Respect the Brief
In a never ending quest to make our work lives easier we constantly try to cut steps out of the process and eliminate mind numbing paperwork whenever possible. Some people actually like paperwork, but I do not hang out with those types.
Sometimes we over do it and end up making things worse off as opposed to better. Many organizations have done away with Creative Briefs in their productivity quest, and have suffered the consequences. Some telltale signs you need to re-examine your creative brief process:
· The creative team or agency never seems to “get it”.
· You have to constantly repeat what you are looking for.
· You lost count of what revision you last saw.
There are hundreds of examples of creative briefs only a Google search away, so I am not proposing that my favorite flavor is better than the rest. Most should cover the following: one key message, the target audience, some sort of call to action, the budget and how the solution helps solve a problem.
As mentioned earlier, I am not a big fan of paperwork, but by investing a little bit of time up front in developing a solid creative brief - versus a simple cut-and-paste job - you can avoid countless revision cycles down the road and greater success.
A solid creative brief actually simplifies your life since it is the easiest way to assure that all client requirements are followed and that everyone involved is in synch.
By nailing the creative brief you get buy in up front, which is much better than trying to herd everyone together halfway through the third round of edits. Can I get a hallelujah on that one?
Less rounds of edits, not only saves frustration, maintains momentum, and produces better end results but can also drive cost savings if you have outside creative staff working on your project.
Sometimes less is more, but not when it comes to Creative Briefs. Respect the Brief.
Tags: Creative briefs
