When we put together our TV commercials we looked at what the competition was broadcasting, and I must say they were all airing the same cookie cutter commercials.
I believe there are 4 points to a GOOD TV commercial.
1) They must offer the viewer a sense of trust in the product or company being advertised.
2) It must be direct and to the point, there must be a call to action. Like “Sell Now” Unless you have enough money to create an image building campaign and then follow it up with a direct response campaign.
Example Geico started off advertising what they did, which was to sell insurance, they used a mascot to promote their product which is image building which creates brand awareness. Have you noticed that now they advertise neither the product or use the mascot, they’re advertising ridiculous scenarios. They can do this because they have taught us that they will save you money and are trustworthy. All they want from us is to recall their product. We no longer must remember their name.
3) It must speak to the viewer. McDonald’s is very good at this.. On a Saturday morning notice who their audience is. During a football game their message is different.
4) Repetition. Years ago Century 21 would run commercials on an 8-12 week rotation. They would then stop for a few weeks and go strong again. This method works well for building brand awareness.
Remember the Dominoes ad... 30 minutes or less or its free. That hasn’t been advertised in a very long time but it still has branding power.
As for cost we spent less than 10000 on our 30-minute infomercial, which is a 15-minute loop. It covers all of the scenarios, divorce, foreclosure, bankruptcy, death you name them.
We then cut them into 30 and 60 second spots...
the 30s are shorter versions of the 60s and we run them after blasting the 60s.
I will caution everyone to use Actors…. If you use past customers it will affect your professionalism. And don’t let anyone convince you to star in the commercial yourself…
Another to do… make sure you get releases from all of the actors to re-cut re-air and broadcast in other markets… If you use an anchor make sure you have the legal right to re-shoot them with in a certain period of time… they are your spoke person and if you create an image around their face you must be able to re-shoot them over and over.
The infomercial we run everyday at 6:30, which is right after news and before prime time... We wanted a place our sellers could go and find us if they couldn’t remember our Vanity 800 number.
I wouldn’t run radio.... Until you have brand recognition. Besides the demographics are too hard to control...
TV offers so much more, although it seems more expensive if you calculate the reach and frequency TV will out pull Radio all of the time..
You are also speaking to more of their senses with TV.
And year to date I have earned 1,007,860 which is a triple net against a TV buy of 167,350.
Also TV represents 25% of my advertising budget 27% of my inbound calls and 39% of my earnings. So you can see that the people who call from TV want to sell me their home...
I attribute the larger ratio to the message in the TV commercial... With TV you can answer the questions before they’re asked.
You bring up issues that I believe are crucial to any successful TV campaign. Or, any promotional effort, for that matter.
If I may, I would like to add a couple of thoughts and expand on a few of your comments. When you said, “they were all airing the same cookie cutter commercials” was spot-on.
I think this may be one of the most common mistakes people make in their marketing efforts. They just copy what someone else has already done. Or, they just say the same things – which can be a fatal mistake. It’s what we always referred to as “me too” marketing in the ad business. In fact, many successful campaigns are designed solely around how to put competitors in a “me-too” position. And oftentimes, even if what’s being offered isn’t unique, if someone is the first ones to promote it, they can take the marketing lead.
Your McDonald’s example brings up another excellent point. Not only do a lot of advertisers not speak directly to their audience, I’m not sure they even know who their target audience is! And without getting into to the boring minutiae of demographic profiling, psychographic profiling, etc., it should be noted that people need to spend some serious time learning their audiences. Who are they? How old are they? What’s their financial situation? What’s their level of education? What do they watch on TV? When do they watch it? And the list goes on and on… but knowing the answers can make a HUGE difference in how a TV spot gets written and produced, or even when and where they run it. And as you pointed out with McDonald’s, they may need to promote different messages to different audiences.
Also, your comment on using professional actors made me grin. I don’t know how many times I’ve fought that battle with clients wanting to be in their own commercials or videos. I recall one client who asked why we didn’t use a real nurse in their ads. My response was, “for the same reason I don’t hire a model when I’m sick.” After I thought about it, maybe I should hire a model when I’m sick. : )
However, when doing testimonials, I’ve found that real people can be extremely effective. But you can NEVER script them, and it definitely takes a professional director who knows what they’re doing – both in shooting and in post-production.
