Why You Need a Creative Brief For Your Project to Succeed

Did you ever make a fort as a kid? 

I did. I lived for them, using pillows, couch cushions, and blankets for materials. These wonderfully haphazard constructions were more of a sprawling mess than anything else. 

But hey, it gave me an excuse to use a flashlight in the living room. 

The joy of constructing a fort was that there was no plan, no oversight; you just kind of made it up as you went along. 

That works when you’re a kid. Much less so, when you’re leading a project. 

The irony, though, is that we’re tempted to treat the projects we’re leading more like fort construction and not as a strategic and intentional endeavor. 

You may have experienced this firsthand. 

Things weren’t totally set up front. Scope creep sets in. Expectations change. The client initially wanted a two-minute video. Now they’re demanding Casablanca the Sequel in a week’s time.

You started with what you thought was a promised-land vision of the project.

And then, after one too many cooks in the kitchen, you end up with a Frankenversion of what you’d envisioned.

…a not-so-wonderfully haphazard construction.

The best remedy is launching your project with a well-defined creative brief.

This blueprint outlines the strategy, details, deliverables, and expectations of a project. 

It’s a kind of charter, a north-star agreement between you and your client or stakeholders. Briefs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but usually contain some version of this info - 

• What is the background of the project?

• Why do we need this project?

• Who is the audience for the project?

• What is the main message? Secondary messages?

• What will we be creating for this project? What are the deliverables?

• Who will be approving and signing off on the project?

• When are the deliverables due and in what format (jpeg, .mp3, PDF, etc)

Creative briefs are enormously helpful at every stage in the project. It becomes a roadmap to revisit continually throughout the project to ensure you’re on track and on target. 

In what ways can you and your team incorporate this practice further into your process to better ensure your project’s success?