Free Resource
AI Advertising Glossary
The vocabulary of AI-produced ad creative, defined in plain language and kept free of claims.
Planning guide Written by the studio from its own practice; where it states a view, the view is the studio's. It cites no third-party research and attributes no performance figures to the studio.
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The terms below are the ones a marketer meets when briefing AI-produced advertising, defined the way Unreal Media Group uses them in a scope. Each definition says what the term means and, where it matters, what it does not. Nothing here rates a tool or promises a result; where a term touches platform rules, the definition says to verify the current rule at upload. Related reading: what an AI advertising agency does, the creative testing framework, how much ad creative you actually need and Meta ad creative specs.
What's included
- Production, performer, format, testing, commercial and specification terms
- Each definition says what the term means and what it does not
- No tool is rated and no result is promised
- Platform rules are marked as things to verify at upload
Production terms
- Generative production
- Making the frames of an ad with generative models rather than a camera, then editing, scoring and grading them like footage.
- Directed by people
- The working rule that concept, script, composition, performance, cut, grade and every approval are human decisions, with the machine producing frames only.
- Look development
- The pass that sets an ad's visual world against the brand's guidelines and product references before frames are produced in volume.
- Reference review
- Checking generated frames for product, label, proportion and material accuracy against approved references before delivery.
- Master and cutdown
- The full-length, full-frame version of a spot, and the shorter or re-framed versions cut from it for other placements.
Performer and rights terms
- Synthetic performer
- An on-camera person who does not exist, generated for the piece and disclosed as artificial.
- AI persona
- A synthetic performer with a consistent identity, voice and style, kept across pieces; always identified as artificial.
- Likeness rights
- The permission required to use a real person's face, voice or identity; at Unreal a separate, explicit engagement agreed in writing.
- Disclosure
- Telling the audience, and where required the platform, that a performer or scene is synthetic; the specific requirement for a brief is recorded in the scope and applied at upload, because platform rules change.
- Usage rights
- What the brand may do with the finished files, for how long and where; defined in the engagement agreement.
Format terms
- Creator-style UGC
- The direct-to-camera, feed-native ad format that resembles user-generated content; at Unreal, performed by synthetic performers who are disclosed as synthetic.
- Cinematic brand film
- A scored, graded spot with a story arc, built for TV, pre-roll and paid social.
- Product film
- Product-led motion built on macro detail and studio light, often loopable and silent-safe.
- Image ad
- A still for the feed, the site, display or a product page.
- Bumper
- A six-second non-skippable YouTube spot.
- In-stream
- A video ad that plays before or during a YouTube video, skippable or not.
- Shorts, Reels, Stories
- The full-screen vertical placements on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
- CTV
- Connected TV, the streaming ad break on a television screen; full-screen, sound-on and non-skippable.
- OTT
- Over-the-top streaming delivered over the internet rather than broadcast; in ad buying often used interchangeably with CTV.
Testing and measurement terms
- Performance creative
- Ad creative made to be measured in the account rather than judged on its own, planned as testable variables.
- Creative testing
- Running deliberately varied versions of an ad against a control so a difference in outcome can be attributed to a creative decision.
- Hook
- The opening seconds of a piece, where the viewer decides whether to keep watching.
- Opening frame
- The first still frame, which carries the whole argument for viewers who never press play.
- Angle
- The argument a piece makes for the product; a variable in a test.
- Control
- The version the variations are measured against.
- Iteration
- The next batch, built from what the last batch showed.
- Read-only reporting access
- Permission to see an account's results without the ability to change anything; at Unreal, revocable by the client and the only account access involved.
Commercial terms
- AI content production studio
- What Unreal Media Group calls itself: a managed team that makes advertising creative with generative tools under human direction, without a shoot, and hands the finished files to whoever runs the brand's media. Not a software product, and not a media agency: it does not buy or manage media.
- Scope
- The written document naming formats, variations, ratios, delivery date, review steps, rights and a fixed price, approved before production.
- Scoped project
- An engagement paid at that fixed price.
- Performance Partnership
- Unreal's invitation-only model, in which the studio produces at its own cost and is paid on the spend the brand puts behind work that performs; terms agreed in writing per account and not published.
- Media buying
- Purchasing and managing ad placements; not something Unreal does.
- Production studio versus agency
- A studio makes the creative and hands it to whoever runs the media; a full-service agency makes the creative and runs the media too.
Platform and specification terms
- Aspect ratio
- The proportion of a frame, written width to height; 9:16 vertical, 4:5 and 1:1 for feeds, 16:9 widescreen.
- Safe zone
- The area of a frame the platform's interface does not cover; confirm current dimensions against the platform's own documentation.
- Sound-off
- The default state of most feed impressions, which is why captions and the opening frame carry the message.
- Caption track
- The text version of the script, burned in or supplied as a file.
- Delivery specification
- The frame size, frame rate, codec, loudness and slate a platform or broadcaster requires; varies by partner and is named in the scope.
In practice
The service this guide supports: AI advertising agency.
More free resources
Frequently asked questions
What is AI UGC?
Creator-style ad content produced with synthetic, disclosed performers, voices or scenes rather than filmed real creators. At Unreal Media Group the performers are synthetic by default and disclosed as synthetic.
What is a synthetic performer?
An on-camera person who does not exist, generated for the piece and identified as artificial. Distinct from a real person's likeness, which needs explicit rights.
What is performance creative?
Ad creative made to be measured in the ad account rather than judged on its own, planned as isolated variables and produced in batches so the account can attribute a result to a decision.
What is generative production?
Making the frames of an ad with generative models instead of a camera, then treating them like footage: selected, cut, scored, graded, captioned and sized, with every craft decision made by a person.
What is CTV ad creative?
The commercial that runs in streaming ad breaks on connected televisions: a full-screen, sound-on, non-skippable 16:9 spot, typically 15 or 30 seconds, finished to a delivery specification.
What is creative testing?
Running deliberately varied versions of an ad against a control so that a difference in outcome can be attributed to a specific creative decision, then using that read to plan the next batch.
What is a hook in an ad?
The opening seconds, where a viewer decides whether to keep watching. In a test it is one of the variables most often isolated.
What is the difference between an AI advertising agency and an AI ad tool?
A tool is software the brand's team operates: it writes the prompts, judges the output and formats the result. An agency or studio takes those responsibilities on as a managed team with creative judgment attached.
What is a Performance Partnership?
Unreal Media Group's invitation-only model: the studio produces at its own cost, the brand tests in its own ad account, and the studio is paid on the spend the brand puts behind work that performs. Terms are agreed in writing per account and are not published.
What is read-only reporting access?
Permission to view an ad account's results without the ability to change anything. At Unreal it is the only account access involved in an engagement, and the client can revoke it.
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