Communications Brief Template
Communications Brief Template
Communications Brief Template
What attitude or action is the communications campaign trying to effect? Stimulate inquiries? Increase awareness, or knowledge of strengths and benefits? Overcome prejudice
and misperception to change behavior?
What are their needs/wants? How do they relate to the category in general and our offering in particular? Do they know anything about it? Do they care about it? Does it relate
to other parts of their life? Is it something they’ll use publicly or privately? What difference does it make? How do they feel about it? Is it easy or interesting for them to talk
about? What language do they use? What experiences/anecdotes do they have that might be useful for us in developing work? What’s the role of the brand in their broader life
context?
These and other questions will help the creative team hear, see, and know these people; to know how to talk to them.
Note: there should be no "and" in the message. Of course, advertising may ultimately succeed in communicating more than one thing, but such secondary communication may
come from tone, or the way the spot is shot, or a voice-over, and should never get in the way of (detract from) your primary message.
This is not a positioning, but a proposition (a promise). Not "what the product is" or "what we want to say about the product," but "what it does/means for people"—that is, what
we want people to take away from the advertising. (E.g., Cuervo: "it’s a party waiting to happen" versus "good drinks, fun times, real people")
What are the possibilities, the angles? Do we present what we want to say about the product by demonstrating its performance? By using a side-by-side comparison? By the
feeling it gives you? By the feeling it gives to others? The list goes on, but we should be clear about which route is most appropriate and likely to be most involving and
motivating. Best briefs should be informed and inspired from many different directions.
E.g. Got Milk Campaign – wanted to increase current users’ usage and purchase. Did not try to get nonusers to switch. There are times when only milk will do…too bad if you’ve
run out.