Behold the One-Sentence Creative Brief
Wouldn’t most of us say a well-conceived creative brief is a good thing? Done right, they make the work better by defining exactly what we’re trying to say and to who. Done wrong — or not at all—they lead to misfires, do-overs, and boring, ineffective work.
So, given all their goodness, why aren’t more people spending the time to write thoughtful, inspirational, well-structured creative briefs? It all goes back to that “spending the time” part. Good briefs take time. Great briefs take even more time. And time is one thing most of us never seem to have enough of.
Rather than toss in the proverbial towel and go back to directionless, brief-free project kickoffs, there is another way — the One-Sentence Creative Brief. Is it ideal? No. Is it better than nothing? Way.
When I run training for marketing teams on the creative briefing process, the One-Sentence Creative Brief shows up as the sixth item on a 14-part brief template, so it’s but one piece of a larger, integrated system. But the One-Sentence Creative Brief can be used on its own when there’s no time to work through the full brief.
The reason this sentence shows up in the six spot is because it summarizes the discoveries made in the previous five sections. That means you’ll need to have some prior knowledge or do a little on-the-fly strategizing as you write your One-Sentence Creative Brief following this format:
(Audience) should (Think/Feel/Do) about (Product/Service) because (Single Most Compelling Reason).
Let’s break it down. The audience section is where you convey to the creative or design team who the effort at hand is aimed at. This is a great place to give some lifestyle hints rather than dry demographics. For example:
Moms who have reached the freak-out stage juggling work, kids, and keeping the house together…
People who believe they have a personal responsibility to help make the world a better place…
Tech bros who have ditched their cars because they don’t want to feel guiltier about contributing to global warming…
Next, we get to the behavior change we’d like the communications to prompt. Do we want our audience to know about something new (that’s a “think”), change their perception about a product or company for the better (that’s a “feel”), or visit a landing page to place an order (that’s a “do”). For example:
…should know there’s a service that will wash and fold the family’s laundry…
…should make others (especially members of Congress) aware of the scourge of child marriage by fearlessly joining our team of compassionate citizens,…
…should click to schedule a test ride…
The Product/Service piece of the sentence is pretty much a fill-in-the-blank exercise. For example:
…called LaundryOut.com…
…the World Vision Advocates,…
…of a VanMoof e-bike…
While writing the Product/Service info is the easy part, coming up with that Single Most Compelling Reason is where the true challenge lies. Here, you have to successfully come up with a few words that capture whatever it is that will incentivize your audience to change their mind or take some action.
The best statements will give the creative or design teams enough specificity to focus their thinking, and yet not be so prescriptive that you kill their creativity out of the starting gate. This is also a place to avoid superlatives, overpromises, or vague statements like, “…because it is the best solution for anyone who wants an easy, affordable solution.”
Here are some worthy examples of statements that fit answer “most compelling” question:
…because you can tick this time-crushing task right off your to-do list.
…because you will feel you’ve done the right thing for children — especially young girls—who can’t champion this cause for themselves.
…because it has the design sensibility of Apple or Tesla with the conscience of Greta Thunberg.
When you put the components of the One-Sentence Creative Brief together, they provide in a compact, scannable form exactly the kind of touchstone statement creatives like to test their solutions against when they’re in the midst of brainstorming.
For example:
Tech bros who have ditched their cars because they don't want to feel guiltier about contributing to global warming should click to schedule a test ride of a VanMoof e-bike because it has the design sensibility of Apple or Tesla with the conscience of Greta Thunberg.
With these 47 words that take only 10 seconds to read, designers, writers, and any kind of creative contributor can return again and again to confirm their ideas are solving the brief. And, for those situations where you want leadership’s buy-in, but you know they’re not going to wade through a multi-page creative brief, asking them to give their thumbs up to a 47-word sentence is a more-than-reasonable ask.
So, does the One-Sentence Creative Brief mean you can dispose of the one-, two-, or 17-page full creative brief? Yes, to the 17-page brief, because any brief of that length is too wordy to get a creative’s attention and should be disposed of.
But the real answer to the question of ditching traditional briefs is “no.” If you have the time and brainpower to draft, circulate, and fine-tune a brief of a more conventional length, you should absolutely do it. That way the nuances and color commentary that can only be conveyed when you go beyond that single sentence can be shared with the creative team.
On the other hand, when you’re simply out of time, or you’re working on a minor project that doesn't seem to warrant a full brief, the One-Sentence Creative Brief can do 80 percent of the job with 20 percent of the effort.
When you think about it, doesn’t it just make sense that time-challenged marketing execs and PMs should start writing One-Sentence Creative Briefs because you’ll save your own stomach lining when your team produces work that’s so much more on-target right from the get-go?
Larry Asher is the director of the School of Visual Concepts, a professional development training center that's been helping designers and marketers advance in their careers for more than 50 years. SVC has led team training sessions on the creative briefing process for Amazon, Nestle, Starbucks, Brooks Running, Zillow, Microsoft, the University of Washington, T-Mobile, and many others.
