Video Brief template

Why a brief is needed?

Writing a brief is the best way to convey your thoughts to a creative team.  It doesn’t need to be a long-winded exploration of everything about your company. The more focused on the current project, the better. The brief can include more comprehensive information but should always be related to the current project.

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Getting everyone to focus

The process of writing a brief focuses minds, sometimes it can be a painful process to boil down lots of ideas into a document. Focusing on what needs to be in a video and what doesn’t is vital. 

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A single point of contact

One of the most essential elements of effective communication is knowing who to talk to. Pick a central point of contact and add them to the brief. All communication goes through this person. Being fed creative feedback from a group can lead to unnecessary delays and duplication of work making account management more difficult.

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Include the deadline 

Add the deadline or any major milestones to the brief. The production company should know about it early if it’s a rushed job with a short deadline.

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What is the intended outcome after watching?

The outcome is the most crucial part of the brief. It is the point of getting everyone involved to focus. What do you want the viewer to do or feel after watching the video? It can be as simple as clicking a button or visiting a website. Or it could involve thinking differently about a company or subject. A concise outcome will drive the creative and distribution strategy so needs to be thoroughly thought through.

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Who is it aimed at - the audience

Picking a target audience and defining a voice. Some messages need to appeal to a wider audience. If yours doesn’t you have the freedom to target a tighter demographic.

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Tone of Voice - Your brand’s personality

Your brand is bigger than just your product. Think carefully about how your brand should come across to the public. The tone of voice used in your messaging needs to be described as specifically as possible.

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Single-minded message

Condense your message into a concise nugget of thought. The single-minded message will help focus the creatives to make sure this message comes across.

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Is there a call to action?

How will the viewer interact with your video? If it’s a DRTV commercial are you including a toll-free number or URL add it here. If you’re using interactive video the CTA can be more involved.

Are there mandatories

Do you have a branded endframe that has to be used or a certain typeface? They might feel like constraints but a great creative team will find ways to get the best from your assets.

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Please add a budget, even a ballpark

Knowing a ballpark budget when creating ideas is very useful. It’s tempting to ask creatives to “ignore the budget and give me your best ideas”. They will, every script will start with “open on a palm-fringed beach”. Trying to shoehorn those ideas into a realistic budget will lead to compromise and disappointment. Starting out with a ballpark budget or budget ranges will mean you’ll receive ideas to get the most from your budget.

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Who are your competitors

When writing the brief, include information on your competitors. It might not always be apparent who they are to those outside your industry. It’s useful to see what your competitors are doing in their marketing campaigns.

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Is there any research to include

If you have market research, stats from your website, or information from your marketing teams that can help define the brief, please include it. Having firm stats to construct a creative campaign around gives you certainty that the ideas are heading in the right direction.

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What deliverables required

Including all the possible delivery formats you’ll need in the brief helps steer the agency to deliver helpful content. It also ensures that creative has originated to work across multiple platforms. Sometimes, delivery constraints can throw up unusual or surprising ideas that elevate the idea.

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Campaign Measurements

If you know how you will measure campaign success, it’s good to let the agency know from the outset. In the TV advertising world, the days of buying media packages and hoping for the best are over.  Software that correlates TV adverts running with website visits means media spending success can be measured and optimised. Social media campaign results can be tracked in real-time.

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How many companies to brief?

This is a tricky question and probably depends on the size of the project. If you’re creating the next round of Olympic pitch films you’ll want to see ideas from all the talent in the country. If you’re creating an advert for a new product and you’re busy do you want to spend days meeting ten creative teams? The chances are you’ll start to see similar themes crop up anyway. A good rule of thumb is: massive project - go wild ask everyone. Not so massive project - aim for about three or four creative agencies.

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