agency this – allowing them to prepare for a longer approvals process.

Remember: agencys charge for their time, including meetings, so try to keep things brief, to the point and heading in a positive direction. Good preparation and advance planning should overcome problems in the briefing and development of your ad campaign.

Deadline

Be clear about when you want your campaign to start. Remember, some types of publication have long lead-in times, well before they appear in print. You also need to build in time to design the ads and book space.

As a general guideline, colour advertisements require further advance planning than black and white; while monthly publications require more notice than newspapers, which generally work to tighter schedules.

Other issues

Remember, too, to let your agency know about anything else which could affect them. They might, for instance, have to design an ad to meet strict corporate identity guidelines, i.e. they might have to use certain colours, logos, etc. Also let them know if you want to use logos from third parties, and if images or text are available on disc. You also make them aware of any restrictions put in place by publications or broadcasters on the types or content of advertisements they will accept.

Finally

Time spent preparing a good brief is time well spent. It will save time and money later and help build a better relationship and gain respect from your professional advisers. Sometimes however, less can be more. For instance, don't clutter the brief with unnecessary background information or statistics that are irrelevant.

Above all keep you target audience uppermost in your mind.