Project Briefs & Priorities
The “W”s and priority alignment
At the heart of every creative project there’s a brief, well at least there should be...
At a minimum that brief should answer a few things – who, what, why, when – your order may vary… The brief is the first road sign on the creative team’s journey. It is the plot – Go This Way ->, Talk to the Villagers, Defeat the Troll, Win the Princess/Prince. If the brief points the team in the wrong direction, they’re on the road to get burned by the dragon and fall into the pit of doom.
Who is the audience, who are you talking to? Does your brand or organization have personas they own or specific demographics they’re targeting with this project. Is this audience agreed-upon and does it align with the brand.
Brand positioning and personas evolve over time and a creative team has the flexibility to adapt, however changes like these should be intentional and brand-led. Occasionally the project brief may be targeted at a who that isn’t part of the brand’s current audience. When that happens the brief needs to provide insight about the who as well as some justification and possibly oversight/approval from the leadership team. Channel marketers are passionate about their channels, and it can be easy to jump in with both feet as a creative. Be objective.
What do we need to produce and what resources do we have? In my experience, the first part of this W is typically what someone knows - simply “I need this.” A project brief should be as specific as possible on the deliverables. Scope creep will happen, but having the what defined at the outset enables the team to weigh the creative brief against company/department priorities. How confident is this first what? Its appropriate to ask, get ahead of the ‘extras’ that pop up. If the team has done similar projects before go back and review those projects, its your chance to apply hindsight to a new project.
The second part of What can be more challenging. Depending on the size of your team and organization a designer may wear more than one hat (SHOCKER!) Lets say you’re creating a digital ad – What is the copy? Headline, subhead, details, legal disclaimer and what parts of that are must-have’s and what can be dropped for space. You’re not going to squeeze in everything in smaller formats. Hell, does it HAVE TO HAVE the disclaimer or is that being assumed? Connect the dots between your project partner and legal. Set up a workshop and SHOW YOUR WORK – do the legwork to show those partners what it means to include every bit and piece of copy that may be included and how it impacts the design. Every piece of work is storytelling. If you cram in two lines of disclaimer on a tiny banner ad, and none of it is legible or digestible, what story are you telling?
Sidebar: Project Brief vs. Project Request
Creative teams may receive a project request that thinks it’s a brief. This is a great coaching opportunity to bring your partners up to speed on the process. Yes, were going to ask questions about your project. Discussing all the “W”s is how we can understand what you’re looking to achieve and what does success look like. We’re not poking holes in your plan but working to ensure time and resources are best used to move the organization forward.
Why are we doing this and how do you define a successful outcome? We’re looking for something more than “Because I want/need it.” Why is this project important to the brand/organization? Is the outcome measurable or subjective. While the nature of creative work often falls into the subjective realm, if possible, it should be tied to a measurable outcome and then the success/failure of that communicated back to the team in a full circle of feedback. That closure elevates the entire teams understanding of the “Why” and builds a foundation for success in the future.
More Why’s to consider:
Why would the audience (who) above be interested and what would move them to respond to this creative work?
Why does this project need to be measured for success? What if the project is subjective and/or is hard to measure? Does it fulfill a business need, that’s your why, although it may be hard to quantify. If not measurable, then is it valuable to key stakeholders in your organization, or as a static or subjective resource? If so, then that’s your measure of success.
When – how soon is now? Ah, the obvious question, and a loaded one at that. The When question is one that needs to have a collaborative answer. Is every rush request truly a rush request? Seeing A.S.A.P. on a request (or all of them for that matter) can be overwhelming. Can you replace “Possible” with “Practical”? Similarly, if you have a project request/intake system does it default date or number of days? Be on the lookout for that and address that assumption in advance.
Are your partners across the business aware of the creative team’s workload and process. Your project’s requestor may be working in advance on their own calendar, talk dates, get ahead of their upcoming needs. Build a relationship with your routine project requestors. Help them understand how the creative team operates, how projects are weighed against priorities and any annual or seasonal initiatives that impact the team. Be transparent within your organization by sharing expectations with these priorities and high-volume seasons in mind. Share those with your routine requestors and leaders of cross-functional groups that make occasional use of the creative resources you offer. It doesn’t feel good for anyone to be told (or to tell) that their project will be delayed because it wasn’t as important as others.
Do you have a champion within the leadership team that can speak to the team’s priorities and process? Easier said than done for sure, but that one voice may be the team’s only representation at the C-level, don’t abandon finding that champion.
“W’s” Recap
· Who is the audience for this project?
· What do we need to produce and what resources do we have?
· Why is this important and why should we (or anyone) care about the success or failure?
· When is “now”?
Sidebar - No Brief Needed?
Granted, there are production projects where a specific brief simply isn’t needed. However, the who/what/why/when questions need to be mutually understood. Referencing an older brief or previous project may answer all those questions but be warned that there are often surprises and assumptions hidden in there. Review the previous project and confirm the details before kicking off the work.
Creatives – The project brief should answer all of the main “W”s above. Don’t be afraid to ask your project manager, marketer or project requestor for more information or clarity. Prepare your questions, check them off the list and move ahead with the answers. I’ve done it – “Oh, I have one question…” and then “Oh, one more…” and again “Ah, and how about…” Save yourself and your business partner time by asking clear and concise questions. (Make a list, check it twice, find out who’s...)
It’s easy to assume and just ‘throw something together’ but you’re putting yourself in the position to just throw time away. Take the opportunity to build a relationship with your business partners, understand their needs and help them understand yours.
Should you get a brief that’s simply incomplete or incoherent then bounce that sucker back to your project manager. ;)
Project Managers – First off, I love you. Your creatives love you (at least I hope so.) You are the bearer of projects big and small, fun and tedious ones, the bringer of encouragement and accountability, the proclaimer of project approvals and additional revisions both. You have your finger on the pulse of the creative team, their work and hopefully are building meaningful relationships with the creatives at an individual level. You understand their skillsets, strengths.
IMO, a creative team can’t succeed without the partnership and support of project managers. Juggling priorities, passions and holding the teams accountable is no simple thing. Your balance of hard and soft skills keeps a creative team (and as a result the marketing organization as a whole) running. SZ, you are the best.
Marketers – The creative brief is your first and best opportunity to bring the team up to speed on the project. Nowhere else will you have the chance to set expectations and share content/directions as directly as the brief. Consider it an investment in time for your future self and everyone who touches the project from beginning to end. Your time spent preparing the brief will trickle down by streamlining the creative teams time and minimize the number of proof versions that are needed. Consider how many people will review a proof, and how many times/stages, time ads up quickly. I know you’ve got a full plate, but your project manager and creative partners will rejoice when a well thought and clear brief comes through.
Avoid these assumptions:
Same creative/team - workloads get moved around, don’t assume that the same creative will work on your next project.
Jargon – we all live with it, use it, and in general should avoid it. Do we know what it means?
Mind readers – Creatives aren’t - share as many expectations and examples as possible. Using buzzwords like “elevated” and the like don’t tell much of a visual story (unless you want the subject shown hovering above a surface.) Show examples. If you like something, be ready to explain why you like it and how that is relevant to the “WHO”.