Creative brief

A creative brief usually comes out of a single call with the marketing lead and the owner. We write it down and send it back for sign off. Four things go on the page: what the video has to achieve, who it is for, where it will run and what the budget is. Plus the names of everyone who approves.

Last year a request came in for a video for a trade fair. Half an hour later it turned out to be two things: a silent loop for the booth and a LinkedIn clip with an interview. Two different productions, two different prices. Without a creative brief we would have quoted the expensive one, because a vague request leaves no other option.

The process is simple. You send what already exists: a deck, an older video, campaign numbers. We ask for the one sentence a viewer should walk away with, and for the deadline that cannot move. The brief then feeds pre production and the moodboard. Two or three days including feedback, not weeks.

Honestly, a brief can be overdone. We have seen ten page documents specifying the length of every shot. The studio then only executes, and you pay for directing you did yourself. The opposite mistake is a brief with no budget. Refuse to name a number and you get a quote you will throw away anyway.

Our rule: a creative brief has to survive the one sentence test. If you cannot say in one sentence what the viewer should do after watching, it is not finished. We write it with you, not for you, and send it back within 24 hours of the call. Try writing that sentence today.