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Television is the
most dynamic medium available and is also one of the most perilous
places to advertise. Everything must be correct to achieve success.
We'll look at some tactics to ensure your success.
We previously
covered ad production in the referral service course. Here we need to
look at the subject a bit differently, in that the working budget can
be much smaller. One of the tactics that we suggested was going to a
small TV station for ad production. Again, if you are on a limited
budget, this is a useful tactic. It will get you on the air. If you
are airing inexpensive $35 spots on the smaller stations, station
produced spots may be an excellent choice. If your budget can take
it, we still advocate having a professionally produced spot. It is
sort of foolish to invest $5,000 a month in airing a spot that hasn't
been professionally produced. You will never know the true potential
of the air time that you are buying with an amateurish spot. On the
other hand, if you are airing $1500 worth of advertising every month,
it might not be feasible to allocate six months of advertising money
to create a spot. It's sort of like spending all of your money on a
gun only to find that you can't afford to buy any bullets.
Cable TV is an
uncovered subject we should look at. You can inexpensively buy some
excellent programming on cable TV. They have special interest shows
like ESPN, CNN and major sporting events. The cable people can sell
you these shows by the geographical market. It's similar to zone
advertising. You need only buy the cities close to your marketing
zone. This makes your actual cost per response much more cost
effective. The regular stations are unable to offer this service
because they are broadcasting using the airwaves.
The cost of spots
on cable is normally very low. Previous to making any commitments
test the show. Determine what show will reach your target audience
the best. Sometimes the cable people will be set up to shoot your
spot for you. If you are buying spots on a cable station for $35.00
and receiving three responses per spot, it is the same as running a
$1400.00 newspaper ad and receiving 120 responses. You only need to
increase the frequency of the spots to attain your desired aggregate
amount of responses. Remember to spread your spots out as best as
possible using different shows, days, and times. Even though you are
buying all the spots from one company treat each cable show as
different. Be on guard for saturation. When you see your cost per
response climbing over previous levels, cut back to those previous
levels and see if your cost is restored. If not, reduce even further
the amount of those spots until you attain a comfortable cost per response.
Most of you won't
be advertising on the prime time shows since they are very costly. It
is not at all uncommon for a prime time slot to go for $4,000 -
$6,000 for each 30 sec. spot in a major market. I would suggest that
a small business not spend more than $250 for a single spot. You'll
find that there is quite an assortment of time that can be purchased
for less than $125.00 per spot, even if you are in a major market.
Talk to the independent stations. They have attractive daytime
programming at excellent prices. The midday movies pull, even the
older ones. "I Love Lucy" usually works quite well. The
shows that were popular several years ago turn up on these stations,
and they work.
In terms of ad
production you have a few options. One is to go to an advertising
agency and have them do it all for you. This convenience will cost
you. I'd expect you'll be paying $10,000 - $25,000 for a 30 sec.
spot. Ad production is complicated and encompasses the following:
1) A Script - This
is what is going to be said in your spot. It needs to be timed to fit
into the allocated 30 sec.
2) Talent - Actors
and actresses to act in your spot. A director will also be included.
You may have to pay royalties to the talent and possibly to the
agency. Structure things so that you pay once and own the spot with
no royalties to anyone, for anything.
3) Camera, Sound,
and Light Crew - Usually there is a camera operator, a lighting
person, and someone doing the sound. Sometimes a "Grip" is
added. A grip is a "Go Fer."
4) Studios - If
the shooting is not being done on location, you'll need to rent a
studio for a day or perhaps a ½ day. Normally, you'll be
shooting at your location.
5) Editing - The
raw footage is taken to an editing suite, where it is put into the
final format. The cost of these suites will vary according to the
sophistication of the equipment. It can easily take 4-8 hours to edit
one 30 sec. spot. It is here that special effects, music, and titling
is added. The final product is put onto a master.
Another option
available to you is to go to a video production company. I expect
that the costing will be similar to the advertising company. Between
the two, I'd choose an advertising agency. A production company might
be a good choice for an instructional film, education film, or a documentary.
The third choice
is the cheapest. It is sort of a risky proposition in terms of
effectiveness, but there is a way to reduce the risk. The smaller
television stations will make spots for customers. This is not the
business they are in. They usually will not have people on their
payroll to just perform this function. The stations make spots for
their smaller customers, enabling them to enjoy the benefits of TV
advertising without having to make a substantial investment in
production costs. I have used this tactic on several occasions. I'd
estimate that you have about a 65% chance of getting a good spot from
one of the smaller independent stations. The good news is that they
should charge anywhere from $1500 - $2000 for two spots. If you buy
two spots, there is an excellent chance that at least one of them
will be good. I have had smaller stations generate some very nice spots.
Here are a few
tactics to help you in dealing with the station making your ads.
First, ask to see some spots they did recently. See if the spots are
expressing benefits, in a way that would encourage the viewer to go
to the advertiser for whatever it is being offered. Ask who produced
the spot and if you can meet this person. They might no longer be at
the station. Some stations have a high turnover. If the person is no
longer there, the spots have no relevance and should be ignored. If
the person is there, ask what equipment was used in the spots.
