The document provides guidance on writing effective creative briefs. It discusses the typical sections of a creative brief, including the challenge, target consumer, insight, brand/product truth, and creative proposition. For each section, it offers tips on how to craft them in a way that will inspire creative solutions. It emphasizes the importance of accurately identifying the challenge, defining the target consumer tightly, finding a genuine insight, focusing on a real brand/product truth, and writing a proposition that bridges everything and excites the creative team. It also includes a checklist for reviewing propositions. The overall aim is to provide tools to create briefs that clearly lay out the problem and strategy to drive innovative advertising responses.

1. A guide to writing great
creative communication briefs
2015
Thomas Bunnell

2. I wrote this guide to act as a useful reference when creating inspiring and well-crafted
creative briefs. It’s not definitive, nor is it necessarily intended to bring anything
revelatory to the topic but is instead aimed at codifying some useful ideas and advice
on the subject.
The purpose of this document

3. This guide takes the view that the role of the creative brief is to act as a tool to inspire
imaginative responses to problems. Its value is relative to the truth and clarity that lies
behind its constitute parts and although every agency will have their own version of
the creative brief, most tend to fit on one page and include the following sections:
1. The challenge – the problem we need to solve.
2.The target consumer – the people who is the target of the communication.
3.The insight – the surprising truth surrounding human behaviour that is relevant to
solving the problem.
4. The brand/product truth – the feature or attribute that provides value.
5.The creative proposition – the key thought that pushes the solution process in the
right direction.
This guide helps explain each area and offers some tips and advice on how they are
best developed.
The role of the creative brief

4. #1
The challenge

5. The ‘challenge’ or ‘problem’ is the start point to a brief, and is the foundation on which to
build a strategy. As such, it is paramount that this is accurately identified because it dictates
all subsequent processes and what any output will work towards solving. As the saying goes
‘a problem defined is a problem half solved’.
The challenge should outline what is stopping a brand from achieving its business objective.
For example, if a biscuit brand’s business objective is to ‘increase the number of people
buying biscuits’, the challenge might be that people currently don’t perceive the brand of
biscuits as being nutritious. It may also be because people see the biscuits as being a kids
brand and therefore not for them. Or it might be because they see the biscuit brand as being
only for special occasions.
Solutions will naturally differ depending on the challenge. As such, it’s important that the
brief accurately identifies what is the challenge, which can be achieved through robust
research. Some common mistakes when writing the challenge are either relaying the business
objectives (such as ‘drive sales’) or outlining a basic pre-requisite (like ‘increase awareness’)
both of which fail to provide any sense of analysis on the actual challenge and are unlikely to
lead to a meaningful creative solution.
The challenge

6. #2
The target consumer

7. The target consumer (or audience) is simply the group of people whose perception or
behaviour needs to be changed. This group will often be the ones that provide the biggest
opportunity for growth or show the greatest proclivity for loyalty.
Within this section of the brief, a target consumer may include an outline of age, socio
demographics, or mind-set, but the key thing to remember is that a target consumer
definition should be clear, tightly defined, and above all, feel real and identifiable. This will
not only help when generating rich insights but will also allow solutions to have focus and
depth – broad vague definitions often result in solutions that fail to meaningfully connect
with anyone.
Although target consumer definitions need to capture the most salient and significant details,
they don’t need to be extensive. Strategists often use an appendix as a place to provide deeper
and richer target consumer information.
The target consumer

8. #3
The insight

9. An insight is a surprising truth surrounding human behaviour that also explains the
drivers of that behaviour or action. By understanding human behaviour through an
insight we’re able to identify a meaningful role and value a brand or product can offer,
which in turn can help form the basis of a communications strategy.
This may sound simple but sharp, effective, game changing insights are not only hard
to find, they can often be mistaken or misconstrued. Common failings of a creative
brief is when an insight is substituted by an observation or fact. In both these
instances, such insights tend to lack an explanation of why a human behaviour exists
or fails to provide any depth that makes it distinctive or revelatory – both of which are
key requirements of a powerful insights.
In this way, an insight is something that’s personable, human, and identifiable -
specifically for the target consumer.
The insight

