One of the first considerations when thinking about advertising on TV can be production. It’s easy to start thinking that a commercial even a basic one might cost you 20k or more. And to be honest 20k can go very quickly if you gave that as a budget to a production company.
But that’s the key, when you start to think about advertising on TV the budget should be relative to your advertising spend the worst thing you can do is not give a budget as the production company will come back with options varying for all types of different budgets some of which may make you spill your morning coffee all over yourself.
I normally recommend roughly 20% although sometimes when you have a client spending only 4k on their advertising you may want to be a little lenient and maybe allow for a little more. Not that I’m saying you can’t get an advert made for £800, because you can, I’ve made some myself but you should also take in to account how much you plan to use that advert, if it’s going to be used once a year for maybe the next several years I would probably take that in to account. Or for example you’re testing TV for the first time but if successful you then plan to use the advert for the next six months. Again I would take this in to account and base the budget off the six month planned spend and maybe not the test campaign spend.
I sound like I’m trying to sell you production for an advert but I’m not, it’s just production is a major contributor to whether your TV campaign will be a hit and become talked about and famous or not. It’s also the one thing we don’t have control over when planning TV campaigns, the weight and time of the year and price etc could all be great but if the ad is lacking then you could be throwing your money away. The advice I always give my clients is to research it. Ask your customers what they want to see when you advertise. Are they interested in offers or quality, do they need to know your web address or your store address? Is this a good opportunity to rebrand? A mixture of TGI data with some bespoke research would be money well spent, the temptation is to not do any research because of the added cost but if you make that mistake it could cost you in the long run.
But back to the cost of an advert, it really is, how long is a piece of string? You can spend as little or as much as you like but really it’s common sense. A TV campaign regionally for 20k that is only going to run once should only have a budget of 4k. You’re probably thinking you’re not going to get a lot for that but you would be surprised. Obviously you should also have to be realistic you’re not going to be making the next Curry’s ad with R2-D2 and C-3PO but you can get an ad that works, looks good and would be something you can feel proud of. For 4k you could make a high end graphic ad, using 3D graphics perfect for maybe a one off sale to promote some specific products (using high end photographs) plus some nice 3D animation to make it come alive plus music and a Voice Over. Or you could do a live action advert with nice sweeping shots of your store, even some actors, although probably only a few not quite to the scale of the Talk Talk ads, again with some nice graphics promoting prices plus a Voice Over and music. It would be tight but it can be done and has been.
There are ways to bring down costs even further such as paying actors, Voice over’s and music in relation to the amount the commercial is on air but I would always recommend a full buyout so that you’re not hit with repeat fees because actually what often happens is the campaign is so successful you decide to run the campaign again or you would like to put it on your website etc, all of which would be subject to repeat fees.
So next time you’re thinking of making an ad, research content first, set a budget limit and then contact a reputable production company with TV advertising experience. I say with experience because anyone with a camera can say they’re a production company but it doesn’t mean they know how to make a TV ad. The easy way to tell is ask them if they’re Clearcast registered. If they don’t know what you’re talking about walk away……. very slowly.
Locally I regularly use Corona Films, 3 Point Media and Dene Films. All of which have a vast experience in making TV adverts. If you’re not sure which one to go with, speak to all three, a competitive pitch often brings out the best ideas for the best budget.
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