How to write an effective brief Sue Underwood

How to write an effective brief Sue Underwood Communications

Agenda 1. Brief introduction about the Comms website 2. Principles/basics to follow to ensure a good brief 3. Go though some bad and good examples 4. Giving feedback 5. Transparency and financial information 6. Questions

Communications website – comms. leeds. ac. uk

Ten principles to writing a good brief 1 Project overview 2 Business objectives 3 Project objectives 4 Audience 5 Messaging 6 Examples 7 Deliverables 8 Measurement 9 Timelines and budget 10 Get a second opinion

Audience 0 Before you start: Who is your audience? (more later) What do you want to communicate? How do they want to receive information? When do they want it? Do they want it – will they find it – do they need directing? How will you promote your project? So, have you chosen the right channel? Yes? Now write the brief…

Project overview Set the scene: Why are you starting this project? What’s the context for the project? What’s the background? Have you engaged appropriate colleagues? 1

Business objectives How is the project furthering the Universities aims? Define how the project helps your strategy. How does this fit with the wider University marketing campaigns? Consider: Campaign visuals (eg Come and Find Your Place) The IM guidelines The tone of voice guidelines The style guide. comms. leeds. ac. uk 2

Project objectives No such thing as too much information 3 The more specific the objectives the easier it will be to measure the success of the project, ask yourself: What you are trying to achieve, what is the required outcome? Likely cost of the work and whether you have set a realistic budget. What do we want people to do differently? What are people doing now? What do competitive communications look like, how do we avoid looking like them? Try to avoid acronyms, jargon and management speak…

Acronyms, jargon and management speak WUN REF DTC ESSL ESRC QS TEF world-class first-class bottom line drill down OD and PL LUU FMH DVC PGR VLE ORCHID going forward raise the bar cutting-edge at the end of the day

Audience 4 Who is the project aimed at? How old are they? Profession? Existing level of knowledge? How are you trying to make them feel? How do they want to receive your message? Will they watch a video? On what device? The more specific you get, the better the supplier will be able to tailor the project towards that audience.

5 Messaging Things to consider: How will your target audience interact with your project? What is the proposition? - with each campaign, there is, or should be, a single-minded thought that each communication will bring to life in a compelling way. Use the value proposition written by Marketing Use the narrative – written by Mark Devane, Director of Comms. Facts and figures on corporate web site Power. Point on Comms site. comms. leeds. ac. uk

Examples Flag existing work that you like or that is relevant. Why do you like it? Are these achievable examples? Stuck? Ask Marketing, Comms or other colleagues. 6

Deliverables 7 What do you want as a minimum? For example: A Word. Press website with customised theme and e-commerce solution A complete social media strategy for Facebook, Twitter and Youtube An 8 -page A 4 colour brochure with full copy and pictures 10 films between 1 -2 minutes with and additional shorter versions (10 -30 seconds) for social media

Measurement Set project objectives but… How will you know if they’ve been achieved? Give specific, achievable goals: - improvement in engagement - increase in awareness 8

Timelines and budget Put a timeframe on the project. If possible, give further milestones. This will help you and the supplier agree on what is achievable in what time. As accurate an indication of budget as possible, is essential. 9

I want a car! I want four doors. I need it to be petrol. I want a new car. I want it in a bright colours. 9

Get a second opinion Let someone who knows nothing about your project read the brief. Comms are also happy to look at your brief before you send it. 10

Example of an unfocused brief My justification for using this example… “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. ” Winston Churchill

Project title Project description and purpose Please summarise the project, its purpose and what you want to achieve. How will you measure the success of this project? The trial team are currently setting up a national multi-centre clinical research trial to understand the most effective treatment for severe, chronic hand eczema. For the trial to produce informative results we need to recruit 780 patients over a 24 month period. The purpose of the video is to increase recruitment into the trial by advertising across hospital clinic waiting rooms, GP waiting rooms and making it available on dermatology related websites. Success of the video will be judged by the rate of recruitment into the trial and whether we meet our target of 780 patients No title – helpful to have a reference. Advertising is the key word here. Definition of success is clear and measurable.

Target audience/s Who are your main audiences? What do you know about these audience groups eg demographics, lifestyle, attitudes, etc? Severe hand eczema affects both men and women of all ages. Too vague. Think about what the audience is doing when they see the video. How much will they need to be persuaded?

Overview of proposed content Including what are the key messages? Who will be providing the content? Please see attached ALPHA video script Commendable that they’ve written a script – but this is the role of the supplier, not the clinician. Use the production team’s expertise.

Tone/style guidance Can you describe what the tone of voice should be eg friendly, casual or formal? (you can include examples of other work that you like) We have based the script on a video produced for an ankle arthritis trial called TARVA, please see link below. We felt that tone of the ‘anchor’ was perfect, gentle and sympathetic, but informative. Please note, we will not require any 3 D graphics as shown in this video, but will require some 2 -D pictures to illustrate various points made by the anchor. http: //anklearthritis. co. uk/ The example included: Professional actor Professional presenter Many locations – huge number of interviews Hire of a studio 3 D graphics 7 minutes long

Creative medium Is it a brochure, poster, leaflet, website or video? Is this the best way of reaching your target audience? Please state if you are looking for the supplier to advise on the best approach Video Consider other channels. Will it appear on a website? Need to include a more specific deliverable.

