HOW TO WRITE A VIDEO BRIEF

Writing a video brief can feel like an intimidating and labour-intensive task. It may feel daunting to have all your intentions and goals set in stone. But this couldn’t be farther from the truth. To us a brief is the beginning of a conversation, an opportunity to understand what you already know, and what is still left to learn. Often a brief is followed up with a video call where you can elaborate within the back and forth of a conversation, but a brief is a great starting point. The following sections are suggestions to include in the video brief when you commission a creative production company: 

1. A Brief Description of Your Company 

Before a production company can tell your story, they need to understand who you are. Include some insight into your industry, your core values and mission statement if you have them. Let the video agency know what makes your company special.

2. Background

Set the scene as to why you’re commissioning a video now. Have you commissioned a video before? Is it part of a wider marketing strategy? Understanding the strategic approach will help the production company understand your expectations. 

3. Goals

What do you hope to achieve with a video? Is it brand awareness, employee engagement? What does success look like to you? Of course think about metrics but also the intangible feelings that the video creates.

4. Deliverables - The Outputs and Channels

A good production company shouldn’t expect you to know the precise format and resolution of every deliverable before you approach them. You can make that decision together. But if you do know, or have a vague idea, it really helps to understand the scope of the project. Is it vertical or 16:9? Do you know you want it to play at a specific event or instore? Try to be specific here which channels you expect to see the video on.

5. Deliverables - Duration

How long do you expect the video to be? This affects many creative decisions such as the depth of storytelling and pacing. This is often defined by mood/style and audience, but an estimation of the length you desire gives a lot of insight. There’s a wildly different approach for a 30” Tv Commercial to a 4 minute charity documentary.

8. Tonal Approach

Whilst the creative production company’s job is to refine the tone and style, they’ll need to have an indication of your desired tone of voice in order to propose ideas that align with your brand.  Should the video sound credible and authoritative, emotive and human or  humorous and cheeky? Do you prioritise a cinematic sleek look, or authentic documentary style? It’s also okay to say you’re open to more than one approach.

9. The Audience 

Everything you can share about your primary audience is great. Often a video may have more than one audience, so let the agency know if so. But they’ll usually make decisions based on your primary audience. Let them know the basics (age, gender, job) but also anything you know about their values, lifestyle and interests too.

6. Budget

A ballpark budget is incredibly valuable for a production company. It’s important to get a sense of a project's scale in order to propose concepts and production levels that fit with your needs. Without this an agency might suggest approaches that disappoint because they’re too ambitious or not ambitious enough. A budget upfront means each decision regarding crew, equipment, locations and much more can be made in an informed way.

10. Timeline

Propose a project timeline, highlighting any key deadlines or milestones. Whether that’s a product launch, event or a window where key stakeholders are unavailable, put down anything you think could be relevant. Providing a realistic time frame allows the video production company to plan their resources and deliver the best product possible. Brother Brother normally require 6-8 weeks from sign off to delivery but this can vary hugely based on the project (we’ve been known to turn campaigns around in 2 weeks with a good clear brief!) Other production companies may be similar.

12. Location, Location, Location

Do you already have an idea where we will be filming? This may be relevant if you want to shoot at an event or in your office. Perhaps you’re keen to shoot at a customer site for a case study. Are there multiple locations you had in mind? The production company will need to know as early as possible if any permits are required.

14. The Process - Project Owners and Stakeholders

Document who the project owner is (often the person writing the brief!). This person will channel all company feedback so the production company is not having to implement contradicting ideas if people are misaligned.

Clearly state the departments and stakeholders that will need to sign off and at which stage. The less people that need to give the go at each stage, the cleaner the message of the video, so only add who is really necessary.

15. Inspiration and References

Perhaps the most useful way to communicate what you have in mind. Share any videos you like, from within your industry or completely different markets. Just be sure to say what you like and don’t like about each shared reference.

This is no means an exhaustive list, but it tries to capture most cases. Each project is different and often you’ll know specific details about your particular project. If it doesn’t fit in the framework then it’s probably very key information. Good luck with writing your video brief!