There are at least 5 different ways in which a brief can be communicated from the client:
Contractual: the brief might be set out in a contract, which is a written agreement which explains the responsibilities that the media firm and client may both have, and how they might share in the financial success.
This is a good format because the contract can be very detailed to avoid any misunderstanding, but it’s also quite inflexible so not so good where the project might change as it progresses
Negotiated: This is when two parties have different ideas from each other but they both have to come to a decision by compromising and making sure that both the parties are happy by the decision. In this way the brief is gradually developed by discussion.
This is good because client will get what he or she wants, but because the media firm is not competing against others the client doesn’t know if they are getting a good price.
Formal: This might be when the client has some very clear ideas about what they want to achieve so they invite the firm to a formal briefing meeting to tell them, or they write to them describing the brief in detail and asking for a proposal.
This is pretty much the same advantage and disadvantage as above.
Informal: This might be the client ringing up to tell the media company his requirements rather than writing to them formally or sending a contract.
This may be good for speed of the project, but if the brief is not written down there could be some misunderstandings later
Commission: Occasionally, because you may have a really good reputation for certain types of work, the client will just come to your form only, and commission (pay) you to do something in a certain way.
The client will get just what they want, and the project can carry on quickly if other proposals have not been invited.
Tender: Quite often, clients will ask media firms to compete against other media firms for the work. They might pick a handful of firms that have a good reputation from that sort of work to put on the tender list. They would probably indicate generally what they want, and then leave it to the media firms to make their proposals of how they will do the job and what it will cost
This is a good way of making sure the client gets what they want at the right price, but it takes some time to organise the process.
Cooperative brief: This may be a project which involves more than one media firm talking to another in order to agree the brief, or perhaps more than one client talking with more than one media firm. All of the parties will need to cooperate closely to agree the brief.
This is a good way of sharing a complicated job between different firms, but it will be even more important to make sure there is a written agreement so that everyone knos exactly what they are supposed to be doing.
Competition brief: Like a tender, the media firm will be in competition, however the main difference is possibly that the brief might be a little less detailed, and it may be possible for many firms to enter the competition rather than just a few.
This may produce some really great ideas, but it might be difficult to decide between all of the media firms that have put forward their ideas and this could slow the project down.
All briefs
Should try and communicate the following as clearly as possible:
· The general idea or objective
· Some information about the client, which tells you what they have done before and what their business is trying to do.
· Any information or research which the client has already picked up.
· What result does the client want
· Who is the target audience
· How much does the client want to spend
· How long has the team got to do the job.
Examples
The Documentary film brief is a Competitive brief, because the brief is not very detailed, and anyone can send a proposal in to be considered.
The Taxi firm is a good example of a media firm seeking Commission briefs from their clients to try and get them heard in the music industry.
