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Practical guides5 min read6 sections

A practical brief for AI ad production (2026)

Write a clear brief covering the product, message, references, deliverables and reviewers, then use the example for your next AI ad.

Kevin Dosanjh
Kevin Dosanjh
Co-founder / CMO, AI Vidia · Updated
Editorial overhead composition of a modular grid of paper brief cards with brand lock notes, model route tags, and kill criteria stamps, arranged on a warm off-white Nordic studio surface with burnt orange and deep ink accents.
On this page6 sections
  1. 01Describe the decision the ad should support
  2. 02Complete these fields
  3. 03State what must remain unchanged
  4. 04Agree variants before the count grows
  5. 05Test the brief by handing it to someone else
  6. 06Use the first concept to establish direction

A useful brief makes clear what the ad should show, which information is approved and who makes decisions. It does not have to be long.

Describe the decision the ad should support

Start with the product and customer. What should the viewer understand after watching? Choose one main message rather than squeezing the whole catalogue into the first video. Explain why you are ordering this material now.

For a hypothetical storage-box ad, customers may be asking about size. The task is to show capacity and use with correct proportions. That is more concrete than requesting a premium video that creates engagement. It describes a production assignment, not a customer result.

Complete these fields

  1. Product: SKU, variant and relevant product-page link.
  2. Audience: The situation or question the ad should address.
  3. Message: One sentence about the main thing the customer should understand.
  4. Evidence: Approved facts, original images and permissions for other material.
  5. Presentation: Lighting, colour, voice and pacing references, with an explanation of what to retain.
  6. Delivery: Concepts, variants, length, format, language and destination.
  7. Approval: Coordinating contact, specialist reviewers and agreed deadlines.

Attach the actual files. A description of your visual identity cannot replace an accurate packaging photograph. Mark mood references clearly so the producer does not copy their products or claims. Each style demo on the AI animation ads page starts from one packshot, and the pack stays as photographed in the approved scene.

For a physical product, the reference packet usually means the current pack from front and back, measured dimensions, approved colours, the exact ingredient or feeding copy, the market and audience, any restrictions on use, and the person who signs off the written product facts before anything is generated. The reference kit builds that list for your own product from seven questions.

State what must remain unchanged

Record critical details such as logo position, colour, component count, packaging text and intended use. This helps the producer choose where generation is appropriate and where an original photograph should remain intact.

Avoid a long list of vague prohibitions. Describe how approval will work instead. For example: the lid must retain its shape throughout the clip, and size will be checked against the reference photograph and dimensions. This gives producer and reviewer the same basis.

Say why each detail matters to the customer. On a hypothetical pet-food pouch, the label spelling and pack colour tell a shopper which recipe they are buying, and the texture in the bowl shows what they will actually serve. A beautiful generated bowl scene is rejected if the food looks different from the real product, because it would mislead the customer about what they get. Where texture is the point of the shot, use real serving footage.

Three frames from AI Vidia's demo on the fictional HAVREL serum: the reference packshot with the bottle closed, a rejected attempt with a second pipette still inside the open bottle, and an approved attempt with the closed bottle on a basin ledge.
From AI Vidia's process demo on a fictional serum, not a client: the reference, a rejected attempt and an approved one. Every reference showed the bottle closed, and the concept that needed the dropper out of the open bottle failed all 3 attempts and all 3 revisions.

The demo shows why the list of fixed details needs references that show them. The approved frame keeps the closed bottle the references showed. The open bottle with its pipette, which no reference showed, went wrong in every attempt. If a shot needs a part your photos never show, add a reference for it or plan real footage. The full demo, with every reject: product-accuracy demo.

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Agree variants before the count grows

Distinguish a new concept from a change to an existing video. Comparing three openings may require keeping the rest of the film unchanged. Testing three purchase motivations may require three separate scripts.

Ask the campaign owner to explain the question the test should answer. The producer can then name and deliver variants so they can be tracked in the account. A large file count is not a test plan.

For several concepts on one physical product, keep one shared ground-truth sheet for the product and give each concept its own buying reason and scene. Include a reference for every state of the product a concept shows, such as open or in use.

The worked demo on AI Vidia's AI product photography page shows concepts A, B and C judged against one ground-truth sheet, with every reject shown or described. The brand and product are fictional. There was no product to photograph, so its four reference images were generated too, and every check was an AI review pass instead of a human reviewer. All four references showed the bottle closed. Concept A, which shows the bottle open, ended with no approved image.

Test the brief by handing it to someone else

Imagine a new producer receives the assignment without attending any meetings. Can they find the correct product, identify approved characteristics and understand what the first video should show? If not, add the missing information.

Ask which decisions still require guessing. Perhaps two nearly identical product files exist, a style reference has no explanation, or nobody is named to approve a change. Fix those gaps instead of adding general pages about company ambitions.

In a hypothetical coffee-cup assignment, the brief might precisely describe colour and atmosphere but omit the variant's size. That matters when a hand holds the cup or other objects provide scale. The producer should not simply choose the variant that looks most natural.

Once ready, give the brief a version name and specify where changes are collected. Add new information to the shared reference during production. A chat message should not be the only record of changed product characteristics.

Put open questions in a separate field with an owner. This makes clear what is ready for production and what still needs a decision. Do not bury important qualifications in an email thread the producer finds only after drafting.

Use the first concept to establish direction

Check whether it answers the brief, shows the product accurately and fits the agreed scope. Consolidate corrections before making the remaining variants. Record new product facts or a changed main message as a brief update.

The brief says what must stay true; the quality checklist is how each file is checked against it. For risks beyond the product itself, see the brand-safety review, and the process page shows who does what in a production month.

Keep the approved brief with the delivery so the next series can build on what was actually ordered. The guide to the next production round explains how to turn test data into a new assignment.

Frequently asked questions

01How long should the brief be?
Long enough to describe product, message, references, delivery and approval. A short brief with useful files is better than many pages of uncertain requests.
02Do we need to write AI prompts ourselves?
No. Describe the ad you want and the details that must be correct. The producer can translate that into technical execution.
03What if the message changes?
Update the brief and clarify the effect on work in progress. Avoid circulating conflicting versions of the assignment.

Next step

Get a proposal for your next ads.

Tell us about your product, audience and ad production needs. We review your brief and reply with a proposed next step.

Send your brief

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