How to write a creative brief: 10 questions an agency will ask first

Weak work from an agency often starts with a weak brief. "We need a great campaign" is not a brief; it is a wish. A brief is a document that tells the agency what to do, for whom, why and under what conditions. A well-written brief points the first presentation in the right direction, cuts down on revision rounds and makes it possible to compare proposals from different agencies.

The agency will ask the 10 questions below anyway. If you write down the answers in advance, the first meeting becomes a working discussion rather than a round of questions and answers.

1. What is the business problem?

A campaign is a means, not an end. Start by writing down the problem: in which segment are sales falling, why don't people know the new product, what position has the competitor taken? If you cannot state the problem in one or two sentences, it is still too early to go to an agency.

2. How will we measure success?

"Make the brand known" is not a metric. Write down a number and a time frame: the number of enquiries coming from the website in three months, sales volume during the campaign period, the share of people who recall the brand in a survey. Without a metric, the result will be open to dispute.

3. Who is the target audience?

Age and gender are not enough. What do these people do, who makes the decision, how do they solve the problem today, why might they turn us down? In B2B projects, also note how many people influence the purchasing decision.

4. What does the audience think today, and what should it think tomorrow?

The most valuable part of a brief is the gap between these two states. For example: "Today they consider us expensive. After the campaign, they should think the price matches the quality." The creative idea is born precisely to close this gap.

5. What is the key message — in one sentence?

A campaign says one thing. Cram five benefits onto one poster and none of them gets heard. Write down the key message and the two or three facts that prove it separately.

6. Which channels and formats are needed?

If you know the channels, write them down. If you don't, say so openly and ask the agency for a recommendation. List everything you already have: social media accounts, website, points of sale, planned events. Don't let the agency think it is starting from scratch.

7. What is the budget?

Hiding the budget is the most common mistake. The agency prepares a proposal that is either far too big or far too small, and either way time is lost. If you cannot give an exact figure, give a range. Also state whether production and media costs are included in this amount.

8. What are the timeline and key dates?

The presentation date, the decision date, the launch date. Also work out how much time the approval stages in between will need. More often than not, it is internal approval, not the agency, that delays a project.

9. What are the constraints?

The brand book, colours and phrases that are not used, legal requirements, the conditions of advertising law, labelling rules. Saying "we can't do this" later means another round of revisions.

10. Who will make the decision, and on what criteria?

Who will attend the presentation, who will have the final say, on what basis will you compare the proposals? A client that writes down its criteria in advance receives more comparable and more candid proposals.

Three rules of a good brief

• Keep it short. Two pages are enough. A long brief usually shows that the decision has not yet been made.
• One person writes it, the team agrees. The brief must be approved internally before it goes to the agency.
• Go through it together. Instead of emailing the brief and waiting for a reply, discuss it in a 30-minute meeting. Half of the revisions disappear right there.

If your brief is ready, publish it on the platform in the "Send a brief" section. Agencies that match your category will send their proposals themselves, and only the agencies you choose will see your contact details.