A Brief Definition

Project Briefs are useful to many of the video production crew members.  Everyone from Producers to Scriptwriters and even Videographers, Editors and Graphic Artists benefit from the information found in the Brief.

Project Briefs come in many shapes and sizes, from comprehensive deep-dive multi-page write-ups to short one-page quick-hits.  Regardless of size, inside the Brief you will find the specifics of the project and how the video fits into your business and marketing strategy.

Diving Inside

So what’s inside?  Let’s look at some important points to include in your Project Brief:

1.  Background and Objectives

• Why make a video? What is the outcome you hope to achieve for the audience?  Try to avoid fuzzy words and focus on what can be measured.
• What is the goal of the video? Examples include brand awareness, increased sales, and education.  The video should be developed to lead the audience to achieve this goal.

2.  Target Audience

• Who is your target audience? This can be narrow or broad.  A narrow view can help create a video that is impactful to your core audience; a broad view will be less impactful but will reach a larger audience.
• If there is more than one type of audience, consider multiple videos. Also, when thinking of the audience, consider what benefit is gained by watching the video.

3.  Key Message

• There should be one Key Message for each video you make. This is the heart of the video and what it is trying to convey.
• The Key Message should be looked at from the perspective of who you are trying to influence. Think along the lines of “What’s In It For Me.” 
• This differs from the goal. The Key Message should be about how to convince the audience to achieve the goal.  You want them to Feel, Think, Do.

4.  Type of Content

• What type of video? Depending on your message and goal, each type is written and shot differently.  They type will also help determine the budget and timeline.  Here are some examples:

→    Awareness Driven – Educational & Branding videos
→    Interest Driven – Product & Explainer videos
→    Decision Driven – Video Testimonials
→    Action Driven – Training & FAQ videos

5.  How and Where of Distribution

• This is important because different platforms require different framing and aspect ratios. A video created for Facebook or Instagram is different than one for your website or broadcast TV.
• Time limits are also a factor. A TV commercial is generally 30 seconds long, but a YouTube video can be minutes longer.
• Consider the digital age that we now live in. When thinking about digital distribution, Silent-Autoplay is becoming more common as people watch videos with the sound off.  Consider captioning where possible.
• A final thought on Distribution is the Call-To-Action. If your video is placed on YouTube and you mention “visit our website” that video may not make sense when placed on your website.  Depending on the distribution, sometimes subtle variations on the same video may be called for.

6.  Tone of Voice

• Determining the Tone of your video will depend a lot on the message and audience. Is it serious or light-hearted?  Friendly or professional?  Try to find a reference video that has the tone you would like to achieve.  This will help the production crew when it comes time to film and edit.

7.  Mandatory Elements

• These include company logos, taglines, signature sounds, specific colors and visuals. This should also contain things to avoid, like competitor colors or words and taglines.

8.  Timeline

• How soon would you like to start the project? When is the final deadline?  How many revisions and approvals are necessary?

9.  Budget

• Now that we have a Message and a Timeline, a Budget can be determined. Bring in the video production team to help with any questions regarding how long it will take to film, edit and sweeten.  Also, make sure to let them know of any financial constraints to the Budget.

10.  Approval Process

• It is important to know who gets final say on all projects. This will help when creating the Timeline.  The more people involved can make this process long and drawn out.  Try to avoid “design by committee.”

As you can see, there can be a lot of elements in a Project Brief.  Your particular project will determine what is in the Brief.  Now that you have the Brief, turn it over to your video production team to follow and create the final product you want.

Need help starting a Project Brief?  Send us a message!  todd@madeya.com

Happy Briefing,

Todd