Creative briefs are short documents that outline the strategy of a product, business or campaign. Many creative briefs contain details that include the product’s purpose, goals, target audience and other essential information. These briefs help people better understand the overall message, which will streamline the creative process.
Creative briefs differ from product to product, but they all contain similar information and a basic layout. Some campaigns require more detailed planning, while others might not.

Additionally, developing an effective creative brief will make the planning process more manageable. Finally, successful briefs ask and answer the most critical questions – the who, what, when, where, and how.
Example: Netflix Creative Brief
First, this brief summarized the companies background, which is tailored to the brief’s project topic. For instance, this Netflix brief’s Background mentioned the history while highlighting its expansive service availability. The worldwide availability can be linked to the project’s goal of increasing subscribers “during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.”
Then, this Netflix creative brief explains The Project, increasing the number of people who subscribe to Netflix during the COVID-19 pandemic. This summary is an essential part of the brief because it narrows down the focus of the project.
After addressing the project, this creative brief highlights some Key Challenges, the Purpose and Competitors. These elements are essential to recognize because they help address some anticipated issues while still pushing the main focus to increase subscribers.

Next, the brief summarizes Netflix’s Target Audience. It is important to acknowledge a target audience because these audiences are the market segment that will benefit from the project. In addition, identifying this audience will help the project team explore ideas that are narrowly focused. For this creative brief, Netflix’s primary target audience are fans of movies and television.
Lastly, the Netflix creative brief explains the Media Strategy and Budget for this project. The media strategy summarizes how Netflix will deliver this project. For example, this advertisement will run through social media. This brief is specific on how many times Netflix social media will post and what they will say.
Overall, this Netflix creative brief by Laura Ferrari is an excellent example of an effective creative brief. It is functional and communicates the important information necessary for the creative process.
