A bad brief is one of the most expensive things a business can produce. It wastes agency time, generates work you did not want, and leads to revision cycles that burn budget and relationships. The good news is that writing a great brief is not difficult — it just requires answering the right questions before the work starts.
What a brief is actually for
A brief is not a specification document — it is a communication tool. Its job is to give the agency enough context to make good creative and strategic decisions without you having to approve every micro-step. A brief that over-specifies the output stifles the agency's ability to find the best solution. A brief that under-specifies leaves too much to assumption. The goal is to be completely clear on the problem and the outcome, while leaving room for the agency to apply their expertise to the solution.
The eight things every brief must answer
Background: who are you, what do you do, and what is the current situation that is prompting this project?
Objective: what specific outcome does this project need to achieve — not outputs, but outcomes.
Audience: who is this for, what do they care about, what do they currently think of you, and what do you want them to think?
Competitive context: who are your main competitors and how do you want to be positioned relative to them?
Tone and personality: what three to five words describe how your brand should feel? What brands do you admire and why?
Constraints: what must stay (existing brand equity, specific colours, regulatory requirements), and what is entirely up for discussion?
Deliverables: what specifically do you need at the end — formats, file types, applications?
Timeline and decision-making: when do you need it, who will be involved in approvals, and how decisions will be made?
The section most briefs skip: what success looks like
Define success before the project starts, not after it ends. Is it a new website that generates 20% more enquiries? A brand identity that your leadership team is proud to put in front of Series A investors? A logo that works as a single-colour icon at 16px? Being specific about what success means gives the agency a target — and gives you an objective basis for evaluating the output rather than relying purely on subjective preference.
Good agencies will push back on your brief
If you hand over a brief and the agency immediately starts producing work without asking any questions, that is a warning sign. A good agency will interrogate your brief — identify assumptions, ask about constraints you may have missed, and potentially challenge the framing of the problem. Welcome this. It is what you are paying for.
What to include (and what to leave out)
Include: context, goals, audience, constraints, and any non-negotiables. Leave out: the solution. The most common briefing mistake is describing the output you think you want rather than the problem you need solved. 'We want a minimalist logo in dark blue with a sans-serif font' is not a brief — it is a specification that bypasses the agency's expertise. Describe the problem and the outcome. Let the agency bring the solution.
Running the briefing meeting
Send the written brief at least 48 hours before the briefing meeting so the agency has time to prepare questions. Use the meeting to clarify rather than repeat — a good agency will come prepared with intelligent questions about the areas that are unclear or where they see strategic tension. End the meeting with explicit agreement on scope, timeline, and the next action. A briefing meeting that ends with 'we will send over a proposal' without any clarity on timeline is a sign of a disorganised agency.