What Is a Concept Brief?
A concept brief is a focused document that articulates a new idea — a product, service, feature, business model, or campaign — in enough detail to evaluate its merit and decide whether to invest further. It captures the vision, the problem it solves, the market opportunity, the proposed solution, the competitive differentiation, and the resources required to pursue it.
The concept brief is not a full business plan or product requirements document. It is a screening tool: does this idea deserve more attention? It is the first filter in the innovation process, designed to kill weak ideas early and give strong ideas a structured path to development.
Why You Need a Concept Brief Before You Build
Most organizations suffer from too many ideas and not enough evaluation discipline. Every person in every meeting has suggestions for new products, features, campaigns, and initiatives. Without a structured concept brief, these ideas are evaluated on the charisma of the presenter rather than the merit of the idea.
The concept brief forces a structured evaluation:
- Desirability: Is there a real customer need or pain point this addresses?
- Feasibility: Can we realistically build and deliver this?
- Viability: Does this create measurable business value?
- Differentiation: How is this meaningfully different from what already exists?
Ideas that survive this evaluation deserve resources. Ideas that fail deserve to be killed early, before they consume momentum and capital.
Key Sections of a Concept Brief
1. Concept Name and Tagline
Give the concept a memorable name that conveys its core value. The tagline should capture the essential promise in three to five words. If the concept is named after a product team or internal code name, include that alongside the proposed consumer-facing name.
2. Problem Statement
Describe the specific problem or opportunity the concept addresses. Use concrete language: "Small business owners spend an average of 15 hours per week on administrative tasks that could be automated" is better than "small businesses need better tools." Ground the problem in evidence: customer complaints, market research, usage data, or competitive gaps.
3. Target Customer
Define the specific customer segment the concept serves. Be as precise as possible: not "small businesses" but "solo freelance designers with annual revenues between $50K and $150K who currently manage their invoices in spreadsheets." Specificity in the target definition leads to better product decisions throughout development.
4. Concept Description
Describe what the concept is in clear, jargon-free language. Explain how it works from the user's perspective. What does the user do, see, and experience? Use a day-in-the-life framing if it helps: "A freelancer opens Eonebill on Monday morning and sees a dashboard showing three invoices pending, two overdue payments, and a prompt to send a friendly reminder to their biggest delinquent client."
5. Value Proposition
Articulate why a customer would choose this concept over alternatives. The value proposition should be specific, credible, and relevant. "Save time" is not a value proposition. "The average Eonebill user recoups 6 hours per month previously spent chasing payments" is. Lead with the most important benefit and support it with evidence where possible.
6. Market Opportunity
Define the size and characteristics of the market opportunity. Use the TAM/SAM/SOM framework if available: Total Addressable Market, Serviceable Addressable Market, and Serviceable Obtainable Market. If formal market sizing is not available, provide a qualitative description of the opportunity and why it is compelling right now.
7. Competitive Landscape
Identify the key alternatives the target customer considers — including the option of doing nothing. For each alternative, describe its strengths and weaknesses from the customer's perspective. Explain how your concept is differentiated: what does it do better, differently, or that no one else does at all?
8. Business Model
Describe how the concept will make money. What is the pricing model: subscription, transaction, freemium, one-time purchase, or a hybrid? What is the target price point? What evidence supports this pricing? How does the business model create sustainable unit economics?
9. Strategic Fit
Assess how this concept aligns with the organization's broader strategy, capabilities, and brand. Does it leverage existing strengths, or does it require building entirely new capabilities? Does it reinforce the brand positioning or dilute it? Is there a strategic reason the organization is uniquely positioned to win with this concept?
10. Resource Requirements and Risk
Estimate the investment required to develop and launch this concept: budget, team size, timeline, and external dependencies. Identify the three most significant risks and your initial thoughts on mitigation. This section demonstrates that the concept has been thought through beyond the exciting surface level.
11. Proposed Next Steps
End with a clear ask. What decision are you requesting from the audience? Budget approval for a discovery sprint? Permission to develop a full PRD? Resources for a pilot? Be specific about what you need and what the output of the next stage will be.
Sample Scenario
> Scenario: A product team at an accounting SaaS company has a concept for an AI-powered accounts receivable assistant that automatically sends personalized payment follow-up emails to delinquent clients. The concept brief names it "Collection Copilot." The problem statement cites that small businesses using the platform lose an average of $12,000 per year to slow-paying clients who would pay if nudged at the right time with the right message. The target customer: service-based small businesses with $100K to $2M in annual revenue with more than 10 outstanding invoices at any time. The value proposition: "Get paid 23% faster without lifting a finger." Estimated development investment: $180,000 over 14 weeks. Proposed next step: a four-week discovery sprint to validate customer demand and refine the feature specification.
Related Templates
- Product Brief Template — For developing validated concepts into full products
- Strategy Brief Template — For company-wide strategic initiatives
- Creative Brief Template — For campaign concept development
Get Started
Stop letting great ideas die in hallway conversations and unsubstantiated meeting pitches. Download Eonebill's free concept brief template, structure your ideas rigorously, and give your best concepts the evaluation they deserve.
How to Write a Concept Brief
A concept brief defines the criteria by which competing creative concepts will be evaluated, before any concepts are presented. State the strategic question the concept must answer in one sentence. List the 3 to 5 evaluation criteria in priority order — for example, on-strategy, distinctive, executable in budget, scalable across channels. Specify the format and depth of concept presentation expected (one-line headlines, full storyboards, animatics, prototypes). Identify the named decision-makers and their vote weights if non-equal. Set the timeline for concept development, presentation, selection, and revision.
Common Mistakes in Concept Briefs
The most frequent failures: too many concepts requested (more than 3 dilutes thinking; more than 5 guarantees nobody can hold them in mind); no evaluation rubric, so selection becomes whichever concept the loudest person prefers; mixing strategy with execution (asking for concepts that also have final color palettes locks the strategic thinking too early); and inviting too many stakeholders to vote, which selects for the lowest-common-denominator concept rather than the most distinctive.
Industry-Specific Concept Brief Examples
For an advertising campaign concept brief, prioritize the audience insight and the creative leap from insight to expression. For a product-naming concept brief, prioritize the trademark availability check, the linguistic clearance across target markets, and the URL availability. For a brand-identity concept brief, prioritize the visual differentiation from category leaders and the scalability across digital and print applications.
Why Use Eonebill for Concept Briefs
Eonebill helps creative teams document concept criteria, route concepts through structured evaluation, and store the decision rationale alongside the winning concept. Start free, no credit card required.