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Process

How do I write a brief for a corporate video?

Short answer

A useful brief answers four questions: what specific action do you want viewers to take, who exactly is the viewer, what's the one thing they need to remember, and where will the video live. Skip everything else for the first draft.

Question 1: What action

"Build awareness" is not an action. "Get the right viewer to book a discovery call" is. "Convert trade-show booth visitors into qualified leads in our sales CRM" is. The more concrete the action, the easier it is to know whether the video succeeded.

Question 2: Who exactly

Not "decision-makers in manufacturing." A real audience description sounds like: "VP of operations at a $50M to $200M precision-machining shop in the Midwest, currently outsourcing video work and not satisfied with the results." That level of specificity changes how the video is shot, which interviews matter, and what tone is right.

Question 3: One thing to remember

Pick one. If you list 5 things, the viewer remembers none. Brand films and corporate videos both work better with a single takeaway. The brief should name it explicitly: "After watching, the viewer should believe that we're the only firm in the Midwest that does X."

Question 4: Where it lives

Homepage hero, sales follow-up email, paid social, internal kickoff event, trade-show loop. The placement determines length, audio strategy (will it have sound?), and whether it needs captions or a voiceover. A homepage hero and a trade-show loop are different animals; a brief that doesn't specify ends up serving neither well.

What to leave out of the first draft

Skip the brand history, the founder bio, the company pillars, and the mood-board references. Those help during pre-production, but they slow down the brief. The 4 questions above are what move the brief forward. Everything else can be discussed in the kickoff call.

Related questions

Should the brief include creative direction?

Not yet. Save creative direction for the kickoff conversation. The brief should be about the audience and the goal, not about the tone or look.

Who at the company should write the brief?

Whoever owns the outcome. If the goal is sales, the head of sales should write it. If it's recruiting, the head of HR. Marketing can facilitate, but the owner of the goal owns the brief.

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More answers

Pricing

How much does corporate video production cost in Chicago?

Corporate video production in Chicago typically costs between $5,000 and $50,000 per finished piece, depending on length, crew size, and how much pre-production strategy is involved. Most B2B companies land in the $15,000 to $30,000 range for a single hero video.

Timeline

How long does a brand film take to produce?

A brand film typically takes 6 to 10 weeks from kickoff to delivery: about 2 weeks of pre-production, 1 to 3 days of shooting, and 4 to 6 weeks of post-production.

Concepts

What's the difference between a brand film and a corporate video?

A brand film is documentary-style and tells the story of a company's identity, values, or origin in 2 to 5 minutes. A corporate video is functional, usually shorter, and explains a specific product, service, or process to a defined audience.

Logistics

Do you travel for video shoots in the Midwest?

Yes. The Maestro Media is based in Columbia City, Indiana and regularly travels for shoots across Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, and St. Louis. Travel within a 4-hour drive of Fort Wayne is built into most production estimates.