The adaptation matrix
Before adapting anything, write the matrix: rows for markets, columns for deliverables, and in each cell the format, dimensions, length, language, legal lines and deadline. It turns a vague request for all the versions into a countable list, exposes conflicting specifications and becomes the delivery checklist. Most matrices hold far more cells than anyone expects, which is exactly why they should be written down. Mark which cells are straight adaptations and which need a creative decision, such as a six-second cut that needs a different structure rather than a trim, or a market that sells a different product.
Legal lines and mandatory copy
Legal copy is where versions most often go wrong. Markets need different disclaimers, price qualifiers, age warnings, financial risk warnings or regulator references, and each must stay legible at every size and duration. A super that is readable in a thirty-second film can flash past in six seconds. Keep legal lines as structured, market-specific text drawn from an approved library, never retyped into each version by hand and never generated inside an image. Check minimum type sizes and on-screen hold times per market and medium, and treat a missing legal line as a blocking error rather than a review comment.
Inheritance and re-approval
Every version should know its parent. The master holds the approved idea, imagery, claims and copy. Market masters inherit from it and add language and local legal lines. Channel versions inherit from their market master and change only format, length or crop. When something changes upstream, the change flows down and every affected version is flagged. Agree which changes need re-approval: a new claim or legal line always does, a translation correction needs market review, a crop usually needs only a format check. Written rules stop reviewers re-approving whole sets for trivial edits, or waving meaningful ones through.
Tracking which version ran where
Once versions run into hundreds, identification matters. Use a naming convention that encodes campaign, market, channel, format, length and version, and keep it identical in the production system, the DAM and the ad platforms, so reporting joins up. Broadcast already has formal identifiers, such as Ad-ID in the US and clock numbers for UK television, and digital work benefits from the same discipline. The studio produces formats, lengths and languages from the approved master with the product locked, and approvals with an audit trail cover every version, so you can show which version was approved, by whom and when.
Updated 25 September 2026 · General information, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the current text with your legal team before relying on it.