Creative brief
Tips for success
GET TO THE POINT
Try to avoid obscure marketing terms or buzzwords.
GATHER INPUT FROM ALL STAKEHOLDERS
Ownership for each project can be broken down into:
a) subject experts (academics, schools, professional services teams etc)
b) marketing experts (marketing team)
c) communications/content experts (creative and digital team, external agencies,
audience specialists etc)
By including all stakeholders and being clear on roles and responsibilities, you increase your
chances of gaining buy-in as you move forward with creative development. See the guidance
on creating a RACI.
Ideally you would hold a face-to-face meeting, to discuss the project, offer advice and gain
clarity.
The brief is, essentially, your write-up of that meeting. You send this to the people who are
commissioning the work, and ask them to sign up to what’s in the document.
It gives all parties something to refer back to once the project is live.
MAKE IT USEFUL
The goal is to create a document that’s a useful guide for anyone involved in the project.
Anyone should be able to pick up the brief and understand what’s happening, without
needing to ask further questions.
So your job is to make sure the brief tells people what they need to know to make the
project a success.
Project overview
Title page precedes every brief – short or long
PROJECT NAME:
Winter graduation brochure
Information is illustrative only
JOB NUMBER:
2015-001
START DATE:
1 September 2015
DELIVERY DATE:
1 January 2016
COMMISSIONER:
PROJECT RACI
Who’s responsible for carrying out this work?
The creative team, the web team, or external agency
Who’s accountable for the work being completed?
Usually the ultimate approver within SRM, and the commissioner
Who needs to be consulted in relation to this work?
The subject-matter experts, channel specialists and audience experts
Who needs to be informed this is happening?
Colleagues and stakeholders with an interest, but no direct responsibility
What is RACI?
BENEFITS OF RACI

Clarifies individual/team roles and responsibilities – eliminates culture of “checkers,
checking the checkers”.

Identifies who’s accountable

Eliminates misunderstanding, encourages teamwork

Reduces duplication of effort

Establishes ‘consults’ and ‘informs’ – leading to better communication
WHAT RACI STANDS FOR
R – Responsible
Those doing the work and making the task happen.
A – Accountable
The person with whom the buck stops, who signs off the task as complete.
C – Consulted
Those with subject/specialist knowledge who check for accuracy, or advise on strategy, but
aren’t commenting on the creative execution.
I – Informed
Those who need to be kept informed about the task, but do not contribute to its completion.
They may only be informed when the task is completed, or they might be updated at various
points throughout the process.
EXAMPLE OF RACI ACROSS A TWO-TASK JOB (PUBLISHING CONTENT).
Task 1: Create content

The Digital and Creative Media team is responsible for developing the content.
So they are assigned a role of R.

The Head of School has requested new web pages, so they’ve commissioned the
work. The Marketing team has approved the strategy and briefed the work, so they
own the process. The Head of Digital and Creative is accountable for the quality of
the creative content. So these are the accountable parties.
They are assigned the role A.

The ITS team needs to be Informed when the task is completed as they will code the
web pages, and ultimately publish the content.
So the ITS Team is assigned the role of I.

Heads of Schools are responsible for fact-checking the content, and will be notified
when the content is ready.
They will be assigned C, and I.
Task 2: Publish the content

The ITS team is responsible for coding the pages and publishing the content.
Their role is assigned with R.

The Marketing team, Head of Digital and Creative, are accountable and need to be
informed when this task is completed.
So they are assigned A and I.

The Head of School commissioned the work and needs to be informed when it’s live.
So they are assigned with I.
Creative brief template
WHAT
… IS THE CHALLENGE WE’RE FACING?


Background
Objective/Purpose
This is the “paint the picture” part around what the project is. Keep it as brief and
as concrete/fact-based as possible.
The subject experts are best placed to inform this part of the brief.
WHO
… ARE WE TALKING TO (AND WHO’S TALKING TO THEM?)


Target audience
Primary stakeholders
Who’s the audience, and what do they care about?
Who are the stakeholders on our side, and what’s important to them?
The subject experts are best placed to lead this part of the brief, with input from
the marketing experts.
HOW
… ARE WE GOING TO DO THIS?



Deliverables
Channel/distribution
Budget
What’s being created? How will it be delivered to the audience? Which channels?
How much money can we allocate to it? How does this split between design and
production? Who’s paying?
The marketing and content experts are best placed to lead this part of the brief.
WHEN
… DOES EVERYTHING NEED TO HAPPEN?
Who needs to sign off? Legal?
When is this being launched/shown?
What are the immovable dates?
All stakeholders to input.