Set in a stylish, retro ad agency, an executive explains that the glamorous ideal of her industry is a myth. The reality is a mess of “wildly inefficient processes” and manual spreadsheets burning out her team. After introducing Basis, she tosses the old files as the office transforms. Basis is presented as a central operating system that automates workflows and eliminates silos. The spot ends with the team celebrating as she declares agency life is “awfully glamorous again,” thanks to Basis.
The Formula (That Works at Any Budget)
Painful truth = The glamorous dream vs. the messy reality
The ad opens by acknowledging the romanticized vision of the ad industry and immediately contrasts it with the unglamorous reality of manual workflows and burnout.
→ Lesson: Frame your product as the tool that helps customers achieve the idealized version of their job by removing the frustrating reality.
Physicalizing the Digital Pain = Spreadsheets as paper files
Instead of showing a cluttered computer screen, the ad represents digital chaos with physical objects: towering stacks of paper files labeled “Spreadsheets” and a retro trash can labeled “RUBBISH.”
→ Lesson: Make abstract digital problems tangible. Representing data silos and manual processes with physical objects makes the pain instantly and visually understood.
The Confident Guide = The aspirational user
The ad is narrated by a powerful, stylish executive who has already solved the problem. She isn’t a victim of chaos; she confidently leads the viewer (and her team) to the solution.
→ Lesson: Use a confident, aspirational character as your narrator. Let them speak not as someone suffering, but as someone who has already conquered the problem with your product.
Humor Breakdown
The humor is stylistic and ironic. It leverages the cool, retro ad-world aesthetic to highlight modern problems like spreadsheet overload and operational inefficiency. The comedy comes from the sharp contrast between polished visuals and the mundane reality of the work being described.
→ Lesson: Let your visual style and setting create a witty or ironic tone. You don’t always need explicit jokes when a strong aesthetic can do the work for you.
Final Verdict
Basis uses a pitch-perfect retro aesthetic to tell a modern story about agency burnout. It cleverly physicalizes digital pain points and presents its automation platform as the key to restoring the industry’s lost glamour. It’s a masterclass in style, storytelling, and selling empowerment—not just features.
BRAVE-o-meter Score :
B-7 | R-8 | A-7 | V-8 | E-8
BRAVE – 7.6/10
Watch the full ad & learn more:
Website: Basis Technologies Official Site
LinkedIn: Basis Technologies on LinkedIn
