Sample creative brief

What is the purpose of this brief?

ANR leaders and subject matter experts want to create cohesive, centralized websites covering critical California issues in order to (1) make useful information easily discoverable by key audiences and (2) promote ANR expertise and leadership in these areas. Organizing ANR content around topics/search terms is also important for increasing search engine authority in these areas, which then allows more people to find and use our content. 

Strategic Communications is planning to do a “home page takeover” (which means featuring content related to a single theme in the four flexible tiles on the home page) in July 2019 with content related to wildfires in California. Planned content for the home page takeover includes a video of the recent fire summit in Redding and three previously published articles that are not time sensitive. Ideally, the takeover content would also include a link to a single site containing more ANR information concerning wildfires. We would like to concurrently share an ANR wildfire expert list with media and direct them to a centralized site as well.

Strategic Communications would like to support subject matter experts across the Division in updating https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire to serve as the go-to resource for ANR fire information. We want to provide any needed copyediting services, handle the administrative aspects of the website updates in SiteBuilder, and contribute to content planning and organization decisions as appropriate.

What goal are we trying to achieve?

Provide credible, relevant, applied information and practical tools concerning wildfires to help people across California.

Who is the target audience?

California citizens, media and elected officials seeking science-based, practical information that can help address living with fire.  

What are the target insights? In other words, what motivates the targets?

• Finding credible information (omnibus)
• Addressing needs of constituency/votes (elected officials)
• Learning about healthy/safe options for living in California (omnibus)
• Media hits (news media)

What is the single main message we need to communicate?

ANR provides valuable, science-based information and outreach to address living with wildfire in California.

How will we reach them with our communications?

Home page takeover, social media posts (with linkbacks to central site), news media outreach

What is their motivation to respond?

Wanting to find/share/use information about CA wildfires

Why should they believe us?

ANR has a track record of more than a century of providing effective information and outreach related to agriculture, the environment and healthy communities. ANR experts have developed a variety of science-based, practical resources to help Californians understand and cope with wildfires.

What do we want them to do?

• Consume educational content
• Consider ANR a central resource for understanding and addressing wildfires
• Cover us in the news; reach out to our experts for commentary
• Support ANR’s work (elected officials)

What do we want them to think or feel after being exposed to this website?

• More knowledgeable about how to live with wildfires in CA
• A feeling of appreciation for/valuing the work of ANR

What is the tone of our communication?

Professional yet approachable (avoid academese)

What are the deliverables?

• Fire/natural resources team and/or Mark Bell assigns a subject matter expert (SME) to be the decider (or “lead”) for each of the four website main sections (by 6/18)

Fire Science and ecology

Fire as a tool

Wildfire preparation and recovery

Wildfire health and safety 

• Fire/natural resources team and/or Mark Bell supplies Strat Comm with a list of academics who will contribute content for each of the sections (due 6/18)
• StratComm sets kickoff meeting with the four SMEs to discuss timeline, workflows and final launch date (complete meeting by 6/30)
• Provide Jeannette Warnert with administrative access to update the fire site (by 6/30)
• Website governance committee reviews project plan (by 7/8)

What elements are mandatory?

New UC ANR logo

Keywords/SEO

What is the budget?

$0

When do we need to see first round concepts?

NA – wildfire website and new content map are already established

When is the project launching?

Wildfire takeover - July 2019

Refreshed website launch – July 2019