How to create a killer brief for an effective brand identity — (steal this template)

Writing a brief can be a bit tricky, especially if it’s your first time. I get it!

After 15+ years of creating brands for clients large and small I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly of creative briefs!

Any good branding company will often help their clients to write or refine their brief to ensure that they get the most out of the design studio delivering the project.

Having recently helped a potential client put together their branding brief, I thought it only made sense to share the knowledge. So, here’s the exact guide for everyone to use, and I’ve even thrown in a free template for you to use to write your own. Whether you’re a pro or it’s your first branding project, this guide will help you nail your brief and get your branding project off to a great start.

Step 1: Introduce yourself!

This is your chance to set the stage by providing a comprehensive overview of who you are. This section should help the agency understand your organisation, its history, and what drives it. While this information will be further explored during the branding process, offering detailed insights early on enables agencies to craft a more informed and relevant proposal.

If you have vision, mission and values — now’s the opportunity to share them. If not, no problem, we’ll include that as part of the scope of work.

Step 2: Identify stakeholders.

Let the agency know who will be involved from your side, who the main contact will be, and if there will be someone appointed to have the final decision or if decisions will be made by majority vote. This helps the agency to scope workshops and account for the decision-making process effectively.

Step 3: Why do you need a new brand identity?

Articulate why you have reached the conclusion that you need to embark on a branding project. This could be:

• You’re a start-up or new company requiring a brand identity
• You haven’t had a strategic brand identity before
• Your current identity no-longer reflects who you are
• Your organisation has switched or entered into a new market
• A strategic decision to attract a new audience has been made
• A merger has taken place, or is on the horizon
• Your brand image has become out of date

Step 4: Define your goals.

Stating your goals ensures that you and the agency you engage are on the same page and are working towards a defined objective. If you’ve decided that a rebrand is necessary, there should be specific goals you aim to accomplish. Examples include:

• Increase brand awareness
• Reposition the brand in the market
• Enhance brand loyalty
• Differentiate from competitors
• Unify brand messaging
• Reflect changes in company values or vision

Step 5: Your challenges and pain points.

In this section, outline the specific challenges and pain points your organisation is facing. This will help the agency understand the context of your project and tailor their approach to address these issues effectively. Here are some aspects to consider:

• Brand perception: Are there any misconceptions or negative perceptions about your brand that need to be addressed?
• Market position: Are you struggling to differentiate yourself from competitors or establish a strong market presence?
• Audience engagement: Is your current brand failing to connect with your target audience effectively?
• Consistency: Are there inconsistencies in your brand application across different platforms and touchpoints?
• Internal alignment: Is there a lack of understanding or alignment about the brand within your team?
• Growth goals: Are you aiming to expand into new markets or target new audience segments?
• Innovation needs: Do you need to refresh or innovate your brand to stay relevant in a changing market?
• Brand evolution: Are you undergoing significant changes, such as mergers, acquisitions, or rebranding, that require a strategic approach?
• Message clarity: Are your brand messages clear and compelling to your audience?
• Visual identity: Does your current visual identity fail to represent your brand’s values and vision accurately?

Step 6: Getting to know your target audience.

Whether you’re engaging with your existing audience or aiming to reach new segments, defining your target audience helps tailor your messaging and design. Here are key aspects to consider when defining your audience:

• Demographic information
• Audience goals and motivations
• Audience segments (the different audience types you may have)

And if available:

• Psychographic Information
• Behavioural Information
• Customer Personas
• Market Research

Step 7: Your competitors.

Understanding your competitive landscape is essential for carving out a unique space for your brand. Identifying your competitors helps agencies to analyse your competitors, recognise what sets your brand apart and ensure that your identity is unique in how it sounds, looks and feel. Here’s how to approach this step:

• List your competitors
• Recognise that competitors might not be in the same industry
• Explain why you have identified these competitors
• Note that competitors are not always necessarily in the same sector

Step 8: Inspiration and brands you admire

Sometimes you may have a clear vision of where you want to take your brand, and identifying what you love about other brand, whether within your industry or beyond it — can help clarify your direction.

Think about the brands you admire and focus on what aspects captivate you, such as their compelling stories, visual identities, or communication styles. However, if you’re not sure where to start, that’s perfectly okay too, that’s where your agency’s expertise comes in!

