Creative Specs
Part of CTV campaign budgets
Budgeting for creative production and media separately
Price the CTV ad versions a booking needs, protect the media allocation and approve changes to each budget line separately.
Approve CTV creative production and media as separate budget lines. Production covers the ad versions and files needed for booked placements. Media covers buying eligible impressions. Separate lines show the amount available for delivery and the cost of a creative change before it affects the campaign.
Separate Budgeting Workflow for CTV Creative and Media
- Price each creative deliverable separatelyInclude concept, script, edits, voice-over, captions, end cards, delivery files, rights and handover
- Define maximum payable media and buying costConfirm if fees for platform, data, agency, serving and verification are included
- Establish separate approval gates for creative and mediaApprove changes only with full cost and timeline impact disclosure
- Track actual spend vs. plan and retain recordsUse invoice comparisons and maintain reusable asset costs for future planning
Price the actual deliverables
Start with the placements under consideration and obtain their current requirements. List the master video, required edits, on-screen wording, voice-over, caption treatment, end cards and delivery files or tags. Ask the producer to price each deliverable, included review rounds and any correction work. Record who supplies footage, music and artwork, and which usage permissions and handover files need agreement.
Do not budget every conceivable version. Nine’s published 9Now in-stream specification lists a 15-second maximum for shortform, a 30-second maximum for longform and asset submission at least five business days before launch.
Amazon Ads lists 15, 20, 30, 40 and 60 seconds for Australian Prime Video inventory on its specification page. These are different supplier paths, not universal CTV rules. Neither page prices production or confirms that a particular placement is bookable.
Production line / What to specify in the quote
- Concept and script
- Message, approvals and included revisions
- Video and audio
- Source material, edit, sound and voice-over
- Versions
- Durations, wording, captions and end cards required by each placement
- Delivery
- Exports or tags, checks, submission and correction rounds
- Rights and handover
- Agreed usage and final files
An existing ad may need adaptation and checks; a new shoot should have an identified need.
Protect the media amount
State the maximum payable media and buying cost for the agreed inventory, audience and dates. Confirm whether platform, data, agency, serving and verification fees sit inside that amount. Display & Video 360 publishes help content on revenue models, so the proposal must identify the cost basis it uses.
Give any paid study or specialist reporting its own measurement line. Keep any reserve uncommitted until a named person approves its use.
An invented A$18,000 worksheet could allocate A$3,000 to a main ad, A$1,000 to adaptations and delivery, A$12,000 to media and included buying fees, A$1,000 to measurement and A$1,000 to reserve. These are not supplier prices or recommended proportions.
Approve changes at the boundary
Set separate sign-off points for creative and media booking. If another edit is requested, show its price and effect on the start date. If the inventory changes, check whether the approved asset still fits.
Require approval before moving money between lines, and update the total forecast. At close, compare production invoices with deliverables and media charges with the agreed buy. Keep a reusable asset’s production cost visible when planning a later campaign.
