How to write a killer creative brief for events agencies

So, your live event is booked – whether it’s an exhibition, a conference, a product launch, a networking reception, or anything in between, it all starts with briefing your Event Agency. 

It's tempting to jump straight to the more obvious tactical requirements such as budget, timeframes, scope of project. All good stuff, but first, take a step back and consider the STRATEGIC and CREATIVE briefing requirements that are crucial to event success. Bray Leino Events' Creative Director Jim McLoughlin explains... 

1. Talk about your brand. A lot:

Provide as much information as you can about your company and what your wider marketing objectives are. Who do you consider to be your main competitors, what are your hero products/services, what does your target audience look like? Yes, a good Events Agency will try to source this information themselves, but by providing this insight you will help them get a much better understanding of your end goals, and this will help them deliver a better event to help reach your target audience.

2. Storytelling:

Describe your brand and how its positioned within the marketplace. What’s your brand story? Your proposition? Your tone of voice? How do you communicate with your audience? If you haven’t already, enlist the help of your wider marketing team. They will thank you for it, as doing so will ensure that your event is fully ‘on brand’ and compliments your wider marketing strategy. Yes, provide brand guidelines to inform the design but fully understanding you as a brand will help your Agency create the concept.

3. Customer Journey:

It’s a given that the customer needs to be the focus of everything we do if we are to reach them in the most effective way. Explain how you would like the customer to interact with your brand and what you want them to leave with. Your Event Agency can then use this to create a concept and design ideas that really allow your customer to connect with your brand.

4. Design/Theming/Engagement Ideas:

Quite often you will have your own vision for your event and it’s important that you communicate this with your Agency. You can do this in several ways, such as through sharing photos, videos, stories, marketing collateral or anything that helps to get your point across effectively.

5. There’s no such thing as too much information:

At this early stage, your Event Agency will want to find out everything they can about your brand to ensure that your event delivers everything it needs to. Expect them to come back to you with further questions, and don’t be put off by this. It’s a sign that they are taking a consultative approach and aren’t making any assumptions (event professionals are nothing if not big on their attention to detail!) so embrace this new relationship and look forward to an exciting event ahead!

Jim is Creative Director at Bray Leino Events and is based in our Bristol office.