AI in TV Ads
Key Takeaways
AI can help brands develop TV ad creative faster, from scripts and storyboards to visual worlds, animatics, voiceovers and campaign variations.
AI is most useful when it supports human direction. TV advertising still needs a strong idea, emotional clarity, brand consistency and polished production.
One Day Agency uses AI to explore creative routes, test visual ideas and adapt TV campaigns across VOD, CTV, YouTube, paid social and wider media.
AI in TV ads is changing how creative teams develop, test and produce video campaigns. It can speed up early-stage thinking, help visualise ideas before production and make it easier to adapt a campaign across different video formats.
For TV advertising, this matters because the creative has to carry the message clearly. A TV ad needs to be understood, remembered and linked to the brand. AI can support that process, but it does not replace the need for a strong idea, good writing, clear direction and production craft.
At One Day Agency, AI is used as part of the creative process across AI ad creative, TV advertising, VOD advertising, video advertising, creative campaigns and media buying.
How AI Is Used in TV Ad Creative
AI can support TV ad development before a camera is even involved. It can help teams explore scripts, storyboards, settings, product scenes, casting references, voiceover routes and visual styles.
For example, a retail brand could use AI to test different home settings before committing to a shoot. A food brand could explore product close-ups, lighting styles and seasonal edits. A travel brand could visualise several destinations before deciding which route deserves production budget.
Useful applications include:
Script routes
Storyboard frames
Visual references
Moodboards
Product scenes
Voiceover testing
Animatics
Cutdown planning
VOD and social adaptations
The point is not to generate more versions without purpose. The point is to reach a stronger idea faster.
AI Helps Build Better Visual Worlds
TV ads often need a clear visual world. This could be a home, a store, a street, a product universe, a surreal environment or a more cinematic story. AI can help creative teams explore those settings early, before final production decisions are made.
This is useful because it gives teams something more concrete to judge. Instead of discussing an abstract idea, stakeholders can see potential framing, tone, colour, pacing and atmosphere. That makes feedback more useful and helps avoid late changes once production has started.
McKinsey has described AI as a major force in film and TV production, with potential to change how content is made and how production workflows operate. That is relevant to advertising because TV ads use many of the same disciplines: scripts, treatments, casting, art direction, editing, visual effects and post-production.
Why Human Direction Still Matters
AI can generate scripts, images and video references quickly, but it does not automatically understand what makes a good TV ad. It may create something visually impressive that feels off-brand, poorly paced or emotionally flat.
A creative team still needs to decide:
Whether the idea is strong enough
Whether the story is clear
Whether the product is accurate
Whether the brand appears early enough
Whether the tone fits the audience
Whether the ad can work in 10, 20 or 30 seconds
This is where human direction matters. AI can help open up more routes, but creative teams decide which routes are worth taking.
AI in TV Ads
AI for VOD, CTV and Social Cutdowns
TV campaigns rarely live in one format. A campaign may need a 30-second TV ad, a 20-second VOD version, a 15-second social edit, a 6-second bumper and platform-specific cutdowns.
AI can help teams plan these variations earlier. It can support different opening frames, voiceover options, subtitles, aspect ratios, product shots and calls to action.
This is useful for brands that want consistency across TV, VOD, CTV, YouTube and paid social without creating every asset from scratch. For wider planning, read our guides on how to advertise in TV, what VOD advertising is and AI in advertising.
Where AI Adds the Most Value
AI is strongest at the early and middle stages of TV production. It can help teams explore, compare and refine ideas before final production begins.
It is particularly useful for:
Early concept exploration
Storyboard development
Visual territories
Product mock-ups
Voiceover options
Animatics
Format adaptation
Localised edits
MIT research on generative AI video ads found that AI can reduce video-ad production costs significantly, while also making personalised video campaigns more viable at scale. That does not mean every TV ad should be AI-generated. It means AI can be useful when brands need more creative flexibility without inflating production time.
Common Mistakes When Using AI for TV Ads
AI can make production faster, but it can also create weak creative if used without control. Some AI-generated outputs look polished in a single frame but fail once they need to work as a complete advert.
Common problems include inconsistent characters, strange product details, unnatural movement, weak brand cues and generic visual styles. AI can also make it easier to produce too many versions without a clear reason for each one.
Ipsos research into UK audience attitudes to AI in media shows that people are still forming expectations around how AI should be used. That matters for TV ads because audiences may react badly if AI use feels misleading, low quality or careless.
AI Can Make Production More Efficient
AI can help reduce slow manual work in the creative process. It can support editing, resizing, versioning, background exploration, synthetic voice testing and visual development. This can help teams spend more time on the idea and less time producing basic variations.
Reuters has reported that global firms are using AI to speed up advertising production, including product visuals, campaign optimisation and content creation workflows. For TV advertising, the lesson is clear: AI can improve efficiency, but strategy and creative judgement remain the difference between more output and better output.
What Makes a Good AI-Assisted TV Ad?
A good AI-assisted TV ad should still feel like a good TV ad. It needs a clear idea, strong branding, good pacing and a reason for the viewer to care.
The best AI use is often invisible. The audience does not need to know that AI helped with the storyboard, visual route or cutdown plan. They only need to understand the message, recognise the brand and remember the ad.
“AI can speed up the production process, but it cannot replace taste. In TV, the strongest work still comes from a simple idea, a clear story and creative judgement at every stage.” - Shelby Davis, Senior Growth Manager, One Day Agency
How One Day Agency Can Help
At One Day Agency, AI is used as part of a controlled creative process. We use it to explore scripts, visual worlds, storyboards, animatics and campaign variations across TV, VOD, CTV, YouTube and paid social.
The aim is not to make TV ads look artificially generated. The aim is to make the creative process sharper, faster and more adaptable. From concept development to production and media planning, our teams make sure the campaign works on screen, in the media plan and across the wider customer journey.
See more of our we use AI in our creatives!
References
McKinsey: What AI Could Mean for Film and TV Production
Ipsos: Generative AI and Audiences
MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy: Generative AI and Video Ads
Reuters: Global Firms Use AI to Bring More Ad Work In-House
FAQs
How is AI used in TV advertising?
AI is used to support script development, visual references, storyboards, animatics, voiceover testing, product scenes, cutdowns and campaign variations across TV, VOD, CTV and social video.
Can AI create TV ads?
AI can help create parts of a TV ad, but the final campaign still needs creative direction, production expertise, brand review and media planning. AI should support the process, not replace the idea.
Is AI useful for VOD and CTV advertising?
Yes. AI is useful for adapting video assets across VOD and CTV formats, especially when brands need cutdowns, subtitles, different hooks, product variations or platform-specific edits.
What should brands avoid when using AI in TV ads?
Brands should avoid generic visuals, weak storytelling, poor product accuracy, inconsistent characters and ads that feel artificial. The creative still needs to feel human, credible and brand-specific.
Why work with an agency for AI TV creative?
An agency can combine AI tools with creative direction, production knowledge, compliance, media buying and performance planning. This helps ensure the TV ad is not only fast to produce, but strong enough to work.
