Photo and video shoots are expensive. They quickly become tragic if the team doesn't have the best brief and falls short of the visuals your brand needs. At KittyKat, we are shooting all the time and have experienced the frustrations of “bad briefs.” That’s why we have streamlined our approach to creative briefs focusing on the essential instructions that also give visual teams the freedom to work their magic.
Creative people realize that constraints often fuel the best innovation and creativity. That’s what a great brief provides - the “must-haves” and boundaries to work within. It allows the creative team to understand the brand, the audience, the goals and the technical needs of the project. It helps them fulfill the marketing need while also inspiring them to do their best, most creative work.
At KittyKat, we are constantly improving and simplifying the brief. We know that visual teams need clear direction. We also know that clients often hate writing briefs, especially ones that are too long or vague about what type of detail to include. And don’t forget about the emotional impact you are after. As David J. Colbron put it:
“Write exactly the objectives of the shoot. For example, what you want the audience to feel when they see the images and the relationship with the brand. Are they to inspire customers - a call to action advert?”
Is this part of a seasonal promotional campaign or are you updating your e-commerce storefront with product photography? Who is the audience for your product? Are you trying to drive higher engagement with your product or quick “Add To Cart” clicks?
These are the types of questions that will help the visual team understand the purpose of the new visuals and just who the audience is. Don’t forget the emotional side. How do you want your audience to feel when seeing your videos or images? Should they be happy? Inspired? Feel a sense or urgency? Remember, emotion drives most purchase decisions so intentionally trying to elicit a feeling with remarkable imagery is key.
For your audience, communicate the basics - ages, geography, likes, dislikes, buying habits and the drivers or obstacles for purchase. Knowing our audience can influence everything if a photo or video shoot from lighting, to backgrounds, and most importantly, models.
You know your brand best. Chances are, you have developed brand style guides and messaging that can help your visual team quickly understand the brand such that their work aligns well. What colors and visuals are considered ‘on-brand’ are important but so is some statement that defines the personality of your brand. That can help inspire a creative team to bring your brand to life in new ways, ways you might not have thought of.
Showing samples of previous work helps and so does showing examples from other brands that make a good point. Perhaps you like how this brand created compelling backgrounds or the lighting for another brand was nicely dramatic. Showing existing visuals you like always helps the team see what you are seeing in your head.
“And don’t forget to include examples of images you don’t like. If your company prides itself on its informal, relaxed way of communication with customers for example, the last thing you want is a very corporate image of shaking hands and formal scenes.”
Photographer Cherry Beesley reminds us to share examples of styles you dislike and think should be avoided or similar product competitors’ shots which you think you can do better than. Even better, show AND tell. Do share a brief reason as to what it is about these examples that you like and don’t like.
At KittyKat, we do our own research about a client brand and develop mood boards to make visual reference real and to proactively share ideas before a shoot. We go through mood board options to best discover what you like and feel works best for your brand. We love tailoring to your needs but also sharing our creative and imaginative ideas to see how we can use our skills to show you new ways of showcasing your products!
At the end of the shoot, we will need to produce images, animations and videos that are ready to be used in all the many formats and contexts we use these days for marketing and e-commerce.
Which websites, marketplaces and social media platforms will the assets be used in? This simple question helps the visual team know what formats and orientations will be needed.
Are there any non-digital applications, especially ones that require a high-resolution image? Just as the visual team is expert with digital formats, they also know how to prepare and deliver an image destined to twenty feet tall on a billboard.
How many different shots do you need for particular products or SKUs? At the end of the day, brands need a certain variety of images to fit all the slots where they show their product. It’s best to get the full list in the brief, and it’s also good to ask your visual team to go beyond that list and offer their own creative ideas.
One thing we have learned is that no one likes a long, complex brief. We need to strive to communicate clearly with as few words as possible. We need to be brief. One of the biggest reasons marketers hate filling out briefs is because they are long and seem to ask for a lot of extraneous information. Meanwhile, visual teams like briefs that cut to the point and give them the basics they need to do their job well. For great creative briefs, sometimes less is more.
Photography briefs and creative briefs have a lot in common. Check out this summary of great creative briefs from Adobe.
