How to Write a Creative Brief in 11 Simple Steps [Examples + Template]

Basha Coleman

Updated: April 27, 2023

Published: April 26, 2023

The first step in any successful project is drawing up a game plan with a clear objective. It's one of the reasons marketers love creative briefs.

marketing creative brief

A creative brief acts as a roadmap that takes a project from ideation to completion. It ensures the scope, timeline, key stakeholders, and purpose of the project are communicated clearly. The creative brief is the single source of truth for everyone working on a project. If questions come up or tasks become unclear, the creative brief will steer things in the right direction.

→ Free Download: Creative Brief Templates

What is a creative brief?

A creative brief is a short document that sums up marketing, advertising, or design project mission, goals, challenges, demographics, messaging, and other key details. It's often created by a consultant or a creative project manager. The goal of a brief is to achieve stakeholder alignment on a project before it begins.

The Purpose of a Creative Brief

Whether you’re a consultant pitching a creative brief to a client, or a project manager presenting a brief to your team, start by speaking with the project stakeholders. These discussions will help you understand the company's mission, project goals, and challenges your team faces. Then, you’ll have enough information to write a compelling brief that focuses on what’s really important to your company or client.

The idea of a creative brief sounds simple, but it can be hard to wrap a lot of important details into just a few pages. Therefore, a creative brief is typically comprised of eight sections that can fit on one to two pages.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

Free Creative Brief Templates

Three customizable templates designed to serve as the blueprint for your next campaign.

  • Campaign brief template.
  • Video brief template.
  • Client brief template.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

How a Creative Brief Works

Creative briefs are pretty standard documents within just about every marketing, advertising, or design team. For smaller projects that live in-house (like designs, templates, marketing assets, etc.) the brief is owned by the team who will be executing on the information in the brief. This is usually the creative team, but this team can fall within the brand department or even live within marketing.

For more advanced, long-term projects that involve an agency, the creative brief is owned by the creative team or agency who will be executing the work. This is because they'll work closely with the stakeholders on the project to understand what is needed, plus they'll bring their own expertise and competitive research to the brief that the internal team may not have access to.

These types of creative briefs aren't rare, but they are created infrequently due to the nature of the projects they support. So for this post, we'll focus mostly on the day-to-day creative briefs that you're likely to use often. Here's how they work.

Creative Brief Outline

  • Project Name
  • Company Background
  • Project Objective
  • Target Audience
  • Competitors
  • Key Message
  • Key Consumer Benefit
  • Call to Action
  • Distribution

Step 1. The teams who need assistance from the creative team will retrieve the creative brief template from a repository like OneDrive, Google Drive, or an online form.

Step 2. The team that is requesting the project will complete the brief according to their team's needs and goals. The completion of the creative brief starts with the team requesting the project so that they can explain their vision and goals clearly to the creative team.

Step 3. From there, the brief is sent back to the creative team to review. They'll be looking for timelines, resources, and budget requirements.

Step 4. If they have any questions, they'll go back to the team who wrote the brief and finalize the details.

Step 5. After that, the project is kicked off, sometimes with the help of a project manager, who will check-in with stakeholders on the project and keep everything on schedule, within scope, and within budget.

Step 6. Once the project is complete, both teams will review the deliverables against the creative brief to ensure everything is completed correctly.

The format of every company's creative brief might vary slightly to suit the needs of the project or client. Below is a simple outline that will be the foundation of your creative brief. It includes the most important steps in the creative process and information that'll be relevant to stakeholders involved in the project.

Once you’re fully informed and ready to write, use the following steps to draft yours. To make it even easier, I've included a fill-in-the-blank template in the last step.

How to Write a Creative Brief

  • Decide on a name for the project.
  • Write about the brand and summarize the project’s background.
  • Highlight the project objective.
  • Describe the target audience.
  • Interpret the competitive landscape.
  • Prepare the key message.
  • Choose the key consumer benefit.
  • Select an attitude.
  • Determine the best call to action.
  • Draft the distribution plan.
  • Share the creative brief with stakeholders.

1. Decide on a name for the project.

The first step in developing a creative brief is deciding on a project name. This might sound simple, but it's one of the most critical components of a creative brief. If you're building a campaign around a brand new product or service, the campaign name will be the first time many members of your team will be introduced to it. Referring to the campaign (and therefore product or service) by the correct name prevents the game of telephone from happening. Without a specific and clear campaign name, people will make up their own terminology which can alter the intent of the campaign .

To create a project or campaign name for your creative brief, keep it creative and brief. A few words or a short sentence should work just fine. If you're launching a product, identify what the call to action will be for the target audience, then center the name around that. Here are a few examples of fictional campaign names:

  • The Search for Adventure Campaign- A scavenger hunt-themed amusement park.
  • The Don't Forget Your Memories Campaign - A photo frame company.
  • The "What's hotter than Pepperco hot sauce?" Campaign - A hot sauce brand.

2. Write about the brand and summarize the project’s background.

Another simple, yet essential section is the company background. If you work in an agency setting, this is non-negotiable as your team is likely handling several client campaigns at once. However, if you're developing a creative brief for an in-house project, you'll still want to include this part. New hires on your team, freelancers, and vendors will appreciate the background that your internal team is already privy to.

The company background shouldn't be a general history of the company or a copied and pasted paragraph from the about page. Instead, tailor this to the project at hand. Set the scene with one or two sentences that sum up the brand’s mission. Follow this with a few sentences that give background on the brand and what led to the development of the project.

While some creatives have put this information all together in a quick paragraph, others separate it with headers like “Brand Statement” and “Background.”

Here are some questions to consider when writing a company background for your creative brief:

  • Has the company launched a campaign like this before?
  • Why is the company choosing to launch this campaign right now?
  • What's happening in the market and how will this campaign respond to it?

3. Highlight the project objective.

Here is where the creative brief gets more specific. The project objective should briefly explain the purpose of the project, the timeline, and the audience it'll target. This can be done in a sentence or two, but you can get creative and stylize it in sections.

This part of the creative brief will be helpful in emphasizing why the project needs to happen. The goal aspects will help you and your team align on the project’s expectations. If the company or client hasn’t identified any major challenges, you can focus this section on goals and objectives. Explain what a successful project looks like and how it will benefit the company.

Pro Tip: Writing a project objective is very similar to writing a goal, so take a look at this blog post for more detail on goal and objective writing.

Here’s an example of a sample creative brief for PayPal that offers separate sections for “The Problem” and “The Goal”:

creative-brief_3

4. Describe the target audience.

Next, it's time to define the target audience for the project. This is the segment of your market that will directly benefit from the product or service being launched. You can take audience segmentation a step further by identifying a primary and secondary audience. Doing so will give your team more freedom to explore creative ideas that might resonate with one group more than the other.

When crafting the target audience section, be sure to include the following:

  • Demographics - Simple demographic information gives your team insight into exactly who the audience is. This includes data points like age, income, education, ethnicity, and occupation.
  • Behaviors - Buying behaviors, trends, and other customer history make up the target audience behaviors. These provide important context to the creative brief because they explain where the customer is in their buyer journey.
  • Psychographics - This is how the audience thinks and feels about your brand and the product or service you sell, in general.
  • Geographics - Digital, physical, and hybrid campaigns will benefit from having geographics stated explicitly in the creative brief so that media buyers can price ad slots in each market.

Pro Tip: Your creative brief shouldn't be too long, and this section can take up quite a bit of space. To make this section more digestible, consider using buyer personas .

Here’s how the sample brief for PayPal noted above thoughtfully explains a new product’s target audience:

PayPal sample brief target audience

5. Interpret the competitive landscape.

Knowing what your competitors are doing is advantageous for the whole team. You can use competitive data to come up with ideas that haven’t been tried yet, learn from their failed projects, or build a project that improves on a strategy they’ve used in the past.

Include a quick list of competitors with similar product or service offerings. Briefly list a few things your company has in common with them, how your brand has differentiated itself already, and a few areas where this project can help you get ahead.Get Your Free Templates

6. Prepare the key message.

The key message can be the most difficult part of the creative brief to develop because just about every stakeholder will have a different opinion of what it should be. To get buy-in faster, try this simple trick. Ask yourself "We're launching this project, so what?" The "so what?" is your key message. It explains why your target audience should stop what they're doing and pay attention to your campaign.

The key message includes the pain point, what the audience's experience might be like without the pain point, and the benefit they'll receive as a result of your company's solution. This framework places the customer in the spotlight of the campaign. Instead of telling them what this product or service could do for them, it positions them as the main character in the journey from problem to solution.

7. Choose the key consumer benefit.

If you're launching a new product, there are likely several features and benefits that the target audience will experience when they decide to purchase it. However, it's very difficult to structure a campaign around several different features. That's why marketers and creatives use something called a key consumer benefit (KCB) in the creative brief to keep everyone aligned on the primary benefit being communicated. To choose the right KCB, you'll want to get input from the project stakeholders and rely on consumer data to guide the decision.

Pro Tip: Your KCB won't always be the fanciest feature of your product. The benefit that solves the biggest problem for your audience is a great choice for the KCB.

8. Select an attitude.

The tone and voice of your campaign create the overall attitude and that should be consistent throughout every creative element that's being developed. Identifying a few adjectives that describe the attitude of the campaign can help copywriters draft copy that sends the correct message within the right context. Graphic designers can use colors and techniques to portray the tone and voice as well.

In this section of the brief, you should also note the appropriate voice for your audience. While some audiences, like those in the business world, prefer more formal language, others might engage more with a casual, relatable tone. To substantiate your decision to choose a particular brand voice and tone, you could write something like, “Our brand voice is a casual and carefree tone because it speaks to younger Gen-Z audiences.”

Pro tip: Use a thesaurus to find specific words that evoke nuanced emotions and attitudes for a hyper-targeted campaign.

9. Determine the best call to action.

Finally, your audience needs something to do once they see your campaign. The good thing about CTAs is that they don't have to be physical actions. A CTA could have a goal to change thoughts and perceptions about your brand which doesn't require the audience to do anything at all.

Your creative brief might include several different CTAs, especially if you have a primary and secondary target audience. But it's a good idea to have one primary CTA that drives the project objective we talked about earlier.

10. Draft the distribution plan.

When the project is done, you’ll need to make sure your audience actually sees it. List a few channels or platforms on which you plan to announce the launch, as well as any promotional content you plan to create.

When drafting this section, think about your target audience. Don’t waste time on a promotional strategy that they won’t see. For example, if you’re promoting a project to Gen-Z, you’ll want to invest in social media rather than billboards or newspaper ads.

11. Share the creative brief with stakeholders.

Once you’ve drafted a creative brief, share it with the team you’ll be working with. You’ll also want to circulate it around the company via Slack, email, or presentations. If you’re a consultant working outside of a client’s company, encourage your clients to share the brief internally.

As you or your clients spread awareness, you should be open to answering questions or taking feedback from colleagues in case they have any great ideas. This strategy will improve team alignment , increase support of the project, and ensure that all of your colleagues are on the same page.

Follow Along with HubSpot's Free Creative Brief Templates

creative brief template

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Creative Brief Template

Having trouble with the flow and organization of your brief? Here’s a simple template that could help. Copy and paste it into a document and fill in the blanks. You can also add to it or adjust it as needed for your project.

basic Creative Brief Template Example

Download More Creative Brief Templates

[Inset company or client logo at the top along with the project name.]

COMPANY BACKGROUND:

For ___ years, ______ [Brand Name] has been serving customers in the ____________ [group/job field/geographical area] with ____________________ [product or service].

[Brand Name] has made achievements including __________,__________, and ___________. We have also launched marketing campaigns that have touched on ____________,________, and ____________. With the launch of _________ [project name] they hope to ___________.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE:

With this project, the company aims to solve problems related to ____________________, while also expanding on ___________ and improving on _____________.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Our target audience is ____ [gender], in the age range of _ and _, and live areas like ____, _____, and ______. They enjoy _____, dislike ______, and might work in fields like _____, _____, and _____. They want more of ________ and their daily pain points include ________.

Their favorite products might include _______ and ______. They learn about these products through channels including ________, _________, and _______.

COMPETITORS:

Our three biggest competitors [are/will be] ________, ________, and _______. These competitors offer _____, ______, and ______. We are ahead of them in _____ and ______, but we are behind when it comes to product offerings like __________ and _________.

KEY MESSAGE:

The target audience is experiencing __________ [pain point], but with our newest project ___________, they'll get to experience _________ [new experience without the pain point]. That's what makes ______ [solution] an unrivaled solution within the market.

KEY CONSUMER BENEFIT:

________ [feature] is the best way for our target audience to experience _____ [benefit].

[Include three to five adjectives that describe the tone and voice of the project.]

CALL TO ACTION:

When the target audience sees our campaign, they will [feel/think/do] _________.

DISTRIBUTION:

We will promote the launch on platforms and channels that our demographic regularly engages with. These will include ________, ________, and _______.

We will also release content including _______, _______, and ________ to gain attention from our audience and inform them of the project.

Below are a few messages we will use:

  • _________________________________________________.

Types of Creative Briefs

Creative briefs serve several purposes in the communications field. Marketers, designers, and advertisers use them differently. Depending on your role, your team, and the project you're working on, one might be more effective than the other. Below are some of the most common types of creative briefs used across industries today plus examples of what they might look like.

1. Marketing Creative Briefs

A marketing creative brief is most commonly used to bring campaigns to market. This type of creative brief can be used for both new and existing campaigns. Broad business goals and strategies to accomplish them are usually included in this type of creative brief. It's also not uncommon to see revenue goals and a budget included in a marketing creative brief.

Simple Marketing Creative Brief Example

Simple Marketing Creative Brief Example

2. Product Design Creative Briefs

Product design creative briefs outline the go-to-market strategy for a new product or feature launch. Product marketers are responsible for developing this type of brief. Developed in conjunction with the product manager, the product design creative brief will describe the features and benefits of the product and how the audience will benefit from them. Unique features of this type of creative brief include product documentation and product descriptions.

Product Design Creative Brief Example

Tech Product Design Creative Brief Example

3. Advertising Agency Creative Briefs

Advertising agencies develop creative briefs often for the various clients they serve. These briefs are concise and include the client's brand guidelines as well as the specific project guidelines. A budget may also be included in the brief so that all teams can make wise decisions about the tactics they recommend for the client. An account manager or supervisor develops the creative brief and shares it with client stakeholders before the agency begins working on the project.

Advertising Agency Creative Brief Example

Advertising Agency Creative Brief Example

Creative Brief Examples

1. creative request template.

Creative Brief Examples: creative request template from Asana

For the day-to-day management of creative projects, using a creative request template in Asana acts as a dynamic take on a traditionally static creative brief. With a few tweaks to suit your business's needs, this template flows through each stage of the project while specifying tasks, deliverables, and key points that need to be included in the project. Moreover, Asana provides several types of views that make this template easy to look at from a calendar view, list view, board view, and timeline view so you'll always know the progress of your project in relation to the creative brief.

When to Use This Creative Brief:

This creative brief example is great for marketing, brand, creative, and design teams who handle a large backlog of projects with stakeholders on many different teams. Use this brief for both ad-hoc and regularly occurring projects.

2. Creative Brief Presentation Template

Creative Brief Examples: Creative brief presentation template

This creative brief example was designed by TemplateForest. It's a visual-forward example of a brief that works well for long-term projects like building a business or refreshing a brand. This longer brief includes a variety of information from internal brand insights to an external competitive analysis.

Use this creative brief when you're partnering with a creative agency on bigger projects. They can use this layout to inspire a creative brief that fits the needs of your business.

Streamline Projects with a Creative Brief

Scope creep happens to the best of us. Projects get bigger, stakeholders are added, and the objective of the project seems to morph as time goes on. Streamline your next product launch or marketing and advertising campaign with a creative brief. As a result, you'll find that your team is more aligned with the project's goals. We've even provided free creative brief templates to get you started — download them below.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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The complete guide to writing creative briefs

Julia Martins contributor headshot

Just like any other task, creative work deserves a clear plan and measurable goals before work begins. That’s where a creative brief comes in. Developing a creative brief allows you to take a proactive approach and outline requirements while planning out your creative work. Among other important elements, your creative brief is your opportunity to define the scope, deadlines, and deliverables specific to the creative part of your project.

Overall, a creative brief helps keep everyone on the same page—reducing feelings of frustration or confusion—while making sure no part of the design process is bottlenecked.

What is a creative brief?

A creative brief is used to define any relevant creative requirements, including messaging, audience, and outlining how success will be measured. Once the brief is created, plan to host a  kickoff meeting  to discuss conflicts or restrictions. That way, you have time to revise and update your creative brief before the work begins.

Remember this—creative briefs aren’t meant to be written and then left stagnant. Before your work begins, your creative brief should be an ever-evolving document that may change as the creative requirements continue to be scoped or tweaked. However, by the time the work starts, your creative brief should be a  clear plan  and have specific goals that your design, content, and creative teams can refer back to throughout the process, making sure everyone is aligned and making the right decisions.

Essential elements of a creative brief

Understanding what a creative brief is and why you need one is important. However, knowing what to actually put in one will save you significant time and reduce back and forths with your creative team. You can avoid having to circle back to questions and conflicts down the road by putting the appropriate information in your creative brief up front.

Take a look at these “must-haves” for every creative brief. Whether you’re planning a marketing campaign, writing a creative brief for an advertising agency, or preparing a creative brief for your internal team, these nine steps will help you clarify the key information your team needs for success. Keep in mind that your brief may contain more elements—and you can certainly add them as they relate to your work—but the criteria mentioned below should be part of nearly every creative brief.

Title and description

Goals and objectives, messaging and tone, assets and deliverables.

Stakeholders

Distribution process

First, give your creative brief a title. Provide a short description of the creative work so team members understand why they are a part of it. Let them know the intention of the creative work.

Title:  Advertising campaign for new product launch

Description:  As we prepare to launch Apollo Enterprises newest product, we’ll be putting together a series of advertisements to introduce it to the market.

Why are you working on this? At this point in your creative brief, you want to define the specific business need and what the work will accomplish. What does success look like for this particular body of work? As you’re writing down your goals, make sure they are measurable. At the end of the project, you’ll want to look back on them and clearly know if you’ve met your objectives.

Goals and objectives:  Reach 500,000 potential customers via paid search over a one-month period and add 5,000 new subscribers to our email list.

Outlining your target audience will help better tailor your creative to them. Look for specific insights, as those become your gems of valuable information. Get clear on who will be consuming your deliverable (video, ad, etc.). Try your best to define what that person looks like by outlining demographics such as age, gender, income level, marital status, or education level.

Also note what your audience values, along with their interests, wants, and needs. State if you’re trying to reach current customers or potential ones. Answering as many questions as possible about what your audience looks like will help you and your team along the way.

Audience:  Men, 30-65, mid-high income, at least a high school diploma. They value time outdoors, working with their hands, tools, and gadgets. They’re not current Apollo Enterprises’ customers.

Now that you know who your audience is, you need to clearly establish what messaging you want to put in front of them. Also, when your target market receives that message, what should they think, feel, want, and do? Are you asking them to take an action?

If you already have brand guidelines be sure to include them in your creative brief, or direct stakeholders on where to find them. Following brand guidelines ensures the tone and voice of your messaging matches that of your overall brand, and keeps your messaging consistent across marketing initiatives.

If you don’t have established brand guidelines, work with the right team members to put together some information about the tone and voice that this particular creative work should follow. Think of your message as a person. It should have a voice (a personality) and a tone (a mood or attitude).

Messaging and tone:  We want to empower our audience to be creators and use Apollo Enterprises’ new product as part of their most valued suite of tools. We should celebrate the target audience for working with their hands and make them feel proud of their creations.

Since your team’s work will produce some sort of creative asset (or many), this part of your brief should describe what those assets and deliverables are. For example, if you’re creating an advertisement, the final deliverable would be the actual ad. Make sure you specify asset requirements such as dimensions, number of versions, and design elements.

Assets and deliverables:  Three different advertisements, each with a different tagline and image (one version for each of the following sizes: 250x250, 728x90, 120x600).

Creative work usually requires cross-functional  team collaboration . Marketing and design are almost always involved, and oftentimes other departments will also play a part. This means several individuals from different teams working together on the same desired outcome.

This is why it’s so important to identify all important stakeholders upfront. Each team member should know who is involved and what they’re responsible for. You’ll save yourself a lot of time fielding questions down the line if you add this to your creative brief.

Stakeholders:

Creative team: Larry (ad copy), Emma (ad design)

Marketing team: Hannah (team lead), Caleb (email marketing setup for campaign), Terry (ad distribution)

Product team: Zach (Product Manager)

Establishing your budget from the start will help you actually stay in line financially and guide your decision-making. Be sure you write down actual numbers and identify costs where you can. Conducting some quick research ahead of time will help. Are there ways you can cut some costs? Giving yourself some time to play with the numbers before you even begin the work will keep you in good graces with your boss!

Budget:  The overall budget is $8,000 with $5,000 going to ad spend, $1,500 to design, and $1,500 to copywriting.

Establishing a  timeline for your work  early on will keep you and your team on track. Decide on a start date and end date, and then fill in as many important dates as you can in between. Knowing the important deadlines from the beginning gives all stakeholders an idea of how long their part of the work will take. They can plan accordingly and let you know of any conflicts. Be as specific as you can with dates and deadlines, and keep in mind that adjustments may need to be made as the work progresses.

Kickoff meeting: May 5

Final creative brief due: May 10

Ad copy due: May 30

Ad designs due: June 10

Ad buy plans due: June 15

Ads are live: July 1 - July 31

Measure ad success: Ongoing

Wrap-up: August 15

Identifying how your media assets will actually get to your audience is a part of your creative brief that can’t be skipped. All the hard work you put into every other step of your creative process culminates with an effective distribution strategy. In other words, how will you communicate your message? Social media, email, blog posts, and paid advertisements are just a few ways to distribute your media.

Distribution process:  Google Adwords platform to deploy ads.

Creative brief example

Seeing examples of what great creative briefs actually look like can help you formulate your own. Check out this stellar example and pay close attention to the details. You can tell that the project manager took time and thought to develop this creative brief, and help their team work together smoothly.

How to write creative briefs example image

Creative brief template

Get started with this creative brief template to outline your campaign goals, creative deliverables, due date, marketing strategy, and more.

Title and description:

A clear name that your stakeholders can easily identify, and a short summary that conveys the intention of your creative brief.

Goals and objectives:

Define the metrics of success for your creative brief.

Who are you targeting in your campaign and what are their values, interests, and needs? This section should include any relevant demographics.

Messaging and tone:

What type of tone are you trying to strike? How do you want your audience to feel when they see your creative assets?

Assets and deliverables:

Asset and deliverable 1

Asset and deliverable 2

Asset and deliverable 3

Stakeholder 1

Stakeholder 2

Stakeholder 3

What is your overall budget? Are there any specific details to how the budget should be spent?

Date:  Description

Date: Description

Distribution process:

Specify how you will reach your audience once your assets and deliverables are ready.

Using a creative brief when working with agencies

Sometimes internal stakeholders aren’t the only people you’ll be collaborating with on creative work. Companies may choose to hire an agency to help. If you find yourself  working with an agency , here’s how you can use a creative brief to make the most out of the partnership.

Make your creative brief a starting point

When you deliver the creative brief to your agency contacts, take the opportunity to discuss your goals with them and refine the creative brief if necessary. Ask for their input. They are there to help and getting their buy-in will make every part of the overall process easier. Allow your agency partners to educate you on what will work and what won’t.

Create a robust final version of your creative brief

The more valuable information you put it in, the less questions will come your way later. And, remember, while the agency is a partner of yours, they are working with other companies as well. Giving them as much information as you can will make you and your creative brief stick out (in a good way). For example, you’ll want to include any applicable style guides, tone of voice recommendations, relevant internal messaging information, and any brand guidelines the agency should keep in mind while working.

Be open to change

Creative work moves quickly, and some project leaders make the mistake of thinking their creative brief has to be rigid in order to support fast-moving teams. In reality it’s a living document. Until you start executing on the work, it should always be open to conversations and edits.

Write your best creative brief

You’re feeling good, right? Hopefully developing your own creative brief doesn’t seem so daunting after all and you’re ready to get moving on building your next one. After you’ve written your creative brief, manage the next steps in your creative process in a work management tool, like  Asana . Not only will it help keep you organized—it will actually help you run the show.

Build a creative brief that makes your life (and those of your stakeholders) easier to execute your creative work successfully.

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Creative ways to write creative briefs [+ templates and examples].

Updated on January 30, 2024 by Skyler Calibey

Creative Brief

Creative work is often thought to be instinctive instead of planned—not true. Seasoned marketers love creative briefs!

And there are plenty of good reasons why –

You get a clear plan of how to go about things.

You can chalk out trackable goals and requirements.

You can define the scope , campaign goals, deliverables, and deadlines proactively.

You can ensure everyone on the team is on the same page, working without confusion or misunderstandings.

However, the catch is that it is not always easy to think straight—a prime requirement when creating any sort of creative brief. 

So, to help you, we’ll cover everything you need to know about creative briefs in this comprehensive guide. Let’s go!

What Is a Creative Brief?

A creative brief is essentially a type of blueprint that guides different teams to work together.

It captures all the essential information teams need to drive successful projects, such as the project scope, deadline, budget, goals , target audience, brand voice and tone, and more. 

