Why UGC works
Social media users are used to scrolling past studio ads. A video that looks like it was made by an ordinary person earns more trust: natural speech, a phone camera, a real setting. That is why UGC creatives have become the standard in advertising products and apps.
There was one problem: bloggers and UGC creators cost money and time. AI lets you make dozens of creative variants in an evening and test which one works.
The main rule: the format is fine, deception is not
Allowed: an ad video in UGC style with a fictional character, labeled as advertising. It is simply an ad format, like a staged shoot with an actor.
Not allowed:
- passing off a generated person as a real customer in the reviews section of a marketplace or website;
- showing a «result» the product does not deliver;
- using the faces of real people and bloggers without a contract.
Fake reviews and misleading promises in ads violate Russian advertising law, and marketplaces block sellers for fake reviews. Online ads must be labeled. More: AI video for commercial use.
Step 1. The character
Create a fictional character in Nano Banana Pro: an ordinary look, no gloss, an age and style that suit your audience.
A fictional woman about 30 years old, ordinary appearance, hair tied back, a home sweater, sitting by the window in an ordinary apartment, selfie angle, daylight, no makeup for the shoot, a natural phone shot. 9:16 format.
If the character will appear in several videos, keep their appearance consistent with references: character consistency in AI.
Step 2. The product
Always take the product from a real photo. An AI that draws the product from scratch will show a similar but different item. Make a frame of the character with the product in Nano Banana Pro: upload the character photo and the product photo and ask «she holds this product in her hand, the product unchanged».
Step 3. The video
Upload the frame of the character with the product to a video model in «from photo» mode and describe the action and the speech.
Talking to camera:
Vertical video, shot handheld on a phone’s front camera, slight camera shake. The woman holds a jar of cream, looks into the camera and says: «Попробовала этот крем неделю назад, кожа реально мягче». Daylight from a window, an ordinary room.
(The line means «I tried this cream a week ago, my skin really is softer».)
Unboxing:
Vertical top-down video, hands open a cardboard box on a bed and take out the product, show it to the camera. Sound: rustling packaging, a quiet voice saying «смотрите, что пришло».
(«смотрите, что пришло» means «look what arrived».)
Product in use:
Vertical handheld video, the woman pours coffee from a travel mug outside in winter and shows the steam. Sound: street noise, a light wind.
Keep the lines short, 5 to 10 words: in Russian, lip sync with speech is worse than in English. A long text is better recorded as a voice-over during editing. Another option: record the line in your own voice (or a voice-over artist’s, with their consent) and upload it together with the character photo to OmniHuman 1.5: the character will speak to your audio, in a clip of up to 30 seconds.
Which model to choose
| Task | Model | 6 s, 1080p, with sound |
|---|---|---|
| Character talks to camera, facial expressions | Kling v3 | ~168 rubles |
| Speech, sound, product details | Veo 3.1 Fast | ~126 rubles |
| Maximum quality in close-up | Veo 3.1 | ~417 rubles |
| A long UGC video in a single take, up to 30 s | Seedance 2.5 | ~849 rubles for 6 s, ~4242 rubles for 30 s |
| Character from a photo speaks to your voice recording | OmniHuman 1.5 | 720p, ~308 rubles for 10 s |
KADR prices, October 2026. This is not a public offer.
How to make it look real, not glossy
- Handheld shooting: handheld, slight camera shake.
- An ordinary setting: a kitchen, a bedroom, the street, not a studio.
- Natural light from a window.
- Imperfection: messy hair, home clothes.
- Vertical 9:16 format right at generation.
How much a creative costs
| Creative | What it includes | Approx. |
|---|---|---|
| Short UGC, 6 s | character + frame with the product (Nano Banana Pro) + Veo 3.1 Fast | ~180 rubles |
| UGC 18 s, 3 scenes | 2 frames + 3 scenes on Kling v3 | ~550 rubles |
| 5 variants for testing | 5 short creatives | ~890 rubles |
With failed attempts, budget twice as much. You do not have to write the script yourself: the «Product ad» mode on KADR comes up with a script and prompts from a product photo. How to put the whole video together: AI product ad video.
In short
UGC video with AI is an ad video «like from an ordinary person»: a fictional character, handheld shooting, speech to camera, the product from a real photo. Kling v3 is better for facial expressions, Veo 3.1 for sound and detail. Label your ads and do not pass off generated people as real customers in reviews.
