Client's binding specifications for tone, style, brand codes, and legal limits — must be complete before shooting. No surprises in post.
Advertising Guidelines
Before you touch a camera, you sit down with the client and clarify the rules of engagement. Advertising guidelines are the foundation of every production — not annoying bureaucracy, but your compass. The client is afraid you'll damage their brand. Your job: to prove the opposite.
In practice, this means concretely: The client specifies which color tones, music styles, and voice types are allowed. Sometimes you're presented with a brand book — a thick document with logo sizes, Pantone codes, and visual language specifications. Sometimes someone from marketing sits next to you and tells you which actor seems too "edgy." This isn't personal. It's their safeguard. You need to understand this to avoid surprises in the edit.
The legal side is just as important: Can I show competing products? Which claims are substantiated, which are not? This becomes tricky in B2B — promises in the spot that the lawyer later curbs. Therefore: All guidelines must be established BEFORE the shooting schedule. Don't improvise afterward. It costs time, money, and nerves.
On set itself, it gets practical: You check your settings against the guidelines. Does the color temperature match the brand? Does the performer seem authentic or too sold? Some agencies provide you with mood boards — perfect. Then you know exactly in which direction the look should go. For more abstract specifications ("modern, but trustworthy"), you have to interpret and get approval yourself. Do tests. Show rough cuts. Get feedback BEFORE you have 80 takes in the can.
A common mistake: Underestimating how seriously the brand codes are meant. A wrong color cast can mean your entire shooting day has to be reshot. Or the spot gets corrected to death in post. Also with sound — if the customer says "no aggressive bass," it's not because they're picky, but because it contradicts their positioning. Respect that. The best advertisement is not the most artistically interesting — it's the one that works AND protects the brand.
Checklist for you: All guidelines in writing before shooting begins? Color grading specifications clarified? Music style agreed upon? Casting approved? Sound design parameters (volume, tonality) documented? Then you're safe.