For example, in the case of website creative briefs, various teams, such as copywriters, marketers, graphic designers, web developers , etc., use the creative brief to ensure that the website ticks off all the predefined creative goals.

The Importance of Writing Creative Briefs

So, the general advantages of a creative brief include:

  • Improved team collaboration where each team works with a better understanding of the creative requirements as well as how to tackle challenges during the project lifecycle
  • Enhanced stakeholder alignment and better expectation management as each deliverable gets completed
  • Contextual messaging that drives creativity while documenting the project’s important data simultaneously (read: intended target audience, KPIs to be measured , potential risks, etc.)

All in all, a creative brief doubles up as a guiding principle for your teams so that they can achieve the creative campaign’s goals with less friction and iterations!

12 Must-Have Elements in a Typical Creative Brief Template

Want to restrict the back-and-forth between teams with your creative brief?

Get your  creative brief template  in line. 

Typically speaking, a good creative brief often comprises 12 key elements that communicate everything your creative teams need to know to get started on the right foot:

1. Project Name

The project name refers to a clear and concise title for the project. It provides a quick reference point for all team members.

Example: “Redesigning a Company Website – Project [XYZ]”

2. Company Background

This section provides important context about the company, such as its origins, the industry it operates in, its work culture, and its mission.

This piece of information helps creative teams to better align with the company’s identity.

Example: “Our company, [XYZ Corporation], is a leading tech company that specializes in innovative consumer electronics and has been in business for over a decade.”

3. Objectives

As the name suggests, the Objectives segment outlines the project’s goals, what it aims to achieve, and the expected outcomes.

Example: “The primary objective of this campaign is to increase brand awareness by 20% and generate 10,000 pre-launch sign-ups for our new product.”

4. Target Audience

The target audience defines the intended audience for the project. It includes data relating to demographics, audience preferences, their current pain points, and so on. 

A deeper insight into the ideal user base will define and guide the most creative briefs and approach for the marketing/advertising campaign.

Example: “Our target audience comprises tech-savvy millennials aged 25-35, with a focus on urban professionals. They love to use the latest products and are active on [ABC] platforms.”

Define project objectives and convert them into milestones. Use Nifty

5. Brand Guidelines

The brand guidelines segment showcases the existing brand guidelines (if any), including preferred design as well as communication preferences.

Example: “Please follow our brand guidelines outlined in the attached document, which includes specifics relating to usage of our logo usage, desired color palette, and intended tone of voice.”

6. Market Insights

Market insights highlight the latest and relevant market research to inform the creative approach using insights and not just intuition. 

Example: “Our recent market research indicates that there’s an increased demand for eco-friendly products in our industry.”

7. Key Considerations

This section emphasizes specific factors/aspects that must be highlighted in the project (think: product features or market trends, for instance).

Example: “We need to emphasize our product’s sustainability and affordability as compared to our competitors.”

8. Project Scope

Project scope defines the specific tasks and deliverables within the scope of the project, providing clarity on what needs to be accomplished and how.

Example: “The project includes designing a new website, creating promotional materials, and launching a social media marketing campaign.”

9. Deliverables

This component lists the tangible items and assets that the creative team needs to produce as part of the project.

Example: “The deliverables include a website wireframe, product brochures, social media ad creatives, and a launch event plan.”

Define project scope, set deadlines, track deliverables, and more in one place. Nifty

10. Budget 

It outlines the allocated budget for the project and offers insights into any financial constraints (if applicable).

Example: “The allocated budget for this project is $100,000.”

11. Timeline

The timeline defines the project timeline. Make sure to include key milestones and deadlines, ensuring everyone is aware of the project’s time constraints.

Example: “The project should be completed within three months, with the website launch scheduled for the end of the second month.”

12. Approval Process

This segment answers questions relating to – What is the process for reviewing and approving creative work, and who are the key stakeholders involved?

Example: “All creative assets must be reviewed and approved by the marketing account manager before final production.”

How to Write a Creative Brief: A Step-by-Step Guide

Whether you’re creating a marketing creative brief, an advertising creative brief,  or a website creative brief, following the right process is important.

Here’s a step-by-step guide you can follow when writing creative briefs:

Step 1: Collect Your Customer’s Requirements to the T

The journey of writing a creative brief begins with gathering all the pertinent information about what your customer requires. 

To do this, engage in the following steps:

  • Conduct thorough discussions with your client and teams to identify the former’s needs, objectives, and expectations
  • Ask probing questions to ensure you have a comprehensive understanding of the project’s purpose, target audience, and specific ideas, as well as preferences the client may have

Step 2: Do Your Market Research

To develop a successful and effective creative brief, you need to be well-versed in the market in which your project will operate. Try the following tips:

  • Conduct market research to gain insights into the industry, trends, competitors, and potential opportunities.
  • Clearly outline your research goals by analyzing your customer’s preferences, assessing the market size, and evaluating the competition.
  • Who are your potential customers?
  • What are their needs, behaviors, and preferences?
  • Surveys and questionnaires to gather quantitative data by surveying a large sample of your target audience.
  • Interviews wherein you conduct in-depth interviews with key industry experts, customers, and stakeholders.
  • Observational research in which you observe consumer behavior in real-world/online settings (depending on your requirements).
  • Secondary research in which you analyze existing data, reports, and studies to get a better pulse of the target market.

This research will not only inform your creative strategy; it will also help you to position your creative project effectively in the market.

Step 3: Establish Goals and Outcomes

The third step is all about clearly outlining your project’s objectives and desired outcomes:

  • Do you want to increase brand awareness?
  • Do you wish to boost sales?
  • Are you looking to convey a particular message?

Make sure to define these goals with specificity.

Remember, your creative brief should serve as a complete guide and a roadmap for achieving these objectives.

Nifty allows you to add custom details to your project thanks to its “Custom Fields” feature:

project control center in Nifty

With this feature, you can ensure that none of the project’s critical details fall through the cracks.

You can also set and track project goals by tasks, task lists, custom tags, fields, and assignees:

create a goal in Nifty

Nifty automates your goal data by automatically adding/removing tasks as and when they’re created based on custom tags, fields, and assignees. 

That’s not all. Nifty enables you to leverage custom tags to track KPIs. For instance, you can create goals that automatically update and measure your team or individual’s performance with just a few clicks.

Step 4: Define Scope and Deliverables

Now that you’ve gathered all the useful information, it’s time to translate that data into the project scope and deliverables.

You can try Nifty’s Milestones feature to improve team alignment around project goals and sprints. This is done by visualizing milestones in an easy-to-understand Gantt chart format:

Nifty Gantt Chart View

You can also leverage the Swimlane view to pilot objectives by intersecting project milestones and tasks as shown below:

completion based Milestones

That’s not all. The Milestones feature provides real-time automation of ‘in progress,’ ‘completed,’ and ‘overdue’ status based on the completion of tied tasks.

If your team deals with a repeating schedule, you can set up recurring milestones and ensure that the team never misses any important work again.

Step 5: Document All Your Findings

Collecting all the customer information is not enough.

You need to document everything, and that, too, document it in real-time. 

Nifty Docs

Nifty’s Docs feature allows you to:

  • Create useful notes, docs, and wikis for your project
  • Share the document with others using a simple link
  • Integrate natively with Google Docs for faster and seamless working:

Nifty's whiteboard

  • Plan, track, and manage your workflow within one collaborative workspace

Pro tip : Once your creative brief is ready, plan a kickoff meeting . This will allow you to reassess if there might be any conflicts along the way collectively with the team. You can make the requisite changes and update the brief before the actual work begins.

7 Tips for Writing Creative Briefs to Get That Breakthrough Idea!

Writing creative briefs doesn’t follow a linear path, nor is there a ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy that works.

However, having a few tips up your sleeve doesn’t hurt:

  • Spot on: Make sure that the creative brief is clear, specific, measurable, and realistic. There’s no room for guesswork or blind spots.
  • Not data-heavy : Ensure that the brief is not voluminous with endless data that’s forcefully added. Sticking to the less is more philosophy will empower your team to focus on what truly matters.
  • Iterate : Continue to keep changing your creative brief as the requirements or scope evolves.
  • Accuracy : Think of your creative brief as the bible that your teams will follow. This means there’s no room for any mistakes or inaccuracies. 
  • Context: Your creative brief should highlight what the brand has been communicating to the customers, what they want users to do next, and how the deliverables will fit into the overall communication strategy.
  • Insights: Your audience insights should be at the heart of the brief. Any kind of marketing or communication you initiate must stem from what your customers want and why they want it.
  • Alignment: Sometimes, in the creative flow, you can stray away from what was originally intended. You need to make sure that your creative brief is aligned with your brand’s objectives at all times. 

In the end, use this checklist to ask the following questions:

  • Does your communication single-mindedly convey your brand’s objectives?
  • Does the content map to your ideal audience’s interests and insights?
  • Is the team aware of the deliverable’s true deadlines?
  • Are you constantly inserting the team and stakeholder feedback and pivoting in real-time?
  • Are all your stakeholders able to access the creative brief anytime, anywhere?

5 Compelling Creative Brief Examples 

Here are five examples of creative briefs worth getting inspired from:

Example 1. Airbnb – To convert digital connections into meaningful IRL experiences

creative brief example, Airbnb

Here’s a creative brief example by Airbnb that was provided to participants entering a contest. But there’s plenty to learn from in this creative content brief too.

Notice how the brand provides:

  • A backstory 
  • Details into Airbnb’s key challenges
  • Points on what to focus on in the creative brief

Your brief should be as detailed and clear as this.

Example 2. PayPal – To reiterate what PayPal is all about in the customer’s mind

PayPal creative brief

This is an example of a marketing creative brief which talks about:

  • The brand’s key insights and research gathered over time
  • The marketing channels to use 
  • Who the brand want to engage as the ideal target audience

Example 3. Nike – To promote the image that Nike looks after its factory employees

creative brief example, Nike

When it comes to creative briefs, it doesn’t get any better than Nike’s creative brief example outlined above.

The brand talks about the big picture in addition to the brand statement, target audience, and problem statement so that the team knows where they’re headed and  how  to head to their final destination.

Example 4. Gray’s Cookies – To get more customers to eat Gray’s healthy yet tasty cookies

Gray's Cookies creative brief example

Here’s a creative brief example of an advertising agency whose creative brief comprises all the vital components you need to roll out helpful touchpoints, such as:

  • Target audience
  • Customer insights and current thinking 
  • What the business wants the customer to do
  • The tone to include within the advertising deliverables
  • Media assets and platforms to explore

Example 5. Netflix – To boost the number of subscribers during COVID-19

Netflix creative brief example

Our final and most extensive creative brief example on the list, Netflix gets many things right within its creative brief:

  • Its media strategy is relevant and ‘hip’
  • The target audience is represented in an infographic format, allowing for a quick read
  • The brand tone and voice are explicitly mentioned
  • The key challenges and purpose of the communication follow the S.M.A.R.T framework

Get Your Creative Briefs Sorted with Nifty

Creating a creative brief is one part of the story. You need to communicate the project’s goals and purpose to your teams.

However, the second equally important part is driving collaboration.

No project is a ‘one-man’ army. Your project will need internal and external collaboration between members so that everyone is on the same page at all times. 

And this is where project management software like Nifty shines.

You can collaborate with every member of the ecosystem in real time using Nifty’s Discussion feature:

Using nifty for creative briefs.

Plus, you can share ideas and drive meaningful discussions at the click of a button. Everyone can follow a  singular  plan of action and use it as a centralized point of reference for all deliverables.

Remember, creative briefs are always changing, and project leads need all the resources they can get to ensure everyone is working together. 

Leverage Nifty’s project management features to stay organized and deliver creative products without breaking a sweat! Try Nifty for free . 

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How to write a creative brief: Templates and guide with examples

example of a creative brief for advertisements

If you have been involved in brand management, marketing, or working with a creative agency, there is a good chance you have experienced the complexity of launching a successful campaign.

Many activities are to be carefully orchestrated, but they can easily spiral into an endless and frustrating campaign delivery when it is not well-managed.

The result? Shmi Skywalker’s quote, from The Phantom Menace , explains it well:

“You can’t stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting”  — Shmi Skywalker

It doesn’t have to be that way. In this article, I will define what a creative brief is, how great ones are created, what they include, and provide you with templates to get going.

Are you ready?

“Set a course for the creative brief, Warp six. Engage!”

OK, sorry, that is a Star Trek reference. I pinky promise it will not happen again.

What is a creative brief?

“Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny,” Yoda once said in The Empire Strikes Back . For this exact same reason, it is essential to only embark on the journey of delivering a creative project when the creative brief has been established.

A creative brief is a document that sets out the strategy, approach, path, and deliverables to achieve the success of a creative project.

Let’s have a look at its purpose.

  • Provide clarity early on by acquiring an in-depth understanding of the objectives and providing a carefully considered plan to deliver them
  • Get all those playing a role aligned through early involvement, engaging with key players, understanding their concerns, and acquiring their commitment to delivery.
  • Have a reference document to manage expectations and keep focus. In the hustle and bustle of the day, commitments might be deviated from or, even worse, forgotten about and disregarded. In those cases, the creative brief is the document to take a look at to keep all heading in the same direction. As Qui-Gon Jinn said in The Phantom Menace “Your focus determines your reality”

The formulation of a creative brief is an inter-team collaborative effort between the project manager, designer, and stakeholders who are contributing to the success or can influence its outcomes. Only together can you rule the delivery of a creative project.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

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example of a creative brief for advertisements

For that reason, I am sure Darth Vader, in The Empire Strikes Back , is a great advocate of using creative briefs to achieve delivery success:

“Together we can rule the galaxy ” — Darth Vader

What is included in a creative brief?

Before jumping into what’s included in a creative brief, I want to point out two things.

If it is the first time you write a creative brief my advice would be to be like Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian , who said “I like first, good or bad, they’re always memorable.”

In the context of the creative brief, it means that it is important to get started on the creation and retrospect. Learn from what worked well and where to improve. From the get-go, involve multiple people, both for creation and review. It helps in creating a sense of urgency, ownership, and belonging.

Keep in mind there is one person accountable for the end result. As the saying goes: too many Siths spoil the broth.

Analyze the competitors. Understand what they are doing and how they are tackling similar opportunities. What’s more, it allows you to acquire knowledge of their past successes and failures in similar projects.

These insights help you to accelerate creative ideas and try new approaches.

There are many aspects that make a creative brief. They are:

  • Objectives and goals
  • Target audience
  • Deliverables
  • Delivery team
  • Delivery timelines

What To Include In A Creative Brief

Objectives and goals: why are we doing this project?

As with all good things, start with the why. Describe the purpose of the initiative, its goals, and expected outcomes.

Make sure that your goals follow the template of a SMART goal:

  • Specific —State your goals clearly and narrowly
  • Measurable — Ensure that the success or failure for the matter can be measured
  • Attainable — Make them ambitious yet achievable
  • Relevant — Align them to the objectives
  • Time-based  — Set an end-date to work towards success

Avoid sounding like Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back when he said, “difficult to see; always in motion is the future.”

For a creative project aiming to increase website traffic, an example of a good SMART goal could look something like this:

We want to increase our website traffic by 14 percent in the next quarter by publishing 10–12 articles per week. We believe this is achievable as traffic increased by 9 percent each and every month in the last quarter when posting 6–8 articles. By increasing blog traffic, we’ll improve our brand awareness and generate new leads.

Target audience: who are we doing this for?

Describe who the initiative is targeting. This means that you need a description of the target audience and their characteristics.

Some questions you may ask to get started are:

  • What is their demographic?
  • What are their wants and needs?
  • What is motivating them?
  • What is frustrating them?

Personas and empathy mapping are two great tools to use.

Message: what message do we convey?

Capture the tone of voice and brand guidelines to adhere to and what is to be included in the messaging. Address the message to be conveyed to the target audience and the emotion it should evoke.

Some description of items that should be included are:

  • Logo specifications

There are many other descriptors that can be used to convey the message, but these are good starting points.

Deliverables: what will we deliver?

Define the scope. Outline the milestones and deliverables of the initiative.

A milestone is a specific significant event in the delivery of an important stage. For instance, the publishing of an ad.

A deliverable is something that is provided as part of the initiative, such as a newsletter, promotional video, or poster.

You can also set out what is not included in the delivery. For instance, if the client will provide all creative assets, it is out of the scope of your delivery.

Delivery team: who plays a role?

Describe who is needed to deliver the initiative successfully and which effort is expected to be required from them.

In addition, you can consider capturing who the major stakeholders are and how to communicate with them to ensure they don’t switch to the dark side. Identifying stakeholders makes it easier to acquire resources and deliver as a cohesive team wile keeping all parties informed.

It is nice when, at the completion of the initiative after all is delivered and objectives are met, you can quote Leia Organa, from The Force Awakens :

“You know, no matter how much we fought, I’ve always hated watching you leave” — Leia Organa

Delivery timelines: what is the high-level delivery timeline?

Delivery shouldn’t last till eternity. The details gathered on milestones and deliverables and the capacity needed to deliver them empower you to define the timelines.

Describe when the initiative starts and when it will be completed. Also, consider being more granular by adding delivery timelines for milestones and deliverables.

There might be a chance that the completion deadline is a given from which you need to plan backward. Keep this in mind when planning roles and costs.

Budget: what will it cost?

It doesn’t come for free now, does it? Line out the expenses and, if needed, when they are expected to be incurred.

Include both the costs of those delivering the results as well as costs associated with any materials needed. For instance, printing and publishing costs.

How to write a creative brief that sets you up for success

There are many steps in the formation of creative brief. When they are done correctly, you will be successful writing and formulating your creative brief. These components include:

Create a project name

Refer to the marketing strategy, gather the project details, write your creative brief, review the brief with relevant contributors, share and acquire stakeholder approval.

How To Write A Creative Brief

Write down a concise title for the product brief that captures the essence and is understandable to decision-makers and stakeholders. Don’t be like the Star Wars franchise that named their movies incorrectly .

Link back to the marketing strategy and ensure that the creative brief supports them. In addition to doing so, stakeholders will find it easier to understand and rally behind the objectives.

Consult those who are required to get the content included in the creative brief. Going through this exercise will also provide you with a good overview of the stakeholder landscape to be managed.

Now that you have all of your information gathered, you can finally jot it all down. Thus, your creative brief is born.

Two people know more than one. A review helps to make the creative brief better.

People tend to overlook their own writing mistakes. Letting others, with fresh eyes, review the brief strengthens it in all aspects by correcting grammar errors and finding holes in the logic and information. (Note: Big shoutout to the editor of this article who captured all my flaws and mistakes, and gracefully improved them :D)

On top of that, when inviting others to review, you create shared ownership and buy-in.

When the brief is in good shape, it is time to share it with stakeholders and acquire their approval.

I personally like what I call the “sure shot” model here. The “sure shot” model is where approval is a 100 percent guarantee. How can you achieve this? By bringing stakeholders on board early, understanding their needs, and validating the buy-in upfront.

Keep in mind that not only do you need their initial approval, but also their ongoing support. Early involvement is the key to success from my experience. As Tobias Beckett would say, in Solo: A Star Wars Story , “You told Chewie people are predictable. You’re no exception.”

Types of creative briefs (including templates)

Creative briefs come in multiple forms for various purposes. Let’s have a look at some of the common ones.

For your convenience, and to get you started on your journey, a template is available for each:

Types Of Creative Briefs

Agency creative brief

This one is mainly used when working with marketing agencies. It allows you to provide a compelling offering that fits their brand.

Agency creative brief template

Campaign creative brief

This creative brief is to envision a creative approach for a marketing campaign. For example, an advertisement, or a new email campaign.

Campaign creative brief template

Video creative brief

The one helps product teams to understand what is needed for video projects. It helps them resonate with and evoke emotions from the target audience.

Video creative brief template

Graphic design creative brief

This brief, like the video creative brief, focuses on the graphics. The difference is that this one looks at static graphics, such as logos, images, and posters. It provides the designer with context to what is to be included and to be adhered to.

Graphic design creative brief template

Copy content creative brief

Where the video creative brief is focused on a specific video, and a graphic design brief on static designs, the copy creative brief focuses on a — you guessed it — specific piece of copy content. Think about e-books, whitepapers, or blog articles.

Copy content creative brief template

If you heard about the legends of creative briefs before — like Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story  — by now you will agree that, “Everything you’ve heard about them is true.”

A creative brief is essential to understanding what is needed to deliver a creative project. A great one includes several sections that set you up for successful delivery. Creative briefs come in various forms based on their purpose.

Let’s end this one with an Obi-Wan Kenobi quote that shows how he feels about creative briefs:

“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight … an elegant weapon for a more civilized age” — Obi-Wan Kenobi

Featured image source: IconScout

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How to Write a Creative Brief (Example & Template Included)

ProjectManager

What Is a Creative Brief?

A creative brief is a short, one-or-two-page document that summarizes marketing and advertising projects. Creative briefs are used by marketers and creative professionals to define the goals, scope and timeline for a project and set guidelines for their teams. For this reason, a creative brief can be described as a project management document for creative teams.

Who Should Create a Creative Brief?

A creative brief may be written by an in-house marketing team, an advertising agency or a marketing consultant for internal purposes. It’s a document that should capture the requirements of a client who needs their services.

The creative brief is like a blueprint for a project that’s made to help graphic designers, writers, videographers and other members of a creative team know what they’re responsible for and how their work and deliverables fit into the larger project.

After you write a creative brief for your team, you’ll need to plan, schedule and track your creative project. To do so, you’ll need project management software like ProjectManager . ProjectManager is equipped with tools such as Gantt charts, kanban boards, project dashboards and timesheets to help you manage any creative project. Assign work to your team members, create schedules, track costs and much more. Get started for free today.

kanban board in projectmanager

Why Are Creative Briefs Important?

The value of having a creative brief is that it sets out to ensure that the deliverables from the creative project meet the client’s expectations and business needs. Because of their clear value in managing marketing and advertising projects, creative project managers typically employ them for each project.

Yes, a creative brief is just a document, but it’s an essential one. If you have a well-made-up creative brief at the front of your project , you’re less likely to have problems as you progress through the life cycle of the work.

When Should You Use a Creative Brief?

A creative brief might be used for a variety of marketing and advertising projects such as:

  • Launching a marketing campaign for a new product or brand
  • Revamping your existing marketing strategy
  • Rebranding an existing business
  • Creating a website for your brand
  • Creating a promotional video
  • Starting a social media campaign
  • Guiding your marketing team when working for an external client

Creative Brief Outline

A creative brief can be made in many ways, from a Word document to a PowerPoint presentation or PDF. While there’s no single way to write a creative brief, as the structure of a creative brief depends on who’s requesting the creative brief and who’s drafting it.

For example, a marketing agency working for an external client will need to gather as much information about their client as an in-house marketing team working on a project. Having said that, here’s a quick overview of the main elements most creative briefs should include.

  • Company background: Include important information about your client such as its company’s core values, mission and vision as well as the name of the project , what it is and why it’s being done.
  • Brand voice: The brand voice is critical to success and must be tied to the target audience and their values, so decide if it’s serious, light, humorous, etc.
  • Message: Have a clear, simple and single message to tell the target audience. How will they believe that message to be true?
  • Target audience: Who’s the target audience? What do they think about the product or service you’re developing, and is there anything that the creative team should avoid? Also, note the competition.
  • Market insights: What are the key insights that have been learned about the market, and how does that relate to the company, brand or product?
  • Project goals & objectives: Outline what needs to be accomplished, how it’ll be measured and what success will look like.
  • Project scope: The scope of a project simply refers to all the tasks that will be executed.
  • Project deliverables: List how to deliver the message to the audience and what the best way to do that is.
  • Project timeline: Have a schedule to note when something is needed, when it must be done, how many revisions can be fit into that timeframe, etc.
  • Project budget: What’s the financial commitment to developing this project?
  • Approval: Who’s responsible for making approvals and decisions related to approval?

How to Write a Creative Brief

Now, let’s go over five simple steps you should follow when writing a creative brief.

1. Start by Understanding Your Client’s Requirements

Understanding the expectations and requirements of your client is key to success when writing a creative brief. This will be easier if you’re leading an in-house marketing team, as your team members will already have a good understanding of your company’s strategy, target audience and goals. If you’re working for an external client, make sure you get as much information from them as possible and make sure they approve your creative brief.

2. Conduct Market Research

Don’t neglect the work and marketing research before the creative brief is written. Some parts will be easier to develop than others. Defining the target audience and the best strategies to reach potential customers will require your team to do market research. Be sure to give those parts of the creative brief their share of time to get it done right.

3. Set the Goals for Your Creative Brief

Once you’ve understood the project requirements , it’s time to translate them into measurable and realistic goals for your team. For example, the main goal of your creative brief might be to simply increase the brand awareness of your company. Meet with your client and agree on an attainable goal, such as 30% more visitors to their website.

4. Define Your Project Scope & Deliverables

To accomplish the goals set forth in your creative brief, your marketing team will take a series of actions such as launching a social media campaign. Some deliverables will be images and promotional text created by your creative team. Once this social media campaign is live, you will track its success using digital analytics tools. Brainstorm with your team so that you don’t miss any detail.

