An effective brief

A guide to effective briefing and tendering in market and public opinion research

A well-written brief serves your business goals: it gives you a reliable, evidence-based basis for your decisions.

How to write an effective brief

Before you start writing, settle three key questions:

1. What has led us to commission research?

Research, in its basic definition, confirms or refutes a hypothesis defined in advance. It tells us about the target group, how the brand is perceived and where it stands against the competition; it measures how our sales staff perform in mystery shopping, tests an innovation concept, or gives us a deeper insight into an issue that matters for our company’s strategy.

The objectives set for the research must be clearly defined, must lead to a specific action, and — as part of the marketing information system — must improve the insight behind decisions about our future strategy. Clearly defined objectives help agency partners find the best solution to your problem in the preparatory phase.

2. What will we do with the results, how will we use them?

How exactly will we work with the findings? What form of output will serve us best? How will we share the conclusions with the team that needs them for its own decisions?

3. What exactly do we expect from the agency partner?

Different projects call for different briefs, so there is no universal recipe. Market research is part of a complex decision about future strategy — you may be looking for opportunities in the market, or you may need to optimise one element of the marketing mix. In that case the research question and the choice of method are defined together with the agency partner. The approach is different where the method is already agreed and the research answers a recurring, standardly defined question.

The brief in points

• Objectives – what we want to do, what the problem is, what we want to find out
• The need – the situation in the segment now, and how it is developing
• A description of the category, the brand positioning, and other existing information about the brand and its competitors
• Any other circumstances that should be taken into account
• The expected form of the research proposal
• Specific information about the budget