We know that a campaign will only ever be as good as the brief that inspires it. However, we occasionally produce briefs that are muddled, unfocused and ambiguous. In B2B we deal with complex products and services, and we target decision-making units that comprise a number of people, each with different priorities and needs. Communicating exactly what we want to achieve is more critical than ever.
It never hurts, therefore, to revisit the basics and ask: what makes the perfect brief?
If you are new to briefing, or feel you need some help, your agency account handlers are very happy to assist; a better brief from you means better work from them. Most reputable B2B agencies have workshop programmes that help define exactly what you are trying to achieve in your communication programmes. These can be helpful as well as being fun. A workshop will often reveal things about your organisation that you never realised.
For the time being the following points may be helpful.
Give adequate background information. Provide an introduction to the products or services you want to promote. Include research and quotes from existing customers that reinforce a particular claim.
It is important to establish what you are seeking to achieve early on in the briefing document. State your objectives and define what you wish to achieve. For examples: Greater awareness of a product or service New customers Increase in sales from existing customers.
Your product or brand will have several good points. But if you want to communicate effectively, isolate the single most important thing that you want people to remember. You then have a fighting chance of getting your point across.
Describe who you are trying to reach, provide job titles, relative importance and influence in any sale or recommendation. Remember that rational and emotional triggers may encourage them to respond to your message. B2B is traditionally logical, following corporate procedures rather than gut feeling, but don’t forget your targets are also human!
Establish the style and tone. You probably know your target better than the agency and you are more likely to be able to set clearer style and tone guidelines. (This does not have to be the creative approach, just a style guide ie. humorous, serious, financially biased, authoritative etc).
Provide background information for content: new product, service, offer, etc. Your agency’s copywriter will craft this information into well structured, compelling copy that will command the desired response.
We are all ‘creatives’ at heart we want to see our ‘in-the-bath Eureka moment’ in print. Sadly it’s unlikely to be the solution to the problem, no matter how clever it seems at the time. Refrain from putting forward your suggestions for concepts as this can limit the creative process.
Provide any corporate guidelines, and ensure that address information, phone, fax, email and web details are all correct. Do this at the outset as designers are very careful not to clutter your promotion with unnecessary information that could reduce impact or lessen the communication potential.
Provide a realistic budget. This will help plan the best solution for your money. Many clients fall back on the you let us know what it will cost approach. Adopt this and you will inevitably end up paying more for less.
We all have to justify expenditure. Always ask how success will be measured. If this is through telephone or web response be prepared to log calls or count hits or otherwise pre-plan an evaluation mechanism that will provide the data needed for later justification.
Define who is involved in the approval process and final sign off. There is simply no point in gaining approval from one set of people then showing the chairman and MD, to have it returned to the drawing board. Remember agencies charge for their time, including the time spent at meetings, so set an agenda to keep things brief and to the point, with actions being allocated to the appropriate individuals.
Don’t expect a creative agency to be able to drop everything and return with a campaign in a few days. Allow adequate time for all the elements and be patient if further questions require answers. Time spent preparing a good brief is time well spent. It will save money and help build a better relationship with your agency gaining you greater respect in the process.
