How to properly brief your agency by JJ Nonis Hacking Digital

H O W T O P R O P E R L Y

B R I E F Y O U R

C R E A T I V E / D I G I T A L

A G E N C Y

J U D E J E F F E R S O N N O N I S : A G U I D E T O …

H O W T O P R O P E R L Y B R I E F Y O U R

A G E N C Y

Well its that time of year again as already exhausted

agencies & client’s reminisce about the past year.

What worked, what didn’t, what could have been done

better… and then WHAM! Your client say’s the

unthinkable.

It’s been a great year, but i think we need to pitch next

year’s strategy, we’ll provide a brief.


A G E N C Y

Providing a proper or detailed brief to us, your agency is the most important thing

you can do to ensure we create great creative, effective communications, and most

importantly kick ass strategies that create engagement with your consumers.

It’s surprisingly how most client’s ignore the importance of a good proper agency

brief. And this may result in works that seem to go nowhere, end up too expensive,

ineffective, and with not much of a strategy in place.

At which point, during our presentation, you must be thinking, “I don’t get what they

want to say and to whom”, “what do they want to achieve with that type of

campaign”, is “digital integrated”? And so many more.

Sometimes, and in most cases, the presentation by the agency are produced as a

result from a poorly put together brief from the client to the agency.

So what’s in a proper client brief to your

agency?


A G E N C Y

S O W H A T ’ S I N A P R O P E R C L I E N T

B R I E F T O Y O U R A G E N C Y ?

A proper brief should have the basic’s of…

1. Information

2. Writing it down

3. Research and Information

4. Deciding on a single objective

5. Positioning

6. Who's your target audience?

7. Campaign Duration

8. Budgets, theres no such thing as an open budget




1. Information

We need tons of information before we

can prepare our strategies, creative and

marketing recommendations.

We need to know what your products or

service’s are about, who your targeting at,

what they think about your brand and what

you would like them to think about you as a

brand, product or service.


2. Writing it down

A written brief is a form of agreement between

you and your agency. Sometimes clients provide

only a verbal or email briefs?

But these methods usually, may cause

misunderstandings and creates too much back and

forth and it also extends the deadline for delivery and

launch of the campaign.

Client’s and the agency should be disciplined

in writing a collaborated brief. A written brief is a

clear and measurable way to keep each other

informed to what is expected to be delivered.




3. Research and Information

Research about your consumers or

competitor’s products gives us a better idea of your

product/services in the marketplace. How often do

your consumers buy your products? Who uses it

(sometimes it may not be the same as who buys it)?

Are your products perceived as expensive, or

do people feel they don’t really need it or is it just an

impulsive buy? And what about the positioning of

your competitors?




4. Deciding on a single objective

The objective of the client brief is to provide

information to us about the problems to be solved or

your communications objective. An effective

campaign should have a single idea (a single-

minded proposition), so define the single measurable

objective that looks like success for your brand

campaign. You may need an increase in sales,

changing consumer attitudes or behaviour. Or it can

be presented as a unique consumer benefit -

something that your competition may not have. The

proposition must be focused. Don’t be afraid to test

your proposition through research like FGD’s.




5. Positioning

What image do you want your brand, product or

service to have? Friendly and yet aggressive, sexy

and alluring?

Sometimes its better to start off with a

statement like: Our product (service or brand) should

be seen/perceived as...

Remember that consumers often purchase for

emotional as well as practical reasons.




6. Who's your target audience?Be specific as you can. It’s helpful knowing

that your consumer is a teen/man/woman aged between 20 and 35, and has an average income of IDR 25 mil pm. But it’s even more helpful to know how they think and behave. Psychographics are important as demographics.

Remember, that our ideas & strategies are not directed to you or your marketing/brand department. Their aimed to influence your consumers, who are different and is likely interrupted with unwanted messages, offers and generally overloaded with information across multiple screens.




7. Campaign Duration

Decide if you are looking for a quarterly

intensive burst of activity or a one to two year

campaign? Campaigns may also run as only a

seasonal promotion?

Does it also need to tie in with your product

distribution, on ground activities or even in store

programs on a city level or regional capacity?




7. Deadlines, lets be reasonable?

You wanted it yesterday? Given all the factors

involved in the agency brief, how long will your

agency have to prepare & present great strategies &

creative ideas and when do we launch?

Please allow a generous lead time for proper

development of the strategic & creative and most

importantly the production phases. You may need up

to two to four months sometimes more for a large

campaign. Be realistic about deadlines with your

agency .




8. Budgets, theres no such thing

as an open budget

Please be specific about your budget that has

been well…budgeted for this campaign.

It’s important to be realistic with the expenses your

marketing department can afford to spend.

This can make a very, very big difference

between a good and a bad brief, therefore either a

great or really bad strategy and creative idea.



When client’s write a brief don’t forget that your advertising/digital/360 agency are a

bunch of professional accounts, creative and strategic thinkers.

We enjoy the challenges of coming up with the best strategic & creative ideas and

most importantly, solutions to connect your brand to your consumers.

Help us to create a client brief that challenges us, your team, to act as partners and

consultants, not as another “creative vendor”. Instead of telling us “Here’s what I

want”, start saying “How can we…?”

At the end of the day, its a partnership that creates our brand engaging with our

consumers.

I N S U M M A R Y …

Thank you

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How to properly brief your agency by JJ Nonis Hacking Digital