TV Commercial Guide | Pre-Production
A step-by-step guide to getting your television commercial produced.
TV Commercial Guide Part 1, Introduction and Pre-production
By Patrick Hughes
Visual Post, LLC Production Director | Co-Owner
Your business wants to create a television commercial but you don’t know where to start. In the following articles I walk you through the television commercial process. I also share some tips along the way.
The TV commercial process can be broken down into 3 sections
• Pre-Production
• The Shoot Day
• Post Production
Pre-Production
The pre-production process is critical to producing a killer TV ad. Without the proper planning you’re just wasting your money and possibly hurting your brand.
Pre-Production includes:
• Writing a script for your commercial
• Researching Video Production Companies to hire
• Putting your Media Buy together (aka Buying TV Commercial Spot Time)
Script Writing
When writing a script for TV commercials you want to think about what type of message you want to convey. This could be as simple as letting the public know where your business is located. Perhaps your business is running a special and you want everyone to know.
Whatever you’re trying to convey remember that most TV commercials are 30 seconds in length, so you need be clear and concise. Some video production companies will offer script writing assistance. This can be very helpful when trying to write your first tv commercial. Not all companies will include script writing assistance, some will include it with the TV commercial package others will offer it as and optional service. Once you have a clear message it’s time to find the right team to produce your spot.
Researching Video Production Companies
Things to think about when hiring a video production company.
• Have you asked to see the video production company’s demo reel, or video clips
• Does the company have insurance? Those lights are hot!
• Do they outsource parts of the production
• Does the company have a relationship with a talent agency?
Do you need any type of special service? Does your TV commercial include a scene on top of a tall Manhattan high-rise with a unlicensed particle accelerators?
Note: Motion Graphics and any type of green-screen compositing will increase the cost of your production. Note: Always ask questions. We video producers are here to educate our clients the more you know the easier it for us to produce your vision.
Putting Your Media Buy Together
This can be one of the most critical components in the TV commercial production process. Your media buy or the purchase of advertisement space on TV needs to be focus on the types of customers or clients you want to draw to your business.
Do you know who your customers are? If you have the budget, consider hiring an ad agency to research your customer demographic.
Most video production companies are media buying agents. They can help facilitate your ad buy. They will also help you determine your demographic and what channels and shows you should advertise on.
Note: All ad-buying agents will take a 15% commission for facilitating your ad buy. This is industry standard.
There are two strategies for buying cable television ads. The first involves blanket ad coverage.
Blanket Ad Coverage – Buying spots that could that could run anywhere in the allotted time.
Example – Joy buys 1 spot a day for 10 days that will run between 6pm and Midnight. Notice the times may vary in which Joys ad may run.
Pros
• These spot times are cheaper
• You media buy can last over longer period of time
• Potential to hits different people at different times
• Fast way to buy ad spots
Cons
• You may never know when your spot will run
• No guarantee of maximum exposure
Targeted Ad Buy Coverage – Buying spots that run during a particular show and time.
Example- Joy buys 1 spot during Vh1’s I love the 80’s on August 30th 2009
Pros
• Maximum exposure to your target audience
• More effective at measuring response
Cons
• Spots cost more that Blanked Buys
• Planning and research time required
The fact of the matter is that there is no one solution for ad buying. At Visual Post, LLC we like our clients to use a mixture of both blanket adbuys and targeted ones. That way you get maximum coverage and the most bang for your buck.
Here are few more things to think about when buying media
• Is my commercial time/date sensitive?
• Can I rerun the commercial in a few months without having major changes made to it?
You might want to consider using an ad agency to make you ad buy. This may be an option for your company but generally will cost you more money
What else can I do with my commercial?
Social networking sites provide new outlets to post your commercial. Best of all they’re free! Get on Facebook and MySpace and post away. You might want to send out an email with a link to your YouTube or Vimeo page where you have uploaded the spot. You might want to have the commercial playing on a television in your store or lobby. You could also have dvds made of the commercial and pass them on along with your business card to potential customers.
Tip: For an additional fee a tech savy video production company can deploy your tv commercial to your companies website and the various social networks.
Quick Recap:
• Plan Ahead! Trying to produce a tv commercial in a week will cost you more money and you’ll produce a lack luster commercial
• Know who your audience is ahead of time. This will help you with your ad buy.
• Ask Questions!
• Ask yourself, “Does this hurt my brand?”
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Look for Part 2 of our TV Commercial Guide | The Shoot Day