Inquire if this same equipment can be used for your spot. Get a
commitment. Stations have different equipment, get the best they
have. If you see spots with any of the following, look for another station:
1) Washed out or
faded colors. Colors should be vibrant and alive.
2) Problems in the
sound track such as rising and falling volume.
3) Chop Cuts. The
picture jolts or jumps from one scene to another abruptly.
4) Delays with
blank screens or a picture with no sound track.
5) Bouncing or
jumping images.
6) Lights glaring
off the actors or the set causing reflections.
7) Nervous or
uncomfortable looking actors.
There are a lot of
small business owners who went to advertising agencies and spent
large amounts of money on ad production. They then bought expensive
ad time only to find out the whole program was a failure. Most of
them would not be able to tell you why their campaign was a failure.
It could've been the ad, the air time, or a combination. I am not
mentioning the way they handled the calls, because there usually
aren't enough calls to justify this sort of criticism. The biggest
cause of advertising failure is the ad not selling the benefits of
doing business with the advertiser. The second largest cause of
failure would be choosing the wrong shows to air the spot on. The
third largest cause of failure would be attributed to incorrect
handling of the responses. Funny spots are like beautiful ads in that
without benefits to the consumer, they won't sell. Frequently,
advertisers create additional barriers to the sale with an unnecessary
solicitation for brochures. You never want to offer to send out
brochures when advertising locally. If a person calls and you are
losing them on the phone, an offer to send a brochure can and should
be made. It is best to keep the contact flowing between your business
and the local customer without inserting brochures into the sales process.
We need to look at
the purchasing of air time. It is best to have a professional do this
for you, at least in the beginning. After a person buys about
$100,000 of television time (non prime time), they get a feel for it.
If you are a frequent television advertiser, this can be in a year or
less. I expect most of you will not have this much experience with TV
and will be going to a professional. I recommend you go to a buying
service, instead of a full service agency. A buying service will be
able to handle all business dealings with any television station for
you, including spot production. They'll provide the necessary advice
as to where to advertise and how often. Get a schedule of the actual
airing time of your spots a few days before they run and count your
calls after each spot airs. This will give you a rough estimate of
the results. If you get no calls 15 minutes after a spot has aired,
it's probably a loser. Many people will call in hours or days later
but if an ad is going to work well, you should realize some immediate
response. It is good to tally where the caller saw the ad. Many will
tell you they don't know or will give you the name of a show you
never advertised on. Tell your buying service or agency where the
calls are coming in from. Most of their customers are not direct
advertisers and don't do this. This feedback makes it incredibly easy
for the buying service or agency to do their job for you.
It may take a few
weeks to find a schedule that works well. If everything is a failure
try radical changes in the type of spots you're buying. If it is
still a failure, you might have a problem with the spot itself. If
you're getting a good call volume, but very few customers, it is
probably your incoming telemarketing that is at fault, but it could
be your prices or location. People don't pick up telephones and call
if there is no interest.
Your buying
service or advertising agency will be able to gather intelligence
information on your competitors. Find out when and where they are
running advertising. Watch their spot. If it's superior to yours,
make a new spot. Don't try to fight a battle ill prepared. Call their
office to see how well their phones are covered. Bad telemarketing is
a major weakness that will cause the best advertising campaign to
suffer. Make note if their ad offers some sort of brochure or video.
Add up what they are spending on all the advertising you can find.
Look at where they are not advertising. It can be a good tactic to go
where there is no competition. They want to be king of the TV, fine.
You go and be king of the newspaper while they battle for the
airwaves. After, they've weakened each other in a fight for TV
dominance, go back in and start advertising against them on TV
maintaining your dominance of the newspaper. Everyone has a limit as
to how long they can maintain an advertising war. If you see a
competitor suddenly emerge onto the advertising scene buying lots of
TV and radio, and sending out brochures, they will most likely be off
the air in 90 days. If the ad content deals with a new, exciting
product with a lot of demand, it will work. Under those circumstances
almost anything will work. If the product has been around a while,
and there is competition out there, don't expect to see this
advertiser on the air for too long. But while they are around they
can be troublesome. If this advertiser buys time on the same shows as
you, discuss this with your buying service. They'll know how to
explain the problem to the stations. The stations will try to keep
both of you as customers. Don't use the same buying service or agency
as your competitors. They'll never play hardball with a customer even
if it is a competitor of yours. I'm teaching you how to play hardball.
I've done very
well with daytime spots on the smaller stations. For some a monthly
budget of $1500 is enough to get started. With a small budget, start
out with spots costing $65 or less. If you see a favorable return on
the investment, reinvest the profits into more advertising. Remember,
not everyone watches TV, or reads the paper, or listens to the radio,
or reads direct mail advertisements. You must have an advertising mix
to fully penetrate any market. |
