Getting brilliant briefs from your client
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Making sure that we really understand the Client's requirements and objectives
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Getting brilliant briefs from your client
- 1. Getting Brilliant Briefs From Your Client Making sure that we really understand the Client's requirements and objectives
- 2. Warm up • Get into pairs • Sit back to back • Person 1 does a quick line drawing • Now person 1 instructs person 2 to replicate what they have on the sheet in front of them • 5 minutes • How did you get on?
- 3. Client perspective on briefs Oh no another bloody brief to write!
- 4. Excuses, excuses, excuses • A recent IPA study found that clients receive little if any formal briefing training No one taught me how to Source: IPA(2011) Briefing an Agency: A best practice guide to briefing communications agencies I don’t have time The agency already understands what’s needed It’s a quick turnaround project
- 5. Agency perspective on Client briefs Oh no another shit client brief!
- 6. Check your attitude! Clients get the work they deserve
- 7. It’s your job to sort it out! It is the role of the agency (especially the planner and the account manager) to develop the right communications strategy to meet the client’s objectives STEP 1: A brilliant client brief
- 8. Why brilliant Client briefs are so important To clarify, and agree what the client wants to achieve ... ...Which will help them recognise great work when they see it... ... Which allows the best, most effective, work to be conceived ALSO it saves a lot of wasted time and money and makes remuneration fairer
- 9. Why brilliant Client briefs are so important The equation is simple, tightly written briefs plus passionate briefing equals engaged agencies, impactful campaigns and strong market results Source: Dominic Grounsell, Marketing Director, Capital One
- 10. What do we mean by a brilliant Client brief? Clear about what is needed Clear definition of the problem or opportunity Objectives/KPIs defined and quantified Objective Succinct Honest
- 11. The bones of a brief CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL GOAL Why we are advertising, what we want to achieve KEY MESSAGE The most important thing you can say or do to achieve your goal BELIEVABLE HUMAN INSIGHT Audience thoughts, feelings, behaviour REAL AND RELEVANT SUPPORT Proof points, emotional and functional benefits
- 12. How we can help What can we learn from the pop princesses?
- 13. 1. Talk 95% of clients and agencies prefer written and verbal briefs but less than 50% are both
- 14. 2. Be cruel to be kind Build time in Mandate it
- 15. 3. Know everything about your client Know their position and potential Share, YOY growth, profit, forecasts, share price, key issues Know how they make money (and if they are) What parts of their business/product are most profitable? What affects their profitability? How much do they have to invest, really?
- 16. 4. I mean everything! Know their preferences What are their favourite and hated ads? What would they love and hate to see as a result of this brief? Know their agenda What do they want on their CV? What are they bonused on?
- 17. 5. Give them an education Why it’s important How to do it Client briefing workshops Agency inductions
- 18. 6. Give them a format Client Brand/Project Agency Project Lead Client Project Lead Approvals Names of all parties who need to approve this activity Requirements What are the deliverables and do you need them in a particular format? Budgets What level of spend is behind this activity? And what does it have to include? Please provide breakdowns of budgets if this brief covers a number of elements. Media Weight For usage considerations. TVRs? Reach? Impressions? Number of sites/titles? Mailing volumes? Timings On air from X to X OR media booked from X to X, first presentation, final presentation, final client sign off, key research dates Mandatories For example: corporate or brand identity guidelines, campaign theme, brand icon, spokesperson, copy lines that must be used, legal copy
- 19. 6. Give them a format Where AreWe Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently. Where Do We Want to Be? Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability? What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way? Who Do We Need to Engage With? Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible. Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them? What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience? How Will We Know When We Have Arrived? Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates, attitudes etc. Anything Else We Really Need To Know Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
- 20. Life with bad briefs BACKGROUND Sales of faggots have fallen, we need to sell more. Horsegate has been a bit of a problem. AUDIENCE Everyone, except vegetarians. DELIVERABLES Campaign to do this. Completely open brief. Could be regional or national. CHANNELS Adverts and cool social stuff. BUDGET “There is no budget for ideas”
- 21. What happened? Mind went blank? Wrote the ad for yourself Over complicated things Defined versus competition Made stuff up
- 22. The bones of a brief CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL GOAL Why we are advertising, what we want to achieve KEY MESSAGE The unique points through which we can engage the audience BELIEVABLE HUMAN INSIGHT Audience thoughts, feelings, behaviour REAL AND RELEVANT SUPPORT Proof points, emotional and functional benefits
- 23. 23 Some general advice • Get your story straight beforehand • Take your time • Keep it focused • Be concrete, not abstract • Speak English Remember the goal is always great communications
- 24. The bones of a brief CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL GOAL Why we are advertising, what we want to achieve KEY MESSAGE The unique points through which we can engage the audience BELIEVABLE HUMAN INSIGHT Audience thoughts, feelings, behaviour REAL AND RELEVANT SUPPORT Proof points, emotional and functional benefits