In response to the person that asked about negotiating production costs, I don’t think there’s a simple answer. When someone asks us what something costs, I often tell them it costs the same as it does to build a boat. Not that I’m being smug, but to convey the idea that we can build the Queen Mary, or we can build a dinghy. But we can’t build the Queen Mary with a dinghy budget.
My advice is to anyone trying to determine productions costs would be to either define in detail exactly what they want and then price it out from different production companies. Or, determine what budget they have to work with, and then see what can be produced within that budget.
But keep in mind, while there are single 30-second TV spots that have cost millions, the Blair Witch Project was produced for $35,000. And it has returned over $248 million so far. But then again, it wasn’t a “me too” film project either.
In case anyone was wondering -- I spent over 20 years of my professional career running an ad agency doing work for companies around the world. And I still own a media production company. But over the years I seen a lot of successes and a lot of failures, and unfortunately you tend to see the same mistakes made over and over.
Anyway, these were just a couple of thoughts I had.
You have much more experience in media buying than I do...
I am dumber than dirt when it comes to these things...
To answer an earlier question.... The 10k was production on our infomercial and 60 and 30 second spots....
Although we used actors we didn’t want it to look too smooth to too Hollywood.. We wanted everyday looking people.. And I hate saying this we wanted normal to even less normal looking folks..
I am torn on the comment to use past customers.. I wouldn’t. I can see the honesty coming out in them but a good actor can say the lines and at the same time be genuine.
My wife hates it because she is constantly asked if the guy in the commercials is her husband.. I hear his wife hates it too.
As for rates on spots and run times....
HIRE and ad agency... most will work for the 12-15 commission paid by the media. Sure you may be able to save a little by buying yourself, but I bet you would actually spend a lot more by buying the wrong times or programming.
Do not buy from the TV stations... The first question they ask is " How much money do you want to spend?"
If you are not strategic about your campaign don’t advertise.
Interview them like you would interview your attorney, Realtor and title company. If they are not a direct response minded ad agency let them work for someone else...
It sounds like I need to hire a marketing company to do my demographics, and maybe produce my commercial. Then I prolly should purchase my commercial time through an ad company and not the actual TV Network (to get better pricing). If this is correct do you guys have any company names that I can start with? I plan to start running TV at the beginning of next year. I can get the commercial produced cheap by someone who produces commercials for the news (now Im second guessing haveing it done by him). I wanted to start with a small budget between 12K-24k for the year with TV. I wanted to include production and airtime in that budget. What are your thoughts, am i going in the wrong direction?
I would look at agencies who work for Furniture companies...
They are used to direct response advertising... Furniture companies want results fast and they want them now...
Make a call to the top three on the aire and ask them who their ad agancy is.
And dont be worried about not knowing much.
Before you hire an agency you need to do some homework of your own..
You must be able to answer these questions.
1) how old is the seller you want to buy from?
2) what sex is the decision maker?
3) What income level are they?
4) what is your distress target ? Especially if you have a limited budget.
5) what is you message? Probably the most important
keep one thing in mind. ALL of the houses you have bought may not have been from the correct demographics, so be careful thinking your sellers are the same demo as the ones you have been buying from.
If you can find your way to my site we have 6 of our commercials there... [ Edited by IBuyHousesInc on Date 10/01/2005 ]
I think some of the most creative stuff I’ve ever seen has been good outdoor campaigns. And billboards are one of the hardest to do right. But your last sentence really says it all.
When we put together our TV commercials we looked at what the competition was broadcasting, and I must say they were all airing the same cookie cutter commercials.
I believe there are 4 points to a GOOD TV commercial.
1) They must offer the viewer a sense of trust in the product or company being advertised.
2) It must be direct and to the point, there must be a call to action. Like “Sell Now” Unless you have enough money to create an image building campaign and then follow it up with a direct response campaign.
Example Geico started off advertising what they did, which was to sell insurance, they used a mascot to promote their product which is image building which creates brand awareness. Have you noticed that now they advertise neither the product or use the mascot, they’re advertising ridiculous scenarios. They can do this because they have taught us that they will save you money and are trustworthy. All they want from us is to recall their product. We no longer must remember their name.
