The brief, and how to read it

A brief is the document or email where the brand describes what it wants. Most conflicts between creators and brands start here: the creator skimmed it, made what they understood, the brand sent it back. A brief needs to be read slowly, with questions.

What to look for

The goal. Why the brand wants this content: sales, a product launch, awareness, content for their own channels. The goal decides where you put the emphasis.

Key messages. The product name, specific features, a promo code, a link. Usually three to five items. Write them out separately and check against them before you deliver.

Don'ts. Mentioning competitors, promising results, showing the product next to something, using certain words. This is the most important section and the one most often skipped.

Format and deadlines. Which format, how long, vertical or horizontal, when the draft is due, when it goes live.

Approval. Who reviews the draft, how many days the brand has to respond, how many rounds of revisions.

What's usually missing

And what you must ask before you start.

Usage rights. Usually this is a licence: the brand gets the right to show the video in agreed places for an agreed period, not everything forever. Can the brand post your video on its own channels, use it in paid ads, put it on the website, and for how long. Ad usage and long terms cost extra; that's the next lesson. If the brief says nothing about rights, the brand either hasn't thought about it or assumes everything you make is automatically theirs. Ask.

Number of revisions. Standard practice: one or two rounds included, anything beyond that is a new job. Leave it open and there's no limit.

Approval turnaround. If the brand takes two weeks to respond to a draft and the post is due in three days, you'll be the one blamed. Suggest writing in the reverse too: no reply within the agreed number of days and the draft counts as approved. Not every brand will agree, but it's worth asking.

How long the post stays up. How many days the post has to stay in your feed and whether you can take it down afterwards. Brands usually expect the post to stay up until the agreed term ends, and creators tend to hear about this last.

Account access and ads in your name. The industry calls this whitelisting or partnership ads: the brand wants to run your video as an ad from its own ad account. That's a separate permission, a separate price and a separate term. Grant it only through the platform's own permission tools, for an agreed period, and never share your password.

Exclusivity. Can you work with competitors during this period. If the brand wants a no, that's a separate condition with a separate price.

Disclosure. In many countries sponsored content has to be labelled, and every country has its own rules. Ask how the brand wants the label to look, and who switches on the platform's built-in paid partnership tag if there is one. Don't post without a label: in many countries both the brand and the creator are on the hook.

Payment. When, how, is there a deposit, what happens to payment if the brand cancels after you've filmed.

Tip. Ask all your questions in one message, as a numbered list. Ten messages with one question each annoy a manager. One numbered list looks professional.

How to ask without seeming difficult

First confirm you've understood, by restating the main points in your own words in three lines. Then the questions, as a list. Then a proposal on timing. The manager sees you've engaged with the brief and answers the questions instead of getting defensive.

If something in the brief seems like a bad idea for your audience, say so immediately and offer an alternative. "My audience doesn't respond to direct calls to buy. I'd suggest showing the product in a normal day, with the promo code at the end." Brands value this more than silent compliance.

When to say no

When the product contradicts what you've told your audience before. One such video costs the trust you spent a year building.

When the brand wants you to promise results the product doesn't deliver. That's a trust problem, and in many countries a breach of advertising rules.

When the terms aren't put in writing. "We've discussed everything, let's start" without an email confirming the terms ends in a dispute over payment.

Saying no is fine. A polite refusal with a reason can lead to the next job from the same brand with a different product.

Do this now

• Take any brief you've received, or make one up, and extract the five blocks: goal, key messages, don'ts, format, approval.
• Write your own list of eight questions that are usually missing from briefs and save it as a template.
• Write three sentences you'd use to turn down a job politely without closing the door.