5. Create a Budget for Your Creative Brief

Now that you’ve defined what your team should accomplish and how it’ll be accomplished, you’ll need to estimate the costs of each activity on your project scope. Once you know the costs for each task, you will be able to create a budget for the creative brief.

Creative Brief Template

Our free creative brief template is a great tool to get started with creative briefs. It’ll facilitate the process and help you make sure you don’t miss anything.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

Creative Brief Example

The ad agency, Wieden & Kennedy , came up with the Happiness Factory campaign for Coke, with the tagline, “the Coke Side of Life” in 2005. It was driven by an issue that its client had, specifically that “Coke had become a forgotten friend.”

creative brief example coca cola

Its challenge to the creative team was to remind people what makes Coke special. The brand idea they wanted to deliver to their target audience was that Coke is the genuine taste of happiness. To support that, they listed that Coke is delicious and refreshing, but it won’t resolve world peace or restore the ozone layer.

Therefore, the tone was honest, intimate and personal, being friendly, joyful and uplifting. With these signposts to lead the creative team, they developed this eye-catching video . It’s remarkable to see how an outline can be filled in so dynamically with the right creative team and the proper direction.

Creative Brief vs. Client Brief

As stated above, a creative brief is created by marketers and creative professionals to guide the efforts of their teams. A client brief on the other hand is a similar document that’s created by a client, who uses this document to communicate his expectations to the leaders of a creative team who will then turn that client brief into a creative brief.

Creative Brief vs. Content Brief

A content brief is simply a document that’s created to guide the efforts of writers who are working on websites, social media management or other forms of copywriting. It may include guidelines such as brand voice, word count and SEO keywords.

Tips for Writing a Creative Brief

Just because they are highly effective, doesn’t mean that creative briefs are present in every instance of project planning . Surveys of ad agency executives have shown that many of the creative briefs used are not clear, and can be incomplete or inconsistent.

To avoid these shortfalls, the creative brief should be written after a client explains their expectations. Then the creative team can compile a list of questions that are answered by the requestor, usually a marketing team leader.

The answers to these questions will become the template for the creative brief and the whole creative execution of the project. As the project moves forward, the creative brief is always referred to, and any deviation can be identified and addressed.

Avoid Adding Too Many Details to Your Creative Brief

Adding too much information to a creative brief is a common mistake. While the creative team should know all there is about the product or service being developed, this is a creative brief—emphasis on the brief. The brief must be short and to the point; there are supporting documents for the details.

Know the Client Before Drafting Your Creative Brief

The client interview is critical to a successful creative brief. They are, after all, the ones who know what they want from the project. The creative team needs to have clear communications with the client, and before any creative brief is executed, it must be approved by the client.

Don’t Rush the Process of Writing the Creative Brief

While a creative brief is a short document you should take your time when researching and writing one. Also, once it’s completed, don’t just let it sit with the creative team. Yes, they can come to you with questions, but it’s best to be proactive and keep the human interaction present. Be available for the creative team to ask questions through the project life cycle .

How ProjectManager Helps You Manage Creative Briefs

While a creative brief sets guidelines for your creative team it’s just the first step when planning a creative project. Once you’ve written a creative brief, you’ll need the right project management software to plan how your team will execute the work. ProjectManager is robust project management software that offers tools that are ideal to plan, schedule and track creative projects. Here are some of its key features.

Plan With Multiple Project Planning Tools

ProjectManager’s project planning tools are perfect to plan and schedule the work that’s needed for your creative brief. You can use Gantt charts , kanban boards, task lists and project calendars to create a project schedule, assign tasks to your team members, set due dates and collaborate with them in real time.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

Real-Time Project Dashboards & Reports

ProjectManager’s real-time dashboards are ideal for tracking costs, timelines, progress and workload at a glance. In addition, ProjectManager lets you create project reports in minutes so you can keep stakeholders informed.

ProjectManager’s dashboard view, which shows six key metrics on a project

Track Labor Costs With Timesheets

Creative briefs are executed by a diverse team of professionals, which means different rates of labor costs. ProjectManager’s timesheets and planning tools let you track the work hours of each member of your creative team so you don’t miss anything.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

The creative brief is one of many essential documents that help with the planning of a winning project. ProjectManager is online project management software that helps you plan, track and report on every stage of the project’s progress. It offers kanban boards and a collaborative platform for teams to work together more productively and provides managers with real-time data, so they know exactly where the project is at any time. See how it can empower all your teams by taking this free 30-day trial.

Click here to browse ProjectManager's free templates

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7 creative brief templates (+ example briefs)

Creative brief templates can bring structure to your marketing campaign ideas — while saving you time in the process. Use one of the creative brief templates in this guide for your next project to fully harness your creativity and channel ideas that will help you reach your goals.

If you are ready to level up with interactive creative briefs, try Aha! Roadmaps — purpose-built for product and marketing teams. You can document goals, create calendars, and coordinate go-to-market plans — all in one place.

Put together a creative brief in Aha! Roadmaps. Sign up for a free 30-day trial .

  • What is a creative brief?

A creative brief captures the creative essence of marketing and advertising campaigns. It is a foundational document that establishes important details about your approach and deliverables — such as your objectives, launch date, budget, audience, and key messages. Creative briefs help internal teams, third-party consultants, or advertising agencies understand the brand voice and message you want to deliver.

Creative briefs are particularly useful for communicating with external creative or advertising agencies, but they are helpful for internal teams too. Creative briefs align creative work with business strategy — keeping everyone on-brand, on-message, and on-track so you can successfully deliver against your marketing goals.

 Start by capturing strategic elements, such as product positioning

A creative brief example built in Aha! software .

Writing a creative brief is a great way to kick off your next marketing campaign. In this guide, we will go over how to write your own, what to include, and provide six free creative brief templates to help you get started. Jump ahead to each individual template here:

Creative brief whiteboard template

Simple creative brief template

Campaign creative brief template, agency creative brief template, content creative brief template.

Design creative brief template

Video creative brief template

How to write a creative brief

Writing a creative brief requires a deep understanding of your strategic goals , where your product or service fits in the market , customer needs, as well as the resources available to your team. With that in mind, here is how to write a creative brief in six steps:

Name your project. Choose a descriptive but concise title for your marketing campaign to include in your brief. As you share your plans with stakeholders, this will serve as a shorthand for the project's focus.

Refer to your marketing strategy. Writing creative briefs is part of the strategic planning process. Consult overall business goals and marketing objectives first to ensure your creative brief will support them.

Gather the details. Project owners, budget, and timelines are all details to consider before writing your creative brief. You may need to consult leadership to collect this information.

Write your creative brief. Your creative brief should include components like customer truths, key messages, brand voice, and deliverables. Use a creative brief template to capture these important elements.

Review with the marketing team. Once your creative brief is drafted, solicit feedback from other members of the marketing team. Collaborating on a creative brief helps to ensure you have included all the right details — and builds excitement for new campaigns.

Share with stakeholders. Whether you have prepared it for internal teams or an external agency, present your creative brief to communicate what you want to achieve. Treat your creative brief as a touchstone that everyone can refer back to as your campaign gets underway.

Creative brief components and examples

As the name suggests, creative briefs are not long or complex documents. In a page or two, you should be able to summarize your project parameters and distill your approach into key concepts. Here are the essential elements to include, questions to help you fill out each section, as well as creative brief examples:

Related: What is a marketing plan?

7 creative brief templates for marketing teams

Using a creative brief template makes it easy to write a succinct and compelling overview that clearly communicates your ideas. Below are seven different creative brief templates for Aha! Notebooks , Excel, and Word. Choose the type of creative brief that best suits the marketing program or campaign you are planning.

Creative brief whiteboard template

This creative brief template can be used on a digital whiteboard in Aha! Notebooks — making it a great option for collaborating between marketing and creative teams. Everyone can talk through ideas together which helps to ensure you are all in-sync on the creative plan.

Creative brief large

Start using this template now

This is a starter creative brief — it includes all of the key components in a streamlined document. You can easily adapt this template for a wide range of marketing projects, from content marketing to social media campaigns.

Simple creative brief template

Use this template to plan your creative approach for a marketing campaign. For example, if you are working with advertising agencies or consultants, you could outline a creative treatment for an advertisement , new logo, or tagline. For internal teams, this template can kick-off a new lead generation or email campaign. Anytime you need to create a new treatment or adaptation, write a new creative brief.

Campaign creative brief template

Agency creative briefs are often used within marketing agencies. An account manager can use this template to capture what a client wants to achieve and essential details about their audience, key messages, and brand voice. This helps the agency team better understand their clients' needs so they can deliver outstanding service that fits their brand.

Agency creative brief template

A content creative brief is used to provide writers and designers with the information they need to successfully produce a piece of content. This type of creative brief is typically for planning larger pieces of content like ebooks, whitepapers, or case studies — but you could use them to plan more routine content like blog posts as well. It is important to include details like research, background, and examples that can help creators understand your company's point of view on the subject.

Content creative brief template

Design creative brief

This template is helpful for working with graphic design professionals. Design creative briefs set you up for success by ensuring designers understand the brand and target customer as well as elements like tone, look and feel, and desired reaction. A detailed and thorough design creative brief will help produce high-quality design for everything from a new landing page to a billboard.

Design creative brief template

Video creative brief

Video creative briefs help production teams efficiently plan video projects. Creating new videos for a product or company is a significant investment, whether it is a short digital advertisement or a full brand video. Starting with a well-defined creative brief provides the clarity needed to produce a video that speaks to the target customer's problems in a compelling way, while staying on time and on budget.

Video creative brief template

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Advertising and Marketing Creative Brief | Guide + Template

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example of a creative brief for advertisements

What is an Advertising Brief?

When I mention “Just do it”, I bet you answer “Nike”. The same goes for “Think Small”, one of the best advertising campaigns in the history of Volkswagen. Want to know what these successful campaigns have in common? It’s a creative brief. Every successful advertising campaign starts with a well-written creative brief.

A creative brief is a comprehensive document that puts your internal marketing team and external agencies on the same page when it comes to executing a successful marketing campaign. It contains a summary of the project background, your target audience, and campaign goals and needs. 

The advertising creative brief serves as a blueprint throughout the project’s timeline to put everyone in the team on the same page, and make sure there is a consistent alignment of the brand and vision both internally and externally. 

Too often though, marketers brief a campaign into their creative agency without the fundamental information the campaign needs to become iconic. So read on to discover what makes a perfect advertising brief: 

Why Your Advertising Agency Needs a Creative Brief?

Whether you’re looking for a rebrand, a new website, flyers, a product launch or any other marketing collateral, a creative brief is your main tool to ensure any campaign you come up with connects to its target audience. And it’s exactly this connection that will give you the best chance of getting the successful outcome you’re seeking from your investment. And that’s not all, here are a few more benefits of creative brief writing for your advertising agency: 

A well-written creative brief includes all essential information (every time), and aligns your marketing messages with your company’s key objectives. Consistency is key! Make informed decisions

Creative briefs provide a deep insight into the campaign and reveal the strategic analysis conducted during discovery. Every idea or direction your team comes up with can be re-traced back to the creative brief.

Create your best work

‍ Taking time for setting up a thorough creative brief helps to increase customer satisfaction. Analyzing competitors, positioning, brand voice, and target audience will help your team to reach a deeper understanding of the end-users.

Without a creative brief your in-house team, as well as external agencies, lack a clear vision of their target audience and what the main goals are for the campaign. This makes the creative brief one of the most essential parts of any advertising or marketing campaign such as TikTok campaigns, websites, banner ads, or promotional videos to name a few.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to Write a Marketing Creative Brief? 5 Sections You Must Include

“Creative briefing is being seen as an expendable administrative task. Of course, it isn’t. The Creative Brief is a valuable marketing tool. Writing one is perhaps the most strategic and creative activity in which a marketer can engage. And yet, paradoxically, it is an activity threatened with extinction.” – Joe Talcott, former global marketing and creative director for Mcdonald's.

According to Talcott, if you want great work, you need to know how to write a great brief. Be aware though, that if the brief is too rushed, doesn’t contribute to the project objectives, or has little support internally, the resulting creative proposal will be incomplete or off-strategy. 

So make sure to include these 5 sections:

1) Project Overview, Background

In this section of the brief, describe the campaign in detail, giving an overall summary of what is and what isn’t needed.

Make sure you cover what the campaign is about, what the vision for the campaign is; any specific details the team needs to know, like Do’s and Don’ts, deliverables, important logistical information such as legal constraints, and of course the deadline of the project. This section should answer these 2 questions: 

  • Why are we doing this?
  • What’s the problem the product/service is trying to solve?

2) Measurable Goals ‍

In this section, make sure to include expectations of the goals your client wishes to reach. As a marketing manager or director, you’ll be very familiar with SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, and Relevant).

These are helpful to include in your advertising brief so that everyone in your team is working with the same objectives in mind. These must be clearly defined, and for each team member to know how their role contributes to meeting those goals. Examples of SMART goals for a social media marketing campaign meant to increase their follower base by 20% in a year: ‍

  • Specific : Increase follower base by 20% ‍
  • Measurable : Publish 3 articles a day using topics with relevant metadata. ‍
  • Attainable & Relevant : Existing data can confirm it’s realistic and achievable.

3) Specification and Requirements

Every advertising campaign needs different requirements that cross interdisciplinary teams, from creative to videographers, to developers. Including specifications from the start will help you provide the right creative solution that also fits the client’s budget, timeline, and most importantly, business goals.

A social media campaign for example needs to know details about which platforms to use, content creation requirements, what social media management tools are used, hashtags to use, etc. Whereas an advertising campaign including website banners or google advertisements, needs to know what kind of content has to be shown, who is writing the copy and is a there budget for promotion? In HolaBrief you will find ready-made specification templates for each of these projects. Explore them here.  

Make sure to collect this type of information so that marketing, creative, developers, and any external collaborators can work together to build what your client needs.

4) Competitive Landscape

A very important section of your advertising creative brief is a deep dive into your client’s competitive landscape. 

Make sure you do your research, getting a list of competitors from your client or manager isn’t enough. A lot of times it is missing some really interesting competitors. So try to create this list from different angles. The whole idea of a competitor map is to look beyond the ‘average’ competitors and start to see a bigger picture.

In HolaBrief we have an interactive competitor diagram that can be easily filled out with a drag-and-drop interface to map direct and indirect competitors for more clarity and inspiration.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

5) Creative Direction

To define your project's look and feel and communicate the brand identity, a moodboard is the perfect addition to your creative brief to solidify your design vision and help you better achieve a mutual understanding with your clients.

A visual moodboard is a like a collage containing a variety of images, text, fonts, and colors  that: Inspires As you’re still in the process of working out the project's brand identity, a moodboard will help bring things into focus, like company attributes, vision, identity, and the emotions you want the brand to convey.

As you already defined a lot of strategic direction with the creative brief, a mood board will affirm and support this. It will help you translate concepts like culture and values into tangible things, like design.

A moodboard that accurately reflects your project can act as a guide to keep the entire team focused on the brand look and feel when creating the logo, business cards, website, or other marketing materials.

A moodboard ensures that the entire team of designers, company principals, and stakeholders achieve a mutual understanding of the project right from the start.

Extra - Marketing Agency’s Creative Brief Example

A well-written advertising creative brief should at least contain the 5 sections we described above. What else should be included is: your target audience, positioning mapping, budgeting, and tone of voice. Anything short of that and you run the risk of creating a campaign on shaky foundations with too many revisions resulting in scope creep. 

If you are looking for a good example of an advertising creative brief for any type of campaign create a HolaBrief account and discover our many proven creative brief templates which you can customize to your own needs and requirements. Here’s a small sample of what you are going to get:

Build and Download Proven Advertising Brief Samples with HolaBrief

Creating a great advertising brief takes time, collaboration, and effort. Thanks to our years of research with 1000s of agencies, you now have proven brief templates at your disposal! Building your advertising creative brief inside a living document using HolaBrief, this step becomes much more efficient. No excuses anymore for setting up creative briefs at your agency!

Each department can add, comment or edit parts of the brief (at the same time) before it’s used as a blueprint or sent over for review to the client. They don’t even have to create an account in HolaBrief , so getting input from your clients has never been easier.

Build your own creative brief fast and collect your clients' responses  with HolaBrief!

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How to Write a Creative Brief (With Detailed Examples & Templates)

Haillie Parker

June 15, 2023

As Boromir once said in the cinematic masterpiece The Lord Of The Rings , “One does not simply make a funny video .” 🤌

OK, we took some artistic liberties—but the sentiment rings true! You can’t just whip up a creative project from scratch and expect it to be successful. 

Creative projects require careful research, intentional planning, and collaboration to make a splash. And before teams can hit the ground running, these elements must be packaged together in an informative document known as the creative brief. ✨

But how do you know if your creative brief is checking every box?

Follow along to learn everything you need to know to build an effective creative brief including a detailed outline, step-by-step workflow, top examples, and more. Plus, access to customizable creative brief templates!

ClickUp Project Management CTA

What Is a Creative Brief?

What belongs in a creative brief , step 1: give the project a proper name, step 2: coordinate your objectives with long-term goals, step 3: identify your target audience , step 4: solidify your messaging strategy, step 5: determine the final deliverables, step 6: budget your time and resources, step 7: set your milestones, then the timeline, step 8: name your key players, step 9: lock in the brief, creative brief examples, 1. creative brief document template by clickup, 2. creative brief demand planning template by clickup, 3. creative brief whiteboard template by clickup.

A creative brief is a short but informative document outlining the main details of any creative project and leads the team from ideation through the final deliverables. It’s the key to creating your roadmap and solidifying must-know information like:

  • Project requirements
  • Brand guidelines
  • Creative assets
  • Audience and messaging
  • Scope and timeline

And more—depending on your project! 🎨

Creative briefs are standard practice for most agencies and marketing teams . And like a design brief , the creative brief begins with a request from a client, company stakeholder, or another department within your organization.

While the team developing the project ultimately owns the creative brief, constructing it is a collaborative effort between everyone involved. 

Start by discussing the request itself. Go into this meeting with the intention of understanding the requestor or client’s vision, mission, and purpose to find the elements that really matter to them. From there, you can address any immediate challenges and offer your industry expertise to bring the project to life. 

The goal is to get everyone on board with the project plan—especially your stakeholders. With the requirements set in stone, design teams , writers, and marketers will know exactly how creative to get with your project and what’s expected.

What makes standardizing creative briefs so difficult is the ever-changing nature of each individual project. But that’s also what makes your brief so valuable! 

A creative project could be almost anything—from launching a complex advertising campaign to producing a web series. Each project will pose a distinct set of challenges, but the creative brief is there to help creative teams identify and solve those issues as quickly as possible.

Think of your creative brief as a reliable source of truth to refer back to throughout the project process. Whether it’s to provide updates, cross reference your work with the original plan, or double-check your messaging, the brief is your North Star. ⭐️

How to write a creative brief outline

At its core, your creative brief will answer the who, what, where, when, why , and how of the project and grow increasingly more detailed as you move down the page. 

But no matter what type of creative project you’re pursuing or how many versions the brief takes on before its stamp of approval, there are a few non-negotiable elements to ensure you’re outlining the top points in your creative brief, every time:

  • Project name and overview : Describe the purpose of the project
  • Objectives and goals : The problems your project will solve and how it ties back to the company mission
  • Target audience : The market segment that will benefit the most
  • Messaging strategy : How you’ll reach your target audience
  • Deliverables : The final assets
  • Budget : How much the project will cost and how much the client is able to spend
  • Timeline and milestones : The beginnings of your project roadmap
  • Key stakeholders and sign-offs : Every main point of contact and a record of approvals throughout the project

For most creative projects, these eight fundamental elements will start you on the right path. Depending on the complexity of your project, you might include additional sections for clarity like:

  • Competitor research to differentiate the project from similar initiatives
  • Analyses of past projects to explain why they were (or weren’t) successful
  • Company background if your agency with working with a new client
  • Breakdowns of every call to action if the project requires multiple CTAs
  • Detailed distribution plans for long-term projects

Bear in mind—your creative brief should be, well, brief . Before you load up your document with additional sections for the sake of being detailed, ask yourself what value it’s adding to your creative brief and to everyone involved. 

How to Write a Creative Brief 

Even with your outline ready to go, there is a strategic approach to completing your brief as efficiently as possible. Follow these steps to ensure your team and stakeholders are on the same page throughout your creative briefing process so no stone is left unturned! 

Starting things off strong with one of the most crucial pieces of your project—its name! Your project name should be clear and concise while communicating the intent. It doesn’t have to be flashy or funny, but it should resonate with your target audience and be compelling enough for them to want to learn more. In a sense, the name is your project or business’ first impression.

The overview is where you can dissect the project name a little more for the sake of the team. In a sentence or less, use your overview to answer any questions that may remain from the project name to avoid miscommunication or back-and-forth between stakeholders and the creative team. This could be a brief explanation of what the project will be and its core message.

With your project name and description in hand, you’re ready to outline your main objectives and goals. Your objectives are detailed and project-specific. It’s your opportunity to align the team on potential setbacks before they happen, CTAs, and prove the project’s worth. 

ClickUp Goal Tracking

All of this starts by defining these key points:

  • The problem you’re addressing
  • How the project will solve it
  • Why it needs to happen

Nailing down the what, how, and why of your project will set the expectation for what a successful outcome will look like when it’s all said and done. From there, you can draw connections between the project’s more granular objectives and the company’s larger goals or mission. 

User Persona Template by ClickUp

Your target audience is the group that will benefit most from your project or campaign and tells the creative team who they’re connecting with. If you already have user persona profiles created for your business, use those resources and market research to build this section! You don’t have to tell your user’s life story, but be sure to cover basic information including:

  • Demographics : Age, job title, education, marital status, and ethnicity
  • Behaviors : Buying trends and histories
  • Psychographics : Their general interests, opinions, and attitudes)
  • Location : Not just physical! Think about where to find your customer digitally

Now that you know who you’re marketing to, you can strategize the best ways to connect with them. Your messaging strategy is all about being in the right place at the right time and speaking to your audience the way they want to be spoken to. 

AKA, how will you distribute your creative project to the intended people?

User Story Mapping Whiteboard Template in ClickUp

Consider the social media and online platforms your target audience most commonly consumes, and create tailored content for those channels. This forethought will help you make significant decisions like whether to create a video, written post, or series of photos to draw your audience toward your product or service. 

But it doesn’t stop there. Once your audience member visits your website, reaches your CTA, or clicks on your link, be sure to greet them with consistent and familiar messaging to guide them all the way through the funnel. 

Ahh, now for the good stuff—what the project actually is. 

The prior sections of your creative brief are essential for justifying, setting up, and framing your assets for a successful launch. But there are many ways to interpret the project strategy and vision up to this point. Use this section to eliminate any gray area and potential miscommunication by detailing exactly what the creative team will provide. 

Your final creative deliverables include all digital or physical media requested, specific design elements, references to similar work, size or format requirements, mockups, and more. To ensure your client or stakeholder is completely satisfied with the final product, it’s better to lean into the details than leave too much for the imagination. 

It may not be your favorite part of the job, but it’s so important to be fully transparent about your budget. Your budget isn’t a limitation, it helps the creative team determine how creative they can get with the request. 

Be sure to note whether there’s a bit of wiggle room in the budget and when the project has hit the maximum amount. Think of your budget like the bumper rails on a bowling lane. Having these boundaries give the creative team clear guidelines to work within.

Budget Project Management Template by ClickUp

If you need help with budgeting your project—try the ClickUp Budget Project Management Template to break down every detail and cost.

And let’s not forget—the creative team members are experts in this! The challenge of crafting projects within a predetermined set of requirements is nothing new for them. 

With a crystal-clear budget to lead start the project off on the right foot, no one will be disappointed or met with an unwanted surprise.

When mapping out your timeline, it’s easier to start with the significant dates in your project—also known as your project milestones! These benchmark events include:

  • Your project kick-off
  • Creative brief approval
  • Draft reviews
  • Production completion
  • Final asset turnover

Milestones in Gantt view

With these dates, you can flesh out the tasks between each milestone, subtasks, dependencies, recurring meetings, and more. 

Your approved timeline and milestones will be the central resource for building a detailed project roadmap and properly delegating the teams’ individual workloads. 

To establish full transparency with everyone involved, make sure you identify each major player for the creative project. 

For the project manager, this clarifies each point of contact, their titles, and final sign-offs. As for the project itself, this portion of the creative brief also acts as a paper trail documenting whether certain aspects of the project have been approved and when. 

Once you’ve taken the first pass at constructing your creative brief, send it back to your client and stakeholders for final approval—then it’s time to put it to use! 

After the creative brief has been reviewed and accepted, no further edits should be made. But of course, all projects are different! If changes are made to the brief at any point, be sure to thoroughly document, date, and share those updates with everyone involved in a proper project meeting. 

Design approval workflow in ClickUp Mind Maps

The outline and workflow we’ve covered will fit virtually any creative project. But that doesn’t mean each brief will look the same. Briefs are the starting point for every creative project—no matter how big or small. Some projects will lean heavier into certain sections of the creative brief than others. Here are a few creative brief examples to help you gauge the differences between projects.

Bonus: AI Outline Generators !

Advertising campaign briefs

Advertising and marketing campaign briefs range from somewhat simple to extremely complex, depending on the scope of work. In this creative brief example, you may want to include additional research, multiple visual references, and several draft reviews to ensure the production and delivery goes off without a hitch. 

