How to Write a Target Statement

In this video, Kevin teaches the dos and don’ts of how to write a target statement so that you have a stronger creative brief. This video is a part of the series that teaches you how to write a creative brief and provide creative feedback. You might also want to check out our Ultimate Guide to Writing a Creative Brief.

---

Transcript:

Hello, Kevin Namaky here, and today we’re going to talk about how to write the target statement in our creative briefs. This is an early video in our series on how to write creative briefs and give creative feedback.

When you’re writing a creative brief and you get to the target statement, the key question that we want to answer is “To whom are we speaking”—to what audience? That’s the number one thing that we need to answer, but it’s easier said than done. 

Things to Consider When Writing a Target Statement

Here are a few things to consider when writing the target statement. These are questions that you can pose to yourself and answer, and they provide the fodder and information that you need to write a target statement. 

Current vs. Competitive User

Are we speaking to current users or are we speaking to competitive users that aren’t using our products/services today? You can also consider in-category versus out-of-category. Basically, you want to figure out where the opportunity is and with whom that opportunity exists.

Three Most Important Things

Ask yourself, “What are the three most important things that I would tell someone about this person in order for them to understand who they are?”

Attitudes

This includes attitudes toward the category, attitudes towards your brand or product, and attitudes towards life in general. Attitudes create a mental picture and help us get inside their head.

Things to Do in a Target Statement

Now I want to talk about dos and don’ts. These are things that we shouldn’t just consider. We actually need to do them in our brief — and then I’ll also touch on some things that we want to watch out for.

Create a Mental Picture

You want to create a mental picture of the target audience so that someone reading the brief can actually picture that person in their head. 

Use Psychographics & Behaviors

This helps us get into the mindset and into the life of what these people are experiencing so that we can relate to them and understand them. That goes well beyond mere demographics. 

Describe a Single Person

When you’re writing a statement like this, write it as if you’re describing a single person and it will make it easier to add the kind of color and detail you need in order to then give this to a creative team and give them something to work with.

Things Not to Do in a Target Statement

So if these are our dos, then there are a few key don’ts that they imply. 

Lengthy Bullet Lists

If we do want to create a mental picture, then we don’t want a lengthy list of bullet points because they are not nearly as helpful. 

Demographics Only

If we do want to use psychographics and behaviors to describe our target, then what we don’t want to do is stick to demographics only.

Vague Language

If we do want to describe a single person, then we want to avoid being vague. Honestly, when you have a vague target statement, you could probably plug it in for just about any brand and it might fit. That’s not a good thing in a creative brief.

Examples of Target Statements

Our first example is s lengthy bullet-point list of demographics:

Adults 30 to 55, income, 60% female, they have children, and they are millennial moms.

This type of target statement could be any number of brands and it’s not very useful from a creative perspective. It doesn’t help us develop creative ideas that are going to resonate with our audience.

In contrast, imagine a target statement like the one on the right:

“CEO mom” that serves as head of household and the breadwinner. She wears a power suit, she likes things in order and sticks to a routine, and it makes her feel good when things run like clockwork.

That creates a much clearer and stronger mental picture. It gives us an idea of who this person is, what their behaviors and mindset are, and it’s something that’s incredibly useful in coming up with creative ideas that we can share with this audience.

Conclusion

If you use these tips to write your next target statement, I guarantee you’ll have a much stronger creative brief, and your creatives will be able to produce stronger work.

---

Here are some ways you can get additional value from me:

1. Subscribe directly to my email list to be notified when I post newsletters, brand management articles and frameworks. As a thank you, you’ll immediately get our welcome guide: The Marketing Executive’s Guide to Brand Team Building.
2. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for free video tutorials and lessons in brand management.
3. Connect with me on LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter.
4. Check out our menu of in-depth brand management training workshops, our all-inclusive Brand Management Accelerator program, or our 1:1 brand leadership coaching program.