Before you start
If you’re briefing words rather than visuals, use write copy instead. If you’re briefing both, you need both documents.
The path
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1. Read the concepts once
Creative brief concepts explains what each section is for. Read it the first time, not every time.
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2. Copy and fill in the brief
Copy the creative brief and fill in the strategic core: objective, customer profile, offer, format, and the single idea the work has to carry.Full detail: creative brief process.
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3. Link the brand system
Point at visual identity for color, type and imagery direction, logo usage for how the logo may appear, and brand assets for the files to work from. Link to them. Don’t paste their rules in.
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4. Add the specs
Name the exact deliverables and their platform requirements: Meta, Google Performance Max, YouTube, Google display, LinkedIn, TikTok, or the general image and video specs.
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5. Get it approved
If the job needs sign-off, run the brand approval process on the brief before production starts, not on the finished work.
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6. File it, then hand it over
Save the completed brief to the creative brief library. Hand the filed version to the creator, so there’s one brief rather than an emailed copy that diverges.
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7. Review the work against the brief
Run the creative review checklist. Review against what the brief asked for, not against taste.
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8. Link the finished assets back
Name the final files with file naming conventions, save them where brand assets says, and link them from the brief in the library. This is what makes the brief useful a year later.
What you should have at the end
- A filled creative brief in the creative brief library.
- Finished assets named to convention and saved to the agreed location.
- The assets linked from the brief, and the brief linked from the campaign.
Related resources
- Creative brief The workbook.
- Creative brief process The detailed process.
- Creative brief concepts The reasoning behind each section.
- Write copy The parallel path for words.
- Make a campaign Where creative briefing sits in the campaign path.
- Creative best practices What makes briefing and review go well.