So you’ve devised an awesome marketing plan and have some great ideas for your next project. You know who you’re targeting and you’ve got your key messages nailed down. Sounds good so far.
The next step is briefing your marketing agency who will turn your vision into a perfectly designed reality. Sounds great.
They’re creative types aren’t they? Just give them content and free reign and you’ll get the best creative result, right? Well, not exactly. Whilst it’s true we do love a bit of free reign, it’s no secret that the best results come from everybody knowing the parameters from the offset.
At Blaze we see briefs in all shapes and sizes; from a single sentence to a lengthy tome. Whilst both have their merits neither are particularly conducive to getting what you want, quickly. Using our experience, we’ve compiled a list of tops tips for writing a marketing brief which will help you get the most out of your agency.
- What do you want? A brochure, a leaflet, a flyer, a press ad, a website? Key facts are omitted surprisingly often and we’re stopped before we’ve even started if we don’t know what you need.
- Purpose – Do you want your price list to be kept for the next year? Tell us and we can make sure we print on a durable stock. Or is your poster going to be displayed outside? Tell us and we’ll make sure it’s waterproof.
- Target market – Is this a leaflet to share important facts and figures with board members? Or a flyer to promote a new product range to fresh graduates? All target markets respond to different visual communication styles and it’s important to match the tone to the target to ensure you get the required response.
- Background information – It’s really helpful to have a short background to your product/brand/company. Keep it to 2/3 short paragraphs of pertinent information, if we have to pick key elements out of War and Peace, it’s likely we’ll overlook pertinent information.
- Quantity – Obviously, the more you order of something, the lower the unit price gets. If you tell us now we can make sure you benefit from economies of scale from the off.
- Colour restrictions – What are your logo Pantone colours? Does your logo have different colours for coated and uncoated stock? It’s important to know this now so that no mistakes are made further down the line.
- Size – A4? DL? Number of pages? Tell us how much room we have now as it’ll effect the design we produce and, of course, it’ll impact significantly on any costings.
- Timescales – Need it for an event? Make sure we know so that we can meet that deadline.
- Delivery information – Deliver to France? No problem, but we can only deliver on time if we know where it’s going!
- Budget –There’s no point our wasting your time in offering three solutions, only two of which you can afford. If we know your budget in advance, we’ll be able to deliver a solution to fit it.
Follow our ten points to producing a killer brief and not only are you likely to get marketing communications that live up to your campaign aspirations, you’ll get it quicker and therefore, most likely, cheaper!
Want to give us a brief? Find out how our services could benefit your business.
Let’s get together and explore the potential.
Contact us on +44 (0)20 8360 8244
