Client/Brand:
[Type over to complete]
Date briefed:
[Type over to complete]
Category:
[Type over to complete]
Date required
[Type over to complete]
Working title:
[Type over to complete]
Campaign dates
[Start/finish dates]
Agency name:
[Type over to complete]
Primary contact:
[Type over to complete]
Brief writer:
[Type over to complete]
[Type over to complete]
The exact requirement of the Creative/Design team
The Design Brief
[What exactly needs to be produced?]
----§---Introduction, background and business context -
The Design Brief
[What circumstances have brought about this brief?]
[What's happening in the Brand's marketplace that's relevant to this brief?]
[Which is seen as the Brand's key competitor?] [What are they up to at the moment?]
[How are they positioned differently?]
[What is the Brand's business strategy towards its competition?]
[What does the Brand product/service do that is new and interesting?]
[What is special about it?]
[What is the Brand Positioning (Brand promise/core value)?]
[What is the Brand's communication strategy?]
[What feedback do you have on the previous work from the target audience?]
[What feedback do you have on the previous work from the Sales team or other stakeholders?]
[What learning can they give you?]
[What FAQs should be answered in the designed piece?]
[Where is the product/service sold?]
[Who are the major trading customers?] [The major retailers?]
[Is there a primary account/channel?]
----§---The Brand context and personality [What are we trying to say about the Brand to our audience?]
[What is the Brand Essence?]
[Which elements are particularly important to this campaign?]
© This template is copyright MarketingMentor.net ltd 2011
The Design Brief
[What in particular must the campaign enhance/support?]
[What problems/challenges does the Brand face?]
[Why should people buy this Brand?]
[What are its strengths? Its weaknesses? Its opportunities?]
[What complaints are made about the Brand?]
[What objections need to be overcome?]
[When does the customer experience a 'touchpoint' with the Brand?]
----§---The objective(s) -
The Design Brief
[What is the primary (SMART) design objective that the Design Team must focus on/achieve?]
[If the Primary Objective is not obvious, ask yourself:]
[1. What evaluation data will determine if the campaign has been successful? or]
[2. What tangible objective, if achieved, will deliver the highest pay-back?]
[Is this specific to this brief or to the whole communications campaign?]
[Is there a designated target/KPI to achieve?]
[A response target? A response rate?]
[A cost per order? A cost per sale? A cost per acquisition?]
[A return on investment objective? A revenue target?]
[A market share or market penetration increase?]
[What other, secondary, objectives does the campaign have?]
[What will be evaluated to determine the success of the campaign?]
[Who will supply the evaluation/performance indicators?]
[The Fulfilment/Handling House, the Brand team, specified research companies ?]
[When will this data be available?]
[Is there an opportunity to cross-sell/up-sell?]
----§---The communication objective(s) -
The Design Brief
[What is the role for communication in achieving the Brand objective(s)?]
[How will this be measured?] [Are there past campaign case histories?]
[What variables/circumstances might have affected these results?]
----§---The target audience -
The Design Brief
[Who is the primary target audience?]
[Does this audience differ from the current customer?]
[i.e. is this a new audience, or are we targeting current customers?]
[What kind of people are they?]
[If you introduced Mr Brand to Mr Customer at a party, what would you say they had in common?]
[Is there a secondary audience to be targeted?]
[What does the ideal prospect look like?]
[The Primary target?] [The Secondary target?]
[What kind of people are they?]
The Chartered Institute of Marketing
2
[What is their relationship with the brand?]
[How do they feel about it?] [How do you want them to feel?]
[How do they feel about the competition?]
[How do they feel about previous communication campaigns?]
[Is there any research the Agency can look at?]
[Does the Brand team/PR Agency/Ad Agency have any insights?]
[Are there segmentation studies that will give insight into the audience?]
[What role does the target audience play in the buying decision?]
[How many people are involved in the buying decision?]
[Are we speaking to the decision maker? Influencer? User?]
[Who else influences the buying decision?] [What role do they play?]
[How is the buying decision reached?] [How long is this process?]
[What are the crucial determinates of that decision?]
[What features and benefits are key to making that decision?]
[At what point is our target audience in the buying decision?]
[When will they decide to buy?]
[How loyal are they to the brand?] [How frequently do they purchase?]
[When do they decide what to buy?]
[Where are they when they make this decision?]
[Where should our message be to most influence their decision?]
----§---The sales force follow up (if applicable) -
The Design Brief
[What is the timeframe, from contact to initial sale?]
[Who manages the sales lead qualification/follow up/conversion process?]
[Do they have favourable testimonials, case histories or anecdotes?]
----§---The Proposition -
The Design Brief
[Does the Brand's have a unique selling proposition?]
[Does the Brand have an emotive point of difference?]
