Ten years ago, a commercial production might have been built around one incredible image. Today, that same production could be expected to deliver dozens, sometimes hundreds, of assets across social media, e-commerce, websites, digital advertising, and more.
The demand for content has changed dramatically. But the way brands approach producing it hasn't always kept up.
According to Adam Wilde, CEO of TRG Multimedia, the future of commercial production isn't necessarily about shooting more. It's about getting more out of every shoot.
From One Hero Image to an Entire Content Library
Wilde remembers a commercial shoot from 2016 involving an elaborate set built around a desk submerged in water.
The team constructed the environment, filled it with water, brought in talent, and carefully staged floating papers to create a single image for an insurance campaign.
It was an ambitious production, and all of that work went toward one final shot.
Today, Wilde explains, the approach would look completely different.
That same environment could produce horizontal campaign imagery, vertical social content, video, alternate talent expressions, and supporting assets designed for multiple platforms.
Instead of adapting one image for every application, the production could intentionally capture different content for different audiences.
"I think that's more of what we're trying to achieve today," Wilde explains, emphasizing the importance of engaging customers differently across platforms.
The opportunity is to make every production work harder without compromising the creative.
Why Integrated Commercial Production Matters
As brands expand their content needs, managing production can become increasingly complicated. A single campaign might involve separate teams for photography, video, CGI, editing, retouching, and other creative services.
Each additional vendor introduces another timeline, handoff, and opportunity for miscommunication.
Wilde believes this traditional approach places unnecessary responsibility on already busy marketing teams.
When services are disconnected, the client often becomes responsible for coordinating every moving piece, ensuring deadlines are met and maintaining consistency across deliverables.
Integrated commercial production offers an alternative.
By bringing multiple creative services together under one production partner, brands can streamline communication, coordinate schedules, and create assets simultaneously. At TRG, photography, video, CGI, virtual production, set design, construction, and post-production teams work together throughout the production process.
This allows teams to plan around the complete campaign rather than treating each deliverable as a separate project.
How Can Brands Maximize Their Production Budgets?
For marketers facing growing content demands and limited resources, efficiency has become essential.
Wilde points to the familiar production saying: fast, cheap, and good. Traditionally, you're told to pick two.
But he believes thoughtful planning and strong production partnerships can help brands get closer to achieving all three.
"Don't just settle for fast and cheap," he says.
The key is understanding a brand's content needs before production begins.
Rather than scheduling individual shoots throughout the year, brands can identify opportunities to combine deliverables, share resources, and develop content that serves multiple channels.
For example, a national commercial production could also capture social assets, product photography, and behind-the-scenes content while the crew, talent, and sets are already in place.
The result isn't necessarily a smaller production budget, but it is a more efficient use of that investment.
Planning Is What Makes It Possible
Technology plays an important role in modern production efficiency. Virtual production can reduce the need for location changes, while CGI and AI-assisted workflows can help extend creative assets without requiring additional physical shoots.
But Wilde emphasizes that technology alone isn't the solution.
"That's where you find those efficiencies: in planning and organization."
Understanding the final deliverables, coordinating departments, and working backward from the desired outcome are what make integrated production effective.
When those pieces are aligned, brands can maintain creative consistency while producing more content across more channels.
The Future of Production Is Connected
Commercial production has transformed from just creating a great advertisement to building an entire ecosystem of content around a campaign, with each asset serving a specific purpose. For brands, that means thinking beyond individual deliverables and approaching production as a connected process.
The biggest opportunity isn't simply to make more content. It's to make every production more valuable.
