Writing a Creative Brief 

Many creative marketing projects get underway without a clear sense of expectations between the marketing folks requesting the project and the creative folks delivering upon it, resulting in lost time and expensive rework. A marketing brief is the best way for the marketer to lay out a framework for the creative team. The process can be driven by either side – creative or marketing – but both sides must agree on the brief before the work can commence. Here’s the Creative Brief Template that we used while I was at Apple Computers. 

Background 

Please summarize this program and what you want to achieve: 

How will you measure the success of this program? 

Who is the Primary Audience? 

What should be avoided when talking to this audience? 

What do they believe before we tell them anything? 

Who is the secondary audience? 

Objectives 

What objectives are you trying to achieve? 

What are the priorities of those objectives? 

Can you suggest a strategy or positioning to achieve the objective? 

The Message 

If you could get one sentence through all the clutter, what would that be? 

If they asked you to prove it, how would you do that? 

What other major points do you want to communicate? 

The Medium 

What is the best way to reach this audience? 

Is there another way? 

Are there existing pieces that this piece must work with? 

How will this piece be delivered to the audience? 

Anything Else 

Any other design objectives or special circumstances? 

Are there any mandatories that must be in the piece? 

The Deadline 

When must the message get to the audience for maximum effect? (i.e., trade shows, events, product intro dates) 

When must we deliver the finished work? 

Budget 

How much money do you have to spend on this project? 

Has this budget been approved? By whom? 

The Responsible Parties 

Who needs to sign off on the final execution?