THE PERFECT CREATIVE BRIEF

A solid brief is the foundation of a creative media project and a useful tool that facilitates communication between account executives and creative professionals.

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Creative media projects require you to make many decisions. A healthy process allows for a state of flow in which an entire team can excel at their tasks, assess risks, and welcome creativity into their framework. Having a single source of truth will help define the project’s mission and assist you in most of the decision-making.

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You're looking for true information, not pretty information

If some of the following prompts don't apply to you, feel free to skip them—or better yet, force your brain into answering why it doesn’t fit. At the end of it, perfection is achieved through the messy creative process and not solely on by the outcome.

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The elements of a perfect brief:

1. Project Name
2. Project Stakeholders & Roles
3. Timeline or Deadline
4. What is the priority for the project? (speed, quality, budget, etc)
5. What does success look like? How does the perfect outcome look?
6. What does failure look like? What does everyone want to avoid?
7. How will decision-making happen? Who will be involved?
8. Does everyone understand the project's lifecycle?
9. What does everyone need to get started?
10. What is the main goal?
11. What are the main sources of information? Do they expire or have a validity period?
12. Who is the target audience?
13. What does the target audience care about?
14. What feelings should the project inspire? What information should the project relay?
15. How will the project be distributed or launched?
16. What risks or challenges do you see?
17. What are the major milestones to keep in mind?

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Embrace the messiness of the creative process!