Creative Video Brief Template (PDF)

A good marketing brief keeps everyone aligned.

A bad one leads to the painful moment where someone asks, “Wait… what are we doing again?”

A brief isn’t a 20-page document or a vague “go do your magic” request.

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In 2025, US$353,100,000,000 of global ad spend will go to waste due to poor briefs. (Betterbriefs.com)

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At its core, a good brief only needs to answer four things:

• What are we trying to achieve?
• Who are we talking to?
• What do we want them to do?
• How will we measure success?

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If any of these are missing, expect confusion, misalignment, wasted budget...and mediocre creative.

Why does this matter? Because unclear direction is expensive. Industry research shows up to 33% of marketing budgets are lost due to ineffective briefs.

‍That’s not inefficiency, that’s avoidable waste.

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So if you’re kicking off a project or aligning stakeholders, avoid these common mistakes:

• Jumping to tactics before defining the “why”
• Trying to speak to everyone at once
• Overcomplicating things with jargon instead of clarity
• Using vague audiences like “decision-makers” instead of real people with real pains
• Fuzzy positioning no one can repeat
• Setting too many objectives
• Treating the brief as an afterthought instead of the map

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A strong brief should include:

• The reason this project exists—what problem or opportunity triggered it
• How it fits into your bigger marketing strategy
• Clear, SMART goals
• A focused, human audience
• One core message
• Well-defined success criteria
• A budget (because yes, clarity here saves time and money)

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A great brief doesn’t slow you down.

It removes confusion, accelerates execution, and protects your sanity. Whether you’re working with an agency or your internal team, make sure your brief is a map, not a guess.

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👉 Grab the template that turns chaos into clarity.

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Aaaaaaaaand for a deeper dive into brief writing tips and tricks, check out How to Write a Great B2B Marketing Brief (Without Losing Your Sanity)