In my profession advertising & promotion remain an important part of every project that an independent film and TV producer undertakes.  Every business owner and non-profit organization’s head of staff are fully aware of the rewards of having a powerful effective commercial aired to thousands, even millions of viewers and potential customers daily – Preferably aired several times each hour for a period of no less than three weeks.  That sounds like a lot of money, huh?  And that’s just for the purchase of airtime.  The thing I wanted to cover today was saving on the production phase of creating a radio or TV Ad, but like you and I, the prospect of even affording a radio or television commercial on a weekly schedule is quite a stretch for our ever-tightening budgets

One thing I know you are aware of is that something very fundamental has occurred and continues to progress further since the past decade.  This fundamental change has in a way turned the tables on several industries within the world of commerce, and it has also changed the way you and I communicate with each other every minute of the day.

The New Global Digital Era

Just look at how the record industry and the entertainment industry in general have changed within the past decade.  No longer is the market entirely held and controlled by those 6 large corporations that held a tight reign on the music scene for several generations.  This same change is beginning to take place within the television and film industries assuredly as technology steadily becomes a major part of our daily lives.  The internet itself has raised the starting gate for many creative individuals to personally sell their artistic creations & services to the public, and not have to give-up a large portion of their ownership rights while in turn receiving only a fraction of the gross receipts generated by their hard-earned work. 

One terrific thing I’ve noticed is that companies like Apple and Amazon.com gives these artistic individuals world-wide exposure and allows them access to their own customer base for only a fraction of the proceeds at a rate that is very affordable for our tiny promotional budgets.  Another thing you yourself may have noticed is the emergence of the new social media that has sprung fourth from companies like Youtube, and Facebook, which gives creative individuals like me world-wide exposure for free or on a pay-per-click basis. 

This new global digital era has greatly changed how creative people can present their artistic works and even have close contact with their audiences instantaneously while working on a shoe-string budget.   I won’t even get into how the computer industry has made things cheaper, quicker, and better for us independent artists.  This is because I wanted to show you why it is possible to put together a unique and effective radio, television, or internet ad that could rival anything a multi-million-dollar ad agency could produce, and where you can find the creative talent to put it all together.

Putting Together the Team

The first and key member of this team is “You,” because in this collaboration of talents you hold both the titles of Producer/ Executive Producer. You are also the hypothetical Story Originator & Writer because the commercial’s message will be focused on yourself, the company, or the product line.  This is where an updated Business Plan or Marketing Plan comes in very handy.  If not, I hope you know your product, market, competitors, customers, company, past/ present performances, and outlook very well.  This is because I like to begin with what I call: “The 5 Building Blocks to Creating A Successful Ad Campaign.”

Your Campaign Must Address:

• What – Do you know the product, service, message, or the focus of the campaign?
• Who – is your potential viewer/ customer?
• Why – will they need it, or want it?
• How – is your product better?  How will it be the solution to the customer’s need, or want?
• Where – will they find it?  Offer the best and most convenient way they can get it: online, an 800 number, FedEx/ UPS, by visiting your local store or any combination of methods you have available.

What Is Your Campaign’s Objective?

Mainly you have two chief objectives that advertising seeks to achieve:

• The most important is building awareness for the product, company, or yourself.
• Boost the sales of a particular product line.
• Whatever objective you choose, the more you air the commercial (commonly known as frequency of airing) the more successful your ad campaign will be.

Baiting Your Hook

Having a commercial that announces to the world that you are in business and that you have a product or service on the market, places you very much ahead of your competitors that don’t advertise.  But if you want your advertising campaign to have more of an immediate impact, than you probably should offer limited time incentives such as: product discount offers, special sales offer, a contest, a 2-for-1 sale, a holiday sales event, a special store event.  One thing that a regular annual promotion creates is the anticipation of your event and commercial before and during that time of the season, thus fulfilling the goal of the first objective.

Exercise Your Own Creativity

Have you created a slogan?  What kind of theme works well with your product?  Does it fit a country western theme, something comical, conservative, or does it appeal to Hip, hop culture?  And to go even further, what style of that group or segment does it fit well in?  By knowing your: product, your customers, your company, your markets, your competitors you have a better chance of making your advertising campaign more of an investment in your company, as opposed to an expense on the books.

