BIBLIOTECH CREATIVE BRIEF
The creative brief is a blue print, a guide; a source of inspiration. It details the objectives, audience, message, and context of engagement. In short, it is the what, who, where, and when. The brief answers WHAT we are doing. The creative answers HOW we are doing it.
1. What challenge are we trying to overcome or solve?
This is typically written as an action, focused on what we want to make our patrons think, feel or do.
*** We will come back to question #2, after we have compiled the statistics of our demographics. ***
2. Get to know our patrons (aids in building our personas)
Demographics – age range, gender, income, geography, occupation, hobbies, family status, ethnic background, religion?
2.1. Patron insights
What do we know about our audience that will get them interested?
Psychographic – interests, aspirations, lifestyle, hab its, tech-savvy?, priorities, types of job (blue collar vs. white collar) and level of seniority, a day in the life, where do they normally go for information, common fears, common frustrations, what do they value most, what inspires them, extroverted or introverted, leader or follower, analytical or creative, bookstore vs. digital reader preferences, what do/should they expect from BiblioTech, etc.?
3. What do our patrons understand about our BiblioTech resources? What do our patrons understand that BiblioTech is and provides for them? Do our patrons and Bexar county residents (potential future patrons) know what resources/services we have to offer and what opportunities and benefits it can open up for them? What are we trying to convey through our website? How are we promoting/explaning ourselves as a library to the public about what we do and offer? What else can we do to reach future patrons and entice them to become a member? What’s going on around the BiblioTech branches? At outreach events? Other applicable events or places? Is there anything happening on the patron side we should know about?
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
4. BiblioTech’s web presentation
The intangible emotions we want our patrons to feel when they experience our brand. It’s the representation of BiblioTech ’s heart, soul, and spirit and is best described with one word. What do we want our patrons to think, feel, or do?
• Disneyland is magical
• Nike is inspirational
• Volvo is safe
• BiblioTech is…
5. What is BiblioTech USP? (Unique Selling Point/Proposition)
Describes what makes you stand out and what make you different from your competitors
6. Benefits of BiblioTech: Functional + Emotional (Unique Value Proposition)
Explains why a customer should care about that difference. The b enefits /values our patrons derive from our brand.) What compels people to use our products over someone else’s? How are we adding value to their life? Consider the 5 main categories of USP’s: price, quality, convenience, d ifferentiation , Social or environmental responsibility.
Examples:
Amazon’s USP: “the world’s largest online retailer.”
Domino’s Pizza USP: “We guarantee — Fresh hot pizza, delivered in 30 minutes or less or it’s free.”
Geico’s USP: “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.”
Canva’s USP: “Empowering the world to design.”
What is BiblioTech’s USP?
7. BiblioTech’s Brand Promise
Description of BiblioTech’s character, how do we want to be remembered, how do we create and deliver value, the feeling BiblioTech portrays to its patrons. This is NOT a description of what BiblioTech does.
Examples:
The NFL: “To be the premier sports and entertainment brand that brings people together, connecting them socially and emotionally like no other.”
Coca-Cola: “To inspire moments of optimism and uplift.”
Virgin: “To be genuine, fun, contemporary, and different in everything we do at a reasonable price.”
Amazon: “Consistently deliver an exceptional customer experience.
BiblioTech Brand Promise:
8. BiblioTech’s Brand Pillars
Form our foundation and are the most important attributes and principles that we want communicated through our brand.
*** Look to the https://bexarbibliotech.org/about-us (core values and mission statement) for assistance with this question.
9. How will BiblioTech communicate our messages?
Posters? Social media? Video ads? Commercials? Outreach events? Other?
10. Brand Positioning Statement
A 1 or 2 sentence statement that must define our patrons, the category in which our brand exists, citing a clear product/service benefit, set us apart from competitors, and instill confidence that BiblioTech will deliver on its promise.
Example of Amazon’s Brand Positioning Statement:
For World Wide Web users who enjoy books, Amazon.com is a retail bookseller that provides instant access to over 1.1 million books. Unlike traditional book retailers, Amazon.com provides a combination of extraordinary convenience, low prices, & comprehensive selection
The Template Used by Amazon to Create their Brand Positioning Statement: For (target customer) World Wide Web users
That/Who (Concise summary of the attitudinal and demographic of the target audience) who enjoy books
Company/Product/Service Amazon.com
Is a (Market) a retail bookseller
That (Most compelling emotional/rational benefit) provides extraordinary convenience, low prices, & comprehensive selection.
That (USP, The reason to believe, most compelling evidence) provides instant access to over 1.1 million books.
Blank Template for BiblioTech to Achieve our Brand Positioning Statement: For (target customer)
That/Who (Concise summary of the attitudinal and demographic of the target audience)
Company/Product/Servie Is a (Market)
That (most compelling emotional/rational benefit)
That (USP, The reason to believe)
BiblioTech’s Brand Positioning Statement:
11. What action do we want our patrons to take once they’ve received our message?
What questions and concerns will our patrons have along the way, and where will they go for information?
12. Mandatories:
What should be included and excluded? What are/is our call to action(s)? Things the team needs to be aware of like limited budget, timeline considerations (time allotted for each stage), key timeline deadlines for deliverable such as print media (ie. brochures, posters, banners), swag products, website revisions, key team member roles, distribution channels, stakeholders’ roles, specific type of media and how much of it that needs to be considered for specific events or times of the year, necessary tools to do our jobs (ie. Uniforms, software, specific devices such as laptops, hotspots, etc.) training/onboarding, etc.