A totally subjective creative brief template review

This piece is not about arguing for or against creative briefs (Jon Steel has some good arguments for using creative briefs and briefings if you’re interested). Instead it’s a quick review of some different creative brief templates I’ve tried over the past year or so. 

Jung von Matt

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This is the brief template of my agency. It features a before-and-after effect box and a section called The Bri which is sort of a condensed version of the BRIef. It’s shaped like a beer coaster, because the middle part also exists as a physical beer coaster which can be printed on and handed out to creatives – over a beer of course. 

The backside of The Bri is a concept starter that’s filled in by the creative director. 

Because the brief template is German it also includes a calender for better organisation.

Pros: The before-and-after effect and the integration with CD and planner in the creative process.

Cons: Overly complex with many different elements confuses creatives not to mention account people.

Verdict: Typically German. Intentions are good, but it's too complex to be practical - that's why it's being replaced by a simplified version. 5/10

M&C Saatchi 

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This brief follows the M&C Saatchi philosophy of brutal simplicity and one word equity, and the whole brief is built around this idea. The setup of this brief is not totally unique, but there’s kind of a nice flow and logic throughout the brief. 

Pros: Good amount of elements. Requires structured thinking.

Cons: One simple proposition might not always be the solution.

Verdict: My favourite brief for standard projects. Gets the job done. 7/10. 

Fallon

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There’s a trend among some agencies to have a ”naked” brief (Saatchi & Saatchi is another), perhaps a reaction to the fact that good briefing templates is an oxymoron. 

The nakedness allows for some flexibility and avoiding unnecessary bullshit that will pollute the delicate minds of creatives. Obviously, the idea of purity disappears as soon as you start writing something on it.

Pros: Openess allows for flexibility and creativity.

Cons: Quality will depend solely on who writes the brief. 

Verdict: Will only be better than your standard brief template when there’s a sharp mind behind the pen, and it will not work when you have a hangover. 6.5/10

BBH

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The center of attention is the role of communications which suggests focus on the actual problem solving. I like that. There are also a field that allow for engagement strategy, which is good if you want to develop creative channel solutions.

Pros: Focus on the task rather than the message allows for creative flexibility.

Cons: No focus on HOW the communication should be to be effective allows for free interpretation of how a problem can be solved.

Verdict: A modern creative brief template that covers most areas while still allowing for creativity, but not that inspiring to be honest. 8/10.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky

This is not the brief template per se, but the key elements of it. It’s totally different than other briefs, because it starts with the conceptual idea itself with arguments (on why this idea will work in terms of psychological tension, talk value and problem solving. These elements work the other way as guides. 

As the briefing itself is a solid minimum-level concept and creative teams will focus more on execution ideas rather than concepts, this brief takes the creative process one step further than do the other briefs. 

Pros: Puts pressure on planner to deliver psychological insights and on CD to deliver a workable concept. 

Cons: Less creative freedom for creative teams in terms of creating a big idea themselves.

Verdict: Phenomenal, I love it. 9.5/10.

Comments

[stephanie kelly]

It's always really interesting to see how other agencies approach their briefs. Although I doubt there will ever be a 'perfect' brief, there are definitely elements I'm going to borrow from the examples above to make the template I work off better.

Thanks, Leon!

[bill blake]

hmmmm.

[fredrik sarnblad]

Great review Lean. Thanks for sharing these briefs as well. I hadn't seen Fallon's and your agency's templates before. My evaluation would be almost identical to yours.

Fundamentally, I don't believe in templates since every client brief is unique and needs to be tackled accordingly, but I do appreciate that it's practical to have them at times. I've often used the Fallon version (you start from a clean slate without a template) and put down onky the most pertinent information to solve the task at hand. Sometimes, this information - how it's articulated - would even vary depending on which creative teams I'm briefing.

[Roy Murphy]

interesting to see. As a CD i've worked with / developed a bundle of different briefs over the years. my favourite is still a blank sheet of paper with one word that says

"Why?"

[eclecticsearcher]

Cool compilation.
Maybe one day we won't need a single brief (short, long, deep or just bloody black & white formality) at all when we're all zoned in each other's frequencies. May that day come soon.