The purpose of the brief is to simplify and clarify your ideas, expectations and objectives. It's highly recommended to pay particular attention to it, as the quality of the work delivered will depend on the quality of the initial brief. That's why you shouldn't skimp on details: the more you know, the better you work.
Finally, the brief is a guarantee of security. It allows both parties to have a written record in the event of a dispute, thus serving as a source of arguments.
Finally, whether it's a creative, web or com brief, the rigor and meticulousness brought to its elaboration are the foundation of any good project.
A good brief is...
First set the context and problem: present your company/brand as well as the context inherent to your organization, take stock of the market: what are the competing forces, what are their strategies, what is their criterion of differentiation from you... Next, announce your positioning and identity then outline your offer(s).
After this presentation phase, go into the details: what do you expect from the final product requested? It could be a sales brochure, a website or an advertisement (TV, radio, billboards...).
Then comes thetarget chapter: who do you want to reach? You'll want to be as precise as possible, using qualitative as well as quantitative criteria such as age, gender, socio-demographic category... From there, you'll need to define your buyer personas, i.e. what types of consumers are they, what do they watch, what do they read...
Following this, define the objectives: what do you expect from the requested project? What will be its added value? Is it a short-, medium- or long-term objective?
The message to be conveyed is the high point of your brief: it concentrates everything for which you've called in a service provider: what message do you want to convey? What are the needs and expectations of your target audience?
To complete your brief, don't forget to include technical elements: the deadline for completion and the duration of the service, the budget allocated to the project, and the decision-making schedule for the chosen service provider.
And also...
To conclude, we'll come back to a few essential points to respect when drawing up a brief:
- Be simple, avoid technical language that only certain people can understand. Your brief must be accessible.
- Be clear and precise: highlight your ideas so that your service provider can fully understand them, and go into as much detail as possible so that your service provider can more easily project himself into your project.
- Be responsive and ready to answer questions and queries!
An essential communication tool for your organization and a veritable compass for your service providers, the brief is a valuable instrument that should not be neglected and approached with the utmost care. The specifications are just as important, and we'll tell you all about them right here: how to build your specifications correctly !