How to Brief a Creative Agency as a Queensland Government Communicator

A government creative brief works when it defines the behaviour the audience needs to change, not just the message the agency wants to send.The difference between a brief that produces strong creative work and one that produces months of revision cycles is usually visible on page one, in whether it was written from the audience's perspective or the agency's.

Start with the behaviour, not the message

The single most useful thing to put in a government creative brief is a clear description of what the audience needs to do differently after seeing the campaign. Not what you want them to know. What you want them to do.

“We want Queenslanders to understand the importance of flood preparedness” is a message brief. “We want Queenslanders in flood-prone areas to complete a household emergency plan before storm season” is a behaviour brief. The second one is harder to write, because it forces a specific answer, but it makes every creative decision after it easier. The agency knows what success looks like. The approval process has a real benchmark. The evaluation at the end measures something that actually happened.

Be honest about what's already been tried

If an agency has run campaigns on this topic before, say so. What worked, what didn't, and why if it's known. This isn't admitting failure. It's the most useful intelligence a creative team can be handed, because it stops them recommending something the audience has already seen and ignored.

The best briefs carry their own history. What does the audience currently believe? What have they already been shown? What makes this behaviour feel hard, irrelevant, or someone else's problem?

Define the audience specifically

“Queensland adults” is not an audience. Neither is “regional Queensland communities” or “young people.” Those are population descriptors. A useful audience definition covers what that audience currently does, believes, and runs into in relation to the behaviour being shifted. Age, location and demographics are a starting point. Attitudes, habits and barriers are where the brief gets useful. If audience research exists, attach it. If it doesn't, say so, because a good creative partner might recommend it as step one.

Surface constraints early, not at final approval

Government campaigns pass through approval layers that commercial campaigns don't. That's just the environment, but the brief should be upfront about it. If there's ministerial interest, say so. If there are sensitivities around language, imagery, or community representation, name them early. If whole-of-government brand requirements apply, include them. Surfacing this at the brief stage costs nothing. Discovering it at final approval costs weeks.

Deliverables are the last thing to define

Most government briefs lead with deliverables: “we need a 30-second TVC, three social cuts, a print banner, and a digital display series.” Sometimes that's exactly right. Often it isn't. Deliverables should follow from the audience, the behaviour, the channel landscape, and the budget, not come before them. A creative partner working from a well-written behaviour brief will often come back with a different channel and format recommendation than what was specified. That's the system working, not a problem. Where genuine format constraints exist, such as broadcast commitments already booked, include them. Where there's flexibility, leave the door open.

What a brief should cover before it goes out

Where Welcome to the Fold sits

Welcome to the Fold works with Queensland Government communications teams across all stages of campaign development, from brief writing and audience strategy through to production and delivery. We're appointed to the Queensland Government Creative Advertising Preferred Supplier Panel (GGS0120-25) and six other government panels. If you've got a brief that needs a second pair of eyes before it goes out, send it over.

For the specific brief problems that reliably produce the wrong work, see why government campaign briefs produce wrong work. For the version written for a formal quote request, see how to write a creative services brief for a quote request.