AI TV Ads for UK Startups: A Practical Playbook

A UK challenger brand just used an AI-generated TV ad to launch in a channel most startups ignore because it feels “too expensive” and “too slow.” That brand is Freja Bone Broth, and according to Campaign, it’s also the founding client for a new agency called Scary Robots—a telling name for a very real shift in how early-stage brands can buy attention.

Most startups think the choice is simple: performance marketing online (fast, measurable) versus TV (brand-building, pricey, hard to attribute). The reality? AI creative tools are shrinking the cost and time barriers that used to make TV unrealistic for small teams—especially when you can create, test, and iterate creative faster than traditional production cycles.

This post is part of our AI Tools for UK Small Business series, focused on how practical AI adoption changes marketing outcomes. Freja’s TV debut is a useful case study—not because everyone should rush onto linear TV tomorrow, but because it shows how to combine AI-driven creative with a classic awareness channel and still keep startup economics in mind.

What Freja’s AI TV launch really signals

Answer first: Freja’s campaign signals that TV is becoming more accessible to startups when creative production is sped up by AI and managed with modern, test-and-learn discipline.

Freja Bone Broth’s launch on TV with an AI ad (as reported by Campaign) matters because it lands at the intersection of three trends UK founders are living through in 2026:

1. Rising paid social costs: Many teams are seeing weaker returns from the same Meta/Google budgets due to competition and saturation.
2. Creative fatigue: The bottleneck isn’t always media spend—it’s producing enough strong creative to keep performance channels working.
3. AI-assisted production: AI tools now make it possible to generate concepts, scripts, storyboards, and sometimes entire video executions faster and cheaper.

TV has always been about reach and credibility. When a new brand shows up on television—especially in a category like food and wellness—consumers often read it as: “They’re legit.” The contrarian point is this: TV can be a conversion channel too, but only if you build the measurement and landing experience to catch demand.

The hidden advantage: speed, not novelty

AI in advertising isn’t valuable because it’s trendy. It’s valuable because it reduces cycle time.

If you can go from:

• initial creative angle →
• script options →
• rough cut →
• compliance checks →
• variant testing

…in days instead of weeks, you can treat TV creative more like paid social creative: iterative and responsive.

When TV makes sense for a startup (and when it doesn’t)

Answer first: TV makes sense when you have a clear positioning, a product people can understand quickly, and the ability to capture the demand TV creates. It doesn’t make sense if you’re still guessing who you’re for.

TV is unforgiving if you don’t know your audience or your message. A 30-second spot amplifies what’s already true about your marketing—good or bad.

Here’s a practical filter I’ve found useful for UK startups considering TV alongside AI tools.

A quick readiness checklist

You’re closer to “TV-ready” if you can confidently answer these:

• Positioning: Can you explain what you sell in one sentence that doesn’t need jargon?
• Offer: Do you have an obvious next step (trial pack, starter bundle, subscription discount)?
• Fulfilment: Can you handle a spike in orders without delays that trigger refunds?
• Landing page: Is there a dedicated TV landing page with a clean URL, fast load, and one goal?
• Measurement: Do you have at least one attribution method (unique code, vanity URL, MMM-lite, time-based lift)?

If you can’t tick most of these, the issue isn’t “TV is too expensive.” The issue is your funnel isn’t ready for attention.

The January factor: why timing matters right now

It’s January 2026. Wellness categories often see heightened intent after the holidays—new routines, health resets, subscription experimentation. For brands like bone broth (often positioned around nutrition, gut health, or convenience), Q1 can be a high-leverage awareness window.

This is also when many teams run “fresh start” creative. AI helps here because you can generate multiple angles (taste, convenience, health routines, ingredients, origin story) and pick the one that resonates.

How to build an AI-assisted TV ad without losing brand trust

Answer first: Use AI to accelerate ideation and production, but keep humans in charge of claims, tone, and final approvals—especially in regulated categories.

A common worry is that AI-made ads feel cheap or uncanny. That’s not inevitable. The best results usually come from a workflow where AI does what it’s good at (drafting, variation, speed), and people do what they’re good at (judgement, taste, compliance).

A startup-friendly workflow (that actually ships)

1) Start with one clear promise

Don’t open with five benefits. Pick one. For a food/wellness product, it might be “warming, nourishing convenience” or “restaurant-quality at home.”

