A clear PR brief is essential if you want to get the most from a PR or communications campaign. It reduces misunderstandings, saves time and money later, and improves the chances of a successful result. Experience shows that a good brief rarely appears without effort. What should it include?
In ten years on the agency side, I have seen countless briefs: clear, challenging and inspiring, but also restrictive, vague or overloaded with detail. A brief that fails to meet certain basic requirements can lead to disappointing results. The familiar GIGO principle applies: garbage in, garbage out. If a brief is poor or incomplete, it becomes difficult not only to achieve a good result but also to measure and assess it.
What makes a good PR brief?
A strong brief leaves room for creativity while setting clear boundaries and expectations. Broadly, it provides information, inspiration and a framework for checking progress. Different communications challenges require different approaches, so no two briefs are identical. In my view, every brief should cover the following.
- Background: explain the project’s context. What is the client asking the PR agency to achieve?
- Objectives: clearly defined deliverables and KPIs make it easier to measure and evaluate success afterwards.
- Audiences: identify primary and secondary audiences and other stakeholders. What are their current attitudes and behaviours towards the company, product or issue, and what would you like to change?
- Strategy: describe previous communications with these audiences and how earlier activities relate to the new project. Share the central message and any supporting messaging. This becomes the foundation for the PR strategy.
- Scope of work: agree who will carry out each activity. Clear responsibilities help avoid unexpected costs and other surprises.
- Risks: identify the main project risks and explain what is being done to reduce their likelihood or impact.
- Timing: define the project’s duration, deadlines and delivery milestones. Include management updates, the availability of corporate materials and reporting dates.
- Organisation: identify the people involved and their roles and responsibilities.
- Budget: explain the available budget. Although clients sometimes omit it, this information is crucial to developing a realistic plan.
Use a debrief to align expectations
Once we have analysed a brief, we prepare a debrief to make sure the client and agency share the same understanding. It sets out our analysis, considerations and recommendations for the communications strategy and its implementation.
Checking this together prevents unnecessary confusion and aligns expectations with what is possible before the work begins.
Writing a good brief can take considerable effort, but in my view it is always worth the investment. Would you like to explore how we can turn your brief into a successful PR campaign? Get in touch — we would be happy to think it through with you.
Robbert
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