InnoVision Marketing Group, a San Diego-based, full-service marketing agency, has debuted two TV commercials created with artificial intelligence (AI), demonstrating how the technology can expand human creativity and help transform ambitious ideas into affordable cinematic realities.
“What once required massive production budgets, extensive location shoots and complex logistics is becoming possible for local and regional brands on an entirely new scale,” InnoVision said in a statement.
For Buddy’s bar-b-q, with 19 locations in East Tennessee, the commercial follows a baseball as it soars across some of Knoxville’s most recognizable landmarks, traveling over the Tennessee River, past the Sunsphere and Tennessee Theatre and across the Great Smoky Mountains before arriving at a beloved Buddy’s bar-b-q with a song that sings the chain’s tagline, “A Smokin’ Good Deal.”
The song’s lyrics were written by Giselle Campos, InnoVision’s senior VP and senior creative director.
An InnoVision statement said, “A concept that could have required an extensive multi-location shoot instead became a seamless cinematic journey through East Tennessee, celebrating Buddy’s hometown identity and a legacy that dates back to 1972.”
For Southern California roofing company Cal Roof, InnoVision took the technology in an entirely different creative direction, using it to make an impossible scenario feel unexpectedly real.
The Cal Roof TV commercial uses the inevitable arrival of El Niño to Southern California as the strategic concept with a comedic twist. The spot depicts a downpour of water rushing through a damaged roof and a dolphin appears, delivering a surreal and humorous reminder for Southern California homeowners to prepare their roofs before El Niño’s heavy rains arrive.
While the Buddy’s commercial uses AI to create cinematic scale across recognizable real-world locations, the Cal Roof campaign uses AI to bring a playful-yet-impossible scenario to life. Together, the campaigns demonstrate how AI can give creative teams greater freedom to pursue ideas once limited by the practical realities of traditional production, InnoVision said.
“Our new AI video production division has allowed our talented creative minds here at InnoVision Marketing Group to brainstorm wildly elaborate strategic and creative concepts without the limitation of a budget, delivering exceptional, high-quality video productions our clients ordinarily would not be able to afford,” said Ric Militi, CEO and executive creative director, InnnoVision Marketing Group.
The two spots were concepted by InnoVision and produced in-house by its sister company Pretzel Logic Productions.
“From concept to final execution, every detail of these commercials was intentionally crafted by our team, leveraging AI as a true production tool,” said InnoVision’s Campos. “AI helped us bring our big ideas to the screen in a powerful way, and I’m incredibly proud of the creativity, skill and attention to detail our team brought to this work.”
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Mindgruve named to two prestigious industry lists
Mindgruve, a San Diego marketing, commerce and data technology agency, announced it was recently named to AdWeek’s Fastest Growing Agencies list for 2026. It was the fifth consecutive year Mindgruve has made the list published by the advertising industry trade publication.
Mindgruve said the AdWeek honor recognized its mergers with three highly-regarded agencies, including Macarta, Icon Commerce and Levelwing, along with the acquisition of ameo, a Hamburg-based agency and one of Europe’s longest-standing Amazon advertising and analytics providers.
“Five straight years on this list confirms that our approach is stronger than ever,” said Chad Robley, founder and CEO of Mindgruve. “We spent those years uniting modern media, commerce and data technology into one fully integrated brand to accelerate business growth for our worldwide brand partners.”
In addition, Mindgruve recently earned a place on the Inc. 5000, the magazine’s annual ranking of America’s fastest-growing private companies. The ranking is based on percentage of revenue growth between 2022 and 2025. It was the eighth time Mindgruve made the Inc. list.
Mindgruve said the Inc. recognized its development of Slightline, a proprietary AI predictive marketing and business intelligence platform. Sightline connects marketing data, business data and predictive modeling to help brands understand not just what happened, but what to do next and why, resulting in measurable outcomes for clients, Mindgruve said in a statement.
Mindgruve also recently launched Mindgruve Studios, the company’s in-house, full-service production arm. Mindgruve Studios creates content that connects, engages and performs, bringing award-winning creative, production and post-production capabilities to every channel.
Robley said about the Inc. 5000 ranking, “This recognition reflects a purpose that has guided every decision along the way, to accelerate business growth for our worldwide brand partners through data-driven marketing.”
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Albondigas group meets to discuss election politics
The next meeting of the San Diego Albondigas Political Society will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Friday, Oct. 9, at the Casa Machado restaurant, 3750 John J. Montgomery Dr., San Diego. The meeting is open to the public.
It will feature a pre-election media panel, including Andrew Keatts, editor and general manager, Times of San Diego; Scott Lewis, editor and CEO of Voice of San Diego; and Michael Smolens, political columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The panel will discuss the people, politics and issues shaping the Nov. 3 election. Topics will include the 48th Congressional District’s race and redrawn map, California’s governor race, the balance of power on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and key city council races in San Diego and National City, along with along with the larger political forces influencing San Diego voters in 2026.
The Albondigas Political Society traces its roots to the late 1990s, when political consultant Jack Orr began inviting a small group of political enthusiasts to lunch at an Oceanside Mexican restaurant known for its Albondigas soup.
What began as five or six friends quickly grew. Elected officials, staff members, consultants and community leaders began joining the table. Over time, Albondigas has become a popular tradition, a place where colleagues, allies and even friendly rivals can talk politics and civic life in a spirited but collegial way.
The San Diego chapter was revived following the Covid pandemic. Meetings are organized by Madaffer Enterprises.
Cost to attend is $25 per person. Ticket fees cover the cost of the meal, and neither the organizer nor the guest speakers receive compensation. For more information, visit https://sandiegoalbondigas.com/event/20261009-pre-election-media-panel/.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly in Times of San Diego.
