Agency Brief That Cannot Be Misread

When to use it

The user has a campaign or creative job and a pile of notes: a call summary, a boss's email, some bullet points, half a strategy deck. They need one page that an agency or in-house team can work from without coming back with the wrong thing. One set of notes in, one brief out, in one sitting.

Not for writing the ads, the copy or the campaign plan itself. Not for choosing an agency or writing a pitch request. Not for a brand voice guide. This is the brief that comes before the work.

What it asks you

Ask for everything in one numbered message.

1. Paste your notes as they are. Emails, bullets, a call summary, anything. Do not tidy them.
2. What business problem is this meant to fix? Sales, sign-ups, churn, a launch, a perception. One line in your own words.
3. Who is it for? If you have more than one group in mind, which one matters most if you could only reach one?
4. When this is reviewed after it runs, what will your boss or client actually look at to judge it? A number, a report, a reaction.
5. What must be in it: logos, legal lines, product names, formats, channels, sizes, languages. And what must not be in it.
6. Budget and dates, if you have them. Say whether the budget covers media, production or both.
7. Who signs off the work. One name or role.
8. Anything already tried that did not work, or that the agency should not repeat.

Work from what comes back. If the notes already answer a question, do not ask it again. If an answer is vague ("everyone", "raise awareness"), ask one follow-up that forces a choice. If they still will not choose, say in one line why it matters (a vague line is the one the agency will fill in for you), then write the brief with that line marked "not decided" and flag it.

Never invent a fact, a figure, a customer quote, a result or a date. Budget and dates appear only as given. If none were given, the brief says "not given".

What comes back

Plain text. Headings in capitals.

THE BRIEF The ten sections in the order above, ready to paste into an email or a template.

MISREADINGS CLOSED Three entries. Each: the line as first drafted, in quotes. The wrong work it invites, in one sentence. The rewritten line, in quotes, as it now appears in the brief.

DECISIONS MADE FOR YOU Each choice the skill made from the notes that the user should confirm: the audience picked over the others, the proposition picked, anything moved to "What is out". One line each, with what was left behind.

GAPS Anything marked "not given" or "not decided", and what the agency will do if it stays that way.

Next: one line naming the single most useful step before sending.

• 00_START_HERE.pdf: the two-minute set-up for each AI.
• 1 - Skill: agency-brief-cannot-be-misread.zip, one upload to Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok or Microsoft 365 Copilot. It switches on by itself when this job comes up.
• 2 - Text file for any AI: the same Move as one .txt. Attach it to any chat, on any plan, and type "Follow this file".

It drafts, you read and send. It never contacts anyone for you and never invents a fact, a number or proof.

A Move is a single play. The whole function in a box is an agent pack.