10. #4
The brand/product truth

11. A brand or product truth is a feature or attribute. It is sometimes defined as a proof point,
reason to believe, or a unique selling point (USP), and is what target consumers look to in
order to understand the value gained by buying or interacting with the brand. In this sense
it’s not always something tangible (like a new flavour or the resolution of a TV screen) but it
can be conceptual like an organisational philosophy, set of values, or a vision.
The one key requirement of a brand/product truth is that above all, it is a real truth. A failing
to alight on something real will leave solutions hollow or meaningless. Or worse still, if the
truth is in fact false, will lead to dishonest solutions that that can be more damaging for
companies. Brands and products are likely to carry multiple truths, and alighting on the one
that’s most appropriate will usually fall out of an understanding of the challenge and whether
it meaningfully addresses it, as well as an understanding of whether it is a truth that is
unique to the brand or compelling for the target consumer.
In some instances, the brand/product truth will be self-selecting, as most products and
services will look to address a human need that is currently not being provided for within the
category, or one has been improved upon.
The brand/product truth

12. #5
The creative proposition

13. The creative proposition usually ends up getting the most attention in any creative brief, and
is the sentence that is amended again and again in order to ensure it’s clear, coherent, and
inspiring.
The creative proposition bridges the insight with the brand/product truth, in a way that’s
relevant to the challenge – helping to spur the solution process in the right direction. It is
also used as the barometer as to the whether or not creative solutions are strategically on
point. The phrase ‘does this creative idea answer to the proposition’ is a recurring question
during a creative review.
Different strategists have different schools of thought on how a creative proposition should
be expressed. Some will stress that the brand name or product should always be present
within the proposition, others demand both an emotional and functional benefit needs to be
outlined. Some prefer to use eloquent language whilst others opt for more colloquial phrases.
There are lengthy propositions, descriptive propositions, concise propositions, flowery
propositions, blunt propositions, and detailed propositions…
The creative proposition

14. …These stylistic differences tend to be a result of different strategic backgrounds as well as
the nature and requirements of the brief itself. Strategists will argue to the cows come home
about what type of articulation is right, but ultimately, a creative proposition is there to serve
the creative solution and strategic approach. Thus, one of the measurements of success is
going to be how well it resonates with the solutions team and how effective it is in outlining
an approach to a challenge.
I believe that at a very basic level, a brand should play an active role within the proposition
and that there should be a consumer benefit tied to an implicit goal. Equally important, a
proposition needs to be exciting and help make great lateral leaps during the creative process.
The creative proposition cont’d:

15. #6
The creative proposition
checklist

16. Ten things to consider when reviewing your creative proposition…
1. Can the proposition be supported?
Within an effective proposition there should always be clear line of sight to the consumer insight and a
brand/product truth in a way that responds to the marketing task.
2. Is it clear what we want consumers to do, think or feel?
This might be present within other areas of the brief but an effective proposition should allude to what the
resultant consumer action needs to be.
3. Is there one clear single minded idea at the heart?
Trying to get a proposition to do several different things is usually a result of a lack of clarity around the
marketing challenge and the priority.
4. Does it make sense to others?
A discussion with another strategist or a creative will not only allow you to road test the proposition, it
might also help you build upon your thinking and refine the thought and expression.
5. Does it excite you?
If you’re not excited by the proposition it’s unlikely that anyone else will be, making it harder to yield any
exciting work from the creative process.
The creative proposition checklist

17. 6. Can you think of more than one big idea off of the proposition?
A good test for whether a creative proposition is working hard enough is whether you yourself can see
multiple ideas.
7. Is it a proposition or a strapline?
When circling ideas for propositions, it’s easy to get carried away and jump to solutions which often take
the form of a strapline. A strapline does not necessarily outline a clear emotional benefit of using a brand or
service.
8. Can it be simplified?
Memorable propositions tend to be pithy and whilst an adjective can help bring to life to a proposition, too
many starts to dilute and provide a sense of uncertainty of what it is you’re trying to say.
9. Could it be applied to another brand?
If the proposition could readily be applied to a competitor it’s probably because it is not distinctive enough.
10. Have you given it the overnight test?
A fresh pair of eyes helps brings a renewed perspective.
The creative proposition checklist cont’d:

18. Thank you