3) It must speak to the viewer. McDonald’s is very good at this.. On a Saturday morning notice who their audience is. During a football game their message is different.
4) Repetition. Years ago Century 21 would run commercials on an 8-12 week rotation. They would then stop for a few weeks and go strong again. This method works well for building brand awareness.
Remember the Dominoes ad... 30 minutes or less or its free. That hasn’t been advertised in a very long time but it still has branding power.
As for cost we spent less than 10000 on our 30-minute infomercial, which is a 15-minute loop. It covers all of the scenarios, divorce, foreclosure, bankruptcy, death you name them.
We then cut them into 30 and 60 second spots...
the 30s are shorter versions of the 60s and we run them after blasting the 60s.
I will caution everyone to use Actors…. If you use past customers it will affect your professionalism. And don’t let anyone convince you to star in the commercial yourself…
Another to do… make sure you get releases from all of the actors to re-cut re-air and broadcast in other markets… If you use an anchor make sure you have the legal right to re-shoot them with in a certain period of time… they are your spoke person and if you create an image around their face you must be able to re-shoot them over and over.
The infomercial we run everyday at 6:30, which is right after news and before prime time... We wanted a place our sellers could go and find us if they couldn’t remember our Vanity 800 number.
if you want more info just ask..
Good luck
IBuyHousesInc,
Much better, you are a quick learn.
John $Cash$ Locke
[addsig]
thanks John...
IBuyHousesInc
How well did your commercial pull for you? Or does your radio add pull better?
I wouldn’t run radio.... Until you have brand recognition. Besides the demographics are too hard to control...
TV offers so much more, although it seems more expensive if you calculate the reach and frequency TV will out pull Radio all of the time..
You are also speaking to more of their senses with TV.
And year to date I have earned 1,007,860 which is a triple net against a TV buy of 167,350.
Also TV represents 25% of my advertising budget 27% of my inbound calls and 39% of my earnings. So you can see that the people who call from TV want to sell me their home...
I attribute the larger ratio to the message in the TV commercial... With TV you can answer the questions before they’re asked.
How do you negotiate TV Ad?
I look into it, and the cost is $25,000 not $10,000
I guess the same way you negotiate a contract to buy a house....
remember the cheapest prices isnt always the cheapest price. You know the saying you get what you pay for.
But 10k can get you a very good TV campaign[ Edited by IBuyHousesInc on Date 09/30/2005 ]
When u say 10K are u talking production, or thats just the air time u have purchased?
Excellent response, IbuyHousesInc!
You bring up issues that I believe are crucial to any successful TV campaign. Or, any promotional effort, for that matter.
If I may, I would like to add a couple of thoughts and expand on a few of your comments. When you said, “they were all airing the same cookie cutter commercials” was spot-on.
I think this may be one of the most common mistakes people make in their marketing efforts. They just copy what someone else has already done. Or, they just say the same things – which can be a fatal mistake. It’s what we always referred to as “me too” marketing in the ad business. In fact, many successful campaigns are designed solely around how to put competitors in a “me-too” position. And oftentimes, even if what’s being offered isn’t unique, if someone is the first ones to promote it, they can take the marketing lead.
Your McDonald’s example brings up another excellent point. Not only do a lot of advertisers not speak directly to their audience, I’m not sure they even know who their target audience is! And without getting into to the boring minutiae of demographic profiling, psychographic profiling, etc., it should be noted that people need to spend some serious time learning their audiences. Who are they? How old are they? What’s their financial situation? What’s their level of education? What do they watch on TV? When do they watch it? And the list goes on and on… but knowing the answers can make a HUGE difference in how a TV spot gets written and produced, or even when and where they run it. And as you pointed out with McDonald’s, they may need to promote different messages to different audiences.
Also, your comment on using professional actors made me grin. I don’t know how many times I’ve fought that battle with clients wanting to be in their own commercials or videos. I recall one client who asked why we didn’t use a real nurse in their ads. My response was, “for the same reason I don’t hire a model when I’m sick.” After I thought about it, maybe I should hire a model when I’m sick. : )
However, when doing testimonials, I’ve found that real people can be extremely effective. But you can NEVER script them, and it definitely takes a professional director who knows what they’re doing – both in shooting and in post-production.