[For this brief, what is the primary take-out for the target audience?]
[What message will get them to change their perception/behaviour?]
[What is their desired response?] [What do we want them to think?]
[What do we want them to feel?] [What do we want them to do?]
Key question that usually develops into the key message/proposition of the design piece:
[What needs do they have that can be fulfiled by the Brand? or:]
[What problem do they have that can be solved by the Brand?]
[What benefits does it offer the target audience?]
[How should people feel after receiving this mailing?]
[Which emotions should the communication tap into?]
----§---The support to the proposition -
The Design Brief
[Why should they believe this message?] [What facts support it?]
The Chartered Institute of Marketing
3
[What Brand features, attributes or benefits support this message?]
[Or are there emotional reasons to buy the Brand?]
[What is ownable (even if it is not unique)?]
----§---The technical specification (when/if applicable) -
The Design Brief
[1. Image: Stock/Commissioned/number of images/price restrictions/colour or B&W, etc.]
[2. Number of pages/inserts or whatever?]
[3. Number of colours, Special colours, etc?]
[4. Size?]
[5. Copy supplied? Written by whom? Provided when and how?]
[6. Functional requirements (e.g. data capture on a website)?]
[7. Links to external/3rd party websites?]
[8. Measurement mechanisms?]
[Other information?]
----§---The offer -
The Design Brief
[Is the sales process one or two stage?]
[Are they just requesting more information or making the commitment to buy now?]
[Is an offer to be made to this audience?] [Is there a Control offer?]
[Can we offer a free sample?] [Free trial?] [Money back guarantee?]
[A free offer?] [Other guarantees?] [At what cost?]
----§---Testing -
The Design Brief
[What direction can be given on testing?]
[What has previously been tested - and what were the results?]
----§---Media -
The Design Brief
[Which other media will be supporting this campaign?]
[PR? TV? Trade activity? Product news? When does it start?]
[How can the Agency support the implementation of these campaigns?]
[Does the website need to be updated as part of this campaign?]
[Is there a specific brief for the website?]
----§----
Integration with a core campaign -
The Design Brief
[Is there a media neutral 'big idea' that this design work must integrate with?]
[What element(s) should be common to all?]
[Strapline?] [Design icons?] [Images?] [Campaign phraseology?]
----§---Tone of voice -
The Design Brief
[What sort of mood are we trying to create?]
[What tone of voice will be most effective?]
[What Brand personality is important to the tone of the message?]
The Chartered Institute of Marketing
4
[What Brand values must come through strongly?]
----§---Response device -
The Design Brief
[What response options are most appropriate/affordable?]
[Telephone? SMS? Freephone? Local call charge? Available 24/7?]
[Post? Freepost? 1st Class Reply Paid?]
[Email?] [The Website?]
[Are the responses going to be datacaptured?]
[Is this cost within the given budget?]
[What information must be requested on the reply device?]
[To whom (name and title please) should the responder reply?]
----§---Mandatory requirements -
The Design Brief
[What are the mandatory executional considerations of the brief?]
[Is size a restriction?]
[What Legal requirements are there?] [For the Logo?] [Copyright?]
[Trademarks?] [Category legalities?] [Data Protection?]
[Are there Brand usage guidelines that the Agency can access?]
[Is a specific typeface mandatory?]
[Is there a specific strapline?]
[Do you have any advice on the use of images/language?]
[Does the Financial Services, Data Protection or other Act apply here?]
----§---Timing -
The Design Brief
[What are the critical dates of this campaign?]
[Is the campaign's timing determined by activity in other media/PR?]
[What are the timings of the Brand team's internal approval process?]
[Legal dept? Sales?]
----§----
The campaign budget -
The Design Brief
[What is the budget?]
[What exactly does the budget cover?]
----§---The response to the brief -
The Design Brief
[When (date/time) will the Agency present back?]
[Where will the presentation take place?]
[Who will be attending?]
[What facilities are available for presentation?]
[How should the first stage concepts be presented?]
[Black & White scamps? Colour concepts?]
[Mac visuals? As a mock-up?]
[How may copies will be required?]
The Chartered Institute of Marketing
5
[Who will review these?]
[Whose approval will be needed for the proposal to progress?]
[Who will be signing off from a Legal aspect?]
[What stages (concepts/copy/artwork/proof) will Legal need to approve?]
[Who will act on their behalf if they are away/on holiday?]
[Will any other third party need to give its approval?]
[What involvement will Purchasing/Procurement have?]
[Which regulatory body needs to approve the campaign?]
Key information to support this brief
Document location (e.g. attached)
Brand guidelines
Draft or final copy
Illustrations
Creative/Design brief
Photographs
Previous examples
Competitor examples
Legal/research/other:
END
The Chartered Institute of Marketing
6