Creative Brief Writer

---
name: creative-brief-writer
description: Use when writing a creative brief for a design, copy, video, or campaign project. Triggers on "creative brief", "design brief", "campaign brief", "agency brief", or a request to brief a creative team.
---

# Creative Brief Writer

Write briefs creatives can execute against. Most briefs fail because the requester didn't decide who the audience is or what the single most important message is — and creatives end up guessing. Force the decisions before the brief is sent.

## Required inputs

1. **Project name** and **type** (video, campaign, landing page, brand asset, deck, etc.)
2. **Background** — why now, what's the business context
3. **Audience** — primary and secondary; specific, not "everyone"
4. **Single-minded message** — if the audience remembers one thing, what is it?
5. **Tone & personality** — 3 adjectives, plus 3 to AVOID
6. **Deliverables** — exact list with formats and sizes
7. **Channels & placements** — where this lives
8. **References** — links, screenshots, "tone like X"
9. **Constraints** — budget, timeline, brand guidelines, legal, must-include items
10. **Success criteria** — how we'll know it worked
11. **Deadline & milestones**
12. **Approvers** — who signs off, in what order

If the requester says "the audience is everyone" — push back. "Everyone" briefs produce work that resonates with no one.

## Document structure

```
# Creative Brief — [Project Name]

**Owner:** [requester]
**Creative lead:** [TBD or named]
**Deadline:** [date]
**Last updated:** [date]

## Background
[2-3 sentences. Why this, why now.]

## Objective
[The business goal. Specific. Measurable if possible.]

## Audience
**Primary:** [demographic + psychographic + jobs-to-be-done]
**Secondary:** [if applicable]
**Insight:** [the one thing about this audience that drives the work]

## Single-minded message
[ONE sentence. What we want them to walk away with.]

## Tone
**We are:** [3 adjectives]
**We are NOT:** [3 adjectives]
**Voice references:** [brands / writers / videos that nail the tone]

## Deliverables
| # | Deliverable | Format | Spec | Owner |
| 1 | Hero video | .mp4 | 1920×1080, 30sec | [agency] |
| 2 | Landing page | Figma | desktop + mobile | [in-house] |
| ... |

## Channels
- [where each deliverable runs]

## Mandatories
- [must include: logo, claim, legal disclaimer, CTA, etc.]

## Constraints
- Budget: [number]
- Timeline: [milestones]
- Brand guidelines: [link]
- Legal/compliance: [any review needed]

## Success criteria
[How we'll measure: CTR, brand lift, qualitative feedback, etc.]

## References
[Links, screenshots, mood — not for copying, for triangulating]

## Approval flow
1. [name] — concept review
2. [name] — copy/legal
3. [name] — final sign-off
```

## Style & tone

- **Specific over poetic.** "30-second video, ends on logo lockup, voiceover by a calm female narrator" beats "an emotional brand film."
- **Single-minded message: ONE sentence.** If you can't reduce it to one sentence, the work won't either.
- **Output as .docx or markdown** — designers paste into Figma comments, copywriters work from text. Both work.
- **Use a deliverables TABLE.** Bullet lists hide spec mismatches.

## What good vs bad looks like

**Bad audience**: "Marketing leaders."
**Good audience**: "VP / CMO at 200-1000 person B2B SaaS companies who own the demand-gen number, are 6-12 months into the role, and are skeptical of new vendor pitches because they've been burned."

**Bad message**: "Our product is the best for analytics."
**Good message**: "If reporting eats your Mondays, we cut that day in half."

**Bad tone**: "Professional but friendly."
**Good tone**: "Confident, dry, occasionally funny. NOT: corporate, breathless, jargon-heavy."

## Common pitfalls

- **Audience is too broad**: filter into "primary" and force a choice
- **Multiple messages**: 3 messages = 0 messages. The brief must collapse to one.
- **No mandatories listed**: legal disclaimers, claim wording, CTA — name them or they appear as last-minute revisions
- **References without rationale**: "Make it like Apple" is useless. "Like Apple's product page in the way it sequences value props before specs" is actionable.
- **Approver chain unclear**: "Marketing reviews" — which person, by when?
- **Success criteria missing**: without one, every revision feels equally valid

## Output

The .docx or markdown brief. End with a "Pre-flight check" — 5 questions the requester should answer before the brief is sent:

```
Pre-flight check:
1. Is the single-minded message ONE sentence?
2. Is the audience specific enough to disqualify some humans?
3. Are deliverable specs precise (size, format, length)?
4. Is the deadline real or aspirational?
5. Is the approval chain agreed?
```

If any answer is "no," the brief isn't ready to send.