- 25. Brilliant client brief template Where AreWe Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently. Where Do We Want to Be? Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability? What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way? Who Do We Need to Engage With? Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible. Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them? What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience? How Will We Know When We Have Arrived? Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates, attitudes etc. Anything Else We Really Need To Know Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
- 26. How to get to your goal 1. Define the single most important marketing issue this activity is aiming to resolve i.e. Why are we doing this advertising/activity? 2. Articulate what communications can do to help EXAMPLES People don’t know that... People don’t know why we are better People don’t know what we sell SO WE NEED TO… Raise awareness Demonstrate the benefit Create an exciting brand personality Make our product as relevant
- 27. Top tips for writing a goal • If it sounds like marketing take it out • Define what it is we want people to do • Start with a great verb • Be imaginative • Make it measurable • Be realistic EXAMPLES Persuade Surprise Seduce Tempt Motivate Invite Enthuse Inspire
- 28. Client brief to creative brief Source: Mawdsley (2007) Sainsbury’s – It’s always worth trying something new CLIENT BRIEF Help Sainsbury's deliver an additional £2.5bn in sales revenue over 3 years ADVERTISING STRATEGY Get each shopper to spend £1.14 more per trip CREATIVE BRIEF Get each shopper to add one more item to their trolley
- 30. Clear inspirational goal What is the challenge for faggots? What is the task for communications
- 31. The bones of a brief CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL GOAL Why we are advertising, what we want to achieve KEY MESSAGE The unique points through which we can engage the audience BELIEVABLE HUMAN INSIGHT Audience thoughts, feelings, behaviour REAL AND RELEVANT SUPPORT Proof points, emotional and functional benefits
- 32. Brilliant client brief template Where AreWe Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently. Where Do We Want to Be? Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability? What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way? Who Do We Need to Engage With? Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible. Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them? What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience? How Will We Know When We Have Arrived? Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates, attitudes etc. Anything Else We Really Need To Know Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
- 33. Tips for writing about your audience • Describe only the people who are most likely to help you deliver your objective –you can’t please everyone! • Describe them as individuals not demographic groups • Explain their relationship with the brand – current or existing users? Lovers or haters? Frequent or infrequent? • This is about their relationship with the brand, categories and channels – not just anything interesting about their lives • State their current thoughts/feelings/behaviour and how we want them to change • Say it out loud to check it’s real • Be aware that people change – try to keep insights as topical as possible • Make them someone you like – don’t be disparaging
- 34. 34 Some key points to think about • How interested are they in the product? • How often do they use it? • When do they use it? • How do they feel about it? • How do they feel about our brand vs. the competition? • What do they ultimately want the product or brand to do for them? Don’t go overboard: only include what is truly relevant to the problem the advertising must solve
- 35. Believable human insight • Who are the audience we can realistically motivate to buy (more) faggots? • What is stopping them thinking/doing what we want?
- 36. The bones of a brief CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL GOAL Why we are advertising, what we want to achieve KEY MESSAGE The unique points through which we can engage the audience BELIEVABLE HUMAN INSIGHT Audience thoughts, feelings, behaviour REAL AND RELEVANT SUPPORT Proof points, emotional and functional benefits
- 37. Brilliant client brief template Where AreWe Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently. Where Do We Want to Be? Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability? What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way? Who Do We Need to Engage With? Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible. Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them? What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience? How Will We Know When We Have Arrived? Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates, attitudes etc. Anything Else We Really Need To Know Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
- 38. The best thing you can say or do to achieve your goal Impressive price/deal Competitor comparison/ win Service tool/ initiative Surprising facts about the product, usage or users Most motivating product feature/benefit Point of view
- 39. Avoid double-headed propositions Faggots are light but filling • Think hard – if there’s a mandatory there, put it in the mandatories or a support can go in the reasons to believe • Focus on the single most important, compelling message given your objective and audience
- 40. Don’t overcomplicate things British beefy goodness • Give us the unbiased facts • Be concrete, not abstract • Don’t try to write an endline • If it doesn’t make sense to your mum, it doesn’t make sense • Simple does not equal dull
- 41. Client brief to creative brief Even the simplest, most rational propositions can create engaging, interesting work, if they can clearly be linked back to an audience insight or something new and surprising We rescue XXXX roadside breakdowns a year Fourth emergency service
- 42. Key message • What is the focus for faggots? • What can we say/do to win more sales?
