Back to basics: Creative brief workshop Becky McOwen-Banks Before great creative work can be done it's key to create the environment in which creative work can be produced. In this pres we look at the processes and provide a few tips for those with a hankering for effective creative work. Skewed for the in-house relationships but applicable for anyone involved in the creative process. Covers: structure, department relationships, Briefs, idea generation, evaluating creative work and feedback

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Back to basics
Creative brief workshop"
February 2013"
©Becky McOwen-Banks

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Why are we here?

3. Now is the time to change
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 New structure, new people – new landscape!
 Greater appetite & opportunity for multi-channel briefs
AND
 Because we’re not getting it as right as we could do at
the moment

4. Briefing workshop
1. Why are we here?
2. Identifying roles and the creative process
3. What makes a good brief?
4. The new briefing form and how to use it
5. Idea generation techniques to generate better
propositions
6. Let’s have a go
7. Evaluating work and feeding back
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5. In the past roles have not be clearly defined
 Historical setting with Creative as a ‘Service’ set-up
for Marketing/the business
 Responsive/reactive approach
 Production focus – not ideas
Moving forward
 Implement new thinking along a more cohesive
‘mini-agency’ model to result in more effective
creative solutions

6. What can we learn from the agency model?
Planning
dept
Evolving customer
and product insight
and defining
opportunities
[Stage 1 of brief
writing]
Clients
- Product expertise
Acc Handling
- Customer
knowledge
- Product knowledge
-! Market knowledge
[Stage 2 of brief
writing]
Creative dept
-!Coming up with
solutions to briefs
-! producing the best
possible creative
work

7. How does that translate to an ‘in-house’
set-up?
Clients (Product directors)
Marketing
- Customer knowledge
- Product knowledge
-!Market knowledge
-! Evolving customer &
product insight and
defining opportunities
-! Brief writing
- Product expertise
Creative dept
- Coming up with solutions
to briefs
- Producing the best
possible creative work

8. The brief is the essential element that connects all of
these areas to a single agreed purpose
Marketing
- Customer knowledge
-!Market knowledge
-! Evolving customer &
product insight and
defining opportunities
-! Brief writing
Clients
Creative dept
- Coming up with
solutions to briefs
- Producing the best
possible creative work
- Product knowledge
Brief

9. With Marketing and Creative together being the
experts for all communication requirements
Marketing
- Customer knowledge
- Product knowledge
-!Market knowledge
-! Evolving customer &
product insight and
defining opportunities
-! Brief writing
Clients
Creative dept
- Coming up with
solutions to briefs
- Producing the best
possible creative work
Our ‘mini-agency’

10. Why creative solutions are important:
 Same messaging again and again loses effectiveness
over time
 Less responsive comms = less sales = less profit
 And therefore less ROI and effective use of our money!
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“The definition of
madness is doing
the same thing
again and again
but expecting
different results”

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Let’s look at the
creative process

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BUSINESS
REQUIREMENT
(marketing & biz)
[Marketing & Creative]
Identify and explore
the problem
[Marketing]
Evolve ideas
[Creative]
Full artwork
PRODUCTION
Write a brief
[Marketing]
Marketing sign off
Feedback and
development
[Marketing & Creative]
Creative briefing
[Marketing & Creative]
Feedback/concept
sign off
[Marketing & biz]
Design & full copy
developement
[Creative]
Concepts developed
[Creative]
Present initial ideas
[Marketing & Creative]
Brief sign-off
[Biz / Marketing / CD]
Present to biz
(w reminder of the brief)
[Marketing & Creative]
Present designs
[Creative]
Discuss & feedback
(de-brief form)

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BUSINESS
REQUIREMENT
(marketing & biz)
[Marketing & Creative]
Identify and explore
the problem
[Marketing]
Evolve ideas
[Creative]
Full artwork
PRODUCTION
Write a brief
[Marketing]
Marketing sign off
Feedback and
development
[Marketing & Creative]
Creative briefing
[Marketing & Creative]
Feedback/concept
sign off
[Marketing & biz]
Design & full copy
developement
[Creative]
Concepts developed
[Creative]
Present initial ideas
[Marketing & Creative]
Brief sign-off
[Biz / Marketing / CD]
Present to biz
(w reminder of the brief)
[Marketing & Creative]
Present designs
[Creative]
Discuss & feedback
(de-brief form)

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BUSINESS
REQUIREMENT
(marketing & biz)
[Marketing & Creative]
Identify and explore
the problem
[Marketing]
Evolve ideas
[Creative]
Full artwork
PRODUCTION
Write a brief
[Marketing]
Marketing sign off
Feedback and
development
[Marketing & Creative]
Creative briefing
[Marketing & Creative]
Feedback/concept
sign off
[Marketing & biz]
Design & full copy
developement
[Creative]
Concepts developed
[Creative]
Present initial ideas
[Marketing & Creative]
Brief sign-off
[Biz / Marketing / CD]
Present to biz
(w reminder of the brief)
[Marketing & Creative]
Present designs
[Creative]
Discuss & feedback
(de-brief form)

