'A contractual brief is a type of brief or contract where a media company is employed by the client in order to complete a project within the brief which is set to specific guidelines which the media company must follow. It will be very important for the media company to follow these guidelines and do exactly what the client states within the brief, if they fail to do so this can result in a breech of contract and the company could face legal actions.'
Contractual means someone is bonded to a contract and must complete the brief or face legal action.
If I was to have a contractual agreement with my 2D game, communication would be key to keep an contractual agreement on track. Communication allows me to find out what people like and dislike about my 2D game.
Time management is very important with a contractual agreement because you will most always have a deadline and if you don't submit your product by this deadline you will have problems. I will mange my time wisely with my 2D game logging each week so if i was to sign a contractual agreement i would be fine.
Technical skills are required when creating my 2D game so i will need them to follow through on my contractual agreement. making a 2D game will require knowledge of art and design and also knowledge of the software i will be using to create the 2d game.
Career progression is something that is always on going with whatever i do especially which creating my 2D game, i will be gaining more work to add to my CV whilst also learning more about my chosen craft and even if i don't continue with 2D games in the future the skills learned from this experience will continue on in multiple different lines of work. A contractual agreement would help me the future in my career because it lets people know I'm reliable enough to keep to a deadline and stick to specific guidelines.
Negotiated:
This type of brief will be brought up if the co-operative brief given to the two of more media companies that are competing the project have any issues between them selves about the brief or anything they would like to clear up with the client. Through the negotiations the brief can then be changed in order to suite every party taking part in the production. This could be anything from changing the appearance of the product to changing the products content as well as keeping it to the guidelines set in the brief.
Negotiated brief from my knowledge is where competing companies have issues with the brief so they change the brief to suit each other.
Communication is important for a negotiated brief because you will require communication between the two or more media companies that will be completing the projects. This links to me and my 2D game because i will need to communicate with the public to receive feedback on my completed 2D game.
Time management is needed because if the deadline isn't met the work will be invalid letting not just myself down but the other media companies involved. I cant let this happen with my 2D game so i will need to give myself more time then just enough i will need more than enough just in case of any
unexpected mishaps.
Formal:
This is where a media company is given a brief by the client which outlines the product which they are wanting to be made. This brief is very open and only gives enough information to be able to produce the product, any issues or information that the media company would like to go over can be discussed during the negotiations with the client. Both the client and the company employed by them will formally agree on the project and the brief but it can not always be legally binding.
The brief is given to a client and it explains exactly what they want. the brief is clear and is very informative. They will also agree on terms which will be legally binding.
Communication – Communication is not as important because everything that the client wants from you is stated in the brief. You would only need to communicate to update them on your progress, or to ask for more information.
Time management – Due to formal briefs generally being legally binding, if you are unable to keep to the deadline that has been set, you may get into serious trouble with the client.
Technical skills – As everything the client wants is stated in the brief at the beginning, you will only be able to improve skills that are relevant to the project.
Career progression - There isn't much career progression variety available with this type of brief, as you will either keep to the brief and go forward, or fail to do so and be 'punished' by the client.
Informal
“An informal brief is one that is agreed entirely through informal discussions between client and production company, therefore there is no written evidence of a brief being agreed at all. As a result of this, an informal brief is based purely on trust between the two parties to uphold their end of the agreement.”
An informal brief is where the agreement is discussed informally by the company and the client. Because of this, there isn’t any evidence that they agreed on anything, so both parties must rely on the trust that the other party will keep to their end of the agreement.
Communication – Due to nothing being written, communication is vital, and both parties should frequently talk to make sure everything is being done right.
Time management – If the project involved in this type of brief isn’t completed by the agreed deadline, there is nothing to prove that a deadline was set, so you wouldn’t get into any legal trouble, but the client may be upset and let others know about this.
Technical skills – This brief doesn't limit either party in any way, so you could use the opportunity to improve a variety of skills during the project.
Career progression - The only career progression with this type of brief is by word of mouth alone, due to nothing being written and provable to anyone.