In response to the person that asked about negotiating production costs, I don’t think there’s a simple answer. When someone asks us what something costs, I often tell them it costs the same as it does to build a boat. Not that I’m being smug, but to convey the idea that we can build the Queen Mary, or we can build a dinghy. But we can’t build the Queen Mary with a dinghy budget.
My advice is to anyone trying to determine productions costs would be to either define in detail exactly what they want and then price it out from different production companies. Or, determine what budget they have to work with, and then see what can be produced within that budget.
But keep in mind, while there are single 30-second TV spots that have cost millions, the Blair Witch Project was produced for $35,000. And it has returned over $248 million so far. But then again, it wasn’t a “me too” film project either.
In case anyone was wondering -- I spent over 20 years of my professional career running an ad agency doing work for companies around the world. And I still own a media production company. But over the years I seen a lot of successes and a lot of failures, and unfortunately you tend to see the same mistakes made over and over.
Anyway, these were just a couple of thoughts I had.
Again, great topic and great responses.
mcole
Thanks for the kind words....
You have much more experience in media buying than I do...
I am dumber than dirt when it comes to these things...
To answer an earlier question.... The 10k was production on our infomercial and 60 and 30 second spots....
Although we used actors we didn’t want it to look too smooth to too Hollywood.. We wanted everyday looking people.. And I hate saying this we wanted normal to even less normal looking folks..
I am torn on the comment to use past customers.. I wouldn’t. I can see the honesty coming out in them but a good actor can say the lines and at the same time be genuine.
My wife hates it because she is constantly asked if the guy in the commercials is her husband.. I hear his wife hates it too.
As for rates on spots and run times....
HIRE and ad agency... most will work for the 12-15 commission paid by the media. Sure you may be able to save a little by buying yourself, but I bet you would actually spend a lot more by buying the wrong times or programming.
Do not buy from the TV stations... The first question they ask is " How much money do you want to spend?"
If you are not strategic about your campaign don’t advertise.
Interview them like you would interview your attorney, Realtor and title company. If they are not a direct response minded ad agency let them work for someone else...
Remember YOU ARE IN CONTROL.
[ Edited by IBuyHousesInc on Date 09/30/2005 ]
IBuyHousesInc or Mcole
It sounds like I need to hire a marketing company to do my demographics, and maybe produce my commercial. Then I prolly should purchase my commercial time through an ad company and not the actual TV Network (to get better pricing). If this is correct do you guys have any company names that I can start with? I plan to start running TV at the beginning of next year. I can get the commercial produced cheap by someone who produces commercials for the news (now Im second guessing haveing it done by him). I wanted to start with a small budget between 12K-24k for the year with TV. I wanted to include production and airtime in that budget. What are your thoughts, am i going in the wrong direction?
I would look at agencies who work for Furniture companies...
They are used to direct response advertising... Furniture companies want results fast and they want them now...
Make a call to the top three on the aire and ask them who their ad agancy is.
And dont be worried about not knowing much.
Before you hire an agency you need to do some homework of your own..
You must be able to answer these questions.
1) how old is the seller you want to buy from?
2) what sex is the decision maker?
3) What income level are they?
4) what is your distress target ? Especially if you have a limited budget.
5) what is you message? Probably the most important
keep one thing in mind. ALL of the houses you have bought may not have been from the correct demographics, so be careful thinking your sellers are the same demo as the ones you have been buying from.
If you can find your way to my site we have 6 of our commercials there... [ Edited by IBuyHousesInc on Date 10/01/2005 ]
Great story, John!
I think some of the most creative stuff I’ve ever seen has been good outdoor campaigns. And billboards are one of the hardest to do right. But your last sentence really says it all.
Thanks for sharing.
IBuyHousesInc/ Mcole
What has shown to be more effective, 15 sec or 30 sec commercial?
the 15 sec TV commercials are what they call book ends and are not effective in my limited experience...
Keep in mind you have to attract the seller with your message which is difficult to do in 15 seconds.
We run 60 second commercials and then run a 30 version of the 60.
Our infomercial is a great way to tell the whole story.
both call an ad agency and ask for their assistance
[addsig]