State the business change
Describe what should be different if the work succeeds: qualified demand in a new market, distributor conversations, stronger consideration or a defensible reputation. Add the decision date and the commercial context.
The IPA’s briefing guidance links marketing strategy to the brief. A list of deliverables without a business problem invites polished but disconnected proposals.
Separate confirmed facts from assumptions
Provide sales data, research, previous campaigns, competitor observations and customer evidence, with sources and dates. Mark beliefs that still require testing.
International work is especially vulnerable to false certainty. An agency needs to know whether the market, audience or proposition has already been validated.
Define markets and local responsibilities
Name the countries, languages, launch sequence and internal market owners. Explain whether local agencies, distributors or legal advisers already exist and who controls final approval.
Ask bidders to show who will work in each market and how local judgement will influence the central strategy. Network logos do not prove delivery.
Make scope, budget and timing comparable
Give a budget range or decision framework, required outputs, exclusions and procurement milestones. Include translation, research, travel, production and paid media assumptions where relevant.
Allow agencies to identify a minimum viable phase and optional scale. This produces more useful comparison than asking every bidder to guess the same hidden budget.
Publish selection criteria
Weight strategic understanding, relevant expertise, team quality, method, commercial fit and risk management. Tell agencies how meetings and proposals will be assessed.
ICON IMAGE helps leadership teams turn market-entry objectives into a workable brief and can coordinate research, positioning, campaigns and local partners.
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