How Has ‘Broadcast AI’ Evolved Commercial Production?

“AI has changed commercials forever. And there's no going back.

People want faster, better- more flexible ads.

Traditional productions weren't built for speed. Most ads can take six months, require massive budgets, and after you're done shooting, you're stuck with what you shot. Or you can spend even more time and money fixing it in post. I spent nearly two decades as an advertising creative. I worked on two Kia Super Bowl campaigns,led a global rebrand for Fiji Water, and worked for some of the world's biggest agencies.

Since founding AdWaken in early 2024, we've taken a nationally broadcast commercial from script to screen in just six days.

What makes AdWaken's approach different is that we combine the creative capabilities you'd expect from an ad agency with the execution of a digital-first production company. I mean, we're able to handle everything, from coming up with the creative to running the entire production, to getting the commercial on air and beyond. We've refined our approach into four key production pillars: process, quality, speed, and variety. Moving faster only works if there's a clear process behind it. Before getting started, we always align on clear expectations around what we're looking to accomplish, when we'll be reviewing, and how often compliance wants to be involved along the way. With traditional productions, clients are all too familiar having to pay twice, once for the agency to come up with a creative strategy and idea,

and then again to have it made into an ad by a production company. In the case of the Bad Stuff Tequila, they were not only looking to launch a new direct-to-consumer site, but also the creative and strategy that would drive potential customers to purchase.

We created tequila's first AI commercial,launching just ahead of Cinco de Mayo and selling out the Bad Stuff's Reposado in under 48 hours.

The majority of our clients have hired us to develop the creative, from strategy to scripts, all the way through to production and delivery.

Much of our AI-native pre-production process is actually pretty similar to that of traditional production. There are some key differences. For example, we still do casting, but we craft our options from scratch. And instead of searching for the perfect wardrobe or trying to find the perfect shoot location or voiceover, we develop all those too.

The edit is where some of the most noticeable differences from traditional production can be seen. When a traditional shoot wraps, the team's constrained to what was captured on the day, or by the amount of time and money it'll take to create visual effects in post. But with our AI-native productions, we're able to keep on creating throughout the entire process, rendering alternate takes, [thud] angles, or variations in service of the story. This infinite optionality does require structure, which is why we focus on aligning expectations early around renders, rounds, and edits. [dramatic music] [tape fast-forwarding] Once the visuals are locked, the last mile starts looking pretty familiar to traditional production. Color elevates the visual tone, while the sound design and mix really bring the scene to life. Graphics, brand elements, titles, and legal all get finalized. [upbeat music] We make sure both our clients and their compliance teams have signed off. We QA the scoped deliverables to ensure that they meet the media plan specs and are ready to go live.

If you're looking for a more flexible approach to your next campaign, there's a link below.

Let's talk about how we maintain the highest quality throughout our commercials. Nowhere is that quality standard more obvious than with characters. Everyone knows what it feels like when that uncanny valley sensor gets triggered. This is why we've spent more than 18 months-testing and refining our approach to creating repeatable AI characters.

And one of the most honest ways to test and learn was to take a look in the mirror and try to recreate myself. What are the key nuances and traits that make anyone look and sound like them? [upbeat music] Through endless testing and learning, we determined our approach to building the right data set, creating a consistent character every time. [instrumental music] Speed is one of the clearest advantages that broadcast AI can offer. In 2024, Coke traded nostalgia for a sloppy AI ad, and their usual holiday magic fizzled. Zevia, an all-natural soda brand, saw a sweet opportunity to parody their AI blunder by leaning into the contrast between the artificial and the real.

We were able to take Zevia's sharp parody from script to screen in just six days, earning real headlines and social praise just before their nationwide Walmart launch. The fast timeline only worked because they were ready to meet that moment head-on.

But most clients prefer a more leisurely three to six weeks. This gives more time for approvals, feedback, and making revisions.

Our broadcast AI approach has changed the amount of creative that can be built from a single campaign. Instead of just focusing all the attention on one 30-second ad, we take a more modern, modular approach. For big auto accident attorneys, we created eight different accident scenarios with four AI attorneys that we developed from scratch, connecting through unique messages and across specific markets, all in service of making the content more relevant and memorable for the audience watching it. [tape fast-forwarding] So should you be expecting better, faster, more flexible ads for your next campaign? [upbeat music] Whether you're bringing a fully baked concept or you're just starting to pull together the brief, we've helped bring big ideas to life from just about every stage of development.

If you're open to exploring what broadcast AI can do for your brand, click the link below and book a free 30-minute strategy session.”