This is also a great example of the type of project that may include more than one CTA. While there will always be one primary purpose behind the campaign, it’s important for the creative team and stakeholders to align on the marketing KPIs , deliverables, and delivery process as quickly as possible. 

New to writing campaign briefs? The best place to start is with a customizable template like the Campaign Brief Template by ClickUp !

Content marketing briefs

A content marketing creative brief guides the blog and SEO teams to develop articles, copy, and materials that resonate with the company, its customers, and beyond! The audience, objectives, messaging strategy, and timeline are crucial in content marketing projects , especially if you’re following a tight content calendar . 

Content marketing objectives include anything from increasing brand awareness to generating potential sales leads. They are often created for the brand’s own website, social media platforms, newsletters, or content database .

The project’s success is generally determined through website traffic, engagement rates, conversions, and various social media metrics to tie back to the company’s larger goals.

Many companies use these projects to establish their thought leadership by partnering with third-party publications which requires a detailed brief to properly follow a brand-specific tone of voice and style guidelines.

Website redesign briefs

Web design workflows are no small feat and open the door to tons of unique creative elements including UX considerations, functional requirements, creative process needs, and more! Website redesign briefs still follow the same basic steps and structure but must be looked at through additional lenses:

  • Are the graphics, typography, and messaging consistent with the brand?
  • Can users easily navigate the website and reach the product or services with ease?
  • Does the design support the functionality you need? 

Social Media Brand Guidelines by ClickUp

With so many elements to any website, there can be a lot of back and forth between the designers and the client. To avoid draining your team with constant review sessions and minor tweaks, make sure you as the creative project manager set clear boundaries on the number of edits you’ll allow on the project before the final deadline.

There’s no need to exceed two rounds.

Creative Brief Templates

Even with a clear outline and step-by-step workflow, nothing beats a pre-built and customizable template to streamline your creative brief process. 

These tools were designed to include every critical element to avoid errors that may haunt you down the road. Your ideal creative brief template will seamlessly integrate with your creative project management software and be easily tailored to each project’s needs. 

ClickUp leads the charge when it comes to templates for creative and design teams with its own vast Template Library . With over 1,000 templates and new ones created every week, ClickUp has you covered—no matter your use case! Here are a few of our favorite creative brief templates to jump-start your next project.

Creative Brief Template by ClickUp

If you’re looking for a carefully curated, beginner-friendly, and collaborative creative brief template—this is it! The Creative Brief Document Template by ClickUp is the secret to aligning the marketing team, stakeholders, and clients on all creative project elements well before the project begins.

From defining your project’s purpose to outlining the budget, this template breaks down every must-have creative brief element in an easy-to-use format with pre-built tables, checklists, and prompts to guide you.

This ready-made ClickUp Doc also comes loaded with every powerful feature ClickUp is known for including:

  • Threaded and assigned comments to streamline your editing process
  • Slash Commands to embed tasks, third-party websites, rich styling, and media for added context throughout your template
  • Nested pages to expand your creative brief into the production process and build a visual hierarchy
  • Simple @mentions to call members to your Doc
  • Custom sharing and permission settings to control who can edit or view your brief

And more! Access this template in all its glory at absolutely no cost

Creative Brief Demand Planning Template by ClickUp

Use the Creative Brief Demand Planning Template by ClickUp on its own or pair it with the template mentioned above to set clear goals before your creative project. This template takes your traditional creative brief example a step further with features to help you act on your ideas the moment inspiration strikes you.

This intuitive List template is every creative project manager’s dream with five Custom Statuses to visually convey progress, 20 Custom Fields to filter and sort tasks in seconds, and seven custom views to manage your projects from every angle. Among these many views, you’ll find:

  • A pre-built List to organize all of your creative work 
  • A creative brief Form to collect all necessary information from the client
  • Every accepted project is arranged in a clean Table view
  • A detailed project calendar to stay on top of deadlines and project Milestones

And much more. Especially if your agency juggles more than one creative project at a time—this template is for you. 

Creative Brief Whiteboard Template by ClickUp

We’re not saying we saved the best for last—but it’s certainly the most interactive! The Creative Brief Whiteboard Template by ClickUp bridges the gap between business and design to effectively communicate ideas and requirements from the same highly visual canvas.

Unlike your typical digital whiteboard software , ClickUp Whiteboards connect instantly to your workflow with the power to convert any text into actionable tasks. This isn’t just a pre-structured diagram .

This template stays with you long after your own creative brief is approved with workflow Automations , seven Custom Statuses, and nine Custom Fields to take the edge off of your creative process. Plus, there are four ready-to-go project views to help craft your timeline and workflows. 

Take Your Creative Briefs Further in ClickUp

OK, we covered a lot of material there. Let’s regroup, shall we? By now, you’ve got:

  • The must-have elements of any creative brief
  • A detailed outline to craft your own
  • A step-by-step workflow 
  • Three creative brief examples
  • Multiple creative brief templates

All that’s left to do is log into ClickUp and watch your creative brief transform before your very eyes!

ClickUp is the only productivity software powerful enough to centralize all of your creative work in one collaborative platform. With over 1,000 integrations , a vast Template Library, hundreds of project management features , and flexible pricing , ClickUp is the one-stop-shop solution for teams across industries.

What’s not to love? Try ClickUp for free, today !

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How to write a compelling creative brief (with examples & free templates).

example of a creative brief for advertisements

  • Creative briefs, explained
  • The 5 elements of an effective creative brief
  • How to write a creative brief

Browse more blogs

Are you ready to finally understand what makes up an awesome creative brief and how to create your own?

In this post, we'll cover:

  • Exactly what a creative brief is (and what it is not)
  • Great examples of creative briefs
  • Our step-by-step process for writing a creative brief

The creative brief is the foundation of any successful creative campaign. It outlines the client’s vision and ensures that everyone is on the same page. So let's get started!

Communication - including the creative brief- is the cornerstone of success for any marketing campaign. And yes, it's more important than creativity. 

As Will Burns of Ideasicle says, the creative brief is the “most sacred of all sacred ad documents”.

From the choice of font in a print ad to the overall theme of the campaign, everything springs from the creative brief.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

   

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Creative Briefs, Explained in Detail

The creative brief is the foundation of a creative campaign. Despite its importance, it is poorly understood, mostly because of its open-ended nature.

This section will help you understand creative briefs and their purpose better.

What is a Creative Brief?

A creative brief is a short 1-2 page document outlining the strategy for a creative project.

Think of it as a map that guides its target audience - the creative team - on how to best reach the campaign’s stated goals.

The creative brief is usually created by the account manager in close consultation with the client.

To that effect, it’s an interpretation of the client’s ideas and vision for the brand and the product.

Since this brief is usually created by and for the agency, it is open-ended in nature. You can, and should, include anything and everything that will help the creative team understand the brand and product better.

Most creative briefs include the following:

  • A short brand statement.
  • A brief overview of the campaign’s background and objectives.
  • Key challenges that the campaign aims to resolve.
  • Target audience for the campaign.
  • Chief competitors.
  • Primary message describing the brand’s values and market positioning.
  • Communication channels on which the campaign will run.

For example, here’s a creative brief for Hush Puppies :

example of a creative brief for advertisements

Essentially, the creative brief describes the “what” of the project (i.e. its objectives) and “how” to achieve it (i.e. the creative approach).

Why Do You Need a Creative Brief?

There is a long list of reasons to create a creative brief.

The most important reason is also the simplest: it is standard agency practice.

Your clients will expect a creative brief before they sign off on a project. And your creative team will expect it before they can start working.

For better or for worse, you can’t start a campaign without it.

But there are other reasons to create a creative brief:

  • Ensure that all creative messages are on-brand.
  • Give the creative team a broad vision of the brand, the business, and the product.
  • Offer inspiration and give your team a starting point to brainstorm ideas.
  • Give third-party contributors a quick understanding of the brand and its background.
  • Reduce client-creative conflict by ensuring they're on the same page
  • Align the client's budget and expectations with your creative media strategy

Who Creates the Creative Brief?

Nominally, the person responsible for managing the client relationship makes the creative brief. Usually, this is the account manager or the project manager.

This person works closely with the client to understand their requirements, their current situation, and the desired future outcomes.

Actually putting together the brief, however, isn’t a one-person job. You usually need input from a range of people such as:

  • Creative team: to analyze whether the client’s vision is viable and to brainstorm creative ideas.
  • Marketing team: gather customer data, analyze competitors, and develop a viable media strategy.
  • Accounts team: to analyze budgets.

Who is the Creative Brief Made for?

It might surprise you to learn that the end-user of the creative brief isn’t the client.

Rather, it’s the creative team .

While you’ll certainly need the client’s approval on the brief to get the go-ahead, the people who’ll actually use it are your creative team.

Your job, thus, is to interpret the client’s vision in such a way that it is accessible to the creative team.

This means no jargon, no fluff, and no “marketer-speak”. Create the brief in such a way that a designer or developer can understand it.

At the same time, the creative brief is not the answer to the client’s problem; it’s a starting point to inspire your team. It should have just enough insight to challenge your team and get them to think creatively about the problem.

As one commentator points out, it’s always good to ask yourself:

“Are you confident that this brief will inspire a solution to our problem?”

If the answer is a “no” or a “maybe”, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

 What Are Some Creative Brief Examples?

The best way to understand a creative brief is to see a few real-life examples.

Here’s a creative brief for Reebok shoes.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

This brief focuses extensively on the audience. In a competitive, brand-focused market, understanding the audience is crucial for creating better-targeted marketing.

Here’s a more visual creative brief for Quaker Oats . This one has an unorthodox structure. If you look closer, however, you’ll notice that it has the same fundamentals as Reebok’s brief above.

quaker-oats

For another example of an unorthodox creative brief, take a look at this one for PayPal . It eschews conventional sections and uses a bold visual design instead.

paypal-creative-brief-1-1024

This just goes to show that creative briefs are flexible in their content and design. You can use whatever format you need as long as it works for both the client and the creative team.

In the next section, I’ll walk you through the ideation process for making a creative brief.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

The 5 Components of an Effective Creative Brief

When it's wrapped up, the creative brief doesn't look like much.

It's at most 2 pages long. A good one will usually be free of jargon and marketer-speak. Many will also be visual.

The effort that goes into creating this simple document, however, is immense.

You have to have an acute understanding of the brand, the product, its target audience, and the message.

To write a good creative brief, you need to know five aspects of the campaign:

1. The Product

A creative campaign starts and ends with the product. After all, this is what you're tasked with selling. If you don't understand it well, you can't expect your creative team to do a good job of it.

Start by asking the client some fundamental questions about the product:

  • What product are you advertising?
  • What category does it belong to?
  • Where is the product currently being sold? Where is it being advertised? Where will it be advertised in the future?
  • What is the product's current status in the market?
  • What are the product's existing brand values?
  • What is the product's price point? How many variants are currently available?

Your goal is to map the product's current brand perception. This will be a combination of factors - price, quality, perceived quality, etc.

Use the client's existing records, market surveys, and customer data to understand the product and its brand better.

You'll use it later when you write the creative brief.

2. The Business

The business and the product can often have a complex relationship. In some cases, the business brand might be completely independent of the product. In most other cases, they might affect each other in a symbiotic relationship.

For example, Toyota (the company) and Toyota Camry (the car) have different brand perceptions.

A customer might see Toyota as "reliable" and "efficient". But he might see Camry as "unreliable" after a spate of recalls.

Business and product brand perceptions often bleed into each other. If a customer has repeated bad experiences with a product, he might associate that with the business itself.

The exception is when the business is "invisible" to the customer. This usually happens with B2B brands, holding companies, etc.

For example, Luxottica manufactures several iconic eyewear brands such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, etc. But the Luxottica brand itself is invisible to customers. Poor performance from one of its products is unlikely to affect its brand perception.

Your goal should be to:

  • Analyze the business' brand perception.
  • Understand the business relationship to the product brand.
  • Map the factors affecting the business' brand perception.

In the creative brief, this information will be a core part of the campaign’s “background” section.

For example, this brief for Red Bull introduces the problem by framing it in the context of the business:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

3. The Market

The 'market' is a combination of the “Three C’s”:

  • Competitors , their strengths, weaknesses, market position, and media strategy.
  • Context for the campaign - political, social, and technological movements.
  • Category , i.e. how people see the product category.

All these have a marked influence on the campaign.

For example, the popular "Mac vs PC" campaign wouldn't be successful if Apple was the market leader.

Similarly, an overly positive, upbeat campaign wouldn't work in a down economy.

Your goal should be to analyze the following aspects of the market:

Competitors:

  • What are the products and the brand's chief competitors? What is their market share compared to the product?
  • What is the competition's marketing strategy? Where do they advertise?
  • What kind of messaging and tone does the competition use?
  • What kind of customers buys the competitor's products?
  • How does the market currently see the product or its category?
  • Is there a cultural moment you can tap into to promote the product?
  • What cultural values, ideas, or events can you align the product with?
  • How is the economy doing? Is it a time for optimism? Or are people concerned with saving?

For example, to celebrate its 100th anniversary, Oreo aligned itself with a bunch of cultural and historical events:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

In a time of "activist brands", businesses are increasingly aligning their products with social and cultural movements. Think of how you can tap into the zeitgeist to create a better brand message.

  • How do people perceive this product category? What factors affect this perception?
  • Is there a change in people’s perception of the category? Is this change positive or negative? What is leading this change?
  • Are there any category conventions you can use in the campaign?

4. The Customers

Your customers are important, more so than anything else on this list.

leo-burnett-quote-turn-yourself-into-your-customer-1024x403

( Image source )

A deep understanding of the target audience, its wants, desires, and tastes is crucial for writing a creative brief.

To do this, start by describing the following:

  • Demographics data (age, sex, income, marital status).
  • Psychographics data (interests, aspirations, lifestyles, habits).
  • What they think about the product and the brand right now ("boring", "fun", "not for me", etc.).
  • What you want them to think about the brand ("change perception", "shift frame of reference", etc.).
  • Frustrations, aspirations, life need, and shared belief you can tap into.
  • The purpose of all this data is to find a trigger that will motivate them. This trigger should align with the campaign's objectives.

For example, Toyota sells an MPV - Toyota Sienna - that had a shrinking market share. Part of the reason for this decline was the general unpopularity of MPVs among young parents. For a lot of young people, MPVs are "boring" and "old school".

To get these customers to consider Sienna as an alternative, Toyota had to change their perceptions.

To do this, Toyota created a YouTube campaign highlighting the inherent “coolness” of the Sienna, such as this music video:

5. The Campaign

Every campaign has a specific goal, message, and audience. It's not uncommon for brands to run several campaigns at the same time with different messages.

Your job is to understand the goals of your campaign and find a way to get there. That is, to define the campaign's strategy and approach.

To do this, answer the following questions:

  • What is this campaign trying to do? Increase awareness? Increase traffic? Get more shares? Be as specific as possible.
  • What customer action would make the campaign "successful"? Fill out a form? Click a link? Call the business?
  • What specific challenge is the campaign trying to address? State this in a single sentence. Example: "We want to advertise new features to get more trials".
  • What is your media strategy? Where will the campaign run?
  • What is the chief message for the entire campaign?

Your goal is to find the "driving idea" for the campaign and where to run it.

For example, the driving idea for the Toyota Sienna campaign I shared earlier was:

"Awesome parents drive the Toyota Sienna "

This campaign didn't highlight the car. Instead, it highlighted the customers and how their aspirations align with the car. Since the target audience was young parents, all print ads specifically highlighted them.

PT1-209_o

 ( Image source )

This approach was specific to only this campaign. Toyota had other ongoing campaigns for the Sienna. These campaigns targeted a completely new audience with a different message.

This might seem like a lot of research - and it is - but it is crucial for writing creative briefs. Without understanding the campaign, customers, and product, your briefs will be off-brand.

And if the brief is off-brand, the results will suffer.

This is why I recommend getting input from several people. Ask your marketers for data and your creative team for ideas. The more information you have, the better the final brief.

In the next section, I’ll walk you through the actual process of writing a creative brief.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to Write a Creative Brief

Creative briefs don't have a fixed format. That said, if you need a template, we’ve got you covered. You can  download free creative brief templates HERE - or read on to learn how to build your own. Most agencies have their own templates. Some have a simple text document, while others use more visual designs.

Regardless of its format, your creative brief must revolve around the five elements we covered earlier.

To write the creative brief, use the following template:

1. The Project

Start your creative brief by writing a broad overview of the project. Establish the identity of the client, talk about the product, and list the goals of the campaign.

2. Key Challenge

Every campaign has a key challenge. This is the "what" of the project.

Describe this challenge in a few short sentences.

You might have something like this:

  • "[Client] wants to leverage a new feature to get new trials."
  • "[Client] wants to reposition the product so a new user will consider it."
  • "[Client] wants existing users to consume more of the product."

For example, here’s the key challenge in the Quaker Oats creative brief I shared earlier:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

 3. Purpose of Communication

A successful campaign needs a clear and distinct purpose. This purpose should ideally be trackable and measurable. It should also be tied to the key challenge you described above.

Use this section to describe the action you want to inspire in your customers.

Try something like this:

  • "[Client] wants to increase awareness of [Product]'s new feature."
  • "[Client] wants to change opinion about [Product category]."
  • "[Client] wants to mobilize existing customers of [Product] to visit its website."

4. Competitors

The client's competitors, as we learned above, have a big impact on the campaign. Use this section to briefly describe the key competitors and their media strategies.

Some things you can include about the competition here are:

  • Market share
  • Media strategy
  • SWOT analysis

5. Target Audience

Refer to the audience research you did earlier to describe the following:

  • Demographics
  • Psychographics
  • Current perception/belief about the brand
  • Target perception/belief about the brand
  • Approach for motivating them to take action

6. Background or Context

Briefly describe the background and context of the campaign. Include specific details for the following:

  • Cultural context, i.e. current events and ideas you could leverage to achieve campaign goals.
  • Category context, i.e. how customers currently see the product category and how you can change it.
  • Brand context, i.e. how customers currently see the product and its brand.

For example, this creative brief for TOMS shoes gives readers a detailed overview of the company’s background and its customers’ aspirations:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

7. Tone and Brand Voice

Use adjectives to describe the tone, brand voice, and key qualities you want customers to associate with the:

  • Product ("fun, reliable, efficient")
  • Brand ("mature, trustworthy, cost-effective")

8. Media Strategy

Briefly describe how you plan to spread the message. Include the following

  • Channel(s) you'll use for the promotion.
  • Why this channel will help you reach your target audience.
  • How can you use the channel's own form and audience expectations to make the idea more shareable (such as adding "tag a friend" on Facebook)?

Include details about the estimated budget for the campaign. If possible, break down budget requirements by creative type and promotion.

10. Chief Message

This is the "driving idea" behind the campaign. Usually, it's a short, pithy statement that condenses the campaign into a slogan.

Think of something like this from Reebok:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

Or this one from PayPal:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

One way to write a better creative brief is to create a press release that you might send journalists at the end of the campaign. You don’t have to actually use it, but it helps you think of the campaign’s goals and the approach you used to get there.

These are only guidelines, of course. You can change the creative brief as per your requirements. As long as your creative team can understand it, you are free to include or exclude anything you want.

Workamajig has built-in support for creative briefs to make the process seamless, and of course, these can be customized according to your needs. 

Click the link below to get your free Workamajig Demo.

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7 creative brief examples to help you improve your briefs

example of a creative brief for advertisements

Afoma Umesi

Gathercontent contributor, writer, 7 minute read.

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Padma Gillen

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That’s exactly how it feels to work without a creative brief. You might have an idea of what you want, but you have no idea how to achieve it.

A creative brief bridges this gap. It breaks down the specific elements of your project and provides a clear pathway from concept to finished product.

In this article, we’ll show you the essential elements of an effective creative brief. Plus, we’ll look at several creative brief examples (including content briefs) to get your creative juices flowing.

What is a creative brief?

A creative brief is an overview of a creative project such as a marketing or advertising campaign. As we’ll see, it covers everything from project goals to deliverables to distribution plans.

A creative brief:

  • Gives all relevant teams and stakeholders visibility into project details
  • Serves as an accessible reference point or central hub for high-level project info
  • Keeps team members (including external and internal teams) on the same page as creative work progresses

This prevents various issues:

  • Misunderstandings about project scope and goals
  • Contributors acting independently, which can negatively impact the cohesiveness of the end product
  • Confusion about who key stakeholders are or who is responsible for approvals

Sound familiar? Content briefs and creative briefs serve similar purposes, so they’re often confused. But the two are a bit different.

Creative brief vs. content brief: What’s the difference?

Content briefs and creative briefs differ primarily in scope.

Creative briefs contain instructions for producing a wide range of creative deliverables. They work for any creative project—not just written content. These briefs generally include different elements from the content brief. Details like company background information, campaign goals, key messaging, and brand statement(s).

Creative briefs are commonly used by creative teams—for example, a team at an advertising agency. Creative briefs include the following elements:

  • Web or graphic design briefs
  • Content briefs
  • Strategy briefs
  • Copywriting briefs
  • Marketing campaign briefs
  • Social media campaign briefs

Notice that a content brief is one kind of creative brief.

Content briefs help writers create content that matches marketing goals. Typically, they’re geared toward helping writers produce SEO-friendly content while covering the full scope of the topic.

7 creative brief examples (content briefs included)

With their differences in mind, let’s look at seven creative brief examples—content briefs included—for some inspiration.

1. GatherContent

A screenshot of a GatherContent project brief spans two pages. It includes the sections: Summary, Proposition, Goal, KPIs/OKRs/metrics, Audience, Messaging, Channels, Current landscape/context, Scope, and Execution.

Are you planning a large content project? If so, this content project brief template will be an invaluable resource for your content marketing team. The template covers everything from the project summary to key performance indicators (KPIs) and budget. All you have to do is fill it in with your project details and make it available to your team.

While this template is specific to content, it falls into the broader category of creative briefs. This is because it’s for a larger project, not a single piece or a small part of a marketing plan. So, this is creative brief example is high on the list.

2. Omniscient Digital

Screenshot of Omniscient Digital's content brief. It includes the sections: URL slug, Target keyword, Secondary keywords, Search intent, Suggested title, Suggested outline, CTA, and Snippet(s).

Content agency Omniscient Digital uses a comprehensive content brief . It includes keywords, SEO metadata, an audience description, search intent, competitor content, and more.

Screenshot of PayPal's Creative Brief template. An overview includes discussion of The Problem, Our Goal, Our Key Insight, Who Will We Engage?, and Our Main Message. Opportunities are illustrated in a visual  of color-coded circles connecting channel, how do they use it, why do they use it, and brand.

This sample creative brief for PayPal shows the difference between content and creative briefs. As you’ll see, this marketing campaign brief is not for writers. Instead, it focuses on the brand’s marketing strategy, including elements such as key insights and PayPal’s brand statement.

Screenshot of Reebok's creative brief. With a simple design, it includes Reebok data for the sections: Company Background, Objective, Target, Brand Voice, Insight, Single Minded Thought, and Execution Requirements.

This creative brief for Reebok is a good example from a customer focus standpoint. While it’s shorter than many briefs, it does go into detail about the target audience. It covers who they are and their life circumstances. Not to mention the top challenge they face and how the brand addresses that challenge. These are details copywriters, designers, and others involved in print ad creation find useful.

5. Content Harmony

Screenshot of Content Harmony content brief template. It includes fill-in sections for target keyword, content overview (including title tag, H1, URL, meta description, word count, and target audience), Outline, and Keywords.

Content Harmony uses a mix of tabular and text formats for its content briefs . It also includes details like the strategist’s name, content management system (CMS) settings, suggested content outlines, and internal and external links.

6. Coca-Cola

Screenshot of Coca-Cola creative brief. Sections include: The Brief, Business Objective, Equity, and Target.

One of the more in-depth creative brief examples on our list, this brief for Coca-Cola teaches several lessons. It doesn't just give a basic description of the target audience.  It also covers their current perception of the brand and how the campaign proposed should change it. Plus, it gives campaign ideas for inspiration, showing how the info in the brief could be applied.

Screenshot of Zapier content brief template. Sections include: Title, 1-sentence description, Target audience, Primary keyword, Secondary keywords, SEO title, SEO meta description, Word count, Internal links, Competitor articles, CTA, and Notes.

The Zapier blog has a comprehensive but straightforward content brief template . It includes a one-sentence description, ballpark word count, and call to action, among other details.

How to write a creative brief: 12 elements to include

Of course, elements of creative briefs vary depending on the project type. For example, a graphic design brief would have a heavier focus on visual elements than one for a copywriting project. But here are 12 elements that are commonly seen across many types of creative briefs.

1. Project name

This may seem like a trivial thing. But everyone involved in a project needs a singular, memorable way of referencing the project name. Everyone having their own nickname for an initiative results in unnecessary friction and confusion.

2. Project summary

Rather than diving right into the specifics of a project, a great creative brief will lead with a summary of the foundation of your project:

  • Your or your client’s company or organization
  • What the project is and why it’s important
  • Main project goals

To be clear, team members and stakeholders shouldn’t treat this as a TL;DR. (It’s not comprehensive enough to be a standalone info source.) Yet, it is helpful to have a concise overview to refer to when necessary.

