Big campaign ideas and a key visual. Pick the idea, then the picture.

Three big ideas and a key visual is a DFIRST skill that gives your campaign three ideas, each from a different insight, and then a key visual with your product for the idea you choose. Firsty, the DFIRST agent, works from your brand, products and rivals' ads, keeps known facts apart from guesses to test, and puts your line and logo on the chosen visual.

Facts are kept apart from ideas still to test
The three ideas differ in insight, not just the tagline
Your product looks the same as in its photo

Works with

Examples. What you ask, what you get back.

Big ideas for ZESTA's summer in Barcelona, for people who have cut out sugary drinks. Balanced, then a key visual.

Three ideas from three different insights, and four key visuals with the Tangerine can. Maya picked the first idea and the hero visual; only that one received the line and the logo.

DocumentThree big ideas: ZESTA summer

Decision 1. Small breaks in the sun

Insight: On hot days people plan around short breaks outside, not big outings.
Idea: Every can is a ten-minute break you take outdoors.
Line: Squeeze the day.

2. The back of the can

Insight: People who quit sugar read the label before they choose a flavour.
Idea: Put the short ingredient list on the front of everything.
Line: Squeezed, not sweetened.

3. Made for sharing

Insight: Summer plans in Barcelona are made on the street, with whoever is there.
Idea: Handing someone a can is how you ask them along.
Line: Pass it on.

Brand DNAzesta-tangerine-sheet.pdfCompetitors: HOPLA, SIPP

The Tangerine can on an orange wall against a blue sky with a cut orange

The Tangerine can bursting out of sparkling water with citrus slices

Hands reaching into a beach cooler full of ZESTA cans

A smiling woman holds the Tangerine can to the camera under the line Squeeze the day — Picked, line and logo added

Bold campaign ideas for KINETRA aimed at students who run on campus. We need one key visual for posters.

With risk set to bold, the three ideas took sharper angles on the same facts. Jonas picked the early-start idea, and the reviewer's reading of all four visuals came with the chosen one.

A runner's KINETRA shoe mid-stride on a blue running track — Picked

DocumentKey visuals: KINETRA campus

Decision Idea 2: Before the first lecture

Insight: Students who run do it at 7 am, because the rest of the day belongs to someone else.
Line: Your mile, before theirs.

Reviewer's reading

Strong 1. Shoe on the blue track: sharp product, the lane line leads to the logo.
Moderate 2. Campus steps at dawn: right mood, the shoe is small in the frame.
Weak 3. Library desk: reads as lifestyle, not running.
Moderate 4. Starting blocks: strong light, the heel tab is hidden.

kinetra-packshot.pngdirection.md

Three directions for MAREA's polarised range, for people who drive to the coast every weekend. Play it safe.

Safe ideas that stay close to what MAREA already says. Facts from the product sheet are marked as known; the claims about drivers are marked as proposals to test, and no visual starts before Sara picks.

DocumentThree big ideas: MAREA polarised

What we know

Have Polarised lenses on the whole Costa range (product sheet)
Have Category 3 lenses with full UV protection (product sheet)
Have Brand line: Made for the light. (Brand DNA)

Still to test

Proposal Drivers notice glare more than people on the beach do
Proposal Most buyers keep a second pair in the car

1. The drive is part of the trip

The coast road at 9 am, sun low on the windscreen. Line: See the whole way there.

2. Light you can look at

Water that glitters without the squint. Line: Made for the light.

3. One pair, every light

From the motorway to the beach bar without a swap. Line: Keep them on.

Open Your pick

Key visuals start once you choose one of the three.

marea-costa-product-sheet.pdfBrand DNA

How it goes. The same steps every time.

Firsty follows the skill’s steps in order and stops where the choice is yours. Nothing paid starts without your yes.

1
Firsty gathers facts from your brand, products and competitors' ads
2
Firsty writes three big ideas, each from a different insight
You pick one of the three ideas
3
Firsty saves your pick so later campaign work starts from it
4
Firsty makes four key visuals with your product
Asks before anything paid
5
Firsty reviews each visual, then adds the line and logo to yours
You pick one of the four key visuals

Done when

Facts are kept apart from ideas still to test
The three ideas differ in insight, not just the tagline
Your product looks the same as in its photo
Every choice waits for your answer

At a glance.

What Three big ideas and a key visual needs from you and what it hands back.

You bring: A short brief: the product or its link, the goal, the audience and how bold to go. Balanced is the default; safe and bold are the other two.
Questions: No more than three, and each one comes with a default answer.
You get: A Document with three big ideas and the evidence for each, the art direction, and four key visuals with a reviewer's reading of each one.
Your pick: Kept in the campaign folder as direction.md, a short decision file the rest of the campaign builds on.
The chosen visual: Gets your line and logo and opens in the editor, where you can still change the words.

Part of this skill. Each task also has its own page.

When you ask for one of these on its own, Firsty runs it with this skill.

Print campaign visual A campaign image with room for your message.

Questions people ask.

About Three big ideas and a key visual and how it fits the rest of DFIRST.

How do I come up with a big idea for an ad campaign?

Start from an insight, something true about your audience, rather than from a slogan. This skill writes three ideas from three different insights, with the evidence behind each, so you compare real choices instead of three versions of one tagline. You pick one, and Firsty makes the key visuals for it.

What is a key visual?

It is the one picture a campaign is built on. Posters, ads, social posts and the landing page all borrow its colours, product angle and mood. Here you get four key visuals with your product, each read by a reviewer, and the one you pick receives your line and logo.

Can I ask for safe ideas instead of bold ones?

Yes. Write safe, balanced or bold in the brief; balanced is used when you say nothing. Safe ideas stay close to what your brand already says, while bold ones take a sharper angle. The facts underneath do not change with the setting, only how far the ideas go from them.

Does it make the finished ads in every size?

No, it stops at the idea and one key visual. To turn the picked idea into a set of ads, use Ad creatives, then One master to channel formats for each placement. The Product launch plan skill includes this step inside a whole launch.

Do I need a photo of my product?

The key visuals show your real product, so Firsty needs a picture of it: one from your Products, an upload, or the one on the product page you link. Every visual is compared with that photo, and the reviewer's notes tell you if anything about the product looks off.

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