Design guidelines Will you supply images? Do they need sourcing? Include any of your ideas eg colour, format etc? Any images relating to the severity of hand eczema will be provided by us. However, you will note in the script we have referred to several schematic representations of statistics and medicines etc. We would here value your aesthetic perspective. Stakeholders Who is involved? What is the sign-off process? Who will be reviewing the creative work? The video will include interviews with patients who have suffered with hand eczema as well interviews with dermatologists – this is outlined in the script. Lifespan Is it a one off or an annual project? One off. Quantities For printed material – how many copies do you need? (Print and Copy Bureau will arrange a quote for print) The work will be reviewed by the internal trial team here at the Leeds Institute of Clinical Research, as well as an external trial management group, which includes dermatologists and patient representatives. Definition of stakeholders One sign off, ideally

Budget Has the budget been secured? Is it a realistic budget? Is it actual or indicative? Does it include print, design, photography, etc? Does it include/exclude VAT? The maximum budget for this project is £ 5000. Project timescales (including anticipated risks) and next steps How will suppliers be evaluated eg basic quote or shortlisted for a two-stage process for larger scale projects? Since this will be patient facing material, the script will require ethical approval. Current timelines are based upon submitting the script to ethics by the end of May. Approval will take 2 -3 weeks from submission. Filming to begin mid. June and a completed video ready by the 1 st September. Deadline for returning the quote Normal turnaround is 48 hours but please allow sufficient time for suppliers to price more complicated work. ASAP Budget is very low. Presenter, 5 patients, 4 clinicians, studio set, 10 locations. 6 to 8 days shoot plus graphics, editing and music. Timings and evaluation of quote. ASAP.

Sourcing case studies, interviewees and locations Who will be sourcing the case studies, interviewees and locations? Do you have any ideas for suitable locations? The chief investigator for the trial, Dr Miriam Wittmann will be sourcing case studies. Final video clips Do you have any ideas of how long the final video clips should be? We anticipate the final video to be 5 -6 minutes in length. We are currently contacting patients identified by Dr Wittmann for participation in the video (please see video script ). Locations sourcing – homes, clinics, consulting rooms. Take advice on length.

Examples of a good brief 1. Alumni Leeds Business School – new template 2. Alumni films – old template Chosen for: Clarity Depth of content Level of research of the audiences Why examples were chosen Things to consider Indication of how the commissioner will choose the supplier

Objective 1: To create engaging content and raise awareness of the Business School graduation celebrations and our alumni relations activity on our alumni social media channels, creating a sense of nostalgia for current graduates and alumni of the Business School. Objective 2: To encourage students present on the day to engage and connect with the Business School alumni team, through the recording of short videos and engaging with the social media channels. Objective 3: To promote the Business School to prospective students on our corporate social media channels Objective 4: As video content on social media is often viewed in silence, as part of postproduction, we are looking for a creative solution which highlights keywords or responses from the graduate. This will ensure that those viewing the content in silence will still get a sense of the audio content. Any creative aides should adhere to the Business School visual identity. See another of our videos which illustrates this - https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Ak. JO 0 AJNFo 0

Timings: Submit brief by 10 am Friday 9 June Agency selected w/c 12 June Creative approach and basic story boarding required by 28 June. Filming day – afternoon 12 July Editing and post production – from 12 July Signed off work by 31 July The Business School graduation is on 12 July with three ceremonies taking place (11. 30 am, 2. 00 pm and 4. 00 pm). Graduates and their guests will be present in the Business School foyer from approximately 12 noon through to 6. 00 pm. Each ceremony will focus mainly on one or two degree programmes in particular so the suggested timing for filming has been carefully chosen to make sure we have the opportunity to interview a variety of graduates who have studied different programmes. We also need to be mindful and make sure that we are not filming graduates when prize giving/speeches are taking place.

Target Audience The prime audiences for these films will fall into three groups: Donors who have already given to the Campaign; Prospective donors, who we hope will donate in the future; Other alumni, University staff, and a more general audience. Both films will address their needs. They will be an important means of giving recognition to the generosity of our donors, showing them clearly the benefits which they have brought to campus, allowing the participants to express their gratitude, and enthusing them about the future of our fundraising. The videos will raise awareness of fundraising and help the audiences to see the very real benefits which it brings. We know something of the demographic of our donors. Our research shows that the group most likely to support the University are wealthy alumni aged over 75; the second most likely are aged 55 -75 but other groups – law and medical graduates, those who are 35 -55 with no dependents, high-achieving younger graduates, those age 75 and above who attend our events (irrespective of wealth) – are also likely to be supporters. They are likely to feel warmly about the University. Yet while the films must meet their needs, they should also be engaging enough to spark the interest of donors of any age who do not fall into these groups….

Next steps Suppliers will be judged on past experience, their interesting ideas and on cost. We are not averse to splitting this project between two different providers, but felt there may be some economies of scale offered by placing the order for both films with the same company. If you would like to tender for one, but not the other, we would be happy to consider this. We would hope for the filming to take place during the spring and early summer of 2017. We will need final delivery of the Scholarships Video by Monday May 8, with the Enterprise video by the end of July.

Giving feedback to unsuccessful suppliers What do you think is the purpose of feedback? To improve the service we receive. To help the suppliers pitch things right. To improve the process. Why don’t people give it? People fearful that they might challenge, but no one does. Constructive feedback is crucial to improve. Embarrassment. Not being able to articulate the reasons why they’ve gone with another supplier.

Giving feedback to unsuccessful suppliers What to say: Fine to say who did win the business. Was price an overriding factor? Did the creative ideas impress you? Did you feel the other company grasped your brief better? Examples of previous work offered. Alternative ways of shooting/costing? Timescales?

Feedback to Comms team and purchasing after the project We welcome feedback. Evaluation form on Comms website. Fill in at end of project. Yearly review meetings to address any issues with all suppliers. We also gather financial information and share this annually.