ADVERTING & VIDEO
creative briefS.
Turning your video ideas into reality.
The creative brief is the foundation of any successful creative campaign. It outlines the client’s vision and ensures that everyone is on the same page.
Congratulations. You’ve decided that you need a video! That’s a great move, considering experts predict that pretty soon, 90% of all web traffic will be video. But before you embark on the video making process, it’s important to sit down and consider the end result. This kind of plan is known as a creative brief. Providing a detailed briefing for video production companies that you work with, is an excellent start to ensuring that you get a great outcome from your video. On this page, we’ll explain how to write a brief. To save time, download a video briefing document below. Below are a TV advertising brief, a video briefing document and a briefing template for animated explainer videos.
TV ADVERTISING BRIEF TEMPLATE
VIDEO BRIEFING DOCUMENT
VIDEO EXPLAINER BRIEF TEMPLATE
CREATIVE BRIEF
An experienced video producer will handle every aspect of the creative and technical process – the filming, editing, all the bells and whistles – so that your audience responds positively and you get your expected return on investment.
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR ELEMENTS OF A VIDEO PRODUCTION BRIEF?
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An overview of what the video is about – What story will you be telling in your video? What’s the main message, piece of information or idea that you want your viewers to walk away with?
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Who the owner of the project is – Who will the video production company be reporting to throughout the entire process? You may have different people responsible for different aspects of the video-making process.
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The department of your company that the video is for – Your company may have many different strands of business – Be clear in your brief which exact department the video is being made for.
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Your budget – How much are you willing to spend on getting a video made? When deciding on a budget, think about the return on investment – or, how much this video is likely to give back to your business, whether through increased sales or more awareness about your product, company or brand.
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Background for your video – What is the context of your video? What prompted your company to decide that you needed a video?
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The objectives of your video – What exactly is it that you’re trying to achieve by having this video made? Are you trying to show the benefits of working for your company, as would be the case for a recruitment video? Are you trying to show all the main features and benefits of your company’s new product?
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Who your target audience is – Who are you trying to reach with your video? Your target audience will affect everything from the language you use in your video, to how it is distributed after it’s been made.
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The initial structure of your video – What kind of different elements is your video going to have? Is it going to feature interviews with some of your staff members? Testimonials from your previous customers about a certain product? Or is it going to be purely story telling?
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Your deadline – When do you need the video by? When considering deadlines, think about how it will tie in with your other marketing, advertising and promotional activities throughout the year.
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What your distribution platform is – How will you get your video out there once it’s finished? Are you going to embed it on your website, put it up on YouTube, or is it intended for TV?
HOW TO WRITE A BRIEF?
How to write a brief?
Writing a brief is the best way to convey your thoughts to a creative team.
It doesn’t need to be an in-depth exploration of everything about your company, the more focused on the current project, the better. The brief can include more extensive information, but it should always be related to the current project.
Getting everyone to focus
The process of writing a video brief forces people to focus. It can be a painful process to boil down ideas into a single document. It’s vital to focus on what needs to be in a video and what doesn’t.
A single point of contact
Knowing who to talk to is one of the most critical elements of effective communication. Pick a primary point of contact and add them to the video briefing document. Being sent feedback from a group can lead to unnecessary delays and duplication of work.
Include the deadline
Add the deadline or any milestones to the brief. If it’s a rushed job with a short timeframe, it’s best to know about it early.
TARGETED DEMO / MEDIUM
What’s the intended outcome after watching?
The outcome is the most crucial part of the brief. What do you want the viewer to do or feel after watching the video? It can be as simple as clicking a button or visiting a website. Or it could involve thinking differently about a company or subject.
A concise outcome will drive the creative and distribution strategy so needs to be thought through.
Who is it aimed at – the audience
Picking a target audience and defining a voice. Some messages need to appeal to a broader audience. If yours doesn’t, you have the freedom to target a tighter demographic. We have a section of the video briefing document where the audience can be listed.
The tone of Voice – Your brand’s personality
Your brand is more significant than just your product. Think about how your brand should come across to the public. Describe the tone of voice to be used in your messaging precisely.
Single-minded message
Condense your message into a concise nugget of thought. The single-minded message will help focus the creatives to make sure this message comes across.
Is there a call to action?
How will the viewer interact with your video? If it’s a TV commercial are you including a toll-free number or URL? If you’re using interactive video, the call to action can be more involved and may lead to further user interactions.
Are there mandatories
Do you have to use a branded endframe or a specific typeface? They might feel like constraints, but a great creative team will find ways to get the best from your assets.
Please add a budget, even a ballpark
Knowing a ballpark budget when creating ideas is very useful. It’s tempting to ask creatives to “ignore the budget and give me your best ideas”. They will, and every script will start with “open on a palm-fringed beach”. There’s a place to add your ball-park budget in our video briefing document, please do add something, it will prevent a lot of wheel spinning.
Trying to stiff those ideas into a realistic budget will lead to compromise and disappointment. Starting with a ballpark budget or budget ranges will mean you’ll receive the best ideas which will get the most from your budget.
WHO’S YOUR COMPETITION?
Who are your competitors
When writing the brief include info on your competitors. It might not always be apparent to those outside your industry who they are. It’s a useful exercise to see what your competitors are doing in their marketing.
Is there any research to include
If you have market research, stats from your website or data from your marketing, please add it. Having stats to construct a campaign around gives you the certainty that the ideas are heading in the right direction.
What deliverables are required
Including all the delivery formats in the video briefing helps the agency deliver useful content. It also makes sure the idea has been built to work across multiple platforms. Sometimes having delivery constraints can throw up unusual or surprising ideas which elevate the concept.
Campaign Measurements
How will the campaign be measured? It’s good to let the agency know. In the TV advertising world, the days of buying media packages and hoping for the best are over. Software that correlates TV adverts running with website visits means media spending success can be measured and optimized. Tracking of social media campaigns happens in real-time.
How many companies to brief?
The number of companies to work with is a tricky question and probably depends on the size of the project. If you’re creating a Superbowl Commercial, you’ll want to see ideas from all the talent in the country.
If you’re creating an advertisement for a new product and you are busy, do you want to spend days meeting ten creative teams?
The chances are you’ll start to see similar themes crop up anyway. A good rule of thumb is: massive project – go wild ask everyone. Not so large project – aim for about three or four creative agencies.
Have questions on how to write a Video Production brief?
If you need help writing a video production brief, do get in touch we can walk you through the process. Get a started by downloading a video briefing document, if you get stuck give us a call at (913) 444-3000 or fill out the contact form below.
SERVING KANSAS CITY FOR OVER 40 YEARS
Something Different offers expert video production services, and can work with you to help you put a brief together and ensure you get the desired outcome from your video.
We have years of experience creating all types of videos for a range of clients, from recruitment videos and TV commercials, to event and corporate videos. Whatever your goals, we can help you put together a clear, detailed and effective video brief that will ensure you get off on the right track right from the word “action”.
For more information on putting together successful video briefs, call (913) 444-3000 or use our contact form below.
TV ADVERTISING BRIEF TEMPLATE
VIDEO BRIEFING DOCUMENT
VIDEO EXPLAINER BRIEF TEMPLATE