Knowing The Costs

By first speaking with a media representative from one of the local radio or television stations in your area, you will have an idea of how much money is needed for the airtime you desire to purchase.  The media representative may also sell you on having the commercial produced at their station facilities, including it in a package deal along with the airtime.  With some stations you may receive a discount on the package deal, but you may end up with a somewhat generic production.  By using an independent producer/ production company you will receive more personal attention resulting in a unique more tailored production.

Now Let’s Go Find Your Production Cast & Crew

One advantage you may not be aware of is that the creative and entertainment communities are somewhat like a small country that is divided into several provinces, with each community specializing in its own profession.  This advantage works in your favor because no matter whom you run across in whatever field, that person can guide you to: the best cameraman, the best music producer, the best writer, the best locations for shooting, the best audio recording studio anything and everything to produce a professional production.

Video Production

Welcome to my village.  One of the best places in your town or city is in the directory of your local/ State Film & Television Commission.  Not only will they have a list of professionals working in every aspect of the TV/ Film community, but they will also provide you with the type of projects they have done, any awards they’ve won, and possibly the rates they normally charge for their services.  If you really want to get personal and find out more detailed info on local professionals, net search (Google) Film & Video Associations in your area or search under Independent Film Societies in your area.  Build yourself a list of producers, cameramen, cinematographers, directors, and videographers.  Interview them until you find one with the experience, price range, and shooting style you are comfortable with.  The reason I listed video production first is most of the people you find in this profession generally will locate all the other crew and cast members for the production. That is if the commercial will air on television, or the internet.  Don’t hesitate to ask for demos and first meet with the people they recruit for the production. 

Music & Audio Production

Your search for a radio commercial production will be no different than what I would recommend for Film & Television.  Ironically, in most large jurisdictions the state film commission may also over-see the local music production community, so don’t hesitate to inquire with the film commission about finding music professionals through their office.  A second avenue is through your local songwriter’s association again this community can lead you to music: producers, singers & musicians, arrangers, and sound effects experts.  Be sure to hire people experienced in creating radio commercial productions.

The Copywriter (Advertisement Writing Professionals)

One of the best places to find a good copywriter will be through your media representative or media buyer you are working with or try to solicit the services of a top producing salesperson in your industry.  If you can tackle the job yourself, then you are the person who knows your business best, but getting professional help adds that needed punch to give your commercial greater impact.

So Where Do You Save Money?

According to the methods Kathy J. Kobliski has published in her book “Advertising Without an Agency Made Easy,” a company with a good-sized ad budget can greatly benefit from creating their own advertisement campaign, with savings up to 15% as appose to working through an ad agency. 

I also add that by putting together your own team of artistic individuals, you can negotiate for an affordable rate with each member for the services they render.  By working with this creative team directly or through any of the online freelance services such as Guru.com, Voices.com, or Production Hub.com I’d recommend stipulating in the agreement that you are to be continuously updated on the progress of the project they are creating for you, also you should never pay the total fees up front.  The sites I have listed above provide what is known as an escrow service, an escrow service is usually a non-affiliated party that holds the entire payment until the project is satisfactorily completed.   For those of you who are uncomfortable with having your money floating around in an escrow account I’d recommend paying: one-third up front, another-third midway through the project, and the remaining amount after you’ve received, reviewed, and that you are satisfied with the final full production.  Remember also to have this stipulated in the agreement/ contract so that all parties involved are aware of how all payments are to be distributed.

Let me share with you what information I collect from clients using my video project workbook.  This workbook helps me with designing a perfect commercial for my clientele.

The Internet as Your One Stop Shop

If you find it difficult to locate any of these professionals or you want to take the easy very low-cost route to producing your commercial, then the internet can provide you with professionals who can perform those tasks entirely on-line.  Video and audio can be transferred to you via an on-line drobox, sometimes the producer/ creator can have you pre-view their progress either on their web site or by posting it to Youtube where you can critic it from the comfort of your laptop, or desktop computer.  Many of these professionals can be found at:

• Guru.com – video production, audio/ music, voice over, and copywriting.
• Freelancer.com – Similar to Guru.com
• Production Hub – Professionals in all creative fields, even gaming and animation.