Writing an effective brief.
Your brief is perhaps the most important part of your Request For Proposal (RFP). An effective brief can help you attract the best Thinkers. Especially if you remember to follow a few simple guidelines.

1. Keep your Thinkers in mind. You're writing a brief for people that may not be as familiar with the history, tradition, and lingo of your brand and/or company. Avoid discussing your assignment in terms only an insider would understand.
2. Keep your brief...well, brief. Brevity is so important. While you don't want to leave out critical information, you should be sensitive to how much information is really required for the purpose of getting a proposal. Avoid overwhelming your Thinkers with a gratuitous data dump.
3. Be as specific as possible. When appropriate, provide quantities, dimensions, categories, examples, specifications, dates, etc. Avoid vague and ambiguous direction and input.

Depending on the assignment, the format for an effective brief may vary greatly. But all briefs tend to contain the same basic elements. Make sure your brief attempts to answer the following questions.

1. Who? Who is the assignment ultimately targeting? Who is the audience? Who is the customer? The end user?
2. What? Describe the project. What is required? What does success look like? What are you looking for in an Idea? What do you expect from a Thinker?
3. Where? Where will the Idea reside? In stores? On the web? In magazines? On television? In an ad? On a sign? Where will the target come into contact with the idea?
4. When? When will the idea see the light of day? When will the target meet the idea? Does the idea have a beginning or ending?
5. Why? Why does the need for this idea exist? Why should this idea happen? Why are you making this RFP? Why should the target audience care? Why should the Thinker be interested in the RFP?
6. How? Is the assignment part of a bigger picture? Part of a process or system? How does the assignment fit in the bigger picture? How should the target audience be expected to react or respond? How will the target audience receive the Idea?

Here is a sample outline of a marketing brief. It may not be appropriate for your specific RFP but perhaps you may modify it to meet your needs.

Describe the competitive landscape.

• What are the positions being taken by the competition relative to this assignment?
• What is the conventional wisdom according to the competition?
• What is everybody else doing?
• What is nobody doing?
• What is the best practice(s) according to the competition?
• How did the leader of this category gain their position as leader?

What is the primary problem we need to overcome?

• What is broken that needs to be fixed?
• What direction or initiative is failing?
• What barriers are currently in place that prevent us from being successful?

What do we want to accomplish?

• What are our business objectives?
• What are our marketing objectives?
• How will this help our client's company?
• How will we measure our success and quantify or qualify our results?

Who is our market?

• What are their demographics as well as their psychographics?

What do they currently think/feel about the product or service?

• What's their level of awareness?
• How well do they understand the product/service?
• How experienced are they with the product/service?
• How enthusiastic are they about the product/service?

What would we like them to think or feel?

• Put this into the context of a statement being made by the customer. Consider the following feelings: empowered, relieved, smarter, angry, confused, loved, safe, wanted, enlightened, hopeful, vindicated, mesmerized, equipped, protected, important, etc. There are lots more to consider.
• What exaggerated attributes will the customer gain as a result of the product/service?
  • I now have the power to be in multiple places at the same time
  • I now have the power of invulnerability — I'm bullet proof
  • I now have the power of Teflon — nothing sticks to me
  • I now have the power of clairvoyance — I can see into the future
  • There are lots of imaginative ways to explore this aspect.

What is the single most important selling point?

• Keep it short and sweet. Consider...
  • Is it an attribute of the product?
  • Is it a promise being made by the client?
  • Is it how the customer will feel or think after using the product or service?
  • Is it the problem that it solves for the customer?
  • Is it a comparison to a competitor or familiar product or situation?
  • How will this single most important selling point benefit the customer?

List other key selling points in order of importance

• Prioritize the list of selling points according to their benefit to the customer.
• Why are these selling points important?
• How do they support or tie in with the single most important selling point?

What is the call to action?

• What exactly do we want people to do in response to our communication?
• What directions do we need to give them?
• What will they get for taking this action?

What media will be used?

What are the production specifications?

What other legal, technical or mandatory information is required?

What is the timeline/deadline?

Other formats and outlines exist. You may currently use a similar approach that works well for you. You should choose a method or an approach that you believe suits your needs the best. The preceding comments are here only as suggestions, offering possible direction for your RFP. Ultimately, you will need to decide on a format that is right for you. Good luck.