- 43. The bones of a brief CLEAR INSPIRATIONAL GOAL Why we are advertising, what we want to achieve KEY MESSAGE The unique points through which we can engage the audience BELIEVABLE HUMAN INSIGHT Audience thoughts, feelings, behaviour REAL AND RELEVANT SUPPORT Proof points, emotional and functional benefits
- 44. Brilliant client brief template Where AreWe Now? Think about the big picture and provide information regarding the key issues facing the brand, its attributes, how it’s used, the brand’s positioning, the market context and how it’s being communicated currently. Where Do We Want to Be? Should include SMART sales or marketing objectives. What will have changed as a result of this brief being executed successfully? Increased sales? Usage? Fame? Reputation? Profitability? What is the Exact Purpose of This Brief Should include SMART communications objectives. Are you trying to reposition this brand? Are you launching a new product/brand? Encouraging people to look at the brand in a different way? Who Do We Need to Engage With? Target audience and insights. Provide as rich and vivid a description of the target audience and their relationship to the brand/product as possible. Unique Points Through Which We Can Engage With Them? What do you feel makes the brand/product distinct and why does it matter to our audience? How Will We Know When We Have Arrived? Measures e.g. sales, response rates, conversion rates, awareness levels, usage rates, attitudes etc. Anything Else We Really Need To Know Brand architectures? Other activity this needs to fit with? Learnings from previous? Competitor activity? Practicalities like legal or media constraints?
- 45. Top tips for writing • Only pick the relevant stuff – to the audience and this brief • Only pick stuff that actually supports the one thing you want to communicate • Don’t over claim • Think of this as the body copy of your ad • Prioritise – make the important stuff obvious • Don’t make things up and always try to evidence what you have in there • Can be the one place where more is better
- 46. Real and relevant support • What are the reasons to believe your key message about faggots?
- 47. Any finally, the account managers’ favourite ... The detail
- 48. Brilliant client brief template Client Brand/Project Agency Project Lead Client Project Lead Approvals Names of all parties who need to approve this activity Requirements What are the deliverables and do you need them in a particular format? Budgets What level of spend is behind this activity? And what does it have to include? Please provide breakdowns of budgets if this brief covers a number of elements. Media Weight For usage considerations. TVRs? Reach? Impressions? Number of sites/titles? Mailing volumes? Timings On air from X to X OR media booked from X to X, first presentation, final presentation, final client sign off, key research dates Mandatories For example: corporate or brand identity guidelines, campaign theme, brand icon, spokesperson, copy lines that must be used, legal copy
- 49. What do we need? Media – bought vs. mandatory vs. suggested Budgets Product inclusion – legals, T&Cs, substantiation Deadlines Make it clear what is a nice-to-have vs. a must-have Make clear the things that can be left out too
- 50. Brief each other • One group play client, and the other account managers again • The client group brief the other, you have 5 minutes • Then the agency have 5 minutes of questions to interrogate the brief • Reflect upon your experiences
- 51. Example client briefs • Pick a brief each • Write a list of questions and queries you would send back to the client • Find people who also picked your brief and share your interrogation
Editor's Notes
- CLIENT KAT (TALKING AT DESK): I hate writing agency briefs I love seeing work, but hate briefing it I am not used to being concise and filling out boxes – I write long reports and business proposals I use numbers more than words I come from an operations background so I am not used to thinking creatively and inspiring I work in facts and figures and this airy fairy stiff doesn’t really fly with me
- CLIENT KAT: I also have a lot of good reasons for not writing proper briefs Firstly, don’t tell anyone but I don’t actually know how to This is not uncommon, according to the chart most marketers have no formal training in briefing agencies – we are usually just told how by colleagues so bad habits are handed down Most of us come from an operations, product development or sales backgrounds – so this is completely alien Also, if I’m honest I don’t see the worth of a brief – it takes as long to write the brief as to get the work I have 7 other Ps to think about Communications are really not my priority I am in control of everything from logistics to price reductions All of these things have a bigger immediate effect on sales and profit than communications This is what I am bonused on, so what do you think I am going to focus my time on? Plus I have a good relationship with my agency so you probably get what I want anyway – don’t you? I don’t know why they keep insisting on getting me to fill out this bloody template
- PLANNER KAT (RECEIVING EMAIL ON COMPUTER): Oh no another shit client brief A 3 line email with 100 attachments of useless consumer data and product specs Now I’m going to have to filter through all this shit and try and figure out what they want! There is no filter on the info, no attention, no thought and they think this is Ok because they had a two minute chat to me about it at the end of a meeting last week
- PLANNER KAT: Well if they can’t be bothered to brief properly, why should we do a good job of the work? This obviously isn’t an important project We can just do what we want, as their brief is not clear
- PLANNER KAT: Whoah! Actually we are there to advise clients – that is what we are paid to do It is our job to sort this out
- PLANNER KAT: Brilliant briefs stop agencies from developing solutions that don’t meet the client’s needs On average it takes an agency 3 rounds of creative development to get it right, this could easily be slashed if there is a good, clear brief at the start In such a subjective process only a clear agreed brief can be used as an objective yardstick for assessing creative work READ FROM SLIDE PBR requires mutually agreed KPIs and measurable objectives The problem with informal briefing is that it makes a huge assumption that the person being briefed shares the unstated knowledge of the person doing the briefing. It’s likely that some key facts or knowledge in the client’s mind aren’t written into the brief, because they assume the agency will already know these. And that’s where the misunderstandings can begin.
