All costs below are scenario estimates, not market averages. They assume USD, a defined campaign objective, and human review. Media spend is separated because media scale can dwarf production cost.
| Budget tier | Team | Tools | Production quality | Review / legal | Time | Variations | Illustrative total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Owner + freelancer or 1–2 person team | ChatGPT/Claude, Canva/Adobe Express, mobile capture, Descript/CapCut, native ad tools | Real photography/video plus AI-assisted copy, cleanup, backgrounds, resizing | Owner + lightweight checklist; legal escalation for claims/likeness | 1–3 weeks | 10–40 assets | $500–$5,000 production; $300–$5,000 media |
| Mid | Small agency or 3–8 person marketing team | Research model, Firefly/Photoshop, Runway/Veo, editing, CRM and platform tools | Coherent campaign system, controlled synthetic elements, professional edit | Brand, product, claims, privacy, and local review | 3–8 weeks | 30–150 assets | $10,000–$75,000 production; $5,000–$100,000 media |
| High | Brand, agency, studio, post, media, legal, regional teams | Enterprise creative supply chain, custom models, 3D, video/audio tools, experimentation stack | Broadcast/digital/OOH quality with production and provenance system | Formal rights, union/talent, security, privacy, regional and regulatory review | 2–9 months | 100–10,000+ versions | $250,000–$2M+ production; media separate |
Realistic planning budgets
| Project | Scenario estimate | What drives the cost |
|---|---|---|
| Local social campaign | $500–$5,000 production + $300–$5,000 media | Real capture, freelancer time, editing, brand setup, local media |
| Startup product launch | $8,000–$50,000 production + $5,000–$100,000 media | Strategy, photo/video, landing page, creative testing, claims and product accuracy |
| Short AI-assisted commercial | $15,000–$75,000 | Human direction, shot design, model iteration, edit, sound, clearance, disclosure |
| Global campaign | $250,000–$2M+ | Talent, union/voice, production, regional adaptation, systems, legal, media versioning |
| Personalized e-commerce pilot | $25,000–$150,000 + media | Data engineering, segmentation, creative system, QA, experimentation, privacy |
| Virtual influencer campaign | $50,000–$250,000 launch + $5,000–$50,000/month | Character development, model/asset system, community management, partnerships, safety |
| Interactive AI brand experience | $50,000–$300,000 pilot | UX, model/agent integration, grounding, moderation, security, analytics, traffic |
Budget discipline:
- Put a cap on generation credits and a separate cap on human review.
- Price clearance, localization, accessibility, and takedown/rollback before generation.
- Retain the original and selected outputs; do not keep paying for unbounded experimentation.
- If the campaign needs a real person’s face, voice, or story, price the relationship before the model.
- Treat model and platform fees as variable operating costs, not a replacement for production labor.
Follow the evidence
This chapter comes from the September research notebook. Linked sources and qualifications remain attached to the claims.
Open all sources and footnotes →