3. Buyer persona(s)

Any good creative brief will answer the question, “Who are we trying to reach with this initiative?” Speaking on the importance of including buyer personas, Christiaan Huynen of   Designbro says:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

But typical buyer personas have some flaws. For one thing, too few are informed by actual input from customers.

You’ll have an incredible advantage if you build personas on validated customer insights. Don’t guess. Learn their biggest pain points, goals, motivations, and hesitations. Then, observe the language they use to communicate those things. This is the way to make your audience feel heard and understood, as Christiaan mentioned.

Additionally, realize that strong buyer personas don’t mean your creative work will automatically resonate. Deniz Kuran, Head of Marketing at Idiomatic , explains:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

4. Drivers and objectives

Work quality hinges on how well internal teams and external contributors understand the drivers behind a project. Give context on the project’s purpose and the problem you’re trying to help your audience solve.

This leads us to the topic of objectives. Rather than non-descript outcomes like “we want more leads,” get specific about what targets you want to hit. What metrics will be important? How will you measure them? If you value a metric like brand awareness that’s not as measurable as others, how will you judge the success of the project?

5. High-level competitor overview

You don’t need to include all of your competitor research here. Give a brief overview of direct competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Also, mention any significant threats they pose to the success of your project.

Defining how you’ll meet the needs of your audience is important, of course. But including competitor info also gives your team a clearer picture of how this project stacks up to the competition:

  • The project is an answer to competitors’ efforts to outcompete you
  • The team appraoches their part of the project to help your or your client’s organization gain the upper hand

6. Messaging guidelines

All creative projects convey a message. So, whether for design, copywriting or anything else, creative briefs should include messaging guidelines of some sort.

Identify the theme of your project, your unique value proposition, or the main takeaway for your intended audience. Beyond that, consider outlining (at a high-level) what messages, themes or ideas shouldn’t be part of your messaging.  

7. Tone of voice guidelines

Closely linked with messaging, specify the appropriate tone of voice for the project. Why does this matter? Tone—how you say what you say—should vary depending on:

  • Your audience as a whole
  • The subset of an audience you’re talking to
  • Subject matter
  • Content type
  • Distribution channel

Voice of customer research, in particular, can help you identify the best way to get your message across to your audience.

8. Relevant assets and deliverables

What will you produce during your project? List out deliverables large and small. Also, mention any existing assets that will inspire or help with deliverable creation.

How much money you have to spend determines the approach your team will need to take to get the outcome you want. Clarify the total budget and, if necessary, budgets for individual teams or elements of a project.

10. Project timeline

According to Will Yang of Instrumentl , timing is a commonly forgotten element in creative briefs. But it’s one that “can be hugely important in ensuring the success of a project.” Will continues:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

A good creative brief should outline the project workflow and how much time will be allotted for each stage.

11. Stakeholders

Outlining key people involved in your project saves time and prevents confusion. For example:

  • Key people direct contributors to the appropriate points of contact for questions or concerns
  • Stakeholders allow contributors to give feedback in a timely manner
  • They make sure deliverables get the necessary approvals before moving to the next stage

But do more than make note of who stakeholders are. Stacey Danheiser of Shake Marketing Group also recommends getting their approval on the brief:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

12. Distribution strategy

Detail what channels you’ll use to distribute final deliverables or end products to your target audience. These channels could, of course, be digital (e.g. social media) or physical (e.g. billboards). But, whatever they are, mention them in the brief so that team members know what to optimize their work for.

Use creative briefs to streamline your content workflows

The creative brief is a map covering the major touchstones, but not necessarily all the attractions. It's critical for keeping all team members and stakeholders on the same page. But it’s not the be-all-end-all.

Don’t forget to leave room for creativity , even as you fit in the major elements (e.g. target audience, messaging and tone guidelines, etc.).

Looking to optimize your content creation process? If you’re tired of juggling multiple platforms for brief creation, content writing, and content reviews, it’s time to try out GatherContent.

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The Creative Brief: Everything You Need to Know

Marketer filling out a creative brief

Writing a full creative brief may not always be necessary — but in most cases, entering into a project without a creative brief is like flying blind. With many marketing departments producing high volumes of collateral and needing to be as agile as possible in their delivery, it’s critical that the process is as efficient as possible. And that starts with a well-written creative brief.

Download your free creative brief template

In this creative brief guide you will discover:

What is a creative brief?

  • Why you need a creative brief
  • How to write a creative brief?

When should you use a creative brief?

Who should fill out the creative brief.

  • Creative brief template

A creative brief is a document used to outline the strategy of a creative project. A creative brief contains project details including:

  • Project purpose
  • Requirements
  • Demographics

Usually developed in the project initiation phase, a creative brief will help a creative team better understand a project from the start, and may be presented to key stakeholders and clients.

Although not all creative briefs are created equal, they all share the same basic layout. And since some projects require more detailed  planning  than others, you’ll waste a lot of time and effort if you try to use one detailed creative brief template for all your work.

This is where electronic creative briefs in  marketing work management tools  come in handy. If it’s a quality tool, the briefs will be customizable so you can design them to only cover the information necessary for that specific type of project.

Effective creative briefs rely on good questions. Ask the right questions and you’ll write a creative brief that will make your life easier. Essentially, you have to clarify the who, what, where, when, and how of the  deliverable . We describe how below.

Why you need a creative brief.

You need a plan.

Obviously, you can’t design something you don’t understand. Your project needs a reason to exist, as well as:

  • expectations

In a creative brief, you articulate your vision and justify its benefits, as well as plan how you will target your audience. From the beginning, a creative brief puts everyone on the same page before launching a project.

A well-written creative brief will save you time.

Creative briefing isn’t just cobbling together a document, it’s wielding a tool that facilitates clear and thorough communication from the beginning of the design process. A clear brief can prevent:

  • Last-minute changes
  • Misunderstandings
  • Conflicting objectives

All of which will cost your team valuable time and money.

You’ll maintain accountability and communication.

Agreeing on your  scope , deliverables, objectives, the persona and  execution of a project  will help anchor your team and your  stakeholders . Establishing parameters and, perhaps most importantly, building trust at the outset will go a long way toward smoother processes.

Requests and approvals will be processed faster.

Ambiguous goals are difficult to achieve. Consider vague requests such as, ‘I just want a really clean-looking design.’ While some of this is simply a fact of life for design professionals, a creative brief forces clarity upstream, minimizing difficult confrontations during the review and approval cycle.

The creative briefing process is as much about anticipating obstacles as understanding and aligning objectives. Better to get clarification during the planning phase than when you’re in the middle of proofing.

The final product will be higher quality.

This is a direct result of setting clear objectives, aligning with business objectives, and vetting expectations up front. When everyone’s time is valued and expectations are made clear, it’s easier for the team to hit their mark, remain invested, motivated, and proud of their work.

“The brief was always supposed to be a springboard for great work. Not a straitjacket.”

David Trott

author of Creative Mischief

So let the design brief act as your guiding instrument and understand that time spent on a well-designed brief is an investment that pays off in the end with:

  • Greatly improved process
  • Higher quality of output

And, ultimately, a more trusting relationship between your team and client.

Ebook:   5 Tips to Get Back Time to be Creative Whitepaper:   Agile Marketing for Creative Teams

Elements in a creative brief.

Before writing a creative brief, be sure to ask these 10 questions. Some are left out of briefs too often. Believe it or not, covering these bases can make the difference between a struggling content project and highly effective one.

1. Why are we doing this?

Anyone that’s going to create anything worthy of publishing needs to know some context to the assigned project. They need to know:

  • The ‘why’ of the project — what’s the need?
  • What’s the pain?
  • What’s the opportunity or challenge?

Your team may not need to know every nitty-gritty historical detail of the project, so don’t waste time trying to pin down every little thing — only divulge what’s most important to your team doing great work.

2. Who is our target audience?

How will you know how to target your deliverables unless you know who’s going to see, handle, watch, or read what you’re creating? Make sure you know the ‘who’ of the project before beginning. And I don’t just mean writing ‘potential customers.’ What about these potential customers?

  • How old are they?
  • Where are they from?
  • What's their average salary?
  • What are their self-interests?

This type of information could be the difference between a successful campaign and huge waste of time and money.

3. Who are our competitors?

After you’ve identified your target audience, include a list of your main business rivals on the brief. Add links to review what they offer and any similar projects to yours they have attempted. Consider:

  • How did they do?
  • What can you learn from them?
  • Did they do a good job?

Finally, consider how can you differentiate yourself from them with your creative content.

4. What do you want us to deliver?

This is the client’s chance to tell you the ‘what’ of the project — what they actually want your team to deliver. This is where the client unveils their overall vision for the project. This can require a little digging, however, because often clients have a picture in their head of what they want.

If you can't get them to describe that picture, the work your team completes, no matter how fabulous, can disappoint clients if it differs from their vision. This is the time to ask questions, get clarifications and manage expectations by communicating what expectations can or cannot be met and why.

5. What’s the big idea?

If this deliverable or campaign could be boiled down to a handful or less of key messages, what would they be? Some agencies call this the ‘big idea.’ What does this project most need to convey to, or evoke from, its audience?

6. How do we want it to look?

This section is especially important for external agencies that may have to learn a whole new brand with every project. This is where the ‘how’ gets answered, where you clarify the:

And any other guidelines related to the project.

7. What is our core business objective?

Before we get into the work of shaping content, we need clarity on its reason for being. Unless it’s meeting a business objective, even the most dazzling  projects risks failing  at its ultimate goal of creating value.

Discuss this thoroughly with your team and stakeholders at the outset, ensuring that creative projects aren’t just window dressing, but  high-contributing parts of a larger strategy . Ultimately, when a creative asset is produced with the business objective top of mind, defending aesthetic choices becomes easier.

8. Who are the stakeholders?

This also addresses the ‘who,’ but from the working side. Who will work on the project from the creative team? Who are the client’s decision-makers? Who should you go to for approval on drafts and in what order?

9. When is the deadline?

This is the ‘when’ of the project. Some of the key timings to ensure you confirm are:

  • When is the start date?
  • When is the final version due?
  • What are the milestones?
  • When are subtasks due?
  • How many iterations are expected and by when?

When gathering this information, it’s important to determine what actions and dates are required of the client to keep the project on track. For example, do they only have two days to provide feedback without pushing back the deadline? This must be clearly defined from the beginning so the client will understand that any delays on their part will cause overall delays for the project.

You would be surprised how many creative briefs leave out these critical pieces of information, whether because the team is focused entirely on the deliverables or because they’re not asking.

Create an example timeline.

Create a timeline that looks something like this, working backwards from when the content needs to be deliverable if possible.

  • Kick-off meeting: Day 1
  • Final creative brief due: Day 10
  • Content due to client: Day 30
  • Content due back from client to action amends: Day 37
  • Second review process: Day 40
  • Upload online (or see proof in print): Day 42
  • Publish: Day 45
  • Measure success, govern and maintain: Day 45 onwards.

Remember, the content you’re creating ties into a campaign with concrete launch dates and your delivery date will become a critical component of its success. You need to know and be able to work with this  project constraint , setting it out in the creative brief.

10. Where will this content appear?

Context is crucial in content. Different venues carry unique audience expectations and ways of engagement. You’d never, for example, write a print ad the same way you write a social post.

Where your content appears will determine its:

  • Size and scale

And how it moves users to the next point on the customer journey. Be sure to hone in on where your end user will engage with your final product.

Learn more:   Workfront for Project Management Whitepaper:   Process, Creativity, and the Need for Speed

Creative briefs cover projects of different shapes, sizes, and styles. Because of this a tiering system is applied to projects to show what level of briefing is required. We explain Tier 1, 2 and 3 below:

  • Tier 1: Non-standard, non-iterative, highly conceptual work — This work is the most prone to being ambiguous, which means creative briefs are a must. Otherwise, team members may not know where to start, or get started with a high risk of going in the wrong direction. Think about a full advertising campaign — you'll want a lot of direction from the client before your team begins work.
  • Tier 2: Execution of previous work across deliverables — Deals with already defined and completed work, so doesn't need the detail of a Tier 1 creative brief. But your team will still run a risk if they don’t use one. This could be a website landing page for an internal client. Chances are, you’ve already created dozens of these, so you have a general idea of the expectations. But it’s always good to make sure you have all the information you need before you start.
  • Tier 3: Edits, revisions, templated work — This requires the briefest brief of all, but even though it’s simple you'll want a project description. Plus, if you let the little things through with sticky notes and hallway conversations rather than requiring some form of a creative brief, you'll quickly run into problems.

There have long been questions of who should fill out the creative brief. Is it the:

  • Creative director?
  • Account manager?
  • Designer or writer on the job?

The answer is, it depends. If you’re an agency or an in-house agency, the best practice is to have the representative from client services, or the assigned account manager, meet the client to go through the creative brief. It may make sense to include the creative director as well to make sure everyone has a sound understanding of the  project requirements .

If you’re an in-house creative services team, you will need to determine what process works best for your team’s unique workflow. Perhaps it makes the most sense for the creative director to meet with the internal client to complete the brief. Maybe your team has traffic managers or production managers that would better fill that role.

At the end of the day, the thing you want to avoid is sending a document to the client to fill out on their own. This can lead to a number of problems:

  • Client takes too long to fill it out
  • Client doesn’t fill it out at all and gets frustrated
  • Client only fills out some of the information
  • Your team reads the brief and doesn’t understand.

To save time and frustration, and whether you’re an agency or an in-house team, have an initial meeting with your client to fill out the creative brief together and clarify points as needed.

An alternative is to use a  marketing work management software  like Workfront with built-in creative briefs where, upon initial request, the client is required to provide certain information for the team. Even in this scenario, as a best practice it’s recommended you take the time to meet with the client and ensure everyone is on the same page before production begins.

Ebook:   6 Dangerous Myths Every Agency Creative Should Reject Ebook:   How 5 Creative Geniuses Used Structure to Be More Creative

Creative brief template.

If your creative briefings include these principles, you have effectively implemented creative briefs into your workflow. The perfect creative brief template is not built in a day. It takes continual feedback and fine-tuning to match your organization’s needs. As you write more creative briefs, determine what common fields should be included and add them to continuously improve your creative brief template. To get a head start, download our  creative brief template .

Remember though, it’s called a brief for a reason, so keep it short. Only ask for what your team absolutely needs. Also, be willing to adapt your creative brief to the tier your project fits under. Now you’re all set to escape ambiguity and finally get some clarity.

Frequently asked questions about how to write a creative brief.

What is a good creative brief?

To write a good creative brief you need to make sure it’s absolutely clear what needs to be done and by when. It should clarify the objective, make clear any deadlines, and provide as much information about the product or service as possible. Ideally both the agency and the client should have input into the brief.

What is a creative brief template?

A creative brief template is exactly that: a template you can use to make completing a creative brief easier. It should give you a clear structure to follow, with fields to include key information such as objective, target audience, and deadline.

Why is a creative brief important?

A creative brief is important for many reasons. Primarily because it helps to agree expectations, deliverables, and deadlines between the client and agency. Another important reason is it ensures work is done correctly and to the right standard. Often when a client or internal agency stakeholder is unhappy with a piece of work, a poor brief is to blame.

What is a creative brief video?

A creative brief video is a filmed version of a written brief. In the context of a project, a video brief is intended to provide the recipient with information about which actions rest with them and how their work relates to project goals.

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Creative Brief Examples

lauryn preston

Unlock the power of effective communication and streamline your creative project management with our comprehensive guide to creative brief examples

Did you know that a staggering 65% of projects encounter delays due to miscommunication within teams? In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, the ability to craft a clear and concise creative brief has never been more critical.

In this resource-packed page, we dive deep into the world of creative briefs, exploring how they impact project management, resonate with target audiences, and drive successful marketing campaigns.

Discover the secrets of top-notch content creation, campaign management, and the innovative AI tools that can revolutionize your approach. Join us on a journey to transform your process with real-world examples and actionable insights.

What is a Creative Brief?

A creative brief is a foundational document used in the planning and executing various projects, particularly in the marketing and design fields. It serves as a guide, providing clear direction and context for the project at hand.

creative brief example

The creative brief outlines objectives, target audience, messaging, and desired outcomes, ensuring that everyone involved is aligned with the vision. Looking at creative brief examples can be enlightening; each creative brief example typically includes details like the scope of work, timelines, and specific requirements for creative assets.

While a creative brief can vary in format and detail, most creative briefs share a common goal: to encapsulate the essence of a marketing campaign or project in a concise, easy-to-understand manner. This clarity is crucial for effective communication and collaboration, leading to successful project outcomes.

Importance of Creative Briefs in Project Planning

The importance of creative briefs in project planning cannot be overstated, especially within the realm of project management. A good creative brief is pivotal as it articulates the project’s purpose clearly, ensuring all team members are on the same page.

This alignment is crucial in any creative project, fostering a shared understanding of the project goals and the desired outcomes.

For a  marketing planner , a well-crafted creative brief serves as a roadmap, guiding the project from conception to completion. It helps identify the target audience, set realistic expectations, and allocate resources effectively.

A creative brief bridges the gap between vision and execution, making it a fundamental tool in achieving project success.

Components of a Creative Brief Template

A creative brief template encapsulates key information for a project’s success. Among its essential elements, the template clearly defines the project goals, setting a clear direction for the internal team and any external agency involved.

These goals help in aligning the project’s vision and execution strategies.

A simple creative brief template often includes a project background, the target audience, key messages, and the expected desired outcome. This helps in ensuring that every stakeholder has a unified understanding of the project.

In addition, a creative brief template should detail the timeline, budget, and specific roles and responsibilities. This level of detail is crucial for effective project management and execution.

Each creative brief example serves as a roadmap, offering a structured yet adaptable approach to planning and implementing a project, ensuring that all parties are aligned and informed throughout the project’s lifecycle.

The Role of the Creative Team in Template Design

The creative team, consisting of creative agency team members and marketing team members, plays a crucial role in template design, especially for creative brief examples. Their expertise is key in ensuring that the designs are visually appealing and effectively convey the project’s objectives.

Working alongside the internal team, creative teams help translate abstract concepts into concrete, actionable plans, making them an essential part of any project that blends creativity with strategic execution.

Tailoring a Creative Brief Template for Different Creative Projects

Tailoring a creative brief template for different creative projects is crucial in aligning the creative process with the project’s purpose and project objectives.

When writing a creative brief, it’s important to adapt the template to fit each project’s unique demands, whether in-house or external.

This adaptation involves adjusting sections like the project timeline and specific goals. Using varied creative brief examples as references can aid in this customization, ensuring that each brief effectively guides the creative team from concept to completion.

Examples of Creative Briefs in Various Contexts

In various contexts, examples of creative briefs demonstrate their versatility.

The brief might focus on marketing strategy and brand voice for a marketing campaign, while an advertising campaign could emphasize the company background and creative approach.

Details about the video creative are crucial when writing creative briefs for a promotional video. As creative work progresses, these briefs guide the project objective, ensuring that each piece of creative work aligns with the intended goals and messaging.

Creative Brief Example in Marketing Campaigns

A creative brief example in marketing campaigns is a valuable tool for both marketing agencies and businesses. It outlines the campaign goals and sets the direction for the marketing creative.

Whether for an advertising campaign or other marketing initiatives, a well-crafted creative brief example ensures that all stakeholders are aligned and focused on achieving the desired outcomes in the marketing campaign.

To edit the brief, select “File” in the upper left-hand corner and then, “Make a Copy”. 

Target Audience Analysis in Creative Briefs

Target audience analysis in creative briefs is a crucial step. Whether for a marketing campaign or any creative project, understanding the target or intended audience is essential.

A creative brief example demonstrates how this analysis helps tailor messaging and creative elements to resonate effectively with the desired audience, enhancing the project’s success.

Brand Voice and Messaging in Creative Briefs

Defining the brand voice and brand statement is key in writing a creative brief. These elements guide the design creative and messaging to connect with the target audience effectively.

A well-crafted brief ensures the brand’s identity and messaging are consistent, creating a cohesive and impactful communication strategy.

Creative Brief Example for Advertising Campaigns

A creative brief example for advertising campaigns is indispensable, whether created by an advertising agency or in-house project. It encapsulates the essence of the campaign, defines the target audience, and guides the creative process.

With the help of creative brief examples, teams can ensure that the campaign’s objectives and messaging are clear and effective, setting the stage for successful advertising endeavors.

Elements of Creative Brief for an Advertising Campaign

The creative brief for an advertising campaign, whether prepared by an advertising agency or in-house creative team, comprises essential components that guide creative work effectively.

These elements in creative brief examples include details about the campaign’s objectives, target audience, messaging, and creative direction.

Such a brief acts as a roadmap, ensuring the creative team is aligned and focused on delivering impactful advertising content.

Creative Deliverables and Outcome Expectations

The essential elements in an advertising creative brief encompass specifying creative deliverables, establishing the desired outcome, and aligning them with the project objective and campaign goals.

Whether prepared by an advertising agency or an in-house team, this brief ensures that the creative work resonates with the company background and contributes effectively to the campaign’s success.

The Process of Crafting a Creative Brief

Crafting an effective creative brief, as demonstrated in creative brief examples, involves a structured approach to writing a creative brief.

Most creative briefs start by understanding the company background and project goals. Then, they define the creative work required to meet those objectives.

Whether you’re part of a marketing agency or learning  how to become a content creator , mastering the process of creating a concise and insightful creative brief is essential for success!

Steps to Write a Creative Brief

To write a creative brief, follow a structured approach. If needed, begin with understanding the project’s goals, using a simple creative brief template.

Define the creative work required in the first creative brief, drawing inspiration from a creative brief example. Keep the process of writing creative briefs concise and focused on guiding the process effectively.

steps to writing a creative brief

Getting the Creative Team on the Same Page

Ensuring the creative team is on the same page is vital for professional project management.

Utilize a creative brief template and involve the account manager to facilitate alignment. Share a well-defined creative brief that serves as a common reference point.

This approach helps creative teams and team members understand their roles, ensuring that everyone is synchronized in delivering creative work that meets project objectives, as exemplified in a creative brief example.

Defining the Project Scope and Projective Objectives

Defining the project scope and objectives is critical to project management. A creative brief example can serve as a helpful guide for this process.

Involving the creative team and account manager in gathering key insights ensures the design creative aligns with the project’s goals. Keep it concise, and ensure everyone is clear about the scope and objectives in just a sentence.

Utilizing Creative Brief Templates

Utilizing free creative brief templates, like the simple creative brief template, streamlines the process of creating a comprehensive creative brief. These templates provide a structured framework for efficiently outlining project details.

By leveraging these free creative brief templates, teams can save time and ensure consistency in their project planning and execution.

Free Creative Brief Templates and Resources

Free creative brief templates and resources are valuable assets for guiding the creation of comprehensive creative briefs. These templates provide a structured framework for outlining project details and aligning teams.

By leveraging a free creative brief template, teams can ensure clarity and consistency in their project planning and execution, resulting in more effective utilization of creative assets.

Customizing Templates for Your Own Creative Brief

Customizing a creative brief template for your own creative brief is a practical approach. Whether you’re writing a creative brief template or using creative brief examples as references, tailoring the template to your specific project ensures that it aligns perfectly with your objectives.

Typically, creative briefs benefit from this personalized touch, allowing you to address unique project requirements effectively.

Managing the Creative Process Through a Creative Brief

Managing the creative process with a creative brief is essential for a successful creative project. Whether you’re writing a creative brief overview or using creative brief examples as a guide, it is a crucial tool for aligning all project stakeholders and ensuring that the creative work stays on track and meets the project’s goals.

Aligning Creative and The Marketing Team

Aligning marketing creative with the marketing agency is pivotal for a successful collaboration. Ensuring that both teams understand the target audience and project goals is crucial.

By crafting their own creative brief and defining creative deliverables, the creative team can work harmoniously with the marketing team to achieve the desired outcomes. Effective project management and clear communication among team members facilitate this alignment, resulting in a cohesive approach to meeting campaign goals.

Elements of Successful Social Media Collaboration

Creative Ideas and Marketing Strategies

Fostering creative ideas that align with the marketing strategy is paramount. A good creative brief guides the design creative process, enabling the creative team to develop innovative concepts that harmonize with the overarching marketing goals.

Communication and Collaboration in Creative Teams

Effective communication and collaboration within a creative team, including each internal team member with the broader creative team, ensures that every team member is on the same page regarding the details outlined in the creative brief.

This alignment fosters a seamless workflow and contributes to the successful execution of project objectives.

Role of the Creative Project Manager

The project manager is crucial in ensuring the creative project runs smoothly. They possess a deep understanding of the target audience and project objectives, enabling them to guide the creative team effectively.

By providing a brief overview of the creative brief and overseeing the various elements of a separate project, they bridge the gap between the client’s company and the creative execution, ensuring that all aspects align seamlessly.

Project Management and Timeline Planning

Effective project management and project timeline planning are vital to ensuring that projects stay on track. The project manager and each team member collaborate closely to coordinate and oversee the project’s progress.

Clear project management ensures that tasks are completed in alignment with the creative brief, and the account manager helps to maintain the timeline, ensuring that project milestones are met efficiently.

Advanced Considerations in Creative Briefs

Advanced considerations in creative briefs go beyond the essential elements to encompass key insights about the intended audience, company’s background, and the client’s vision.

These details ensure that project stakeholders comprehensively understand the target audience and the nuances of the company background.

