Straight answers, including the awkward ones
What it costs, how it works, and the things we will not do. If your question is not here, message the studio and ask.
The basics
- What does Sukarav Ads Studio actually do?
- We produce video adverts for Zimbabwean businesses using a hybrid production model. You send a product photo or your own footage on WhatsApp, we build the world around it with AI where that wins, cut and grade the ad, and you get a finished file back within 48 hours.
- How much does a video ad cost?
- A single spot is $40. A campaign set of four ads is $100, which works out at $25 each. Launch packages and monthly retainers are quoted per project.
- How long does it take?
- 48 hours for a single ad, from the moment we have your photo and your brief. Brand films and corporate work take three to five days because the writing takes longer than the production.
- What do you need from me?
- One clear photo of your product or premises, or footage you already have, plus a sentence about what the advert has to do. That is genuinely the whole input.
- Do you only make video ads?
- Video is the core of it. We also build the things around an ad that decide whether it converts — landing pages, brief and intake forms, WhatsApp-first follow-up, and the still frames and key visuals for a campaign. If you only want the ad, that is completely fine and most clients start there.
- How do I pay?
- EcoCash. 50% to begin, balance on approval. Prices are quoted in USD.
How it works
- Do you come and film my business?
- Not by default. The price is low because there is no forced production day. If your own footage or a small planned pickup shot wins, we use it. Otherwise we build the world around your product and keep crew, location, permits and travel off the invoice.
- How good does my photo need to be?
- Better than a rushed snap, but nothing professional. Daylight rather than a ceiling bulb, a plain background, the product in focus and filling most of the frame. Wipe it down first, because dust survives into the render.
- What if I do not like the result?
- Every tier includes revisions. A single spot includes one round, a campaign set two, and launch packages run to sign-off rather than a fixed count.
- Do I own the finished advert?
- Yes, outright. Run it anywhere, for as long as you like.
- What formats do I get?
- 9:16 vertical for Reels, TikTok and WhatsApp Status, and 16:9 landscape for Facebook, YouTube and broadcast. Most tiers include both.
The honest limits
- Can you show my actual staff and premises?
- Yes when the brief calls for it. We can work from your real footage or plan a small pickup shoot. When AI world-building is the better tool, we use that. Either way the finished ad is cut and graded properly, and we tell you plainly which approach fits.
- Is there anything you will not take on?
- A full production — a multi-day shoot, a cast, a crew on location, an event covered live. That is a different discipline with a different cost base, and we would rather point you elsewhere than quote for something we are not the right studio to deliver.
- Will you write a testimonial for me?
- No. This is the one thing we refuse outright. A fabricated customer breaks Meta and Google advertising policy, and in markets this small it gets found. If you have no reviews yet, ask three recent customers rather than inventing one.
- Will the ad make my product look better than it is?
- Better lit, yes. Different, no. If a customer arrives expecting what the advert showed and gets something else, the ad has cost you money rather than made it.
- Do you say when an ad is AI-generated?
- Yes, if anyone asks, and we never present a generated scene as documentary footage of your premises. Where an ad mixes your real footage with a built world we will tell you which is which, so you always know what you are putting your name to.
- Can you guarantee results?
- No, and nobody honest can. What we can tell you is that $40 is a small enough number to find out with, which is why the entry price is set there.
Working with us
- Where are you based?
- The MSU Research and Innovation Hub, Telone Campus, Gweru, Zimbabwe. We have no branch offices anywhere else and do not pretend to. Because most of the work happens in the studio rather than on location, a client in Victoria Falls gets the same 48 hours as one down the road — and if a brief does call for a pickup shot, we agree that with you up front rather than assuming it.
- Do you work outside Zimbabwe?
- Yes in principle — the brief, the approvals and the delivery all run remotely. Payment is set up for EcoCash, so talk to us first about how that would work.
- Can you handle my ad campaign as well as the creative?
- We produce the creative. We can advise on where to run it, but we do not manage ad spend or book airtime — anyone bundling that is usually adding a margin.
- I already have footage. Can you just edit it?
- Yes. Send the original files rather than a WhatsApp forward, which compresses heavily. One set of footage usually cuts into four different ads, which is better value than one.
- How do I start?
- Message the studio on WhatsApp, or fill in the brief form. Both reach the same place.
Still not sure?
Ask. We would rather tell you this is the wrong service for your business than sell you an advert that does not work.