Corporate video brief template

Would you like to download a corporate video brief template? We know what you mean. The corporate video brief is a major issue when starting video production. Brand content, snack content, reports, interviews, tutorials, e-learning, video adds, podcasts… the list of corporate films is long. They all have one thing in common: when you’re a brand and you have to supervise and commit service providers or creative team, the video brief stage is one of the most important. It lays the foundations not only for a good understanding of the issues at stake, but also for a smooth and serene collaboration. So here are some tips on how to get your brief right. And yes, of course, a corporate video brief template to download. Here we go!

 

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Corporate video brief: essential parts not to forget

The company and its communications context

Your service provider, be it a freelancer, a video agency or your in-house creative teams, needs to be able to get to grips with your project quickly. He doesn’t yet know your project. And perhaps he doesn’t even know your company, or even worse, your trade or field of activity. Introducing and contextualizing yourself is an essential part of your corporate video brief. Doing it seriously means you won’t be asked to do it again and again. You also give your video provider every chance to be relevant in his proposals.

Your company history, in a few sentences, and especially your history and habits regarding digital communication. Be concise so as not to drown your interlocutors with useless information. Get to the point.

The genesis of the project and the purpose of the video

Here again, it’s not about writing a novel. To best fit into your project, your video provider will need to understand it in its entirety. Give him as much information as possible about the “why” of the film, in three points:

• The company’s needs
• The primary purpose of the video(s)
• And the film’s secondary objectives

For example, a company produces a series of employee interviews (brand content) for its HR department. She might answer:

• The company’s needs: improving its image and attractiveness to job applicants
• The primary purpose of videos: Employer branding film to improve the quality and volume of job applications
• And the film’s secondary objectives: to improve the company’s image internally and the pride of belonging of existing employees

Targets and distribution channels

Needless to say, these are two central elements of your brief that completely change the vision of the project, and even the creative team’s choices for execution. Why? For two simple reasons.

The first is that we don’t talk to everyone in the same way. You don’t use the same types of video, the same lengths of time or the same narrative techniques. So be precise in defining your target audience(s). If there are several of them, they won’t have the same expectations. Make sure the creative team understands what differentiates them as an audience.

The second is that the way in which a corporate video is broadcast has a huge influence on the length of the film. Why? It’s all a question of the audience’s attention span. If the audience is active (they’ve chosen to watch your video), the film can be longer. If it’s passive (the video has been pushed to it when its purpose was otherwise), it should be shorter, with a strong hook in the first 5 seconds. If there are several distribution channels, the creative team will have to find a compromise or produce several formats. The mode of distribution is therefore a key indicator in your corporate film brief.

The film’s identity card

Finally, you can talk about your film. And that’s where it gets a little tricky, because as a brand, you have little or no knowledge of this area. That’s why you use a service provider or your own in-house production teams.

What’s in the film identity card on our corporate video brief template?

Lots of info on the video itself. For example:

• Required style (design)
• Image format (horizontal or vertical)
• Expected duration
• Subject
• Narration (or how your message will be conveyed)
• Language(s)
• Subtitles
• Music
• Possible stock purchase

You’ll discover all this in more detail and with a few additional indications in the brief template you can download at the bottom of this article.

 

Organization and production

A video is envisioned, a video is written, a video is organized and a video is produced.

For the project to run smoothly and serenely, it’s vital to know what role each participant is going to play, and what investment he or she is going to make in the project. You may want to do everything in-house or delegate certain steps completely:

• Writing the script
• The shoot
• Post-production
• Broadcasting

So don’t hesitate to be specific about this in your corporate video brief.

At this stage, it’s important to note in detail all the important field information that will enable the production team to plan ahead and anticipate the constraints, bottlenecks and difficulties encountered during production. Don’t worry, it’s all in the brief template! 😉

And finally, be sure to specify your deadlines. They will form the basis of an efficient film production schedule.

 

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Corporate video brief = benchmarks!

Don’t forget the video benchmarks! It sounds obvious to say it, but 3 out of 4 video briefs are sent without benchmarks. We’re not going to repeat that a picture is worth a thousand words (ah well, yes it is), but having a video reference to talk about what you want will make everyone’s life easier. And it will save you from certain misunderstandings…
So what is a benchmark? These may include :

• a video you’ve already made that can serve as a basis for reflection
• a link to a video you’ve spotted and saved, from a competitor or elsewhere. By the way, don’t hesitate to take a look at your competitors, as this will also give you a lot of clues as to what you want or don’t want in terms of your DNA and differentiation.
• videos produced by your service providers or creative teams

In any case, if you don’t have anything to hand, the internet is full of videos (youtube, vimeo, pinterest, social networks or even a quick search on a search engine). Don’t miss out, you’ll save a lot of time and comfort later on.

Available resources

The first resource to share is the company’s graphic charter or brand book. This document will form the basis of the film’s visual identity. Your brief needs it! So you might not send it directly with your brief, but at least say whether you have one and whether it’s supplied / complete or succinct.

As for the rest, we don’t often think about it, but it’s always very interesting to know what material you have at your disposal for the production of a corporate video. This can not only guide your project, but also save you money 🙂.

In short, interesting resources can be :

• Your corporate identity and all its visual components
• In-house videos (archives, past shoots)
• Itock videos
• Images and photos
• Illustrations, infographics elements and pictograms
• Sound and musical identities

Corporate video brief: getting to know the production team

Before downloading the corporate film brief template, one last thing. Take the time to find out enough about the film’s production team. If you do it in-house and know it, then all’s well. If you’re dealing with external service providers, freelancers or video agencies, take a look around to get to know them better. You can adapt your speech and your message according to a few criteria:

• The types of films they specialized in: snack content, product films, e-learning…
• Mastered production styles (techniques): live action, motion design, 3D…
• Their areas of activity: do they specialize in one or more fields? (energy, banking, pharmaceuticals, institutions…)
• Their size and organizational capacity

Corporate video brief template to download

Skeem.io offers you a corporate video brief template to share with your creative teams at the start of a project. Whether you’re waiting for a quote in return, or you’d like to draw up a precise framework with in-house teams, this brief template is ready and waiting for you! All you have to do is make it your own…

 

Download the corporate video brief template (pptx)

Download the corporate video brief template (pdf)

 

And to make the rest of your production flow smoothly and efficiently, Skeem offers you its online shared planning solution. For simple, intuitive and visual collaboration.

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