Commission
“A commission brief is when a client or company will hire an independent media company to come up with ideas for the product that the client desires. The client will give the independent media company a vague description of what they want and the company will come up with ideas that will be pitched to the client, the client will then add their own ideas until they are happy with the proposal.”
A commission brief is when a client hires an independent company and then the client will give them a quite vague description of what they want, the company in return share their ideas with the clientèle until both are happy.
Communication - It is important for both parties to speak to each other as you are only given a vague idea of what the product will be, and you must ask the client more about what they are after.
Time management – Time constraints would be more flexible with this type of brief due to the brief, and the product involved, being rather vague and subject to change.
Technical skills - The brief being vague allows for you to be more creative and give more control over what skills to use and improve.
Career progression - If you do well with this brief, the progression becomes dependent on what the client says about you.
Tender
'This is where a client will advertise their brief and a production company will bring together a proposal that they will pitch to the client, there could be multiple pitches to the client from many different companies, so the client will then get the chance to choose the proposal that they think best suits their brief and offer the job to that production company.'
A Tender brief is when the client advertises the brief and different companies will begin pitching to the client in hopes that they'll be chosen. A clientèle will mainly have to choose between multiple pitches for the job.
Communication – Due to it being a competition between multiple companies, you will likely be unable to communicate with the client until the initial pitch, and all you will be able to pitch on is the advertised brief.Time management – As it is a competition, the client will have to pick the company that, as well as other things, will be able to keep up with their deadlines that they set.
Technical skills – To show that you deserve the job and to be able to secure your place, you will have to show or already have better skills than the competing parties.
Career progression - Securing the job will likely push your progression forward, as you have shown that you were the best choice out of all of the potential companies.
Co-operative
“You work alongside other production companies or organisations who also have a brief therefore your brief has to co-operate with the brief they are working on as well”
A co-operative brief is where multiple companies will work on the same brief together and that is the only way they can complete the brief.
Communication – It is very important to communicate with the other companies involved in the project, so that you don't accidentally work on the same things, or leave any missing pieces at the end. It is also important to speak with the client so that you are certain of what is expected from you.
Time management – With multiple parties working on a single project, it may take more time to complete it as you need to communicate and assess the situation often. It could be possible for one party to complete the tasks given to them, but the other misses the deadline, which could be bad for everyone.
Technical skills – Your overall improvement of you skills will become limited as you will have to work with other companies and some of the parties will split up sections of the work meaning you can't improve in certain sectors.
Career progression - With these types of briefs, you may not be able to progress very much, as the final product was solely your work, and the credit is split with other parties.
Competition
“This is where a client can put their brief out so it can be accessed by all of the different production companies that are participating. It can sometimes been seen as a free competition as each production company will complete the brief and the client can then judge which company has the best project and as an award they have it published.”
A competition brief is when the clientele puts out a brief which can be accessed by multiple companies that are involved. Eventually the client will look at each company and what they have done, and then reward the company that has the best project and will have it published.
Communication – This brief is at its basic a free-for-all, with many companies participating at once, so thus the client may not want to have a open communication as there maybe to many trying to contact them at once.
Time management –With this type of brief there maybe a set deadline meaning only limited companies can participate if they can follow the deadline, and those who can will eventually be judged by their clientele.Technical skills – This brief could be time-sensitive so you may not be able to spend as much time improving your skills, since you're competing with other parties to win the job.
Career progression - As the brief is a competition, coming out on top can help boost your exposure to other clients, and can show others your skills in certain sectors.
Creative Brief Example
Who is the client?
The client is Dick Smith Electronics.
What media product does the client require?
The clientele wants an advertisement that will help increase their overall sales and their perception in the target audience.
What is the timescale to deliver the product?
The project starts mid-September and ends mid-December 2011.
Who is the main target audience the client wishes the product to appeal to?
The main target audience the client is looking for are Males, within the ages of 25-45, employed, married with children living in the suburban area of Sydney.
What constraints do you have to work within such as (budget, length of product, format)?
The budget you must work with is $6,000,000, the advertisement needs to be made for TVC, (print) newspaper, radio and online also the tone and manner should be informative, fun and friendly.