Do you need a plan to secure profitable growth? In this campaign for Meat & Livestock Australia, the “We never lamb alone” strategy was built on the observation that lamb is the meat most likely to be shared, and the insight that Australians wished they could share a meal with family and friends more often. “The insight we came up with was that mums who were now dropping their kids off at daycare and picking them up, were feeling guilty that they were not spending as much time with their kids as they should,” Talcott says. How can that be substantiated? Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. It’s your potential competitive advantage that comes from having a better understanding of the customer.”, Talcott goes into more detail in a previous post for Simple: “An observation is a fact about your product or your target audience: the ‘what’. If you don’t include these, you’ll never know if your project — or your brief — was successful. That means no more sending marketing briefs by email, hunting for lost emails and forgetting who responded to you. Do you want increased advocacy as a result of this project? The website address? We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. And if you’re briefing out a major campaign, or a new project with several moving parts, your brief needs to be clear and concise, while including all the necessary information. Or to get a new business off the ground? There are so many ways to get the marketing brief wrong. Poor stakeholder management is a recipe for disaster on major strategic or change projects. How are images treated? Seven Essentials to being a Successful Marketing Director. Is there an established look and feel for your brand? If you have regular channels to market you expect to use, nominate those up front. And in an agile process, you need to focus on launching new work quickly, keeping your projects and your bets small. Next, describe your business objectives (usually in monetary terms), marketing objectives (in terms of customers and products) and relevant marketing or brand strategies (most commonly, who are your target customers and what is your marketing or brand strategy). “In my experience, agency creatives will immediately look for the single most important idea,” Talcott says. This therefore guides on the scale of work required as well as ensures a solution is affordable and delivers appropriate returns. In addition to nominating the product, brand or service being advertised, the brief should include any product benefits and any additional information that may be used to help sell the brand. Though there is no need to be too prescriptive as that risks stifling a creative response to your brief. Also include why the project is important to the company, and how it meets the strategic objectives of the company. “In almost every case, by definition, an insight is out of sight,” according to Joe Talcott, former global marketing director of McDonald’s and founder of marketing consultancy Creatism. Alternatively email [email protected] Net we also promise a totally tailored, inspiring (and free) response to your marketing brief. A response mechanism? Present a list of your strengths and other deliverable. Brief background information of the company, product, or service. By including this information in the marketing brief, you’re allowing the agency to suggest additional or other ways of satisfying that requirement that may not be the project you’re briefing in. A page or two may be all you need to write your agile marketing brief, particularly if you’re planning to iterate and improve the creative a week or two after testing it with customers. For an aide memoire, download our handy one page example marketing brief. The brief is the main tool marketers have at their disposal to ensure their marketing and advertising connects with their target audience. Also include who is requesting the work, who is writing the brief, and who the ultimate approver will be. > Tips for using Marketing Brief Templates: Choose the marketing brief template which contains the right format. Also include any pointers or guidelines, such as ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ and why.Specifically cover timing, budgets, and any decision-making criteria. You need to give an idea of the value that you can provide... 3. A brief definition of your purpose and … There are so many ways to get the marketing brief wrong. Also any relevant contextual information on why now, what has already been done, and how your issue or challenge fits with any other initiatives within the company. The ability to write an effective marketing communications brief can be the difference between a campaign that comes to life and … Make no mistake — creative teams rely on a strong insight because it’s the essential truth on which great campaigns are built. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Steps in Making a Personal Marketing Plan 1. The actual creative treatment may vary, but it should be built on a basic human truth. Be very clear about what you want your target audience to do as a result of seeing your marketing communications. One of the first things your agency or creative team needs to know is who they are trying to reach and persuade to take action. So ask yourself whether you have a strategy in place and whether it is robust? Ticking these boxes helps your brand build the consistency needed to create long-term brand recognition and be remembered alongside the competition. Luckily, marketers have a tool at their disposal to combat ad avoidance: the marketing brief (or, if you prefer, the creative brief). There are many benefits in writing a marketing brief whether for an agency or for your colleagues. Unfortunately, these briefs don’t always feel like the superhero that makes your life easier, … Now consider who needs to sign-off and act on the outcomes of this work. Even if you have some loose ideas around your brief… Do you have brand guidelines or a style guide? A marketing brief is the blueprint that keeps your team aligned from the start of any marketing campaign, big or small. Marketing and Politics ; What Can Marketers Learn from the 2019 UK General Election Result? If you are unable to answer all of these questions, don’t worry. Is it the first of its kind? If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’, then write your strategy into your executional brief. Instead of just plugging the Happy Meal toy, the creative idea that came back from the agency in response to this brief focused on how buying a Happy Meal gave time back to mums that they could spend with their kids. This last point is often neglected, but it’s critical, as it will help the creative team decide how to shape their creative proposal so it has the best chance of being approved, streamlining turnaround times. Either for a strategic or for an executional piece of work. Are you seeking more sales? The more closely aligned the proposal is to the needs of the business, the more likely it is to be approved. If you can specify these up front, you’ll save time and revision costs down the track. What must be included in your project or campaign? Hard to leave this out of the essential elements of a perfect marketing brief, since mandatories are by their nature… well, mandatory. what has happened to make this brief necessary. With such regard, it is good to remain brief in writing and strait to the point. The insight is what gives creative teams the freedom to explore those different treatments while maintaining a connection with the target audience. So here, for the record, are the 12 essential things you need to write the perfect marketing or creative brief. A wrong marketing brief could cost your company a lot of money and time. It should take you back to the insight. Envisaged process, scope of work and guidelines. Of course, if you write all your marketing briefs directly in Simple’s content marketing platform, we capture all your project information in our flexible, online templates, customised for your business and easily accessible in our one central system of record. Alternatively email [email protected] Net we also promise a totally tailored, inspiring (and free) response to your marketing brief.