Brief Check
Know what you are working with before you start working. Lite + Pro
What Brief Check Does
Brief Check is a hub-level feature available on both Pro and Lite hubs. Upload a client brief and receive a structured strategic readout before choosing a tool. It takes under a minute and costs nothing beyond your existing plan.
The readout surfaces five things: the core tension in the brief, a six essentials assessment, contradictions between sections, what is missing, and a recommended starting tool.
The Core Tension
The core tension identifies the underlying strategic problem in the brief, framed as an open question. This is not a summary of the brief. It is the question the brief is really asking, even if the brief does not ask it directly.
A good core tension exposes a genuine strategic choice: reassure the core audience or shift perception with new stakeholders, lead with the CEO voice or the employee voice, defend the current narrative or replace it. If the tension feels obvious, the brief may be clearer than you think. If it surprises you, the brief may be hiding its real challenge.
The Six Essentials
Every brief is assessed against six strategic essentials. Each is rated clear, partial, or missing:
| Essential | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| Business Context | Market position, commercial pressure, the reason this work exists now |
| The Brand | Brand perception, reputation, current narrative, what the brand actually means to stakeholders |
| The Audience | Which stakeholder groups matter, their motivations, tensions, and decision-making behaviour |
| Competitive Landscape | Named competitors, their positioning in the narrative, category conventions |
| Constraints | Budget, timeline, format, mandatories, approval processes |
| Success Metrics | How the client will judge whether the work succeeded |
A brief with all six essentials rated clear is rare. Most real briefs have partial or missing elements. The value is knowing which gaps to fill before you start, not after you have built half a pitch on assumptions.
Tensions in the Brief
These are contradictions or conflicting signals between different sections of the brief. Common examples: the brief asks for a media campaign but frames the problem as an internal comms challenge. The audience is described two ways that do not overlap. The mandatories conflict with the stated objective.
Tensions are not errors. They are where the interesting strategic work lives. Surfacing them early means you can address them in your approach rather than discovering them mid-pitch.
What Is Missing
Two to four gaps in the brief, ordered by strategic impact. Each gap describes what is absent and why it matters. These are the questions you should be asking the client before you start, or the assumptions you will need to make explicit if you cannot get answers.
Suggested Starting Tool
Brief Check recommends a starting tool with reasoning. On Pro hubs, this is typically the cascade entry tool (The Story) for briefs with genuine strategic tensions. On Lite hubs, the recommendation draws from the four Lite-tier tools based on what the brief most needs.
The recommendation includes a short explanation of why that tool fits the brief. It is a suggestion, not a gate. You can start with any tool.
Accepted File Formats
Brief Check accepts .docx, .pdf, and .txt files. Spreadsheets, PowerPoints, and images should be uploaded directly in individual tools where they serve as supporting research, not as the primary brief.
What Brief Check Does Not Do
- It does not create a project or save data. Brief Check is a one-shot analysis with no persistence.
- It does not replace reading the brief yourself. It surfaces structure, not judgement.
- It does not extract research data. For document extraction with source attribution, use the tools directly.
Tips
- Use it on every brief. Even briefs you think are clear often have hidden tensions or missing metrics.
- Share the readout with the client. The six essentials assessment is a diplomatic way to highlight gaps without criticising the brief.
- Run it on old briefs. If you are revisiting a client relationship, checking the original brief against the current reality is a fast way to find what has changed.
For more on how each tool works, see Support Hub. For quick answers, use the chatbot in the bottom-right corner.