Utilizing a good creative brief template, these advanced elements help align the creative direction with the client’s vision, resulting in more impactful and tailored projects.

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Incorporating Company Background and Marketing Campaign Strategies

Incorporating the company background and marketing strategy into the creative brief is essential for a successful marketing campaign.

Using a well-structured creative brief template, the marketing creative and marketing agency can align their efforts with the company’s unique background and strategic objectives, resulting in a more cohesive and effective marketing campaign.

Understanding and Articulating the Brand Statement

Understanding and articulating the brand statement is crucial to crafting effective marketing creative. By referencing a creative brief example, teams can ensure that the brand’s messaging resonates with the target audience, aligning the creative direction with the brand’s identity and values.

Key Stakeholders and Their Influence on the Brief

Identifying key stakeholders and understanding their influence on the creative brief is essential. They play a vital role in shaping the brief to align with the target audience, project objective, and the client’s vision.

Utilizing a good creative brief, these stakeholders help define the scope of creative deliverables and guide the creative work to ensure that it effectively meets the project’s goals.

Specialized Creative Briefs for Different Media

Creating specialized creative briefs for different media is essential to effectively convey the visual elements and align with the client’s vision.

Whether it’s video creative for a promotional video or design creative for graphic designers, tailoring the creative brief to the specific medium ensures that creative work aligns with each project’s unique requirements, resulting in a cohesive and impactful outcome.

Creative Briefs for Social Media Campaigns

Crafting a creative brief for social media campaigns involves considering the  specific elements of a social media campaign , such as social media ads and the  social media kit .

Collaborating with a  social media strategist  ensures that the brief aligns with the objectives of  social selling  and effectively conveys the brand’s message across various social platforms.

Print Ad and Video Creative: Unique Challenges

Creating video creative and print ad campaigns presents unique challenges that require careful consideration within the creative brief.

While video creative involves motion, storytelling, and visual elements, print ads demand a static yet impactful visual message. Tailoring the creative brief to address these distinct requirements ensures that each medium effectively communicates the intended message.

Finalizing and Utilizing the Creative Brief

Finalizing and utilizing the creative brief is the culmination of your strategic efforts, setting the stage for a successful outcome.

Once your creative brief is complete, it’s essential to review it meticulously, ensuring that it aligns with the project’s objectives and resonates with your audience. It serves as the guiding document for your creative team, providing a clear roadmap for content creation and campaign execution.

By leveraging the insights and direction laid out in the brief, you can streamline your creative processes, minimize miscommunications, and enhance management.

This ultimately leads to delivering cohesive, impactful content that resonates with your audience and achieves your project’s objectives.

So, don’t underestimate the power of a well-crafted creative brief—it’s the key to turning your creative vision into a reality.

Key Elements of an Effective Creative Brief

Key elements of an effective creative brief, whether you’re using a simple creative brief template or referencing a creative brief example, include clear communication with the creative team and a well-structured approach when asked to write a creative brief that guides the project seamlessly.

Ensuring Clarity and Precision in Communication

Ensuring clarity and precision in communication is paramount when working with a creative team. Whether you’re writing creative briefs or using a creative brief example, conveying your expectations and requirements for creative assets with clarity ensures that the creative approach runs smoothly and delivers the desired outcomes of the project objective.

Measuring the Success of Creative Briefs

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Measuring the success of a creative brief is essential for evaluating the outcome of a successful project. It involves assessing how well the brief aligns with the target audience and the achievement of the project objective.

Effective project management ensures that video projects and other creative endeavors are on track, contributing to the overall success of the creative brief.

The Evolution of Creative Work Post-Brief

The evolution of creative work post-brief is a dynamic process.

Whether you’re using a creative brief example to write a creative brief or relying on a deep understanding of the client’s vision and company’s background, it involves project management and adaptation as creative work progresses.

This evolution ensures that creative elements, such as social media ads, align seamlessly with the brand statement and continue to reflect the overall vision effectively.

Tracking Progress and Adjusting Strategies

Tracking progress and adjusting strategies is vital to project management in creative endeavors. It involves monitoring how well the creative work resonates with the target audience and aligns with the campaign goals outlined in the creative brief.

Adapting strategies based on the evolving landscape and company background ensures that the creative work remains effective throughout the project for initiatives like a social media campaign or video creative.

The Impact of Well-Designed Creative Briefs

Well-designed creative briefs have a significant impact on projects. They ensure that the target audience is effectively addressed, whether you’re writing a creative brief from scratch or using a creative brief template or creative brief example as a guide.

This clarity in communication leads to more cohesive creative work, particularly in the realm of marketing creative. It is instrumental in achieving the project’s desired outcome through effective project management.

How Kiopi Can Help Your Social Media Management Strategy

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Kiopi, the versatile social media management platform, extends its capabilities beyond traditional social media management to assist with crafting compelling content briefs.

With its scheduling tool, you can plan and organize content creation tasks in a structured manner, ensuring that your content aligns seamlessly with your designated target audience. Kiopi’s  social media content calendar  is invaluable for content planning, helping you maintain a consistent posting schedule that resonates with your audience.

Regarding content ideation and creation, Kiopi’s  AI social post generator tool  is a standout feature. This innovative tool aids in generating engaging and creative content ideas, effectively saving you time and effort.

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The creative brief: A how-to guide (with template)

example of a creative brief for advertisements

Creative projects need to get done faster and with higher quality than ever before. To set your team up for success, crafting a well-defined creative brief at the start of each new project is essential. It's the blueprint that guides your project, aligning the team's vision and ensuring everyone is on the same page. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore all aspects of creating creative briefs personalized for your team's process and each project's criteria. We'll provide you with valuable insights, practical tips, and adaptable templates to help you streamline your creative workflow and reduce stress for all team members. You'll also explore a variety of creative brief templates and examples that demonstrate how effective briefs inspire and guide teams to create outstanding content. Get ready to unlock the secrets of well-define and reusable creative briefs, and watch your projects flourish with newfound clarity, efficiency, and direction.

What we'll cover

Table of contents

What is a creative brief, the importance of creative briefs.

  • When should you use a creative brief?

Who should ‘own’ the creative brief?

What should a creative brief include, types of creative briefs.

  • Template: Ziflow’s internal creative brief
  • How to use creative briefs

Streamline creative collaboration with creative briefs

A creative brief is a living document that provides direction for creative teams and explains project goals. A creative brief may also define project deliverables, deadlines, and stakeholders, although those details might instead be part of a separate project brief. 

A creative brief usually includes :

  • A brand or project statement
  • Key objectives/challenges

Target audience

  • Main competitors
  • Company values/market positioning
  • Campaign channels (such as  social media, banner ads, and print materials)

Even when projects seem straightforward, spending time on a creative brief is a worthwhile exercise. These are the main reasons creative briefs are important: 

They document the creative plan

A creative brief is similar to a recipe—even if you think you remember all the steps, you’ll probably need to refer back to it at some point. 

They save time

All of the information that goes into the creative brief will help creative teams work more efficiently. For example, if a creative brief explains which fonts a client uses for all branded materials, a graphic designer won’t have to ask about that (and wait for a reply) midway through a project.

They improve accountability

When you define the roles for each person involved in a creative project, you improve accountability. Creatives and clients can see who’s responsible for specific tasks, as well as incremental and final deadlines. 

They account for the unexpected

Sometimes—especially with projects that have a long timeline—client priorities change, or new stakeholders step into an important project role. The creative brief can explain how shifting objectives, additional requests, or new instructions impact delivery dates. This level of transparency helps prevent miscommunication and keeps projects within scope. 

They accelerate approvals

In theory, a creative brief should give creative teams all of the information they need to produce exactly what the client wants. That means teams will spend less time on the feedback cycle and revisions. The creative brief also helps clients understand the process for review and approvals , and how their timely feedback supports your goal of meeting deadlines. 

They improve your processes

Once you’ve created your first creative brief, it can become a creative brief template. Your processes will become predictable and repeatable, which increases efficiency.

When should you use a creative brief? 

Creative briefs aren’t always necessary. Sometimes, the effort to create a brief would take longer than the actual work itself. Creative briefs are most useful for:

  • New project kickoffs for highly conceptual or complex creative work
  • Iterations of existing work/past projects
  • Work that requires several stakeholders or effort across the creative team
  • Creative projects with long timelines 
  • Any projects that require several rounds of approval or compliance review

Usually, a project manager and/or client success manager creates the creative brief, with input from the client. Client input may include specifics from the client’s creative team, marketing staff, and stakeholders who manage budgets. 

PV Brief

For example, the project managers at creative firm Advent, which helps college and professional sports organizations develop large-scale interactive displays, formalizes their initial consultation notes into a creative brief that both clients and designers can approve before work begins. This is how Advent’s Operations Manager explains their creative brief process: 

“Our team will still start the first review together in person and talk through it. Clients still like that aspect of discussion in live time. Once that initial discussion happens, the person that's responsible for updating all the design now has a way to say, ‘Did we actually implement all the things we discussed?’”

A creative brief tells a “story” behind any creative project and usually includes the following details: 

Project background

The project (or company) background is a paragraph that answers the question: “Who is paying for this project, and what are their core values?”  

The target audience information tells creatives who they’re trying to reach. This information may include demographics—age, occupation, and hobbies, for example. 

Messaging/tone  

In this section of the creative brief, the client provides guidance on what feelings their content should evoke or the words they’d use to describe their company, products, or services. This might just be a list of words, such as: trustworthy, lighthearted, and conscientious. 

Main business objective(s)

This section tells creatives the purpose of their work, such as: 

  • Raise brand awareness
  • Increase dollar value of purchases
  • Drive subscription renewals

Competition

Listing a few competitors can help creatives during the research phase. They can see how competitors are marketing products and perhaps find some inspiration for their work. 

Key benefits

This section is usually just a few bullet points that speak to the target audience, such as: 

  • Sustainably made
  • 24/7 customer service
  • Best value for the purchase price

Reference material

Clients might provide some reference materials to help creatives understand the look and feel they should be trying to create. This section could include URLs (if the project is a website redesign), and internal marketing and sales materials.

Some businesses have strict guidelines about what to include in creative assets, for example, a logo or tagline. Some brands also forbid certain words, phrases, or statements in their copy. This information might be in the creative brief, or it may be part of their brand brief (which we’ll explain in the next section). 

These are some of the most common types of creative briefs:

Design briefs

Design briefs may include additional reference materials, mood boards, and—in the case of product or packaging design—technical specifications. 

Brand briefs

Brand briefs include brand requirements for images and/or copy. As this example demonstrates, brand briefs may also define specific uses for logos and imagery: 

Project briefs

A marketing campaign may require several types of creative assets, each of which may have a dedicated project brief. Details that project briefs usually include are: 

  • A list of all deliverables
  • Due dates for drafts and final assets
  • The stakeholders responsible for approvals, and their contact details

Advertising briefs

Advertising briefs may define where a completed asset will appear, and any formatting guidelines. For example, if creatives are designing a print ad, the advertising brief should include specifications about color usage, ad size, and image resolution. 

Client briefs

Creative briefs for clients often take the form of any of the above briefs, but often with more specific or strict details on external timelines, deliverables, and costs associated with additional work. They may follow a template provided by the client or include tailored suggestions for the client outlined during project planning.

Creative brief template: Ziflow’s new internal system 

As Ziflow, we recently developed a new creative briefing process for our own marketing projects. Over the last year, company growth put new work loads onto our marketing team, and we rapidly scaled our creative team in response. As we added more designers, copywriters, video editors, we realized we needed to formalize our own project planning to be more organized and communicate the progress of work more effectively with other stakeholders.

Our Creative Project Manager developed a creative brief template that all stakeholders use to request new work from our creative team.  Now, all of our creative projects–from web designs and video to blog posts and product designs–begin with this template:

This creative brief is added as a task within our Asana project management system by each project owner. Our Creative Project Manager then reviews each brief and related task for clarity before assigning it to the creative team for production.

Here's an example creative brief we use to launch new social media ads. With the core information included, the creative team has a full understanding of the project's purpose, needed deliverables, and any specifications for assets. 

This briefing process transformed what was an ad-hoc step for project planning to a standardized process for the intake of new creative work. Within two weeks of implementing this template, our creative team’s workflow was much more organized.

Now, our Creative Project Manager can more efficiently prioritize the creative team’s overall workload and bandwidth, properly assign or shift work to each team member, and communicate more efficiently with stakeholders like Ziflow's CMO, CEO, Head of Product, and others. By working off of detailed and approved creative brief, the team can also avoid any distracting work or in-flight requests that are outside the original scope of the project.

Feel free to use this creative brief to start your own project planning!

How to use creative briefs 

Creative briefs are most effective as a living document that teams continually reference throughout the creative process.

  • Think of creative briefs as version 0 of a project. They kick off the entire creative workflow.
  • Store the creative brief as a document alongside iterations of project deliverables/creative work. If you’re using a creative collaboration space to review creative assets, you can embed the brief into each version. 
  • If you’re using automation for creative review , you can build approval workflows based on the deadlines and stakeholders included in the creative brief or project brief. 

The owner of the creative brief should consult it often to ensure that creative deliverables follow all guidelines and support the original goal. 

Creative briefs help teams deliver exactly what clients want, but you still need a way to keep track of all supporting materials, asset versions, feedback, and approvals as creative work progresses. 

A creative collaboration platform eliminates time-consuming, back-and-forth communication about asset approvals. Learn how to use Ziflow to manage all client instructions, assets, and feedback. 

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How to Write a Creative Brief (+ Examples and 7 Templates)

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Table of Contents

Have your creative projects been chaotic? 

Has there been confusion among the team members about what the final product should look like? 

Maybe you wasted a lot of time making sure that everyone has all the necessary information. 

All these problems can be avoided with one simple document — a creative brief. 

In this article, we will go over:

  • What a creative brief is, 
  • What it should include, 
  • How to write a creative brief,
  • Tips for writing a high-quality creative brief, and 
  • Benefits of a creative brief.

We will also provide you with 7 different types of free creative brief templates .

So, let’s begin! 

How to write a creative brief in 10 steps - cover

What is a creative brief?

A creative brief is a document that functions as a guide for creative teams, helping everyone keep in touch with the project’s objectives and guidelines.

It should be, as the name suggests — brief. Ideally, it should fit on 1 to 2 A4 pages, contain the gist of the project, and serve as a guideline for everyone involved in the project. 

What must a creative brief include?

Not all creative briefs have to look the same. 

There are many ways to organize a creative brief depending on the type of creative project it’s made for — marketing, social media, brand definition, logo creation, etc.

 Still, there are some elements of a creative brief that are always included:

  • Project title — indicates what the project is about,
  • Company background — information about the company that can be relevant to the project,
  • Objectives — what you are trying to accomplish with the project,
  • Target audience — who you are trying to reach,
  • Tone of voice — the way you speak to your target audience, 
  • Distribution — the channels by which your message will reach the target audience (such as social media or TV commercials),
  • Budget — the amount of money reserved for the project,
  • Competition — companies offering similar services or products as you, and
  • Timeline — all relevant time points in the project from the start to the due date.

Of course, you aren’t limited to just these elements. What’s important is that the creative brief contains all the relevant information for your project. 

For example, when creating a website or a logo for a business, instead of using the term “tone of voice”, “style” might be more appropriate. And you could add another element like “color scheme” since that is an important part of creating a good design.

10 Steps to writing a creative brief

In the following text, we will explain all the steps you need to go through to produce a high-quality creative brief.

Step #1: Choose the name for the project and provide a short overview 

The name of the project should be short and reflect the essence of the creative brief. 

For example, the name “Creative brief for a TastyFood restaurant marketing campaign” clearly shows the purpose of the brief and the name of the client. 

A short overview of the project should follow the title — just a sentence or two to summarize what the project is about.

Step #2: Summarize the company’s background

Outline the company background. There is no need to go into detail about the company. It’s enough to mention its core values and the information relevant to the project, such as what problems the company is currently facing and what kind of image they are trying to portray. 

What you write in this section depends on whether your company hired an external agency for the job (for example, a video production company to make a promotional video for a new product) or if the creative team is employed at the said company. 

If it’s the latter, you can omit general information about the company since it’s already known to all involved. 

Step #3: List the objectives

Take the time to precisely state the objectives of the creative project, i.e. what you are trying to achieve with this project. Some of the more general objectives can be:

  • Rise in brand awareness,
  • Increase in sales,
  • Change of company image, etc.

For example, a marketing strategy for an app may have an objective “increase the number of new sign-ups by 10% in the next 3 months” .

💡 Plaky Pro Tip

If you want to make this step easier, learn more about objectives and key results in projects:

  • A guide to using OKRs in project management

Step #4: Define your target audience

It’s essential to know who your marketing campaign or your advert is aimed at. Who are the people who will buy your product? You must have a clear vision of them when creating the brief.

Depending on the aim of the campaign and the company’s product, different information can be relevant. Some of the information you can include is the audience’s:

  • Social status,
  • Employment status,
  • Habits, 
  • Beliefs, and

Step #5: Choose the tone of voice

After establishing your target audience, the next question is how to get through to them. 

You should determine what emotions you are trying to evoke and what picture you are conveying to the minds of the audience.

For example, a commercial for a bank should have a more serious tone that makes them look dependable and serious. 

On the other hand, a commercial for a soft drink company can have a more relaxed tone, attempting to connect the drink with the idea of having fun and being happy.

Step #6: Research the competition

If you want to conquer a market, you have to be aware of the competition. Or, in the words of Sun Tsu: “ Know thy enemy” . 

Do thorough research on your competitors. Who is currently popular? Who offers products similar to yours? List their positive and negative traits. 

Knowing what your competitors are offering means you can find a way to offer something better. 

Step #7: Set the budget

It’s a good idea to set the budget at the very beginning of the creative project. This enables the team to organize their work accordingly. 

Instead of just defining the total budget, it’s better to allocate your funds at the beginning. 

For example, if you are making an advertising campaign for new sportswear, you can divide the budget between social media ads, TV commercials, and hiring a sportsperson to be the face of your brand. 

If you want to learn about different budgeting methods, take a look at this article:

  • Best project management budgeting methods to try

Step #8: Ask for feedback

Once you have completed the brief, you should ask for feedback from project stakeholders , such as your client or company executives, as well as your project team members . 

You can organize a project kickoff meeting where people could express their opinions and ideas together or just send everyone a copy of the brief and have them send the feedback back to you. 

Step #9: Review and edit 

After you have received feedback, consider the suggestions and make changes if necessary. 

You can go back and forth between these 2 steps until both you and the stakeholders are satisfied with the brief.

Step #10: Distribute the brief 

Once the creative brief is finished, distribute it to everyone working on the project. 

example of a creative brief for advertisements

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3 Tips on how to write a creative brief 

To help you create a top-notch creative brief, we asked professionals with experience in writing them to share some tips with us. 

Here’s what they had to say.

Tip #1: Think about the aim of the project before starting on the brief

We talked to James Parkinson , Head of Marketing Content at Personnel Checks, and he emphasizes the importance of understanding the goal of the project:

James Parkinson

“You need to understand what the end goal or aim for the project or task is before you try to create a brief. Many people get this wrong and end up producing a large document with contradicting information. When, in reality, if you fully understand the desired outcome, then the brief can be very to-the-point and efficient.”

If you become better at setting goals, make sure to read our article on the topic:

  • How to define S.M.A.R.T. goals in project management

Tip #2: Include success metrics

We asked Gene Caballero , Co-Founder of lawn care business GreenPal, to share his thoughts on making creative briefs. He points out you have to decide on the success metrics for your project:

Gene Caballero

“Determine in advance how you will measure the success of the campaign. We usually focus on metrics like sign-up rates, website traffic, and social media engagement.”

You use the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to collect performance data and measure the success of your project. 

Tip#3: Take your time

Don’t be tempted to just rush through the brief so you can start the project as soon as possible. Dedicate enough time to in-depth research. 

Caballero emphasizes how important it is to dedicate enough time to the creation of the creative brief:

“ Remember, the creative brief is a guiding document that helps ensure everyone is on the same page. It’s the roadmap for your project , so taking the time to do it well is critical. ”

7 Creative brief templates

There are many types of creative briefs you can make for different creative projects.

We have singled out some of the most popular ones here and created free editable templates that you can use for your projects.

Simple creative brief template

When creating your first creative brief, it’s best to start with the basics. Here’s a simple creative brief template:

🔽 Simple creative brief template

Simple creative brief template

It has all the key elements necessary for a creative brief, and it can be edited to your preference, so you can use it for any kind of creative project, both in-house and external. 

Marketing creative brief template 

Creating a high-quality marketing campaign requires creativity. But it’s also important to stay organized and not let that creativity lead to chaos. 

According to CoSchedule’s 2022 Trend Report on Marketing Strategy , organized marketers are a whopping 674% more likely to be successful. This is why you need a well-made marketing creative brief.  

Here is a free template to help you create a creative brief for your marketing campaign.

🔽 Marketing creative brief template  

Marketing creative brief template

This template can be useful to anyone managing a marketing project . 

It presents all the elements in the form of a table. You can adjust the space dedicated to each element to fit your project’s needs. 

For example, you will probably want to describe the target audience and the tone of voice in more detail than the other elements since these 2 are crucial in organizing a good marketing campaign. 

Advertising creative brief template 

Although marketing and advertising are similar, the focus of advertising is a bit different, so the creative briefs will differ as well. You can use the template below to write a creative brief that would fit your advertising project. 

🔽 Advertising creative brief template

Advertising creative brief template

The most important part of this brief is deciding on the distribution model — how the ad is going to reach the audience. 

You can dedicate a substantial amount of the brief to clearly stating how you want your advertising campaign to reach your target audience. 

Video creative brief template 

The process of video production is complex, requiring people from different areas of the business to work together through 3 different phases in their video management software : 

  • Pre-Production,
  • Production, and 
  • Post-Production. 

That’s why creating a creative brief is a step you mustn’t overlook. You can use the template below to create a well-organized creative brief for video projects without difficulty.

🔽 Video creative brief

Video creative brief template

Whether it’s a promotional video, a tutorial on how to use a product, an interview with a customer, or a commercial, creating a video is often part of a bigger project. 

But the video production team (or an agency you hired) likely won’t be familiar with the details of that project. So, the video creative brief will serve as a guide to help them create a video that meets all the requirements. 

Having good project management software for video production can be a great help in your work. Check out the following list of the best such tools on the market: 

  • Top 10 project management software for video production 

Logo creative brief template 

A logo is the first thing a customer notices about your product or service. 

So, making a logo that will stand out and attract the attention of your target audience is a crucial part of getting your product recognized.

That’s why the creation of the logo is a separate project that requires its own creative brief. You can find a well-designed logo creative brief template on this link:  

🔽 Logo creative brief template

Logo creative brief template

Unlike some other creative briefs, the logo creative brief doesn’t include “tone of voice”, but instead has elements such as:

  • “Color scheme”, 
  • “Logo style” and
  • “Font type”. 

This is because the visual element is highly important when creating a logo, so it deserves to be divided into several categories. 

Social media creative brief template

According to Kepios’ 2023 report on global Internet use , there are 4.80 billion social media user identities in the world. So the quality of your social media campaign can be the difference between a successful product and an unsuccessful one. 

Make sure to use a creative brief to guarantee a well-organized social media campaign. You can use the template below to make your first social media creative brief.

🔽 Social media creative brief template  

Social media creative brief template

Aside from the basic categories a creative brief should have, you should also specify which social media channels you are focusing on in the social media brief. 

For example, if your target audience are teenagers and people in their early 20s, you will probably focus on TikTok and Instagram. But if you are targeting business people in their 30s and 40s, your main focus should be LinkedIn. 

💡 Plaky Pro Tip 

If you want to learn how to create a social media calendar, check out the links below: 

  • Social media content calendar guide + 60 ideas
  • Social media calendar template 

Website creative brief template 

Since designing a website often involves a web design company and an external client, a well-written creative brief is a necessary part of the project. 

Make sure to try the website creative brief template we created for you. 

🔽 Website creative brief template 

Website creative brief template

Almost any business today needs a website, so it’s very common for various businesses to employ a web design company to create it for them. 

This brief helps companies and web designers be on the same page and work together without problems.

7 Creative brief examples 

To help you see what a filled-out creative brief looks like, we have prepared an example for each type of the above-presented types. 

Simple creative brief example

In this simple creative brief, a construction company needs a marketing strategy for their new estates. 

Since their target audience are upper-class and business people, the tone they’re aiming for is confident. They want to look exclusive so their customers should feel privileged to own the property they’re selling. 

CREATIVE BRIEF FOR SKY HOUSES PROJECT

Paradise Estate needs to develop a marketing strategy for their new project “Sky Building”

Company background

Paradise Estate is a company building modern and exclusive buildings on the outskirts of cities. They have recently started a new project called “Sky Building”, which will have 48 apartments (12 stories with 4 apartments each). 

Objectives 

  • Sell 50% of apartments before the building is completely built.
  • Confirm Paradise Estate apartments as high-quality and exclusive housing.

Target audience

  • Upper-middle and upper class
  • Business people in their 40s and 50s 
  • People with families

Tone of voice

Confident tone with an air of exclusivity, making people feel privileged to own apartments in this building. 

Stakeholders

Company CEO: Michael S.

Sales Director: George N.