16. Areas we are not quite getting it right at the
moment and so need focus:
 Identifying and exploring the problem
 Briefing
 Idea development
 Presentations
 Separate feedback sessions & de-briefs
 Combined presentations to biz
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17. Briefing workshop
1. Why are we here?
2. Identifying roles and the creative process
3. What makes a good brief?
4. The new briefing form and how to use it
5. Idea generation techniques to generate better
propositions
6. Let’s have a go
7. Evaluating work and feeding back
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18. 4C elleamrenittsy a re- keBye clear in what is the problem we are being
asked to solve

19. 4S eilemmepntlsi acriet kye y - Use simple language to enable easy
understanding

20. Accuracy - All the required information is correct
and to hand

21. Creativity - An interesting brief creates interesting
creative work.
N.b. Creativity here means being able to look at
things differently:
Connecting business needs with right target
audience, right message and right media.

22. Briefing workshop
1. Why are we here?
2. Identifying roles and the creative process
3. What makes a good brief?
4. An example briefing form and how to use it
5. Idea generation techniques to generate better
propositions
6. Let’s have a go
7. Evaluating work and feeding back
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23. Creative brief
What is the background & objectives?
6. 5.
Which strand of Saga’s brand tone
of voice are we dialling up in this
communication?
Job number:
2. 3.
Any dos or don’ts? Is there anything else important we
need to know? e.g. is it a test price? a
response to a crisis?
Any support material that will help
us out? Old ads/competitor stuff?
Sales position? Market share?
What’s attached in the appendix?
What are we creating and where will it
be seen?
Who are we talking to?
4.
The proposition - What is the single thought that this campaign
should be about?
Anything else we need to say?
(Ideally not but if so please limit to maximum of 3 points.)
What is the barrier? Why aren’t they
doing it already?
What is the key insight to
overcome this?
Job name:
Timings Briefing: WIP: Presentation:
1.
This brief was written by: Signed off by: Marketing Creative
7. 8. 9. 10.

24. Single message – multiple media
!! The new briefs will collate media requirements together
so we can be consistent in our communication journey
across all channels
DM
Ad’s
Email/landing
Experiential
BRIEF:
Campaign
proposition
DM
Ad’s
Email
Landing page
BRIEF
BRIEF
BRIEF
BRIEF
Currently: Moving forward:

25. The proposition deserves further mention
 Is NOT a headline
 Is NOT a longest-sentence-in-the-world-where-we-put-everything-
we-have-to-say
 IS the summation of the message for the piece.
Identifying what is THE most important thing we
HAVE to say so needs a bit of work…

26. Briefing workshop
1. Why are we here?
2. Identifying roles and the creative process
3. What makes a good brief?
4. The new briefing form and how to use it
5. Idea generation techniques to generate better
propositions
6. Let’s have a go
7. Evaluating work and feeding back
26

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Mind maps
(or spider diagrams)

28. A mind map is a diagram used to visually
outline information.
 A mind map is often created around a single word or text, placed in
the center, to which associated ideas, words and concepts are
added. Major categories radiate from a central node, and lesser
categories are sub-branches of larger branches. Categories can
represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items related to a central key
word or idea.
 We start at the centre with the key requirement for our brief (say X%
off your Car insurance) and the nodes move out to allow exploration
of what the idea means or other ways it could be expressed

29. For example

30. Mind map - example

31. Pen portraits
 Are short, informative
pieces written about a
customer type as a
specific person
 This stops us thinking
of our customers as
an amorphous blob or
number and can help
highlight what
messages will appeal

32. We start by looking at our recipients and
their needs:
Cold
[never bought]
Warm
[bought once]
Loyals
[bought many
times]
Lapsed
[bought before
but not recently]
What are the different mind-sets between these groups?
Which of these groups are we talking to – what will that mean for their
feelings about our product/company?

33. We then look at the product we are selling:
 What do we know about our products that could inform
our thinking?
 - Average age: ??
 - Predominantly booked by: M or F?
 - How is it bought? ‘Boast buy’ or private?
 Is there a key reason our product is better than the
competition?
 What feelings do our products evoke?

34. Pulling these thoughts together we can build a picture of
the arena our product is working in
e.g. Lapsed holiday multi-buyer:
Average age of past guests – 45/47
Mostly couples, predominantly booked by the man but researched
and pushed to purchase/final decision by the woman.
These guys did know us inside and out and booked regularly with us
(regularly = 2 holidays a year).
They are aware of our offers and inclusions – indeed, we believe it
was one of the reasons they used to book with us again and again.
But we’ve not heard from them for three years so we can assume
they are probably still travelling but with another company.

