Clear Creative Briefs Are No.1 Enabler of Effective Creative

A 2025 update of research conducted by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in 2017 indicates that clear and strategic creative briefs continue to be the #1 enabler of effective creative work, but little progress has been made on improving brief quality.

The latest report, 'Better Creative Briefs for Better Brand Building,' saw the ANA ask over 900 agency and client executives to rate twelve characteristics in terms of their importance to the development of successful creative work. 'A tight brief with clearly defined objectives' was rated as the top enabler for the achievement of great creative work by both client and agency judges, and in both cases by a wide margin over other options. Likewise, “poor creative briefs, lacking in focus and clarity” was rated as the top roadblock by both client and agency judges by a significant margin.

A creative brief isn’t just a step in the process; it’s the foundation for everything that follows. Without a strong brief, even the most talented creative team can struggle to deliver meaningful work.

Great briefs are different in important ways from briefs that aren’t so good and have these characteristics.

• Great briefs inspire an agency to deliver brilliant work.
  
• Great briefs are written by senior-level client- or agency-side executives who believe in the power of a great brief, have invested the time it takes to write the best one possible, and have leveraged every available resource. Don’t look at brief writing as a 'growth' opportunity for a junior staffer; the brief is too important.
  
• Great briefs are brief. Either the client, the agency, or both have synthesised data and decks and stacks of materials so that the brief can be concise, focused, and unambiguous.
  
• Great briefs are clear but not prescriptive. They provide the 'what' and the 'why,' but leave the 'how' to the agency creatives. They provide guardrails, not handcuffs.
  
• Great briefs are profoundly human and brutally simple. That’s why they’re hard to write.
  
• Great briefs avoid marketing jargon. They’re written in plain and simple language that any consumer would understand.
  

“Our study re-confirms that an excellent brief remains the top contributor to effective creative work, and great creative, in turn, contributes to brand and business growth,” remarked Bob Liodice, CEO of the ANA. “This direct connection makes the creative brief one of the most important documents a marketing team can create.”

The 2025 'Better Creative Briefs for Better Brand Building' study is available here and is a product of the ANA Brand Practice – a division whose mission is to re-establish brand as the most powerful driver of sustainable business growth.