For years, the goal of a commercial or promotional shoot was to deliver a polished final product.
The audience saw the finished commercial, the carefully composed product photography or the latest campaign, while everything that went into creating it remained behind the scenes (BTS).
That is starting to change.
Brands are increasingly sharing what happened during the production. From behind the scenes footage of commercial shoots to social media content showing how product videos and promotional photography are created, the process itself is becoming part of the story.
And in an era where AI generated content is becoming more sophisticated, there is a growing reason for brands to show their audience what is real.
The rise of behind the scenes content
Look at how major brands such as Nike and Apple approach their social media presence.
Alongside their polished campaigns, audiences can encounter glimpses of the creative process, production environments and the people responsible for bringing an idea to life.
Whether shared shortly before or after a major campaign launches, this supporting content gives audiences another way to connect with the work. It moves beyond the final commercial and offers a look at the effort, creativity and people behind it. It becomes about the people!
A beautifully produced commercial might capture someone’s attention, but seeing the crew setting up a shot, a product being prepared or a director working with talent adds another layer of authenticity.
The audience is no longer just watching an advertisement. They are getting a glimpse into how it was made.
AI has changed what audiences expect
Artificial intelligence has introduced exciting opportunities for businesses and marketers. It can help generate concepts, accelerate creative development and support a wide range of production tasks. Used thoughtfully, it can be a valuable tool.
However, as AI generated images and video become increasingly convincing, audiences are also becoming more conscious of what they see online. Is that product actually being used?
Was that location real? Are those people real, and did that interaction genuinely happen?
For brands built on quality, craftsmanship, customer experience and trust, these questions matter.
Behind the scenes content offers a way to provide context. Showing a real product on set, a photographer capturing a specific detail or a team working through a production demonstrates the people and process behind the finished asset.
The opportunity for franchise brands
For franchise businesses, this trend presents an opportunity that extends well beyond a national advertising campaign.
Consider a restaurant franchise launching a new menu item. The finished commercial might feature carefully styled food, professional lighting and cinematic camera movements. It is designed to make the product look appealing and encourage customers to visit.
Now imagine the additional content that could accompany it.
A short video showing the food stylist preparing the dish. A photographer capturing the final product. A camera operator working to get the perfect close up. A glimpse of the restaurant team preparing for the shoot.
Each piece tells a different part of the story while reinforcing that there are real people and real products behind the brand.
The same approach works across almost every franchise category. A fitness franchise can show trainers working on a campaign. A home services brand can document a real installation. A beauty franchise can share the preparation behind a product shoot. A retail brand can introduce the creative team responsible for its latest promotional photography.
These moments can become valuable social media assets in their own right, extending the life of a production beyond the main commercial.
For franchisors, this is particularly useful because content can serve multiple purposes. A national campaign can generate the primary advertising asset, while behind the scenes footage, photography and short-form clips provide additional material for social media, franchisee marketing and ongoing brand storytelling.
Authenticity is about more than avoiding AI
It would be easy to view this trend as a reaction against artificial intelligence, but the bigger opportunity is authenticity.
People have always been interested in how things are made. Behind the scenes content gives audiences access to a process they would not normally see. It introduces personality, reveals the work involved and makes a large brand feel a little more human.
For franchise systems, that human element is especially important. Customers may recognize the logo, the advertising campaign or the product, but their relationship with the brand is ultimately shaped by the people and experiences they encounter.
Showing the people behind the brand helps bridge that gap.
It also provides an opportunity to demonstrate the care and attention that go into delivering a consistent product or service. Rather than simply telling customers that quality matters, brands can show the effort that supports that promise.
Of course, behind the scenes content must be genuine to deliver that benefit. If it is staged or presented in a misleading way, it can undermine the very trust it is meant to build.
Every production can tell more than one story
One of the biggest missed opportunities in commercial production is treating the finished video or photography as the only deliverable that matters.
A production day creates opportunities to capture much more than the original brief requires.
With a little planning, a commercial shoot can also produce short vertical videos, team introductions, production stills, informal interviews and behind the scenes clips.
These assets do not need the same level of polish as the main campaign. In fact, their appeal often comes from feeling more immediate and less rehearsed.
The key is to plan for them from the beginning. Assign someone to capture supporting footage, identify moments worth sharing and consider how the additional content will be used across the brand’s social channels.
For franchise brands managing multiple locations, this approach can help turn a single production into a more comprehensive content library, giving franchisees and corporate marketing teams more opportunities to communicate with their audiences.
The future of brand content is both polished and real
AI will continue to influence how brands develop and distribute content. It will create new efficiencies and open creative possibilities that were once out of reach for many businesses.
But that does not eliminate the value of real people, physical products, genuine experiences and the creative teams who bring campaigns to life.
If anything, the ability to show the process behind a finished piece of content may become an increasingly valuable way to distinguish a brand.
The commercial still matters. The product photography still matters. The quality of the final campaign still matters.
What is changing is the recognition that the story does not have to end when production wraps.
For franchise brands, the next campaign should not just ask what the audience will see when the advertisement launches. It should also ask what they can share about the people, process and creativity that made it possible.
Because sometimes, showing how the story was made can be just as compelling as the story itself.
Key takeaways
- As AI generated images and video become increasingly convincing, audiences are growing more conscious of what they see online, making genuine behind the scenes content a meaningful way for brands to demonstrate authenticity.
- A single production day can generate far more than the main commercial – short vertical videos, team introductions, production stills and informal interviews – if supporting footage is planned for from the beginning.
- For franchise brands specifically, behind the scenes content from a national campaign can double as material for social media, franchisee marketing and ongoing brand storytelling at the local level.
- Behind the scenes content must be genuine to deliver its benefit – if it is staged or presented in a misleading way, it risks undermining the very trust it is meant to build.
- The opportunity is not simply a reaction against AI but a deeper one around authenticity – showing the people and process behind a brand helps bridge the gap between a recognizable logo and the people and experiences that ultimately shape customers’ relationship with the brand.
