Can all our clients afford TV advertising?
TV ads are changing - they are no longer solely the domain of the big brands
Now that there are so many digital and satellite channels, airtime is far more affordable and it is possible for smaller brands and products to have a presence on TV. The effectiveness of traditional press advertising is diminishing as the Internet continues to grow, but you can still reach your target markets through a more niche focused TV strategy at a surprisingly low cost.
You don’t need megabucks to create a successful TV advertising campaign… but there are a few considerations which will help increase the effectiveness of your ad:-
What do you want to achieve with TV advertising?
Companies generally advertise on TV to:
- drive more sales
- to raise their profile to attract better/ bigger retailers, distributors, etc
- create brand awareness or a brand personality
Who is the advert aimed at?
This will determine the advert style, content and which channels to air it.
Niche channels (such as The Golf Channel) often cost less and can be very effective if you want to target a very specific audience.
What are the key messages / selling points?
The fewer the key messages (or unique selling points) the better.
With small brands there is often a temptation to try and say everything as this may be the only TV advert produced. However, a TV advert that is crammed full of information and USPs will just confuse the viewer.
It is important to keep the consumer in mind. How are you going to convince them to buy your product? What are they realistically going to remember from the ad? If they were only going to remember one thing, what would you want that to be?
Do you have any branding / styling that the advert needs to replicate?
Keeping a consistency of graphic styling across all your communications (press ads, web, brochures etc) is essential to help raise brand recognition.
Do you have any idea of the budget you have for the advert production?
We can produce ads to most budgets but the cost will affect the level of planning and style of our creative concept. Producing a low budget TV ad demands creative ways of cutting costs. We can help find ways to cut corners, often through directly supplying talent (actors, voices, music) for TV ads without paying the premium rates charged through the traditional agency routes.
What is your budget for media buying?
Channel 2020 can put you in contact with a media buying agency that specialises in getting the best rates on digital and satellite channels and can advise on getting the most effective campaign for your budget.
So, now the question isn’t whether you can afford to advertise on TV, but rather, can you afford not to?
Anna Creasey | 25.04.2006