Marketing Team Director: Diana C.

Design Team Director: Priya K.

Distribution

Social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook)

TV commercials

Budget 

Social media advertising: $10,000

TV commercials: $25,000

Project start: July 7, 2023

Advertisement due date: July 28, 2023

Social media campaign: From August 4, 2023, to October 13, 2023

TV campaign: From August 11, 2023, to October 13, 2023

Simple creative brief example

Marketing creative brief example

In this example, a restaurant owner hired a marketing agency to organize their marketing campaign for their restaurant in a new location. 

CREATIVE BRIEF FOR A RESTAURANT MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Company  

TastyFood restaurant 

TastyFood is a family restaurant on the outskirts of town. They are opening a restaurant in a new location. Their customers are mostly people in their 50s and 60s from the same neighborhood. 

  • Show that TastyFood is a good restaurant for families with children.
  • Have a full restaurant on the day of the opening.
  • Middle-class people in their 30s and 40s who go to restaurants for late lunch or dinner after work
  • Young families with children 

Friendly tone to paint a picture of a warm atmosphere: happy families enjoying their time together, friends eating dinner and laughing, etc. 

Competition

  • Italian restaurant on the same street
  • Two other small family restaurants in the neighborhood

Restaurant owner: John R.

Marketing agency owner: Tom A.

Marketing team lead: Dev C.

Project start: August 1, 2023 

Project due date: September 19, 2023 

Website launch: September 25, 2023

Billboards in the neighborhood

Youtube ads

Facebook and Instagram ads

Total: $20,000

Marketing agency: $7,000

Billboards: $5,000

Social media ads: 7,500

Additional expenses: $500

Marketing creative brief example

Advertising creative brief example

Here, a chocolate factory wants to increase sales numbers of their hot chocolate drink. They want to reach children and adults through TV commercials and YouTube ads. 

ADVERTISING CREATIVE BRIEF FOR A CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Project overview

A chocolate company wants to make a Christmas advertisement for their hot chocolate drink.

Company name

WeLoveChocolate

The company produces chocolate bars, chocolate cookies, and hot chocolate drinks. While bars and cookies have high sales numbers, chocolate drinks are not as popular. They want to advertise their product as an indulgent treat customers would want to buy.

  • Connect this brand of hot chocolate with feelings of contentment and happiness during Christmas time in the minds of the customer. 
  • Increase the sales of hot chocolate by 20% by the end of 2023. 
  • Children aged 5-14
  • Adults feeling nostalgic about their childhood

Happy, relaxed tone of voice that paints a picture of an idyllic family atmosphere during the Christmas holidays. 

  • TV commercials on children’s channels, and on regular channels in the evenings
  • Youtube ads 

Total budget: $45,000

Advertisement creation: $25,000

Advertising on TV: $20,000

Youtube ads: $5,000

Advertising creative brief example

Video creative brief example

This video creative brief is created by a supermarket working with a video production company to create a video that will promote online shopping.

VIDEO PRODUCTION CREATIVE BRIEF FOR A TUTORIAL

Video production project name

“How to order online” tutorial video creation

Easy Shop Supermarket

The popularity of the supermarket is increasing constantly. There are too many customers for the supermarket’s facilities to handle, and the rows at the cash register are long. The supermarket launched online shopping on their site, but the majority of the customers are not using it. This is why they hired a video production company to create a video that would promote online orders. 

Objectives  

  • Increase online sales by 40% in the next 4 months.
  • Decrease the time people have to wait at the cash register.
  • Eliminate crowds in the supermarkets.
  • Busy people with full-time jobs and families with children
  • People who are struggling to achieve everything and who have too many errands in a day

The tone should be informative and friendly, with simple explanations, without unnecessary tech jargon to confuse the customers. 

The video will be posted on the supermarket’s homepage.

There will be a post on all the supermarket’s social media accounts, notifying customers there is a new tutorial video.

There will be a TV at the entrance to the supermarket playing the video. 

Budget  

Video production team: $3,000

Speaker for the video: $400

Pre-production due date: July 17, 2023

Production due date: August 28, 2023

Post-production due date: October 9, 2023

Stakeholders  

Video production company, represented by: Andrew C.

Supermarket’s marketing manager: Christina L.

Supermarket’s IT department head: Fiona N.

Video creative brief example

Logo creative brief example

In this example, a design agency is hired by a soft drink company to create a logo for their new drink. 

BRIEF FOR SOFT DRINK COMPANY LOGO CREATION PROJECT

Company name  

Sparkle Inc. 

Overview  

A soft drink company wants a new logo to represent their new cherry-flavored fizzy drink.

They produce soft drinks which are sold in most supermarkets and stores in the country. But the sales are quite low. They want to attract young customers.  

Create a logo that would appeal to a young audience. 

Pre-teens, teenagers, and young adults with the average income 

Vibrant and modern style that looks fun and lively. 

Color scheme

Cherry Red #D2042D

Cadmium Red #D22B2B

Jet Black #343434

Almond #EADDCA

Indie Flower

Soft drink companies:

  • Fanta 

Client: Sparkle, Inc.

Represented by: Andrew R.

Design team leader: Jessica B.

Design team members: Ben H, Kate E, Lee J. 

Timeline  

Start of the project: June 16, 2023 

First draft due: August 16, 2023 

Final version due: September 9, 2023 

Logo creative brief example

Social media creative brief example

Here, a company making face masks wants to raise brand awareness by promoting its products on social media.

SOCIAL MEDIA CREATIVE BRIEF FOR FORCE OF NATURE

Force of Nature

Force of Nature is a small business that produces organic face masks with minimal impact on the climate. They are a new company on the market, and they are trying to raise brand awareness with social media campaigns.

Platforms  

The campaign will cover 3 social media platforms:

  • Instagram 
  • TikTok 
  • Facebook 

Raising brand awareness with: 

  • Short videos with skincare tips,
  • Articles offering free gift cards to new subscribers, and 
  • Stories with satisfied customers.

Women in their 20s and 30s in college or working with busy schedules who don’t have time for long and complex skincare routines. 

People who pay attention to the environment and try to make eco-friendly decisions 

Bright and joyful  

First posts on Instagram and Facebook: July 3, 2023

Videos on TikTok: July 5, 2023

Youtube ads: July 10, 2023 

$15,000 ($5,000 each for Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok)

Company CEO: Sarrah C.

Social media team: Jenny L. (Instagram and Facebook), Mark A. (TikTok) 

Design team: Kate R, Lisa N, 

Video production team: Ben T, Taylor E.

Social media creative brief example

Website creative brief example 

In this website creative brief, a company selling organic vegetables hired a website design company to create a website where their customers can place orders and have the vegetables delivered to them.  

ORGANIC FOOD WEBSITE CREATIVE BRIEF

Organic Food needs a functional easy-to-use website for their customers to place orders

Organic Food has been selling their products to supermarkets and stores for 6 years. Now, they are looking to expand and enable their customers to buy directly from them instead of going to the store. 

  • Create a functional website for people to place orders and book deliveries. 
  • Expand to a new market. 
  • Increase overall sales by 15% by the end of November.

Middle and upper-middle-class people who pay attention to their health and want supreme-quality produce. 

People in their 20s to 50s who are used to ordering online.  

Style 

  • Simplistic and modern style
  • Website should look professional without any unnecessary bling
  • All Organic Food — offer a great variety of fruit and vegetables to order online, but the prices are quite high
  • Natural Food — affordable organic vegetables, but they don’t offer delivery 
  • Sunny Valley — the most serious competitor. They offer organic vegetables to order online, and if you spend more than $100 the delivery is free. 

Website design company 

Head of web design: Claire A. 

Organic Food CEO: Mark S.

Organic Food sales team leader: Helen L.

Introductory meeting: June 30, 2023 

Website idea presentation: July 14, 2023

Project due date: July 31, 2023

Website launch: August 3, 2023

Website creative brief example

Why do you need a creative brief?

Composing a creative brief at the beginning of your project is something you should never skip.

Some of the biggest benefits of having a creative brief include:

  • Eliminating confusion and saving time,
  • Saving money, and
  • Encouraging creative thinking.

Benefit #1: Eliminates confusion and saves time

Caballero explains how the creative brief helps his team be on the same page and save time:

“We all know what it feels like to be lost in a swirl of emails and meetings. The brief keeps everyone aligned, cutting through the confusion. We’ve all got our copy, and it’s like we’re singing from the same hymn sheet. It’s a real time-saver.”

Benefit #2: Saves money

Creating a brief with everything planned at the very beginning of the project will save you money in the long run. 

Having a creative brief means that everyone will know the objectives and expectations right at the start of the project, so there is a higher chance that the creative team will succeed in creating what the stakeholders want. 

This way, the project resources won’t be wasted on the trial-and-error stage of the project. 

Benefit #3: Encourages creative thinking 

Caballero points out how having a creative brief actually helps boost creativity:

“A clear brief sets boundaries but also grants the freedom to explore within those boundaries. It’s like having a sandbox where our creatives can build the most magnificent castles, resulting in unique and effective solutions.”

When should you use a creative brief?

The easy answer is — whenever you have to manage a creative project . No matter the type of creative project, having a creative brief can come in handy.

But, specifically, you should never skip a creative brief when you are working on a complex project that has a large number of stakeholders and requires smooth cross-team collaboration. 

For example, an advertising campaign that includes the sales team, the marketing team, and the video production team would definitely benefit from having a creative brief. 

All of these teams probably work on several different projects simultaneously and aren’t familiar with the details of the advertising campaign, so it’s important to have a document with all the information in one place.

Who can fill out a creative brief?

Who will fill out a creative brief depends on whether it’s an in-house project or if a company hired an external contractor.

If it’s an in-house project, the creative brief will most likely be written by the team manager. 

If a company is working with an agency, the creative brief can be written by someone from the company who is familiar with the project, like a marketing manager or a product manager . The brief would then be delivered to the agency. Of course, the people in the agency can give their input and the brief can be revised if necessary. 

The creative brief might also be written by someone from the creative agency who would work closely with the representative of the company to understand all their demands and wishes. 

Conclusion: Creative briefs eliminate confusion and save time

No matter the type of your creative project, a creative brief is a must. 

Hopefully, after reading this article you have come to appreciate how significant creative briefs are and how much of a difference they can make. 

If you haven’t yet, make sure to incorporate them into your future projects.

After all, as Caballero says:

 “ A creative brief is the unsung hero behind every successful project ”.

✉️ Do you have any experience creating or using a creative brief? Do you have any other tips for writing them? Contact us at [email protected] and let us know, and we may include your answers in this or some future post. If you found this post useful, share it with someone you think will be interested in it. 

GalinaVasiljcuk

Galina is a project management author and researcher at Plaky. She combines her interest in team collaboration and her natural knack for organization into writing informative and engaging texts that help people better understand project management. When she is not working, she can be found relaxing with a cup of coffee and a TV series or trying out new recipes from Asian cuisine.

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example of a creative brief for advertisements

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Beloved Brands logo

Write your Creative Brief to inspire great creative advertising

Graham Robertson, Founder of Beloved Brands

Graham Robertson, Founder of Beloved Brands

Brand Toolkit

I wish everyone would stop writing ugly creative briefs. Most importantly, the creative brief is a crucial way for brand leaders to control the strategy. On the other hand, make sure you give freedom on execution to the experts who execute. Too many marketers have this backward, preferring to give freedom on strategy with various possible strategic options layered within the creative brief. Then, they attempt to try to control the creative outcome by writing a long list of tangled mandatories. We will use our creative brief template and a creative brief example to show you how to write every line of the brief.

Creative Brief example

To illustrate, click on the Creative Brief example above. 

The role of the creative brief is the bridge between your strategic plan and any type of marketing execution. You should have a creative brief for any type of advertising, content marketing, logos, packaging design, websites, videos, or conferences. The creative brief distills everything you could possibly say into only those elements that matter. 

Your creative brief should have a clear single-minded objective of what you are looking to do, a tightly defined target, consumer insights that explain your consumer, the overarching brand idea the work needs to fit, the main message you want to communicate, and any support points that will help reinforce your message. 

how to write a creative brief

Creative Brief

Managing the creative brief process.

Before writing your Creative Brief, dig in on the brand positioning work, and the marketing plan. The role of the Creative Brief is to summarize on what matters in delivering creative work that matches up to the brand strategy. A creative brief can be used for any type of execution. Advertising. Social Media. Packaging. In-store signs or displays. To illustrate, click on the creative brief example below. 

Creative Brief example

The flaw you create with a big wide brief

When you write a big-wide creative brief with layers of options within the brief, the agency just peels the brief apart and gives you strategic options. For instance, if you put a big wide target market of 18-55 years-old, your agency will present one ad for 18-25 years-old, another one for 25-40 years-old and the third ad for 40-55 years-old. In conclusion, if you put two objectives into the brief, asking to drive trial and drive usage, you will get one ad idea for driving trial and one ad idea for usage. 

This means you are picking your brand strategy based on which ad idea you like best. That is wrong. Pick your strategy first and use the creativity of execution to express that strategy.

The good and bad of the creative brief.

This post will go through line-by-line of the Creative Brief. We’ll show examples of the good and bad of each line. The biggest flaw I see is the lack of focus around the target, main message, and strategic objective. To illustrate, click the Creative Brief example which we use in our article on the Good and Bad of Creative Briefs . 

good and bad of a creative brief

The creative brief should define “the strategic box” for the creative to play within.

Most great creative advertising people I have met are problem solvers, not inventors. I would describe them as ‘in-the-box’ creative thinkers, not blue sky “out-of-the-box” dreamers. If they need a good problem to solve, then give them your problems, but never your solutions. Never give your creative team a blank slate or blank canvas and ask them to come up with an ad. Use the creative brief to create the right box for them to play in, and to solve your problem. 

When I see marketers writing a big, wide brief with too many objectives, a vague target, and cluttered messaging, I wonder if you have unknowingly created too much strategic freedom. While you might think writing a big, wide creative brief provides room for creativity, it does not. Your agency will see you as confused, and will likely just peel the brief apart, rewrite the brief how they want, then provide you with strategic options, instead of creative options. The problem is that you will be choosing your strategy based on which ad you like. 

When I see marketers write a big, long laundry list of mandatories, everyone knows you are just trying to control the creative output. Do not create a tangled web of mandatories that almost write the ad itself, or you will trap the creative team into taking various elements in the mandatory list and build a Frankenstein-type ad. Above all, if you want great work – and I know you do – give your agency the creative freedom they need.

Here is what creative people do not want from you:

  • A blank canvas: Creative people would prefer a business problem to solve, not a wide-open request for advertising options.
  • An unclear problem: Creative people need a tightly defined and focused problem to generate great work that meets your needs.
  • A long list of mandatories: Do not create a tangled web of mandatories that almost write the ad itself. These lists only trap the creative team, holding them back from doing anything breakthrough, surprising or spectacular.
  • Your Solutions: Creative people find it demotivating to be asked for their expertise (solving problems) and then not be fully utilized (given your answer).

Brand Toolkit

Keep the brief small

A smart Creative Brief should be brief, not long. Avoid the “Just in Case” list by taking your pen and stroking a few things off your creative brief! It is always enlightening when you tighten it by making tough decisions of what goes into the brief, so you narrow it down to:

  • One objective
  • One desired consumer response
  • A target tightly defined
  • One main benefit
  • Finally, use up to two main reasons to believe

Creative Briefs

In our Creative Brief example, we demonstrate how to narrow your brief to  provide  focus.

How to write a creative brief

1. define a tight target: .

  • First, do not spread your limited resources against a target so broad that it leaves everyone thinking your message is for someone else. Target the people who are the most motivated by what your brand does best, and make your brand feel personal so your target consumer feels special. A brand must make consumers think, “This brand is for me.” 

2. Drive one objective at a time:

  • Next, build advertising that gets consumers to do only one thing at a time, whether it’s something you want them to see, think, do, or feel, or influence their friends. Most importantly, force yourself to make a decision that links the advertising objective with your brand strategy. 

3. Drive one main message at a time: 

  • Then, do not put so many messages into your ad; consumers will see and hear a cluttered mess. They will shut down their minds and reject your ad. They will not know what your brand stands for. In other words, you will never build a reputation for anything. 

4. Talk about consumer benefits, not about your product features: 

  • Finally, start a conversation that shows what the consumers get or how they will feel. Do not just yell features at the consumer. Moreover, use your brand idea to simplify and organize your brand messaging. 

How to transform your strategy into a creative brief

Let’s look at the seven questions of the brand communications plan 

  • First, who is in our consumer target ?  
  • Second, what is the main benefit we are selling?  
  • Third, why should they believe us?  
  • Then, what is our organizing brand idea?
  • Next, what do we need our advertising to do? 
  • For the objective, what do we want people to think, feel or do?  
  • Finally, where will our consumer be most receptive to see and act upon our brand message?

Do the strategic homework you developed through the brand communications plan, and begin to populate the 12 questions of your creative brief. Below, we can see how to use our creative brief example to build on the brand communications strategy, which should be part of your  marketing plan . 

Creative Brief example

The work that you do to create a Brand Communications Plan within your Marketing Plan helps steer the writing of your Creative Brief. It combines the brand positioning and brand strategy. To illustrate, click on the creative brief example above.

Creative brief template

Take everything you know about the brand and strategically desire, and distills it down to one page. Below you can see our Creative Brief example as well as the blank slide from our Creative Brief template. 

Creative Brief template

To illustrate, click on the Creative Brief example and our Creative Brief template.

Mini creative brief template

Going too fast sometimes takes too long. With the explosion of media options, timing is everything. Unfortunately, there are too many “phone call briefs” happening. Even worse, no brief at all. Accordingly, when in a rush, use our mini creative brief . 

Mini creative brief

To illustrate, click on the Creative Brief example or our Creative Brief template.

Media brief template

Our media brief template allows you to also brief your media team. The media brief template follows the same pattern as our creative brief. Read about how to build a media strategy .

Media Brief template

To illustrate, click on the Media Brief  example  or our Media Brief template.

Beloved Brands playbook

Advertising Decisions

The creative brief defines the box..

At Beloved Brands , we believe the best creative people are in-the-box problem solvers, not out-of-the box inventors. This builds on our  Strategic ThinkBox we used in our planning process. The box below demonstrates how we need creative work that is focused on the target, fits with the brand, delivers the message, and executes the strategy. 

As marketers, we kick off the advertising process using a Creative Brief to define the box the creative advertising must play in.  The execution align with the brand positioning work and deliver the brand strategy statements you wrote in your marketing plan .  Moreover, we show examples of the good and bad of the Creative Brief . And, we introduce our Mini Brief for smaller projects and the Media Brief as part of media decisions. We have a Creative Brief template you can use. 

The creative brief defines the box that marketing ideas must play in

Use our Creative Checklist to determine if the creative work is in the box.

Then, we introduce a Creative Checklist that is designed to help you make advertising decisions. When you see the creative marketing execution come back from your experts, use our creative checklist to make decisions. Next, use your feedback to your marketing experts to steer the ideas back in-the-box. Importantly, the Creative Checklist highlights the gaps you see. Your role is to provide your problems with the work, while avoiding providing a solution. Let your creative marketing execution experts use their in-the-box creativity to figure out new solutions that will fit the box. 

The creative checklist helps make decisions on in-the-box creativity

To illustrate, click to review how our Creative Checklist helps decide if the creative advertising fits the box..

Use our ABC's of Advertising: Attention, brand link, communication stickiness

Here are four questions to ask:.

  • First, is it the creative idea that earns the consumer’s attention for the ad?
  • Then, is the creative idea helping to drive maximum brand link ?
  • Next, is the creative idea setting up the communication of the main consumer benefit?
  • And, is the creative idea memorable enough to stick in the consumer’s mind and move them to purchase?

Creative Checklist details in-the-box creativity Jon Lewis Christmas ads

To illustrate, click on the ABC’s of advertising to see details.

Get comfortable with various advertising techniques.

Learn how to be better at   advertising . Explore other advertising ideas such as  emotional advertising ,  humorous ads , feel-good ads , and ads that  bring consumer insights to life .  Moreover, read how to conduct your own  marketing research , social media plans , or using influencers .  

Video on how to use in-the-box creativity

Have a look at our video on how to use in-the-box creativity to ensure our marketing execution stays on strategy. We introduce how our Creative Brief defines the box the work must play in. And, our Creative Checklist to allow you to decide if the marketing execution delivers. To read more, click on this link:  How to use in-the-box creativity. 

To view, use the ▶️ controls to play our brand strategy video. 

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We empower the ambitious to achieve the extraordinary..

Without a doubt, our role at Beloved Brands is to help the ambitious marketers who are trying to improve their marketing skills. Most importantly, we will prepare you so you can reach your full potential in your career.  You will learn about strategic thinking, brand positioning, brand plans, marketing execution, and marketing analytics. As well, w e provide a suite of marketing tools, templates that will make it easier to do your job, processes that you can follow, and provocative thoughts to trigger your thinking. 

Have you gone through an assessment of the marketing skills of your team? Take a look below:

The fundamentals of marketing matter..

Our Beloved Brands marketing training programs cover different streams to suit the type of marketer you are. For instance, our marketing training covers consumer marketing, B2B marketing, and Healthcare marketing. 

The marketing fundamentals that we show in this article are part of what we use in our marketing training programs. Ambitious marketers will learn about strategic thinking , brand positioning , brand plans , marketing execution , writing creative briefs , advertising decision-making , marketing analytics , and marketing finance . 

Importantly, when you invest in our marketing training program, you will help your team gain the marketing skills they need to succeed. Without a doubt, you will see your people make smarter decisions and produce exceptional work that drives business growth. 

Finally, I wrote our Beloved Brands playbook  to help you build a brand that your consumers will love. If you are a B2B marketer, try our B2B Brands playbook . And, if you are a Healthcare Marketer, try our Healthcare Brands playbook .

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We designed our brand templates to make it easier for you to do your job.

Moreover, we provide  brand templates   that help you run your brand. For instance, you can find templates for   marketing plans ,   brand positioning ,   creative briefs , and   business reviews . Altogether, we offer   brand toolkits   with all the presentation slides you need. 

If you are looking to make your marketing team smarter, we can help. To get started, email Graham Robertson at [email protected]

What type of marketer are you?

We believe that marketers learn best when they see our marketing concepts applied to brands that look like their own. We have come up with specific examples – consumer, B2B and healthcare – to showcase our marketing tools.  Click on the icon below to choose your interest area.

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Creative Brief FAQ

What is a creative brief.

The creative brief is the bridge between the strategy in a marketing plan and the marketing execution. You can use a creative brief for any type of marketing communications. Advertising. Packaging. Websites. Digital Media. Retail merchandising. Social Media. Events. Sales Material. The role of the creative brief is to set the parameters for the creative people. It guides them on the strategy, main messages, and media choices. 

What should a creative brief include?

A creative brief should include a strategic objective statement at the top. Match up the desired consumer response to the objective. Then define the target market. Add flavor with consumer insights. In terms of message, include the main benefit, and up to two main reasons to believe. We go through the good and bad of a creative brief , line by line with examples.

What is the most important part of a creative brief?

The most important part of a creative brief is the objective and main message. What are you trying to do. And, what are you trying to say. 

Who writes the creative brief?

When I was in marketing, the strategic planner at the creative agency wrote the creative brief. That worked when a brand had one main agency. Now, a brand might work with multiple agencies. First, a brand might have an agency for the traditional advertising. Second, a brand would have an agency specific for digital or social media. Third, there are agencies for retail merchandising, PR, or professional market.  Finally, the brand might have a design agency that looks at logos, and look and feel of the brand. With the proliferation of agencies, many times, the brand manager is writing the creative brief. Some might refer to this as a marketing brief. And, the agency would then write their own version of a creative brief. When this happens, they will put more inspirational thinking into the creative brief. It’s ok to have two briefs as long as the brand manager knows which one they will use to make their advertising decisions . 

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example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to write a marketing brief: Best-practice, examples & templates 🤓

example of a creative brief for advertisements

The perfect marketing brief doesn’t exi—

You’re probably right, each agency likes to be briefed differently and each project may require a slightly different brief. But… here are the building blocks for a perfect marketing brief.

And if you follow these 10 steps, your brief will be better than 80% of other briefs.

(Trust us, we've reviewed thousands.)‍

example of a creative brief for advertisements

What is a marketing brief? 😬

The marketing brief (sometimes called the client brief) is a document produced by a marketing team and given to their agency (that can be their advertising agency, their media agency, or in 2023, their influencer marketing agency).

It’s the single most important document in a campaign. Think of it as a the springboard for everything that comes next.

Yeah - all that sexy creative work started with a simple piece of paper. And if you get it wrong, only pain lies ahead.

The good news: if you follow these 9 steps, you’ll be on track to deliver a great brief.‍

What is the difference between a client brief, a marketing brief a creative brief?

A client brief is the same as a marketing brief. They're written by clients and outline a new project for their agency. If you're looking to write one of those, you're in the right place.

A creative brief is written for a creative team and is designed to direct and inspire the creative work itself. It is usually written by an agency and based on a marketing brief that the client has provided. For smaller projects or if the client is briefing a production agency or freelancer directly, they may write the creative brief themselves. If you're writing this type of brief, head over to our guide on ' How to write the perfect creative brief '.

How to write a marketing brief?

