A third-party agency recently complimented me on the quality of a creative brief I’d submitted. Whilst I’d like to give myself a pat on the back and consider myself to be the godfather of a good brief (ok, I do), the truth is that most marketers don’t take creative briefs seriously enough. They rush through them, treating them as an annoying formality rather than the important tool they should be. The result? Half-baked campaigns that miss the mark, creatives who are forced to guess what good looks like, and marketing teams who burn budget on endless tweaks and revisions.
A bad brief is actively harmful. Yet, despite the clear downsides, marketers still churn out vague, jargon-filled documents and then wonder why their campaigns fall flat.
Here’s how to fix it.
The cost of a bad brief (and why it’s probably your fault)
A weak creative brief leads to weak work. If your campaign misses the mark, the problem likely started long before the first concept was sketched or storyboarded. Here’s what a bad brief guarantees:
- Campaigns that fail to drive action because they weren’t built around a clear objective.
- Confused creative teams, who fill in the blanks themselves, and who can blame them if it’s done in ways that don’t align with the original goals?
- Endless revisions, delaying the project and inflating costs.
- Creative work that feels generic because there was no sharp insight to guide it.
Most bad briefs aren’t bad because marketers lack creativity. They’re bad because marketers don’t take the time to think strategically before briefing. If your brief is vague, bloated with conflicting messages, or missing clear objectives, that’s on you. Creatives aren’t mind readers, and they can’t salvage a directionless brief.
A CEO once asked me for some creative ideas. When I failed to immediately pull a magic wand out of my backside and instead chose to ask a simple question about our target audience and core message, he boiled over and practically screamed “come on, you’re supposed to be Marketing, come up with something creative!”.
If the campaign flops, the problem wasn’t the agency, the designer, or the copywriter, it was the lack of clear direction and guidance from the start.
Do We Even Need a Brief?
Some might argue that creativity shouldn’t be confined by rigid documents. “Why limit the process?” they say. “Let the creatives explore.”
This is nonsense. A creative brief isn’t a set of handcuffs, it’s a map. Without it, you’re just wandering. Great campaigns don’t emerge from thin air. They were built on razor-sharp briefs with clear insights, strong direction, and defined goals.
What a strong creative brief actually looks like
A proper brief sets a campaign up for success. It should be concise, strategic, and unambiguous. Here’s what yours must include:
1. A clear business objective
This is where most briefs fail. “Raise awareness” is not an objective. Neither is “Increase engagement.” A solid objective is specific, measurable, and tied to business impact.
Fix it: Instead of saying “Drive more traffic,” say:
- “Increase website demo requests by 20% in Q3.”
- “Grow market share among first-time buyers by 5% over 12 months.”
- “Shift brand perception from ‘budget’ to ‘premium’ based on customer research.”
If you can’t measure success, you haven’t defined it properly.
2. A single-minded proposition (Single = One, not five)
A brief isn’t a wishlist. If you’re asking creatives to highlight price, sustainability, innovation, reliability, and customer service all at once then you’re sabotaging your own campaign.
Fix it: Strip it back. Find one core idea that matters.
- BMW: “The ultimate driving machine”
- FedEx: “When it absolutely has to be there overnight.”
- Avis: “We try harder.”
- B&Q: “You can do it”
Would you remember these if they had listed every benefit? Of course not.
3. A defined target audience (and don’t faff around with personas)
Most briefs give a vague audience description—“millennials,” “small business owners,” “B2B decision-makers.” This tells creatives nothing about what actually drives the audience.
Fix it: You need to go deeper. That doesn’t mean exploring what car they drive, what trainers they wear, if they drink coffee, go to the gym or any other irrelevant detail that you’ve built in the fictitious life of your imaginary buyer. It means defining who they are, what they care about, and what’s stopping them from taking action.
- Not just “SME owners.” → “Time-poor SME owners who struggle with cash flow management.”
- Not just “Parents.” → “Parents who feel guilty about not spending enough time with their kids.”
The more specific the audience insight, the sharper the creative execution.
4. Key Features, Benefits, Impacts and Customer Values
What needs to be communicated? A list of product features won’t cut it. A strong brief connects these features to real impacts for the customer.
Fix it: Instead of:
❌ “Our software has automated reporting.”
✅ “Saves HR teams 10+ hours a week by automating reporting.”
Always frame your benefits from the customer’s perspective, not just what the product does, but why it matters.
5. Deliverables & requirements (avoid scope creep)
Lack of clarity here is why creative teams end up reworking everything five times.
Fix it: Be specific.
- What exactly needs to be created? (Website, landing page, video, social media assets?)
- What are the must-have elements? (Logos, disclaimers, brand guidelines?)
- Are there supporting assets or references that should be used?
A vague brief leads to “I thought you meant…” conversations. Those cost time and money.
6. Budget
Many marketers dodge budget conversations, hoping for ‘creative magic’ on an undefined spend. This is a mistake because the Budget determines what’s possible.
Fix it: Be upfront. If you don’t know the budget, at least define a range. If you are going to a third-party agency and don’t know the cost of something or what to expect from a quote, speak to people and get a quote before the briefing process starts.
7. Timeline & stakeholder alignment
Good creative work takes time. If you’re briefing your team or an agency with a two-day turnaround, expect mediocrity. Worse, expect rushed work that no one is happy with, leading to endless revisions.
Fix it: Set realistic deadlines. Make sure key stakeholders are available for approvals. A great brief means nothing if delays kill the momentum of the campaign.
The flawed thinking behind bad briefs
To some marketers, their desire to ‘play safe’, ‘keep things open’ or step away from their most trusted beliefs about creative briefs that’s holding them back.
“Creativity thrives without constraints.”
Wrong. Creativity thrives with clear, strategic direction. The best creative minds (from Picasso to David Ogilvy) worked within structured constraints.
“The more detail, the better.”
Not necessarily. Too much information can drown the core message. The brief should be precise, not bloated.
“We can fix the brief later.”
No, you won’t. If you start with a bad brief, you’ll waste time fixing mistakes in execution instead of refining a strong concept from the outset.
Stop blaming the creative team
If your marketing campaign flops, don’t start by blaming the agency or the designer. Look at your brief. Did it provide clarity, direction, and a strong insight? Or was it just a vague wish list of everything you’d like in an ideal world?
A strong creative brief is the foundation of every successful campaign. Get it right, and you set yourself up for creative work that delivers results.
Get it wrong? Well, don’t be surprised when your next campaign goes straight into the ‘meh’ pile.
Daniel Fox 
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