How to Brief an AI Ad Tool So Ads Stay on Brand

You type "make an ad for my new product" into an AI tool and get back something polished, generic and slightly wrong. The colours are off, the offer is vague and the caption sounds like every other brand. The tool didn't fail. It guessed, because you gave it nothing to work from.

A good brief fixes most of this. Here is what to hand over, a sample brief you can copy, and how to review what comes back. None of it depends on one tool.

What to give the tool

Think of the AI as a fast freelancer who has never met your business. Seven things cover almost every ad.

1. A clean product photo. One clear shot on a plain background, well lit, with the product filling most of the frame. A messy photo gives you a messy ad, because every layout is built around it. If you only have a busy shot, retake it before you brief anything.
2. Your brand kit. Logo, up to six colours, the fonts you use and a one-sentence voice, such as "warm, a little cheeky, never pushy". Without this, the tool picks its own look.
3. Who the buyer is. Not "everyone in Malaysia". Say "parents in Klang who never find a free Saturday to wash the car". The more specific the person, the more specific the copy.
4. One offer. One product, one price or deal, one action. An ad that tries to sell the range, the discount and the loyalty card sells none of them.
5. Proof you can stand behind. Something true and checkable: an award you won, a review you can screenshot, a before-and-after photo of real work. If you have no proof, say so and leave it out. Don't let the tool invent some.
6. Words to avoid. Competitor names, claims you can't back up, slang your audience dislikes, words your industry regulator frowns on. This list does more work than most people expect.
7. The platform. Instagram feed, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn each want a different shape and tone. Common ratios are 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16 for most social placements, and 1.91:1 for link-style images. Tell the tool where the ad will live so it frames the image correctly.

If your tool can also write in English, Chinese or Malay, say which one. Say who the audience is for each, too. Write the Malay caption for Malay readers, and don't just translate the English one. In Dubai or Abu Dhabi, a business might post in Arabic as well as English, and the same rule applies.

A sample brief

Say you run a car detailing workshop in Klang called Kilat Auto Care. This is an invented example, but the shape works for any business.

• Product: a full interior and exterior clean for one car. Photo attached: a just-cleaned car in the bay, daylight, no props.
• Brand kit: logo attached. Colours: charcoal, white, one bright yellow for buttons and highlights. Voice: straight-talking, a bit playful, short sentences. No shouting in capitals.
• Buyer: working parents and young professionals in Klang and Shah Alam, mostly 25 to 45, who would rather not spend a weekend washing the car.
• Offer: RM80 for a full clean, with free pickup and drop-off in Klang on weekdays. Action: book on WhatsApp before 9pm for next-day pickup.
• Proof: before-and-after photos of cars we cleaned last month, shot on our own phone. Two customer reviews attached with permission.
• Words to avoid: "best in Klang", "like new", any competitor name, "cheap".
• Platform: Instagram feed in 4:5, plus one 9:16 version. English caption first, then a Malay version.
• Ask: give me four different versions. Change the headline and the image crop between them, and keep the offer the same.

That last line matters. When you ask for four versions that differ in one or two things, you can compare them. When you ask for four random ads, you can only pick the one you like.

How to review the drafts

Read every draft as if a stranger wrote it and you will be the one answering the complaints. Check four things, in this order.

Facts

Price, delivery area, opening hours, dates, product names and spelling. AI tools are confident about details they have made up. Check every number against your own price list, not against the draft.

Claims

This is where a small slip becomes a real problem. Say you run a skincare brand in Dubai Marina. A draft that says "clears acne in seven days" or "removes wrinkles" makes a promise you probably can't prove. Health, skincare, aesthetics, dental and financial claims are the risky ones, because regulators and the ad platforms watch them closely. Rules differ by country and product, so check what applies to you before the ad goes out.

A safe habit: for any claim about a result, ask yourself this.

Can I show evidence for this if someone asks tomorrow?

If the answer is no, rewrite it as something you can show, such as an ingredient you actually use or what the product feels like. Also watch for invented testimonials and fake urgency like "only 3 left" when your stock is fine.

Tone

Read the caption aloud. Does it sound like you? If you told the tool "friendly, a bit playful" and it wrote "a showroom shine like no other", rewrite it. Cut anything you would never say across the counter. Check the Malay or Chinese version with a native speaker, because tone slips most in translation.

The image

Look closely at the product. Is it the real product, or did the tool change the shape, the label or the colour? Check hands, text on packaging, logos and any background detail. Check that the crop doesn't cut off the offer. Then check the logo against your kit, because a slightly wrong logo is a quick way to look careless.

Why a person approves every ad

An AI tool doesn't know your stock, your licences, your customers or your regulator. It can't be held to account for a wrong claim. You can.

Approval is the step where your knowledge goes back into the work. It is also where you catch the odd error that no checklist predicts. Treat the draft as a first version from a fast assistant, edit it, and only then let it go live. If your tool offers to publish without asking you, switch that off.

Where Marvis fits

Marvis, our AI tool at OmniNexus, works this way. The headline on our site is "Craft your winning ads with just a chat", and the hero demo shows the idea: Marvis turns a product photo, a brand kit and market research into four scored ads for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn. The scores in that demo are illustrative. They don't predict clicks or sales, so use them as one more thing to look at, not a verdict. You edit the drafts, then approve them, and Marvis publishes each one on its date. You can set up your brand by answering six short questions or letting it read your social profiles, then adding your logo and up to six colours. It is built for real estate agents first, but the briefing habits above apply to any business.

Your next step

Before you open any AI tool this week, write the brief on paper. Seven lines:

1. Photo
2. Brand kit
3. Buyer
4. Offer
5. Proof
6. Words to avoid
7. Platform

Then run it through your tool of choice and review the first draft against the four checks. If you want to see how Marvis handles a brief, start here.