Creative review and approval queue

Creative review and approval queue

Creative is often the launch blocker that looks small until the day before go-live. This skill gives operators a queue for asset intake, spec QA, platform approval, trafficking readiness, rejections, and in-flight swaps across programmatic platforms.

Use platform-specific creative skills for exact specs. Use this skill to run the queue and make sure each asset has a state, owner, evidence, and next action.

When to use this skill

• A campaign needs creative intake, asset QA, or approval tracking.
• Creative review, rejection, spec failure, click URL issue, or VAST issue blocks launch.
• Assets need to be swapped, retired, refreshed, or mapped to line items.
• Legal, brand, medical, financial, or regulated-category approval is required.
• The user asks for a creative tracker or creative queue.

Queue states

State	Meaning
Requested	Asset needed but not received
Received	Asset received but not QA'd
Spec QA	Operator checking dimensions, duration, weight, format, text, URL, tags
Brand/legal review	Internal or client approval in progress
Platform review	Submitted to platform or publisher review
Approved	Cleared and ready to assign
Rejected	Rejected by spec, brand, legal, platform, publisher, or policy
Trafficked	Assigned to the correct entities
Live verified	Serving, click, tags, and reporting verified
Retired	Removed, expired, or replaced

Required fields

Field	Requirement
Asset ID or file name	Stable identifier, not only a friendly title
Creative code	Joins to taxonomy and reporting
Format and size	Display, HTML5, video, CTV, audio, native, DOOH, etc.
Platform and placement	Where the asset will run
Landing page and click URL	Final URL, tracker, UTM, and redirect path
Approval owner	Brand, legal, client, platform, publisher, or internal owner
Review status	One of the queue states
Rejection reason	Exact reason and screenshot or policy text where available
Assigned entities	Campaign, line, ad group, placement, or creative shell IDs
Expiry or rotation rule	End date, refresh date, or replacement condition

Core process

1. Intake against the plan. Confirm every asset requested in the media plan or trafficking sheet has arrived, has a creative code, and maps to a platform, line item, placement, or ad group.
2. Run spec QA. Check file type, dimensions, duration, bitrate, audio, weight, safe zones, click URL, landing page, macros, VAST or tag response, SSL, and policy-sensitive claims.
3. Check approval needs. Regulated categories, claims, endorsements, financial language, health language, alcohol, political, and client legal processes may require approval before platform submission.
4. Submit and track platform review. Record platform review ID, submitted date, expected SLA, rejection reason, and appeal or resubmission path.
5. Traffic only approved assets. Assign assets to the correct entities, confirm rotations, weights, dates, and companion assets, then hand to launch QA.
6. Verify live state. After launch, confirm impressions, click URL, tag firing, creative preview, and reporting rows. Mark Live verified only with evidence.
7. Manage swaps and expiry. When assets fatigue, expire, reject, or need a legal update, create a swap ticket and run it through the same queue.

Rejection handling

Creative rejection
Asset:
Platform:
Entity IDs:
Rejected by:
Reason:
Policy or spec cited:
Screenshot or evidence:
Impact:
Owner:
Fix path:
Resubmission time:
Launch or delivery risk:

Do not describe a rejection as "platform issue" unless support is actually needed. Many rejections are local spec, landing-page, claim, or targeting-policy issues.

Decision rules

• Approved does not mean trafficked. Trafficked does not mean live verified.
• A click URL that redirects incorrectly is a launch blocker.
• A video asset that passes file spec but has an invalid VAST response is still blocked.
• Never swap creative without checking reporting and creative code continuity.
• Do not run unapproved claims while waiting on legal. Hold launch or substitute approved copy.

Common pitfalls

• Tracking creative in email threads instead of a queue with states.
• Losing creative-code mapping during swaps, which breaks asset-level reads.
• Treating platform approval as brand approval.
• Forgetting companions, end cards, captions, click trackers, and landing-page redirects.
• Letting expired creative keep serving because it was approved earlier.

Related artifacts

• templates/ops/creative-review-tracker.csv
• direct-response-creative-testing
• dv360-creative-trafficking
• dv360-video-creative-specs
• ttd-creative-and-formats
• stackadapt-creative-and-formats
• cross-platform-launch-qa