How to write a brief for an agency

A brief is the job description you give an agency. It is often dispatched in a phone call or a two-line message, and its gaps are paid for later in revisions. A good brief fits on one page; answering six questions is enough.

1. What is wanted?

The name and scope of the job: a logo or an identity; a five-page site or a catalogue site. 'Let's do some promotion' is not a job description.

2. Why now?

What prompted this: a new product, a new branch, falling sales, a trade fair. The reason sets the priority and the tone.

3. For whom?

The audience cannot be 'everyone'. Who are your current customers, and who do you want to win? Rather than an age range, write where this person looks for you and with what need.

4. What will be said?

One main message. What do you have that competitors do not? Is there anything that proves it: a certificate, a figure, a reference?

5. Limits

Budget, date and what will not change. Is the existing logo staying? Are the brand colours fixed? Is the launch tied to a fair? Withholding the budget gives no negotiating edge; it only leads the agency to prepare a proposal at the wrong scale.

6. Who decides?

It should be clear from the start who gives approval. If the person who sees the presentation is not the person who decides, the work goes round once more. Having everyone who decides at the first meeting shortens the calendar more than anything else.

Adding two or three examples you like and dislike at the end of the brief says more than adjectives do. 'Modern but warm' means something different to everyone; an example means the same to everyone.