TV Commercial & Advertising Storyboard Examples

Commercial storyboard examples are one of the most common use cases, in addition to films, music videos, and animated projects. Whether you're a director shooting a commercial or a creative director planning your client's ad campaign, the value of storyboards cannot be understated. These storyboard examples will help you present ideas visually, get everyone on the same page and even win clients.

We've categorized these TV commercial and advertising storyboard examples based on illustration styles used in the advertising industry. You'll see classically hand-drawn sketches to thumbnail boards to tightly rendered, photorealistic, and digital storyboards made for collaboration.

Traditional storyboard examples

Traditional storyboards are hand-drawn frames that visualize a story in its most classic form. Artists often use pencil, ink, or markers to quickly sketch out scenes, characters, and actions. They’re valued for their simplicity, speed, and ability to capture ideas before moving into polished production.

Traditional Storyboard Example (Hand Drawn Sketches)

1. Supercharged

This TV commercial storyboard example reimagines the classic scene from The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy and Toto notice the Tin Man is in desperate need of help, and Dorothy's idea is to revive him with a bottle of “Supercharged” oil.

While this is a parody and product pitch, it gives us an idea of how advert storyboard examples can turn humor, nostalgia, and branding into a memorable spot.

Completing a traditional storyboard is just one component of the process. The next piece is to present it to clients or teammates. To learn how to properly pitch (or not to), watch the accompanying skit below:

Thumbnail storyboards

Thumbnail storyboards are made to be very small, rough sketches to plan out shots in sequence. They prioritize speed and layout instead of granular details you may find in traditional storyboard examples. The idea is to sketch fast, experiment, and keep what's needed.

TV Commercial Animated Storyboard Examples

2. Charge Your Moments

This thumbnail storyboard example shows you how a simple sketch sequence can effectively communicate a story from a phone charger commercial. In 15 small storyboard panels, this ad goes from the frustration of a dying battery to the relief of reconnecting with friends.

Just remember, speed is the name of the game. This is just one of many commercial storyboard examples designed to be cost-effective and fast. With advertising storyboard concepts, sometimes speed matters more than detail.

This sample TV commercial storyboard shows you why a thumbnail approach is excellent for ideation and client approvals.

After your client or team approves an idea, that's when you can move along to the traditional storyboards (or animatics). You can easily compare the rough sketches from above (from the ideation process) to the hand-drawn, loose sketches from below. 

Photorealistic storyboards

Photorealistic storyboards are designed to be highly detailed and should give clients a clear idea on the lighting, environment and final production quality. These photorealistic storyboard examples are common in ad campaigns with big budgets.

PhotoRealistic Storyboard Examples

3. Mud & Suds

This advertising storyboard example uses a very relatable, messy situation to highlight the benefit of using this laundry detergent. It starts with a playful dog running through the mud creating a big mess and a soiled towel.

The energy quickly shifts and tension build as the woman's solution is to wash the towel. As she walks to the laundry room, we reveal the detergent bottle.

Now, this sample TV commercial storyboard shows us how a very common, everyday situation can turn into an engaging brand story with a clear product-driven solution, in just a few panels.

CGI storyboards

CGI storyboards are created with digitally to visualize shots, sometimes done in 2D and 3D storyboards. This allows directors to experiment with camera angles that are sometimes difficult to capture in sketches. These are especially useful for action sequences, or VFX-heavy projects that rely on precise visuals (with little wiggle room).

TV Commercial CGI Storyboard Example

4. Brewed Connection

This storyboard example shows us a simple cafe setting with an engaging ad narrative. It begins with a warm exterior, a barista prepping coffee, and a woman waiting. Tension is building as her boyfriend is distracted by his phone, but then, a playfully-written note shifts the mood. This sparks laughter that quickly resolves a rather tense moment. 

The scene closes and we see branded cups which reinforces the product presence in this TV commercial storyboard example. This advert shows us that even the smallest gestures can create excellent storytelling in advertising.

Written storyboards

Written storyboards (or "scripted storyboards") rely on text over visuals. You'll notice combinations of dialogue and voiceover (VO) with little-to-no visuals. This is super common in the advertising industry where the copy and voiceover are central to the concept of the ad. It also makes it easy for clients to follow along with getting distracted by beautiful and flashy visuals. It can also serve as an initial starting point before the thumbnail storyboards or traditional storyboards are even started.

