The Project Brief

Three editions

Every edition carries a change log on its last page: what was added or changed since the previous one, with the date. Either side can ask for a change at any time, and Dan issues a new edition rather than editing in place. The current edition is always the one that counts.

The sections, in order

A · Brand

Who they are, where they are in their arc, and how the team works: who leads, who decides, how feedback and approvals run, and the in-house team. From the first part of the interview, so it carries over between projects.

B · Project

1. 1. Need. What they want made or solved, why now, and what it must achieve.
2. 2. Work. The type of work, from the service list. A project with a defined deliverable, a term engagement with a monthly budget and expected length, or a one-off that could become ongoing.
3. 3. Timing. Start, key dates, and anything that cannot move.
4. 4. Partner. Direction, pushback and risk, where the partner needs to be, and how much living the category matters.
5. 5. Decision. Who decides, by name and role, and the date they will decide by.
6. 6. Budget. A figure or a range, and what it must cover. Required. Shown to partners as given, as a band, or replaced by “fits your typical range,” as the brand chose.
7. 7. Success. The KPIs and targets, when they will be read, and which the partner is held to. Failing those, what a good result looks like in six months.
8. 8. Anything else. Incumbent partners, conflicts, procurement steps, and what exists already: strategy, guidelines, research, earlier work.

C · Terms

One page: what everyone is agreeing to by taking part. How this runs, the fee and that both sides pay, the 9-month introduction term, how a hire is confirmed, suggested contract defaults, and that changes go to both sides in a new edition. The terms are not the contract, which the parties sign themselves. Read them.

D · Recommendations

Added in edition 2, written for the brief in hand. For each partner: who they are in two lines, the people who would do the work, two or three reasons it fits tied to this brief, where it differs from what was asked for in one sentence, relevant work, a link to How to work with us, and the person to talk to. Then the steps from here. The brand’s copy names every partner; each partner’s copy shows only its own entry.

E · Match

Added in edition 3, sent to both at once. The parties and the agreed value, what is next, and a note from Shortlist on why this pairing.

F · Code of Conduct

Printed in full, in every edition.

G · Change log

What changed since the previous edition, with the date.

Form

Each copy of an edition is a paged document with its own link and PDF, so it can be read in the browser, forwarded to colleagues or attached to an email, and every page carries the confidentiality line and the terms version it was issued under. A copy that has been superseded points at the current edition.