Are creative briefs required? Will everyone be able to edit the creative brief? Who typically writes up the creative brief? The Creative Brief FAQ has all the answers:

Q. What exactly is the creative brief?

The creative brief is a worksheet that creatives and account service use to define the job's creative, production, marketing, and strategic goals. The creative brief can also explain to a client the agency's creative process for a particular job.  

Q. What section headings should I use?

The creative brief should document the strategic, creative steps the agency performs to complete the job, e.g., Project Description, Target Audience, Purpose, Style & Tone, Copy Points, Benefits, Call to Action, and Legal/Technical Requirements. The section headings may vary depending upon the type of job.  

Q. Do I need to add the section headings to each job ticket?

No. To save time, Clients & Profits ASAP has headings set up automatically for each job type/spec sheet. Then, when you add a new job ticket using a job type/spec sheet, the headings are copied to it.  

Q. Are creative briefs required?

No, creative briefs aren't required. A creative brief is just one part of a job ticket. Use creative briefs on some of your job tickets, all of your job tickets, or none.  

Q. Can a job have more than one creative brief?

No. Each job ticket is limited to a single creative brief. If a job has multiple parts, then separate job tickets would be opened for the entire project; each job in the project can then have its own creative brief.  

Q. Should the creative brief be shown to the client?

It's your decision. Sometimes a copy of the creative brief is attached to the printed estimate, so that the client and the shop see eye-to-eye on the job's scope and objective. In some shops the creative brief is simply an internal working document that helps focus the creative process.  

Q. How can the creative brief be distributed to the job's team members?

Creative briefs don't necessarily need to be printed since they can be viewed online by anyone with access to job tickets. Since creative briefs, like everything else in Clients & Profits ASAP, is updated in real-time, the production department will always see the most up-to-date version of the creative brief.  

Q. Will everyone be able to edit the creative brief?

No, it's a user access privilege. Anyone with access to edit a job ticket can edit the creative brief. Users with view-only access to job tickets can see it, but can't make changes.  

Q. Can I add more sections to the creative brief?

No. Creative briefs have eight sections, each with user-defined headings and descriptions.  

Q. Who typically writes up the creative brief?

It's usually account executives since they're the ones who are closest to the client.  

Q. Can I change the heading "creative brief" to something else?

No, the term "creative brief" isn't customizable.