Written Storyboard Example for TV

5. The Boost You Need

In this energy drink commercial storyboard example, you'll see that text-driven storyboards are especially powerful when done right. Again, these scripted storyboard will reply on VO, headings and visual cues to communicate the idea. You'll notice that this sample TV commercial storyboard is clear, client-friendly, and effective.

Digital storyboard examples

Digital storyboards provide an easy way to create storyboards, edit them, collaborate with teammates and even export or present them digitally. You can arrange storyboard panels, set the columns, and even link to other pre-production tools (like shot lists, call sheets, etc.). This is the most common format that's used in movie storyboard examples, animated storyboards and more due to the speed and efficiency.

TV Commercial Storyboard Examples

6. Radiance Revealed 

Digital storyboards are ideal if you're looking to provide clarity and flexibility when building them. This skincare advert gives you a sense of how digital storyboard examples can highlight every story beat in a commercial. It starts with the problem, to the transformation to the final product reveal (solution). While a traditional storyboard will vary visually (since they're hand-drawn), a digital frame gives you a more polished look with consistent visuals.

If you're working on storyboards with your entire team, digital storyboards make the process of creating, sharing, editing and presenting the concepts to clients effortless. These advertising storyboard examples shouw how to sell an idea effectively.

Animatic storyboard examples

Animatic storyboards are meant to animate your timed sequences. Simply place your storyboard panels in order with some temporary music, sound effects (SFX), and even voiceover (VO). The entire goal of an animatic is to test out the pacing of the sequence so directors and clients can preview it before shooting actually begins.

TV Commercial Storyboard Examples

7. Animate your storyboards

Instead of imagining how a storyboard will actually play out, it's critical to build out an animatic to check the pacing, transitions and dialogue. This use of animatics can be found in many TV commercial storyboard examples where the pacing is just as important as the visuals. 

Animatics allow you to critically view the sequence and you can even refine the message before filming (or animating) which will ultimately save your entire production time and money.

In the video below, you'll learn how animatics first started in animation and why the majority of projects still use them today.

Vertical storyboards

Vertical storyboards are generally used for mobile phones and social media since most visuals are being viewed vertically. The exact aspect ratio can be varied due to the formats we view content, but it can be anywhere from 1:1 (square), 5:4 (portrait), or even 9:16 (vertical). These storyboards are in vertical (or square) formats to match smartphone screens, if the content will be seen on TikTok, Instagram Stories/Reels, Facebook Stories/Reels, YouTube Shorts, etc.

TV Commercial Storyboard Examples

8. Run the City

This cinematic storyboard shows what a 1:1 (square aspect ratio) looks like and how atmosphere and tone can improve a storyboard. You'll notice dynamic angles, speed, movement which comes across from each slide. With close-ups, establishing shots, and dynamic lighting, this storyboard example helps you pre-visualize more complex action scenes into easy-to-follow panels.

Interactive storyboards

While interactive storyboards can be used for various things, including for UX design, game development, and even social media ad flows. This storyboard format helps visualize what happens based on user actions.

Interactive Storyboard Examples

9. FizzTap

This is not your typical storyboard since interactive storyboards require interaction from whoever is viewing it. This allows you to view a step-by-step user flow. In the storyboard example below, you'll notice two options for users.

The first one starts with a heading promoting the red soda vs. the second option, which is the lime flavored soda.The arrow helps viewers following along with this interactive storyboard and each panel has a strong CTA (call-to-action) on the bottom. 

People viewing this can explore various products, swipe through variants as this style of illustration brings the brand to life and makes it fun.

By storyboarding each action, online advertisers can anticipate the user flow and advert journey from impression to purchase.

Shooting boards

Shooting boards (also known as "production boards"), are super-detailed storyboards that are created in pre-production. They generally includes camera angles, movement, storyboard arrows, and more details that will inform the shot list and production. This will act as the blueprint during the filming (or animation) to make sure your vision stays fully intact.

TV Commercial Shooting Board Example

10. SunBurst

In the commercial storyboard example below, you'll notice it starts with a boy on a hot day and he proceeds to the supermarket to buy a cold beverage. We see him opening the fridge, a closeup on the drink and the moment he drinks it. The drink is so refreshing that he shares the moment with his close friends. It ends with a hero shot of the bottle to reinforce the product itself.

This sample storyboard is incredibly precise and it leaves nothing to the imagination. It's essentially a production-ready storyboard so everyone stays aligned for the shoot.

When it comes to creating a shooting board, you can actually add storyboard arrows directly in StudioBinder. Watch the video below to understand how you can depict camera movement, angles, and more within our digital storyboard software.