- CLIENT KAT: Ok Ok I know they are important! Other prominent clients know too READ FROM SLIDE If I can’t articulate what I want myself and defend/justify it in questioning then the agency won’t get it, they’ll come up with the wrong solution, I won’t understand why it’s the wrong solution, and I’ll burn money in the process Not writing a proper brief actually leaves me exposed
- PLANNER KAT: Ok, so we know brilliant briefs are important How do we define a brilliant client brief? READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: And don’t overcomplicate things We only really need 4 pieces of information to start work READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: So we know what we want, how can we help?
- PLANNER KAT (PICKING UP THE PHONE): READ FROM SLIDE Make it a discursive process – don’t let the client feel on their own Keep the dialogue flowing – same as with creatives and creative briefing
- PLANNER KAT: Don’t be too kind, don’t start work without an agreed brief – we are our own worst enemy READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: Chat to your client Offer them workshops with us and them to learn how to brief Also use agency inductions to chat process and why client briefs are so important READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: Most important is an easy, no-intimidating format to fill out Here is one I use First page is the detail READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: Second is the meat of the brief READ FROM SLIDE Come along to the Brilliant Basics training session to experience an interactive workshop you can run with your clients to enable them to fill this out to the best of their ability
- PLANNER KAT: And don’t overcomplicate things We only really need 4 pieces of information to start work READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: And don’t overcomplicate things We only really need 4 pieces of information to start work READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: Second is the meat of the brief READ FROM SLIDE Come along to the Brilliant Basics training session to experience an interactive workshop you can run with your clients to enable them to fill this out to the best of their ability
- The business background and commercial context of the assignment. A good brief must state the problem clearly – a problem well defined is a problem half solved, after all. So spell out the specific goals or objectives you are hoping to achieve. Detail the attitude or behaviour change you are hoping to effect via your communication. The problem creativity would need to help solve was clear: £2.5bn extra sales. But this initially proved too big a problem to be useful input into the creative process. Previously communications had been used to get people to 'switch' to Sainsbury's – to win shoppers. But the days when people chose one shop once a week were gone: everybody has a repertoire of grocery shops these days. Consistent with Justin King's belief at the time that the recovery would be led by existing shoppers spending more, we re-framed the role for communications as being about winning more pounds per trip. This led to an astonishingly simple analysis of the objective. With 14m transactions a week and three years to achieve the goal, we calculated that we would need to earn an extra £1.14 for every shopping trip: l £1.14 × 52 weeks × 3 years × 14m customers = £2.5bn This transformed the role for communications: l From: Helping deliver £2.5bn extra sales l To: Getting shoppers to spend a little extra
- PLANNER KAT: And don’t overcomplicate things We only really need 4 pieces of information to start work READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: Second is the meat of the brief READ FROM SLIDE Come along to the Brilliant Basics training session to experience an interactive workshop you can run with your clients to enable them to fill this out to the best of their ability
- PLANNER KAT: And don’t overcomplicate things We only really need 4 pieces of information to start work READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: Second is the meat of the brief READ FROM SLIDE Come along to the Brilliant Basics training session to experience an interactive workshop you can run with your clients to enable them to fill this out to the best of their ability
- PLANNER KAT: And don’t overcomplicate things We only really need 4 pieces of information to start work READ FROM SLIDE
- PLANNER KAT: Second is the meat of the brief READ FROM SLIDE Come along to the Brilliant Basics training session to experience an interactive workshop you can run with your clients to enable them to fill this out to the best of their ability
- PLANNER KAT: Most important is an easy, no-intimidating format to fill out Here is one I use First page is the detail READ FROM SLIDE
- BA example “no need to show planes, inside or out, nor smiling cabin crew, champagne, warm towels or any other symbols of service”