The service provider brief combines the need to provide the essence but also to be circumstantial enough. If it is well-written, the service provider can look through your eyes. And that increases the probability of creating an activity, as close as possible to your idea. To get the result you want, consider our tips and tricks.
- Tell the provider about the purpose and the legacy of your organization, even if shortly. Invite him/her in “the office”, incline him or her to feel the endeavour and decide about being part of it. Point out any specific perceptions and messages of your organization. Tip: Don’t use any professional slang. Be as direct as you can be to make clear and achieve what you want.
- Elaborate a bit more about the project. This is like opening the doors of the offices at the imaginary service provider walk-around. Step by step, you reveal how the general idea of the company corresponds in particular with the specific task. Define what you want – 40-seconds TV spot that will increase awareness of an existing product, or a five-month podcast, targeted at specific customers. Or maybe a new website that will give a fresh boost to your brand? Tip: It is important to clarify how the specific marketing or communication activity relates to the common brand and business development strategy.
- Clarify who is the activity target for. Provide information about the people who sympathize with your brand. What part of them do you want to address this time? Will you need a new segmentation of the audience, do you need to engage new followers? Define the specific characteristics of your target group, their wishes and needs. Tip: Guide the providers to the challenges that your audience is facing – what they think, what they believe in, what the cultural specifics are, what inspires them.
- Tell the potential provider what is the tone of voice of your brand. Which core messages do correlate with the brand and the organization? Tip: Note any significant key association, slogan, brand mantra or whatever your corporate name for the brand essence is. This will help you get to the point more directly and avoid re-creating the whole activity afterwards.
- Make clear who your competition is and what challenges you usually face when communicating your value proposition at this market background. This will help everyone – the service provider as well as the customers – discover your uniqueness more quickly. Tip: Specify the benefits and detailed value proposals that you definitely want to be considered for the activity in planning.
- Think about logistic details, like the start and end of the project. Define realistic terms that comply with the task. Too tough or too broad timelines will discourage the service providers. Tip: Be sure to look into your organization as well when setting the deadlines – who is responsible for the decision and how will it be made? What are the dependencies? How do the departments co-operate on such types of tasks? Is the activity a high priority or rather business as usual? How does it correlate with other plans for the same time frame? And last but not least, how much time is needed for a quality proposal to be prepared – you do not want to get some reshaped refused project of another client just because of the lack of time, after all.
So, let’s get started with the headline!
How to create a name of the brief using the six thinking hats – read HERE.
