A good brief is the cheapest investment you'll make in a brand project. It takes an hour to write and saves weeks of rework. Here's what it needs to include — and the red flags that tell you the brief isn't ready.
Most bad projects don't start with bad work. They start with a bad brief.
What a good brief includes
Context. What does the business do, who are the customers, and what's changing that makes this project necessary now? The contractor needs to understand the why, not just the what.
Objectives. What does success look like, specifically? 'New website' isn't an objective. 'A website that converts visitors into demo bookings' is.
Audience. Who is this for? Not demographics — behaviour. What do they need, what do they worry about, what makes them choose?
Scope and constraints. What's in, what's out, what's the budget, what's the deadline? Constraints aren't the enemy of creativity. They're what make it useful.
Decision makers. Who gives feedback, who gives final sign-off, and how many rounds are we doing? Name them. Unnamed stakeholders appear at the worst moment.
Red flags
'Make it pop.' If the brief is adjectives without objectives, it's not ready.
'We'll know it when we see it.' No, you won't. You'll know what you don't like, which costs three extra rounds to discover.
No budget mentioned. A brief without a budget is a fantasy. The contractor can't scope properly without knowing the constraints.
Five people giving feedback with no final decision maker. That's not a project, it's a committee. Nothing ships from committees.
How I like to be briefed
Be honest about the problem. Don't dress it up. 'Our brand looks cheap and we're losing enterprise deals' is a better brief than 'we need a brand refresh.'
Tell me what good looks like. Show me brands you admire and tell me why. Show me what you hate and tell me why. Both are useful.
Give me access. To the decision maker, to the customers, to the messy reality. I can't fix what I can't see.
And trust the process. You'll see things you don't like in round one. That's normal. The brief is the compass — if we agreed on the direction, the route will get us there.
The three questions test
Before you send any brief, run it through this: will the contractor understand what we're asking for? Can they trust that we've told them the real problem? Is it clear why this is worth doing?
I want to understand it. I want to trust the people behind it. And I want to know it's worth it. If your brief answers those three, you're ready.
Working with Avy
Need someone to get your project over the line? Avy embeds with teams as a contractor — project management, delivery leadership, or an extension to your marketing function for creative work. Book a call or send an enquiry to start the conversation.
Want your team aligned fast? He runs paid brand workshops. Working sessions, not slide decks — the room leaves with decisions.
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