2) Use AI for volume, not finality

Generate:

• 10 headline options
• 5 opening lines
• 3 different structures (problem/solution, routine, founder story)

Then kill 80% quickly. Speed is the advantage.

3) Build three creative routes, not one

If you only make one spot, you’re betting the campaign on a single idea. Build three routes, each with a different “why buy.”

Example routes for a DTC food brand:

• Routine route: “Your 3pm slump fix”
• Ingredient route: “Made from real bones, slow-cooked” (watch claims)
• Convenience route: “Heat, pour, done”

4) Protect credibility with human checks

If you’re in anything adjacent to health, be strict:

• Avoid exaggerated claims.
• Keep ingredient and nutrition statements precise.
• Ensure voiceover and on-screen visuals match reality.

5) Use AI to create variants for different placements

TV isn’t one thing anymore. You may run variations across linear, BVOD/AVOD, and online video. Use AI tools to adapt:

• 30s → 20s → 10s cutdowns
• different CTAs
• different first 3 seconds (the “pattern interrupt”)

A useful rule: AI should help you make more versions of the truth, not fabricate a better truth.

Measuring TV like a startup (not like a big brand)

Answer first: You can measure TV impact well enough to make decisions by combining time-based lift, unique response mechanisms, and disciplined experimentation.

Perfect attribution is a fantasy across most channels. What you need is decision-grade measurement.

Three practical measurement methods

1) Vanity URL + dedicated landing page

Use a memorable URL mentioned in the ad (or a QR code where appropriate). Your landing page should:

• load fast
• repeat the TV message
• show the offer immediately
• minimise navigation

2) Time-based lift analysis

Track site sessions, branded search, and direct traffic spikes during and after spots. You’re looking for patterns:

• immediate lift in direct traffic
• same-day lift in branded search
• assisted conversions over 1–7 days

3) Regional tests (if you can buy regionally)

Run TV in one region and hold out another similar region. Compare:

• branded search volume
• conversion rate
• repeat visits

You don’t need a PhD in econometrics. You need consistency and a willingness to run clean tests.

The mistake founders make

Founders often judge TV by last-click ROAS standards. That’s the wrong yardstick.

TV’s job in a startup mix is usually to:

• increase brand search
• lift conversion rates on existing paid channels
• reduce reliance on discounting

If your paid social CPA drops after TV, TV helped—even if TV didn’t get “credit.”

Practical lessons UK startups can steal from Freja’s move

Answer first: Treat AI as a speed and iteration engine, and treat TV as an attention amplifier—then connect them with a measurable funnel.

Freja’s launch is a reminder that startups don’t have to wait until they’re huge to act like a brand. They just need a plan that respects constraints.

Five actions to take this month

1. Write your TV-ready one-liner. If it takes more than one sentence, keep editing.
2. Create three creative routes with AI (scripts + shot lists). Pick one to produce first.
3. Build a TV landing page with a single goal and one clear offer.
4. Set up measurement: vanity URL, code, and a simple time-based lift dashboard.
5. Plan your second spot before the first runs. The advantage of AI creative is iteration—use it.

People also ask (and the real answers)

Is an AI TV ad cheaper to make? Often, yes—because ideation, scripting, and pre-production can be accelerated. But you can still spend a lot if you overcomplicate production or chase cinematic perfection.

Will TV work for B2B startups? Sometimes. It’s rarer, but it can work for broad-audience B2B (finance, HR, cybersecurity) if the message is simple and the targeting via BVOD is smart.

Should we do TV before we’ve nailed Meta ads? If you can’t convert warm traffic reliably, TV will expose the weakness faster. Fix the basics first.

A better way to think about AI ads in 2026

AI ads aren’t a shortcut to persuasion. They’re a shortcut to throughput. That changes what small teams can attempt—and TV is one of the channels that opens up when creative production stops being the bottleneck.

Freja Bone Broth’s AI TV launch (via Campaign) is a neat signal for UK founders: brand-building channels aren’t reserved for the biggest budgets anymore. They’re reserved for teams that can move fast, stay coherent, and measure sensibly.

If you’re working through our AI Tools for UK Small Business series, consider this your push to think beyond social-only growth. Where could one strong awareness push make every other channel perform better—and what would you need in place to capture that demand?