The lore of the advertising creative brief is rich. From the legend of W+K's one-sentence creative brief for Nike's campaign at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics: “Sport is war, minus the killing.” To Jon Steel's cogent “Fisherman's Guide” chapter (5) from his book Truth Lies and Advertising. To Gossage. To Sullivan.

I used to say that, outside of payroll checks, the creative brief was the most important piece of paper in any agency. At the very least, creative briefs are the turning point, the crux, the reason we're all gathered here today.

At its core, a creative brief ought simply to inspire. It ought to engender hope, optimism and fervor. It ought to get the idea people to react, “Well, we hadn’t thought of it that way before.” (And to accomplish that it first and foremost ought to be crystal clear.) The brief is both an illumination and a precursor to further illumination. It is a task meant for those with the most insight and experience to accomplish.

The old ingredients used for millions of creative briefs are simple enough:

Why? Why are we making what we're being paid to make? What's the rush? What's the rationale?

What? What is it we're selling?

Who? Who do we think will buy it, and why? What might motivate them? (Godin offers four questions to help round out this area.)

When/Where? The work we're commencing -- when and where will it appear?

How much? What kind of budget have we got to make something great happen?

Of course, distilling those answers isn't easy. That's why you want the best people writing the brief.

Now, to the historic set of inspiration, I also want to discern:

Inter-action? What sort of reaction or engagement do we want to engender (within the digital spaces, or out among the people)? Can we describe that action beyond “click” or “buy stuff?”

Who? Us? Who's going to listen and engage on behalf of our idea? Specifically who will be its human champions within social? (What do they need to know about the idea in order to facilitate successful conversations?)

Longevity? How long does our idea need to thrive with its audience?

Measurement? How will we gauge success of our idea(s)?

And then what? Assuming the audience reacts, should our idea be able to evolve and optimize? What do we think about our idea's future?

How much have we got, again? If the people involved can't work through the above and estimate some kind of budget, perhaps they are in the wrong career.

As Steel put it long ago, only write as much creative brief as necessary. And then, deliver with impact. Maybe the creative brief doesn't need to be a piece of paper. It could be a video. A website. A conversation walking through a museum.

How ever it goes, if the creative brief doesn't inspire, the work that results likely won't either.

Download a PDF copy of The Modern Creative Brief, then edit and share as you see fit.