One proposal arrives with a striking mood board. Another contains a modest written treatment and a clear explanation of the interviews. It is easy to favour the presentation that feels closest to a finished film, even when the less decorative proposal answers the brief more convincingly.
A creative proposal should help you understand the film a supplier intends to make and why that approach suits your audience. Assess that argument separately from the presentation. The purpose is not to remove judgement from a creative decision, but to make the reasons for your choice visible.
Give every concept the same job
Start with a short reference statement that evaluators can keep beside each proposal: the priority audience, the question the film must answer and the action or understanding it should support. Keep it specific enough to test.
For example, “show our capability” is difficult to evaluate. “Help commercial property clients understand how we coordinate a refurbishment around an occupied building” gives a concept something definite to achieve.
This sits within the broader marketing choices about customers, goals and channels outlined in business.gov.au's marketing-plan guidance. The creative comparison starts once those choices are sufficiently clear. If different stakeholders are silently judging different audiences, settle that issue before voting on treatments.
Describe the proposed viewing experience in plain language
Ask each supplier to explain what the viewer will encounter. How does the film begin? Whose account carries it? What will the audience see that supports the explanation? What should become clearer by the end?
You do not need a finished script at the selection stage. You need enough detail to distinguish an interview-led project story from a visual montage, a narrator-led explanation or another genuinely different approach. A list of adjectives such as cinematic, premium and engaging will not establish that distinction.
Treat reference films and mood images as illustrations of an intention. Ask which feature is relevant: pacing, framing, use of a speaker or a particular relationship between words and pictures. Do not assume every feature of a reference is included, affordable or achievable at your location.
Test the idea against the evidence you actually have
A concept may depend on a client agreeing to speak, access to a specific stage of work or approved earlier footage. Mark those dependencies before choosing the treatment. A persuasive story outline can still rest on evidence that does not exist or cannot be published.
For each central claim, ask what the proposed film would use to support it. If the evidence is only an unrelated image, consider whether the audience could infer something untrue. Where the film needs a technical explanation, identify the person who can check its meaning rather than letting the creative presentation settle the fact.
This is also where a restrained approach can outperform an elaborate one. A clear first-hand account supported by relevant detail may answer the buyer's question more directly than an ambitious sequence with no confirmed access.
Copy the creative evaluation card
Complete a separate card for each treatment. Keep commercial pricing separate; this card evaluates the idea.
| Test | What to write down |
|---|---|
| Audience connection | How the opening makes the project relevant to the intended viewer |
| Core explanation | The specific understanding the concept should produce |
| Evidence route | Which speaker, location or approved material supports that explanation |
| Creative contribution | What the approach adds beyond a generic collection of shots |
| Critical assumption | The dependency most likely to change the concept |
| Fallback | How the story works if that dependency is unavailable |
| Viewing destination | Whether the proposed approach suits the agreed place of use |
| Selection reason | Why this concept is preferable for this brief, with remaining conditions |
Ask reviewers to record an observation before a preference. “The client explains the operational constraint before the builder discusses its response” is a useful observation. “Feels more premium” needs further explanation before it can guide a decision.
A worked comparison between two concepts
Imagine a builder commissioning a film about a commercial refurbishment. Its prospective clients want to understand coordination with an operating business. This is an illustrative exercise, not a description of a Live Images proposal.
Concept A opens with finished interiors and uses a director's interview to describe the company. Concept B opens with the operator's original constraint, then follows one coordination decision through approved project evidence.
The first concept might suit a broad company introduction, but the card shows that the second addresses this commission's main question more directly. The team also notices that Concept B depends on the operator agreeing to an interview. That agreement has not yet been obtained.
Rather than selecting B unconditionally, the buyer asks how the approach would work with an authorised written account and a knowledgeable project contributor instead. If that fallback weakens the essential explanation too much, the choice remains open. The attractive concept becomes a testable proposition rather than an assumption.
Challenge the treatment without taking ownership of it
Give suppliers equivalent factual information and ask comparable clarification questions. Do not take one supplier's distinctive concept to another and request a cheaper execution. If your procurement process needs detailed creative development, agree the stage, permitted use and any associated terms with the participants.
There is no assumption here that every supplier provides free speculative concepts. The amount of development available before appointment will depend on the supplier and engagement.
Record why the chosen idea fits
Finish with a short decision: selected approach, evidence supporting it, unresolved assumptions and who will confirm them. Then use the existing quote-comparison worksheet to check that the proposed commercial inclusions can deliver the chosen idea. Selecting the idea does not, by itself, confirm filming access or every output shown in a presentation.
To discuss a construction case study, send Live Images your project enquiry. Include the intended viewer, project location, required date and the explanation you want them to understand. That gives a production conversation a firmer basis than asking for a concept that simply looks impressive.
Prepared with AI assistance for Live Images. Planning guidance is general; suitability and production scope must be agreed for your project.