The Creative Concept in Advertising Film
- cuadroveinticuatro
- Jun 11
- 3 min read
All audiovisual projects require a conceptual phase before production—whether developing a commercial spot or a feature film.
This creative concept, which goes through several development stages, results from intense collaboration among audiovisual specialists, advertising agencies, and brands (the advertisers).
Javi Inglés nos habla desde su experiencia de esta apasionante oficio y de las claves que debe conocer todo el que empieza en él.
Analysis: The First Phase of the Creative Concept
Before the brainstorming session, we need key information—which ideally you already have:
What exactly is the product or company?
What does the product or company represent?
How does it stand out from others?
Who is your target audience?
What is your project’s goal (product launch, image campaign, branding, etc.)?
In short: develop a thorough brief that goes beyond just the technical aspects of an audiovisual product.
Audiovisual Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a classic creative technique for generating successful ideas—it’s not the only method, but it’s among the most used. In an audiovisual project, the visual concept draws references from similar campaigns, competitors, and especially from art.
On the exciting journey of conceiving an idea, these visions are often reviewed, discarded, and modified until a core visual idea emerges as the recognizable “guiding thread” in the creative concept.
Each team has its path to arrive at the creative result, but the most important outcome is that people believe the brand’s promise—and that the brand can deliver on it.
Visualizing Brainstorming Results
All the ideas we generate must be visualized. To achieve this, the audiovisual director provides creative feedback based on all the inputs received, and in this presentation, they cover every area of production and execution.
With the concept in hand, you can take any creative direction—without it, there's no advertising communication: no radio, no TV, no outdoor media. That’s why strategy needs a concept—a clear “what”—to build something bigger than just an idea. To visualize it, you need references—but not copying.
Especially during visualization, the creative concept benefits from speculation. It’s the moment to put the entire visual and creative idea into a “visual feedback” presentation—where you can still ask the famous “What if…?”
In this visual feedback, we’ll see the look and feel of the commercial piece to be produced, as well as production design—for example, whether it’s cost-effective. One thing is certain: agencies and clients will always expect the final execution to be equal or superior to what they saw in the visual feedback.
This special creative process continues to stimulate ideas until the script or first draft is finalized. In this way, the entire creative team works increasingly closer to the completed creative concept.
Writing the First Script or Commercial Draft
The entire visual concept is summarized in a synopsis.
This early commercial draft outlines the approximate storyline. Next comes the treatment, where individual scenes are broken down, and plot arcs become visible. Yes—even commercials have dramatic arcs.
This phase is exciting for clients and agencies because it provides the first tangible glimpse of the advertising project design. Fascinating, isn’t it?
Then, the audiovisual director or copywriter creates the full script (also called screenplay or technical script). This script represents the culmination of the creative concept and marks a turning point—the pillar upon which all subsequent strategies rest.
If you already have a solid concept and, as an agency, only need the script to present to your clients, our directors are available. Our job is to transform ideas into business solutions, laying the foundation for your commercial project’s success.
Brief & Powerful: The Value of the Concept
The concept isn’t math—it can fail. That’s why it must be thoroughly questioned and tested to know where it’s likely to work. A concept may be expensive to execute, but if it’s the best one, it can transform a company’s outcomes. Don’t be afraid to invest in it. First comes the concept, then the creativity—because ideas are easy, but relevance isn’t.
The concept is the core and backbone of a company’s communication. It’s the driving force behind digital communication—not just ATL advertising.
Multichannel Creative Concept
Once the creative concept has been expressed in a cinema or TV commercial, it also strengthens other crucial communication channels, like website videos and social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube).
It all starts with the audiovisual director, who, from the moment the concept emerges, knows that the style shown in the footage will become the brand’s visual voice. That means the script must be holistic—covering not just one piece, but the brand as a whole.
The art lies in adapting the commercial to each specific channel without losing expressiveness. That way, the brand or product arrives with equal or greater impact across all channels simultaneously, maximizing reach.
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