Step 9: Define expected deliverables.

If you can, identify the deliverables you require. This will help the agencies provide an accurate cost and also help you to compare apples with apples when evaluating proposals. This may include:

Brand Strategy:

• Competitor analysis
• Brand workshop
• Stakeholder interviews
• Organisation research
• Target audience / Customer surveys or interviews
• Purpose, mission, vision, values articulation (Or what, who, why, how)

Brand Voice:

• Naming (if required)
• Brand voice
• Brand story
• Tagline
• Messaging

Visual Identity:

• Creative Concept
• Logo Design
• Colour Palette
• Typefaces
• Brand Assets / Graphic Devices
• Brand Illustrations
• Icons
• Image style and treatment
• Photography
• Poster / show advertising framework
• Brand Guidelines
• Motion Guidelines
• Sample Applications (How your brand will appear on different channels and materials)
• Training on how to get the most out of your new brand identity

Application:

If you’d like help with the application of your new brand to your marketing and comms touch points it’s a good idea to identify these early on to ensure your agency can provide costs for the entirety of your requirements, these may include:

• Signage
• Posters
• Wayfinding systems
• Brochures
• Leaflets
• Website design
• Uniforms
• Social media templates
• Stationery
• Merchandise
• Annual reports
• Internal comms
• Presentation templates
• Vehicle wraps
• Advertising campaigns

Step 10: The practical stuff

Now that you’ve set the stage and defined deliverables it’s time to turn to the practical aspects of the project:

Response deadline

The date and time that agency responses are required by.

Award date

The date you intend to award the project to the selected agency and to notify the others of the decision.

Response contact

The person/people names and their email addresses to whom the agency should send their proposal to.

Timeframe

The timeframe for completion of your project. This may be dependent on a particular event or launch. It’s essential to be realistic with your timeframe to ensure a smooth and successful project completion.

Include your preferred commencement date as well, giving yourself enough time to organise stakeholder availability for the initial kick-off workshop and a strategic buffer before final delivery.

Budget

Defining your budget helps the agency understand the financial parameters of the project and propose a solution that fits within your means. Be as clear and realistic as possible about your budget expectations.

Proposal criteria

What do you require to be included in the proposal to help you make your decision on awarding the project? This may include:

• Information about the agency, their specialisms and ethos
• Professional biographies of the team members that will be working on the project and their expertise
• A written response to the brief
• The proposed process
• Examples of past, relevant projects
• Testimonials
• Timeline and key milestones
• A detailed breakdown of costs associated with the project

Award process

Outline the stages of the process you have mapped out, such as:

• Expression of Interest: Initial communication to gauge agency interest.
• Shortlisting: Selecting a few agencies based on initial responses.
• Chemistry Call / Meeting: Initial meetings to assess fit and compatibility.
• Request for Proposal (RFP): Formal request for detailed proposals from shortlisted agencies.
• Proposal Presentation Call / Meeting: Agencies present their proposals in detail.

Number of agencies that have expressed interest

You’ll likely be asked this question by the agencies you approach for your branding project. Knowing how many agencies are competing helps them gauge the competitiveness of the process and decide whether to participate. Being transparent about the number of agencies involved fosters trust and sets clear expectations. Agencies appreciate knowing the level of competition they are up against 😊

Award criteria

In some procurement processes, responses are evaluated using a scoring system to ensure a fair and objective assessment. Each criterion is assigned a specific value or weight, reflecting its importance to the overall decision-making process. Here are some key criteria that you may wish to assign values:

• Understanding of the brief: Demonstrating a thorough understanding of the project requirement and how well the agency’s proposed approach aligns with your vision and goals
• Quality of work: The standard of work the agency has delivered in past project
• Sector experience: You may wish to hire an agency that can demonstrate past experience in your particular sector and understand the unique challenges you face
• Capabilities and expertise: The agency’s ability to deliver on all aspects of the project, including creative and technical skills
• Suitability of agency: Including ethos, cultural fit and chemistry / the working relationship potential between your team and the agency’s team
• Value for money: Demonstrating that the proposal offers a good balance between quality and cost

I hope you find this guide as helpful as my client did. Now, it’s your turn to create a stellar brief with ease! Don’t forget to download the free template – it’s designed to make the whole process even smoother.

Free brand brief template

If you need any help writing your brief, feel free to reach out!