Step 0: Naming your project

Step 1:   Define the problem

Step 2: Setting objectives

Step 3: Summarise the business context

Step 4: Refine your strategy: ‍

Step 4.1: Define your target audience

Step 4.2: Decide on a CTA

Step 4.3: Craft your key messages

Step 5 : Inspire your agency

Step 6: Be clear on the budget

Step 7: Considerations

Step 8: Review, tweak, and finalise

Step 9: Share the brief with your agency

Step 0 - Give your project a name and choose the right template 📦

Think before you write.

That’s right. There’s a Step 0. And it’s one of the most important.

Who’s this brief going to?

And how big is the project?

What kind of campaign will it lead to?

What should it be called?

Get all these clear in your mind before you start - if you don’t know the answers, then you’ve really got to ask yourself why you are writing this brief!

Marketing brief template

Now, based on that information, get your template ready.

Brief templates are a good way to organise a lot of thinking, information and instruction.

If you don’t already have a brief template, create your own (if you’re brave) or choose one of our free, expertly crafted ones (if you’re smart).

Step 1 - Define the problem you want to solve 🤨

Every good brief starts with a problem - the thing you need to solve with this campaign.

Actually, every good brief starts with three problems:

  • Your business problem What challenge is your company facing that is affecting its bottom line? This is usually to do with your sales, revenue or market share.
  • Your marketing problem What are consumers doing (or not doing) that is causing that business problem? This could include things like store visits, basket sizes, purchase frequency or clicks, shares and downloads.
  • Your communications problem What are consumers thinking (or not thinking) about your brand that is causing your marketing problem? This might include things like brand awareness, consideration, preference and associations.
Business problem: Nike was losing market share amongst key audiences in London to rival brands Marketing problem:  Young Londoners were rarely shopping with Nike, instead choosing brands that felt more relevant to them Communications problem:  Years of putting mega-star athletes at the centre of their advertising meant young Londoners no longer felt Nike was a brand that 'understands the community I live in'.

If you're struggling here, read our guide on ' How to define your marketing challenge '.

Step 2 - Setting objectives 🎯

How will you know if your campaign has succeeded? People might love your campaign, but have they changed their behaviour or attitude when it comes to your brand?

This is where setting clear objectives comes in. They keep you on track to solve your business, marketing and communications problems.

Plus, a good agency, creative or implementation team will love clear KPIs: they keep everyone honest and accountable.

Laddered objectives

Good objectives should read like a ladder, mirroring the 3 original problems you created for this brief.

💼 Business Objective

The objective that the business as a whole is aiming at. It's usually tied to money - sales, revenue, profitability.

📈 Marketing Objective

What can you achieve with marketing that will deliver that business objective? This is usually to do with changing consumer behaviour. For instance, stopping, or starting doing something, or increasing store visits, basket sizes, clicks and shares.

📣 Communications Objective

What effect on your consumers do you need your communications to have in order to meet your marketing objective? Typically, this is to do with your consumers' attitudes and perceptions - awareness, consideration, preference, or brand associations.

SMART Objectives

And remember, good objectives are SMART objectives.

  • ‍ S pecific Numbers, numbers, numbers. What percentage increase do you want to see? How many new customers do you want? Do not be vague. ‍
  • M easurable How will you know if you’ve met this objective? What metric are you using to measure success? Where is that metric currently and where do you need it to be? ‍
  • A chievable Is this realistic, based on the size of the brand and the campaign budget?
  • R elevant Does achieving this objective put the brand in a stronger place than before? Does it align to what the brand is trying to achieve in the short, medium and long-term? ‍
  • T ime-Bound How long do you have to achieve this objective?

For example, if you were writing a brief for a dairy-alternative drink brand, your marketing objective might be…

Increase unaided brand awareness amongst core audience (Young Coffee Aficionados) from 12% to 17% by end of Q4

For more detail, we've put together a thorough guide on how to set the perfect objectives for your next marketing campaign.

Step 3 - Summarise the background 🌄

Time to explain the context: what does your agency, creative or implementation team need to know about why this brief exists?

There are 3 things you need to include:

  • What is the brand or product this campaign will focus on?
  • What is happening in the market (to your consumers or competitors) and how will this campaign respond to those changes?
  • What cultural shifts are impacting your ability to sell (and which ones are tailwinds)?

Keep it short and sweet, stay focused on the problem, and avoid jargon as much as possible.

Our guide on summarising your research will help you turn hundreds of pages into snackable insights for your agency. Otherwise, extra details (like brand guidelines) and research can always live in an appendix.

Step 4 - Refine your strategy 🧠

When crafting your strategy, it's important to keep your 3 original problems in mind. After all, a good strategy is simply a plan to achieve your objectives.

Of all the strategy frameworks out there, the simplest and one of the most effective for a marketing brief is Get / To / By.

  • Get your target audience
  • To do something that will solve your problem
  • By convincing/demonstrating/encouraging/demanding/pleading/etc. that they do that thing

For example:

Get young coffee drinkers who don’t think about the type of milk they put in their coffee ‍ ‍ To try oat milk in their coffee ‍ ‍ By showing them it is the greener way to enjoy a latte.

This framework is a strategic summary of three distinct parts of your marketing brief, which we'll cover in the rest of this section:

  • Your target audience
  • Your key messages

There is a brilliant article by Mark Pollard about how to approach strategy from an agency perspective. You don’t need to do their work for them, but understanding the processes they go through can help you write a brief that gets them to stronger insights, better ideas and more effective creative work.

Step 4.1 - Define your target audience🧍

Get / To / By

You need to identify a clear target audience to give your campaign the best chance at resonating with a group of people. Campaigns that try to talk to everyone often speak to no one.

Before you start picking a target audience, it's useful to have a market segmentation in place. Our handy guide to segmenting your market walks you through creating one for your brand - but if you've already got a segmentation in place, then you're ready to start defining your target audience for this brief.

This might start as a demographic description, unearthed through market research, surveys, focus groups and more, including your audience’s:

  • Type of job
  • Hobbies and interests

But really good target audiences go a step beyond demographics - into the attitudinal and behavioural.

example of a creative brief for advertisements

The first version might have more facts about the audience, but it has less useful information.

By all means include the demographic detail if you have it - there may be insights to unlock within. But as an audience definition, try to get into the heads of who you are selling to, not their government form submissions.

For more on how to identify and build a target audience for your next campaign, read our in-depth guide here.

Step 4.2 - Decide on a CTA🏃

Now that we know who we're targeting, what do we want them to feel, think and do?

Write down what your audience currently feel about the problem you’ve identified, what they think about your brand (or others) when it comes to solving their problem, and what they ultimately do to solve it.

Now, write down how you want all of those to change.

Staying with our example of a dairy-alternative milk brand, you might get to something that looks like this:

example of a creative brief for advertisements

From here, we can summarise this into one action: Try oat milk in their coffee.

This is the seed of your campaign's CTA. Getting to this point means your agency and creative team can craft it into a compelling, simple piece of language that tells your audience what to do.

And it also gives us a clue as to how we can get them to do that…

Step 4.3 - Craft your key messages👟

How are we going to get our audience to change their behaviour?

We’ve got a target audience, and we’ve got an action we want them to take. We also know what they need to feel and think in order to take that action.

So now, we need to think about how we convince them to feel, think and do what we want - or as Oatly might put it, how do we brainwash them?

This starts in the brief with the key messages: the truths about the product or brand that are compelling enough to change someone’s mind.

Key messages need to be:

🏞 Simple and jargon-free

Your creative team will need to be able to write simple, elegant and persuasive copy.

But it is your task to avoid complicating the key message they need to convey.

👉 Selective

Research from Millward Brown suggests there is a limit to how many messages someone can remember from a single ad.

That number is about 2 (sometimes it’s 1, sometimes it’s 3, but beyond that, people start forgetting what you are talking about at all).

🔎 Specific to each audience (if necessary)

If you have multiple audiences, or if there are meaningful segmentations within your audience, you might find that different things about your brand or product appeal to different people. In this case, plan the right message against the right segment - and avoid trying to say everything to everyone.

Those are some quick tips to get to some great key messages in your next brief. But we’ve also got a whole article on this topic: check it out to start really crafting your key messages .

Step 5 - Inspire your agency💡

You’ve gone deep into the weeds of your campaign by now. Time to lift your head up again.

Are there any campaigns you love that did something similar? Or any that you hate?

Did they speak to a similar audience, or try to change people’s minds about a similar product?

Challenge your agency to do better, and set them ambitious but realistic benchmarks about the quality of work you want.

Briefly automatically populates every brief review with relevant, award-winning campaign case studies, but you could find inspiration from anywhere.

For our fake brief about young coffee drinkers, you could include this spectacular campaign from IKEA, which focuses on showing people how the small things they do everyday with IKEA’s products can add up to something wonderful for the planet.

There are lots of ways to make a brief more inspiring. Case studies are just one - read about the rest in our handy article .

Step 6 - Be clear on the budget 💸

Money matters. Your budget can be one of the last things to be confirmed in the timeline of the project, but it is the most important. If you know how much budget you have allocated to this campaign, make it crystal clear.

Even if indicative, a budget will help an agency to size the creative challenge. Without this, they may well produce an idea that works great for a $5m media budget but will fail hopelessly for your $15k tactical campaign. The last few weeks of the project will be spent trying in vain to right-size the existing ideas to fit this new project scope.

Step 7 - Lock down the considerations 🔒

Brilliant basics, amazing admin, flabbergasting fundamentals - whatever you call it, let’s get it sorted.

Make sure you’ve got the following:

  • Considerations What do you need to say in this campaign? What can you definitely not say? What needs to be in the campaign to avoid your CMO throwing a fit?
  • RACI Who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed on this project? In other words, who are the key stakeholders?
  • Next Steps What do you expect to see, and when do you expect to see it?
  • Timings and deadlines What are the campaign live dates? When do you need asset supply to meet your media booking? (If you have a media agency, they'll handle this for you.)
  • List of deliverables What assets do you actually need to create? Give the channels, formats and number of assets that you're expecting.

There's lots of detail you need to sift through here, but it's important that you get it right. Take a look at our in-depth checklist for you to work through in our article on the topic here .

Step 8 - Step back and admire your work 😇

We’d allot maybe 10 minutes for this.

Stare at your brief, smile at the insight you’ve brought to your core audience, frown as you fix a small typo, and smile again as you feel like your brief has come together as a tight, consistent document that can lead to some outstanding work.

Step 9 - Get sign offs and share on with your agency 📤

Send all the regular emails asking for feedback or reviews, organise the meetings and brief your agency.

Get your agency or team together (ideally in person, but Zoom will work fine as a back-up).

Get them as excited as you are - Business As Usual campaigns deserve the same kind of love, creativity, flair and insight as brand relaunches.

If you need some inspiration, we've put together a few tips on how to make your next briefing more inspiring than any you've delivered before .

That's all it takes to craft the perfect marketing brief. And so begins the next chapter - the creative process...

Keep learning

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to write a value proposition

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to brief your agency

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to write the perfect creative brief

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to find an insight for your brief

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to craft key messages

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to define your marketing challenge

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to get the admin right

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to summarise market research

example of a creative brief for advertisements

How to make your brief inspiring

example of a creative brief for advertisements

Small Business Trends

What is a creative brief 15 places to find examples.

15 Creative Brief Examples

A creative brief is an essential document for businesses and agencies that work on any creative projects. It is used to describe every aspect of a creative campaign or project so that the people working on it know exactly what is expected.

Creative briefs can be put together by the a client requesting a creative service or campaign, or by the team or agency that is providing a creative service. But it is usually a collaborative effort, since input from the decision makers is essential for making sure their vision is included. It is then distributed to the creative team who is tasked with actually executing the campaign. This can either be an in-house team of creatives or an outside agency.

Creative briefs should include a brand statement, an overview of the campaign and its goals, the target audience you’re trying to reach, key messaging points and the channels you’ll use to spread those messages. They should also have basic details about the project, like deadlines and contact information of all the necessary parties. Overall, the document should be kept fairly simple and is often just one or two pages long.

Creative Brief Examples

If you’re looking to create a creative brief for your business or organization but don’t know where to start, templates and examples of other briefs can sometimes provide a good jumping off point. There are plenty of these available online. Here, we’ve rounded up 15 spots where you can find decent starting points for your own creative projects.

SmartSheet offers creative brief templates for Microsoft Word and Excel. The site breaks it down into categories. So you can find options for advertising campaigns, client-led projects and general creative briefs.

TemplateLab

TemplateLab has a wide array of starter templates available for business and individual documents. They have about 40 creative brief templates available for you to download as Microsoft Word files.

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Workmajig provides project management software for creative teams. Their website includes several examples of creative briefs used by top companies in their ad campaigns.

Hubspot offers a couple of different creative brief templates for download. There’s one for simple campaigns and another for video projects. You can simply sign up with your email and contact details to access them.

What is a Creative Brief? 15 Places to Find Examples

For advertising campaigns or professional, AdCracker offers a sample creative brief that was created specifically for the ad industry. Their website also includes plenty of examples of what type of information is needed for specific types of creative briefs.

Milanote is an online organization tool for creatives. A section of their website is dedicated to templates for various forms and documents that creative teams might need, including a creative brief.

CoSchedule offers several creative brief examples on their website, including basic ones for ad campaigns and even a more involved, Q&A style option for a video campaign. They also offer a free, downloadable template so you can easily customize your own.

What is a Creative Brief? 15 Places to Find Examples

Filestage is a content management platform that offers a free creative brief template on its website. You need to request the file via email. But it’s available as a Powerpoint file, which can be beneficial for those who need to present their brief to clients. You can also easily convert it to a PDF if needed.

Time tracking tool Toggl offers a free creative brief template on its website. It comes as a fillable PDF so you can easily input your information. But there’s not a ton of customization options when it comes to the layout or design.

Canva is an online graphics tool that is popular with a lot of creatives. The website includes a thorough explanation of what to include in a creative brief, along with plenty of examples and templates that you can use to create the graphics.

Online design platform 99designs has a section of their website dedicated to the creation of creative briefs. You can learn more about what goes into creating one and then download their free template via email.

What is a Creative Brief? 15 Places to Find Examples

Creative Market

Creative Market offers plenty of different design elements and assets that creative businesses can use. The site also includes a free creative brief template that was made specifically with designers in mind.

FunctionPoint

Agency management software provider FunctionPoint offers several creative brief templates for various situations, including basic templates, website projects and branding and design.

Enterprise software company Workfront also has a free template for a creative brief. They also include an explanation of what important information you need to include.

JotForm is an online form builder that has tons of forms and templates you can edit directly online. Find a basic creative brief template here are view all the other marketing and creative form options they have to offer.

Creating an Effective Creative Brief

A creative brief serves as a compass for businesses and agencies venturing into creative projects, ensuring that everyone involved understands and aligns with the project’s objectives. Whether you’re a client seeking creative services or a creative team tasked with execution, mastering the art of crafting an effective creative brief is paramount. Beyond the basics, here are additional insights to enhance your creative brief:

  • Clear Objectives : Define your project’s objectives with utmost clarity. Specify what you aim to achieve, whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or launching a new product. These objectives serve as the North Star guiding creative decisions.
  • Competitive Analysis : Include a section that delves into your competitors. Analyze their strategies, strengths, and weaknesses. Understanding your competitive landscape can provide valuable insights and help your creative team identify unique selling points.
  • Budget Considerations : While it’s vital to have a clear budget for the project, consider elaborating on budget allocation. Provide guidance on how much should be allocated to various elements of the creative campaign, such as design, production, and distribution.
  • Timeline and Milestones : In addition to deadlines, establish milestones within the project timeline. Milestones help track progress, ensure accountability, and allow for adjustments if needed.
  • Creative References : Include examples of creative work that resonate with your project’s vision. This could be visuals, ad campaigns, or branding materials. These references offer a visual representation of your expectations.
  • Risk Assessment : Acknowledge potential risks or challenges that could arise during the project. Discussing risks allows your creative team to prepare contingency plans and mitigate potential roadblocks effectively.
  • Measurable KPIs : Outline key performance indicators (KPIs) that will gauge the project’s success. These may include metrics like website traffic, conversion rates, or social media engagement. Having measurable goals ensures that your creative efforts align with business objectives.
  • Legal and Compliance Requirements : Depending on your industry, your creative project may need to adhere to specific legal or regulatory requirements. Mention any compliance considerations upfront to avoid complications later in the project.
  • Review and Feedback Process : Describe the process for reviewing and providing feedback on creative concepts and drafts. Efficient feedback loops save time and help refine creative work effectively.
  • Creative Team Dynamics : Introduce your creative team within the brief, highlighting their roles and responsibilities. Understanding who’s involved fosters transparency and collaboration.

What is a Creative Brief? 15 Places to Find Examples

A well-structured and comprehensive creative brief stands as an indispensable pillar in the realm of creative projects for both businesses and creative agencies. Beyond its fundamental elements, which encompass project objectives, target audience, messaging, and channels, a truly effective creative brief incorporates several additional facets that elevate its impact.

Clear objectives illuminate the path forward, ensuring that creative efforts align with overarching business goals. An insightful competitive analysis sharpens the creative team’s understanding of the market landscape and identifies strategic opportunities. Thoughtful budget considerations enable the efficient allocation of resources, optimizing creative output within financial constraints.

A meticulously planned timeline with milestones keeps the project on track, fostering accountability and adaptability. The inclusion of creative references provides visual clarity and sparks inspiration, facilitating a shared vision. Acknowledging potential risks and challenges equips the team to preemptively address issues, mitigating disruptions.

Measurable KPIs provide a yardstick for success, tying creative endeavors to tangible business outcomes. Legal and compliance considerations, when addressed proactively, safeguard against legal hurdles down the road. An established feedback process streamlines communication, ensuring that creative concepts evolve efficiently.

Introducing the creative team and their roles fosters transparency and collaboration, setting the stage for a cohesive and productive partnership.

In essence, a well-rounded creative brief is not merely a document but a dynamic tool that empowers businesses and creative teams to embark on projects with a unified vision and a clear roadmap. It enables creativity to flourish within defined parameters, resulting in innovative solutions that resonate with target audiences and drive tangible business results.

Mastering the art of crafting an effective creative brief, enriched by these additional insights, is pivotal for achieving creative excellence and project success. As businesses navigate an increasingly competitive and visually-driven landscape, a comprehensive creative brief remains an essential asset in their arsenal, guiding them toward creative endeavors that leave a lasting impact.

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This is a new thing kind of like when infographics are first introduced. I guess it works in expressing a point in a creative way.

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COMMENTS

  1. How to Write a Creative Brief in 11 Simple Steps [Examples

    Basha Coleman Updated: April 27, 2023 Published: April 26, 2023 The first step in any successful project is drawing up a game plan with a clear objective. It's one of the reasons marketers love creative briefs. A creative brief acts as a roadmap that takes a project from ideation to completion.

  2. Creative Briefs: What To Include (with Template) [2023] • Asana

    Julia Martins October 2nd, 2022 7 min read Jump to section What is a creative brief? Essential elements of a creative brief Creative brief example Creative brief template Using a creative brief when working with agencies Write your best creative brief View Templates

  3. How to Write Creative Briefs [+ Templates and Examples]

    1. Project Name The project name refers to a clear and concise title for the project. It provides a quick reference point for all team members. Example: "Redesigning a Company Website - Project [XYZ]" 2. Company Background

  4. Guide: How to Write a Creative Brief (With Examples)

    Guides Jun, 8 2021 Updated: Apr, 25 2022 • 8 min read Guide: How to Write a Creative Brief (With Examples) Learn how to write a creative brief and use creative brief templates to help make the crafting of your own easier.

  5. How to write a creative brief: Best-practice, examples & templates

    Overview How to write a creative brief: Best-practice, examples & templates 🖌 By Ewan Patel Co-founder & CSO Here at Briefly, we obsess over the marketing brief - the brief that clients share with their agencies. But the creative brief (the one that agencies write in response to that marketing brief) is an equally important document.

  6. How to write a creative brief: Templates and guide with examples

    Deliverables: what will we deliver? Delivery team: who plays a role? Delivery timelines: what is the high-level delivery timeline? Budget: what will it cost? If you have been involved in brand management, marketing, or working with a creative agency, there is a good chance you have experienced the complexity of launching a successful campaign.

  7. Unlock Success With Our Creative Brief Template

    Brand Toolkit When it comes to creating a successful marketing campaign, the creative brief is a crucial element. But before diving into the brief, it's essential to have a solid understanding of your brand's communications strategy. This includes elements such as brand positioning, brand idea, and brand plan.

  8. How to Write a Creative Brief (Example & Template Included)

    Marketing, Planning, Project Documents How to Write a Creative Brief (Example & Template Included) by Brenna Schwartz | Jul 28, 2023 What Is a Creative Brief? A creative brief is a short, one-or-two-page document that summarizes marketing and advertising projects.

  9. 7 Creative Brief Templates (+ Example Briefs)

    Campaign creative brief template. Use this template to plan your creative approach for a marketing campaign. For example, if you are working with advertising agencies or consultants, you could outline a creative treatment for an advertisement, new logo, or tagline.For internal teams, this template can kick-off a new lead generation or email campaign.

  10. The Best Marketing Creative Brief Template of 2023 + GUIDE

    ‍ Why Your Advertising Agency Needs a Creative Brief? Whether you're looking for a rebrand, a new website, flyers, a product launch or any other marketing collateral, a creative brief is your main tool to ensure any campaign you come up with connects to its target audience.

  11. How to Write a Creative Brief (With Examples & Templates)

    Here are a few creative brief examples to help you gauge the differences between projects. Bonus: AI Outline Generators! Advertising campaign briefs. Advertising and marketing campaign briefs range from somewhat simple to extremely complex, depending on the scope of work. In this creative brief example, you may want to include additional ...

  12. Creative Brief: Examples & How to Get Started

    Below are three examples to help you decide whether your creative project needs a brief or not: What are the essential elements of a creative brief? An effective creative brief is both well-developed and compelling and includes elements like: Problem/solution Key research insights for creative direction and background Key messaging and tone

  13. How to write a creative brief

    Creative brief examples and elements Most briefs will look relatively similar. So, we've broken down a standard format for you to follow to ensure no details are left out. Your company's mission statement An explanation of the project, and how this request for creative fits into the overall strategy of the campaign

  14. How to Write A Compelling Creative Brief (with Examples ...

    Regardless of its format, your creative brief must revolve around the five elements we covered earlier. To write the creative brief, use the following template: 1. The Project. Start your creative brief by writing a broad overview of the project. Establish the identity of the client, talk about the product, and list the goals of the campaign. 2.

  15. 7 creative brief examples to help you improve your briefs

    Article November 30, 2022 7 creative brief examples to help you improve your briefs 7 minute read Afoma Umesi GatherContent Contributor, Writer Imagine you want to build your dream house. You know what it will look like, but you have no construction knowledge. What if architectural plans and blueprints didn't exist?

  16. What is a Creative Brief + How to Write it + Template

    Adobe Communications Team 03-18-2022 Writing a full creative brief may not always be necessary — but in most cases, entering into a project without a creative brief is like flying blind.

  17. Creative Brief Examples and How to Write a Creative Brief

    Creative Brief Example for Advertising Campaigns. A creative brief example for advertising campaigns is indispensable, whether created by an advertising agency or in-house project. It encapsulates the essence of the campaign, defines the target audience, and guides the creative process.

  18. How To Write a Compelling Creative Brief (With Template and Example

    1. Begin with key details Start by listing key contact details for the project. If you work for a marketing or advertising agency, list the client's name, the main contact person, and their email address and phone number. When writing a creative brief for an internal project, list the project lead and their contact information.

  19. The creative brief: A how-to guide (with template)

    For example, if creatives are designing a print ad, the advertising brief should include specifications about color usage, ad size, and image resolution. Client briefs Creative briefs for clients often take the form of any of the above briefs, but often with more specific or strict details on external timelines, deliverables, and costs ...

  20. How to Write a Creative Brief (Examples and 7 Templates)

    Step #1: Choose the name for the project and provide a short overview. Step #2: Summarize the company's background. Step #3: List the objectives. Step #4: Define your target audience. Step #5: Choose the tone of voice. Step #6: Research the competition. Step #7: Set the budget. Step #8: Ask for feedback.

  21. Write your Creative Brief to inspire great creative advertising

    A blank canvas: Creative people would prefer a business problem to solve, not a wide-open request for advertising options. An unclear problem: Creative people need a tightly defined and focused problem to generate great work that meets your needs. A long list of mandatories: Do not create a tangled web of mandatories that almost write the ad itself. . These lists only trap the creative team ...

  22. How to write a marketing brief: Best-practice, examples & templates

    Step 1: Define the problem Step 2: Setting objectives Step 3: Summarise the business context Step 4: Refine your strategy: Step 4.1: Define your target audience Step 4.2: Decide on a CTA Step 4.3: Craft your key messages Step 5: Inspire your agency Step 6: Be clear on the budget Step 7: Considerations Step 8: Review, tweak, and finalise

  23. What is a Creative Brief? 15 Places to Find Examples

    Workmajig. Workmajig provides project management software for creative teams. Their website includes several examples of creative briefs used by top companies in their ad campaigns. Hubspot. Hubspot offers a couple of different creative brief templates for download. There's one for simple campaigns and another for video projects.