We've received hundreds of branding briefs. Some are brilliant. One page, crystal clear, and we can start work the same week. Others are 40-page decks that somehow don't answer the three questions that actually matter.

A good brief saves everyone time. Here's what works.

What to include

What you do, in one sentence. Not your mission statement. Not your vision. The functional description of what your product does and who it's for. "We're a payments API for SaaS companies" is better than "We're reimagining the future of financial infrastructure." The agency needs to understand your product before they can brand it.

Who buys it. Your actual customers, not your total addressable market. "CTOs at Series B fintech companies" is useful. "Anyone who uses financial services" is not. The more specific you are about who you're selling to, the sharper the brand strategy will be.

What's changed. Why now? You've raised. You've pivoted. You're entering a new market. You've outgrown the brand. You're hiring senior people who look at your website and hesitate. The reason for the rebrand shapes the entire project. If the agency doesn't understand the trigger, they'll solve the wrong problem.

Timeline. When do you need this done? Be honest. "We're launching at a conference in six weeks" is a real constraint that shapes the scope. "Sometime this quarter" means nobody will feel urgency and the project will drift.

Budget range. You don't need an exact number. A range is fine. But "we don't have a budget" or "what do you charge?" puts the agency in a position where they're guessing at scope. If you're working with $10-15k, say so. A good studio will tell you what's possible within that range and what isn't.

What not to include

Moodboards you found on Pinterest. Reference images are useful when they come with context. "We like this because the typography feels premium" is helpful. A Pinterest board of 47 images with no explanation is not. It tells the agency what you've been looking at, not what you're trying to achieve.

Competitor logos you like. "Make it look like Stripe" is not a brief. It's a request to copy someone else's homework. Your brand should differentiate you from competitors, not echo them.

Requests for "something modern." Modern means nothing. It's a word that describes every well-designed brand from the last 20 years. Be specific. "Clean, confident, and not corporate" is three times more useful than "modern."

Your brand values. Unpopular opinion, but most brand values in briefs are useless. "Innovative, trustworthy, human-centred" could describe any company. Values only help if they're specific enough to rule things out. "We'd rather be blunt than polished" is a useful value. "We value integrity" is not.

A brief template you can use

Copy this, fill it in, and send it to your agency.

Company: [Name]

One-sentence description: [What you do and for whom]

Customers: [Who specifically buys your product and why]

What's changed: [The trigger for this project, raise, pivot, growth, competitive pressure]

What's not working: [What specifically about the current brand fails]

Competitors: [Three to five companies your buyers compare you to]

Timeline: [When you need delivery, and any hard deadlines like launches or events]

Budget range: [Your realistic range]

Decision maker: [Who approves the final brand, one person is ideal]

Success looks like: [What's different in six months if this project goes well]

That last line is the most important one. It forces you to define the outcome, not the output. "Our website converts better" is an outcome. "A new logo" is an output. The best briefs focus on the former.