35. Which we can then use to write our single person pen
portrait
e.g. Lapsed holiday multi-buyer:
Meet Bill and Sarah – they are a working couple around 40 years old. They have an
active social life – love the company of friends and are really enjoying their freedom
now the kids have grown up!
They love travel and want to see as much as they can before their health gets the
better of them.
They used to stay with us and loved it – but then they seemed to get too expensive so
Bill insisted the went with AB Competitor and restricts their bar spend to make it more
manageable.
They love a good dance and exotic foods and being able to pack lots into a holiday,
without racing about too much. That’s why they’ve come to love all inclusive.
The thing Norma hates most about going away is Bill having to drive to the airport or
port – it’s always a horrid rush, up at the crack of dawn and always grumpy. Just not
the way to start a break!
If you asked Bill what he hates is the constant tabs that are racked up – service tips
and bar prices really can be a worry. It makes him cross that you’ve already paid to be
staying and yet they still charge you through the nose!

36. By interrogating this we can identify potential trigger
messages and what our proposition needs to say:
 Look what’s changed with XXXHolidays
 More for you at our resorts
 Lots of exciting new features for you
 Have you heard about all the new extras?
 Etc etc

37. Which builds in to the creative team thinking
 Look what’s changed with XXX Think you know us? Think again
 More for you from XXX So much more waiting for you
 Lots of exciting new features for you New to you
 Have you heard about all the new extras Have you heard?
 Etc etc

38. Briefing workshop
1. Why are we here?
2. Identifying roles and the creative process
3. What makes a good brief?
4. The new briefing form and how to use it
5. Idea generation techniques to generate better
propositions
6. Let’s have a go
7. Evaluating work and feeding back
38

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So let’s get started
 Hopefully you brought a current
work project with you. We’ll use
these as testers to fill out the new
briefs and start thinking of our
propositions.

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But great briefs are
only half of the story…

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For great work to
happen it needs
evolutionary feedback
and development

42.  It is NOT subjective:
I like, he likes, she
likes
 It is ALL related back
to the original
requirements on the
brief
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Evaluating creative
work is a skill

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Three pointers for taking
the subjectivity out of the
evaluation and fairly
critiquing creative work

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Does the creative
work answer the
problem you set out
to solve?
 There are endless ways to
express something creatively.
 While many folks judge creative
work based on personal tastes
and preferences, one way to
remove some of the subjectivity, is
to evaluate the creative work
based on how well it answers the
problem you set out to solve.
 Regardless of whether you prefer
the font, headlines or imagery,
take a step back and ask yourself,
“Does this solve my problem?”

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Is the style of the
creative work well
suited for the
audience?
 Once you’ve answered whether
the creative work solves your
problem, the next step is to look at
the element of style.
 But, here’s the catch. Don’t look at
it from an audience of one. Rather,
evaluate the style of the creative
product based on its intended
audience. While you may not
personally prefer bold colors and
loud music, it may work for a
teenage audience.

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Is there something
unique and
memorable about the
creative work?
 Lastly, take a step back and
evaluate the distinctiveness of the
creative work.
 One of the reasons you set out to
do something creative was to
stand out from the crowd.
Don’t stop now, evaluate how
unique and memorable the
creative work is.

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If the creative work you’re
evaluating falls short on any of
the criteria, don’t throw it away.
Take the time to identify what can be
improved or what’s missing and feed that
back to the team.

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Feedback

49. What makes good feedback?
 Is relevant to the original brief requirements
 Discussed with creative team at a debrief/feedback
meeting (not emailed or left on desks)
 Clear and understood
 Decisive – identifies what is not working and why
 Is summaried on a de-brief sheet
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What makes bad feedback?
!! Dictatorial
!! Comes too late to be helpful
!! Appears from an unexpected source (Creative drive-bys)
!! Has no relevance or changes what was originally asked

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Which in turn…
 No room for creative
teams’ brains to solve the
problem
 Removes feelings of
ownership
 Generally demotes
creative involvement to
production role

52. Examples:
 “The heading should be larger and in red”
OR
 “The heading doesn’t have the stand-out we are looking
for”
 “We don’t like the wording on the headline, we think it
should be “Come and see Father Christmas NOW”
OR
 “The urgency isn’t strong enough for us in the headline”
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53. A tool to help:
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creative de-brief – feedback
Client: Product name Brief date: XXXXX 2013
Job number: XX Presentation date: Date
Project: Project name Print date: tba
Account handler: Name Creative team: tba
How was the work received?
General description of what happened, who you presented to and what the initial reactions were
-
Type in here!
What’s working with the idea/piece?
What’s good, what was liked/loved
-
Type in here!
What is not working?
What are the areas that still need work and what do you feel is not being communicated or communicated wrongly? Is there
something we’ve missed from the brief?
-
Type in here!

54. 5 steps to getting the best creative work
1. Mini-agency collaboration between Marketeers and
Creatives
2. Well defined briefs with interesting propositions
3. Exciting, proud presentations from Creatives
4. Clear feedback and development sessions
5. Joint presentations to the business to build
understanding
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