TELEVISIONADVERTISEMENTS

WHAT IS TELEVISION ADVERTISING?

It is the sending of promotional messages or media content to one or more potential program viewers.

The viewers are influenced by the messages which results in actions that benefit the advertiser.

Advertisers desire to provide messages to people who are interested in their products or services. Advertisers pay media companies (such as broadcasters) to send their promotional messages. Advertisers coordinate the selection of broadcasters and transmission of their promotional messages using advertising campaigns.

Broadcasters operate systems that gather, organize, and provide people with content that they want to see. The broadcaster may purchase license rights for content they send through their systems or create new (original) programming.

Viewers select programs they want to view and some of these programs contain promotional messages which motivate some of them to take actions that satisfy advertiser’s business objectives.

HISTORY OF TV ADS

The first television advertisement was broadcast in the United States on July 1, 1941.

  The watchmaker Bulova paid $9 for a

placement on New York station WNBT before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.

The 20-second spot displayed a picture of a clock superimposed on a map of the United States, accompanied by the voice-over "America runs on Bulova time.“

Due to the overwhelming success of the Bulova advertisement, other companies began to realize that they needed to jump on board with their marketing as well.

Businesses like Gimbel’s Department Store, Pan American World Airways, Firestone Tire, and Botany Worsted Mills advertised on television shortly thereafter.

By 1948, many additional advertisers were using television spots to reach the large audience that owned television sets. Television's spreading popularity merited the formation of the American Association of Advertising Agencies to regulate commercials.

The first TV ad broadcast in the UK was on ITV on 21 September 1955, advertising Gibbs SR toothpaste.

The first TV Ad broadcast in the Philippines was on ABS-CBN in 1960, advertising Tide detergent powder.

Until the early 1990s, advertising on television had only been affordable for large companies willing to make a significant investment, but the advent of desktop video allowed many small and local businesses to produce television ads for airing on local cable TV services.

KINDS OF TV ADS

In 1978, Donald Gunn was a creative director for the advertising agency Leo Burnett.

Though his position implied expertise, Gunn felt he was often just throwing darts—relying on inspiration and luck (instead of proven formulas) to make great ads. 

So, he decided to inject some analytical rigor into the process: He took a yearlong sabbatical, studied the best TV ads he could find, and looked for elemental patterns.

After much research, Gunn determined that nearly all good ads fall into one of 12 categories—or "master formats," in his words.

The demo- a visual demonstration of a product’s capabilities

Show the problem- ads that make it clear that something’s not up to snuff in a consumer’s life

Symbolize the problem- symbols or exaggerated graphics are used to symbolize the problem

Symbolize the benefit- Again, symbols are used. But in this case, to symbolize the product’s benefits.

Comparison- This is when you point out that your product is superior to your competitor’s.

Exemplary story- when an ad uses a narrative to exemplify the products benefits

Benefit causes story- the story comes from the results of using the product

Testimonial- real people telling other real people about the product

Ongoing character or celebrity- consistent character or celebrity cements the brand’s identity into the viewers’ memory

Associated user imagery- these ads showcase the kind of people you hope to associate with your product

Unique personality property-  highlights the feature that makes the product stand out

Parody or borrowed format-  parody of well-known movies, TV, or other ads that infuse humor

CHARACTERISTICS OF TV ADS

Television advertising in the U.S. and in other countries involves two main tasks:

1.) creating a television commercial that meets broadcast standards

2.) placing the commercial on television via a targeted air time media buy that reaches the desired customer

Many television advertisements feature songs or melodies ("jingles") or slogans designed to be striking and memorable, which may remain in the minds of television viewers long after the span of the advertising campaign. 

Advertising agencies often use humor as a tool in their creative marketing campaigns. In fact, many psychological studies have attempted to demonstrate the effects of humor and their relationship to empowering advertising persuasion.

Animation is often used in advertisements. The pictures can vary from hand-drawn traditional animation to computer animation.

By using animated characters, an advertisement may have a certain appeal that is difficult to achieve with actors or mere product displays.

The animation is often combined with real actors. Animated advertisements can achieve lasting popularity. In any popular vote for the most memorable television advertisements in the UK, the top positions in the list invariably include animations.

TV ADS IN THE PHILIPPINES

In the Philippines, advertising is self-regulated by individual broadcasters.

The Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines, a self-regulatory organization representing most television and radio broadcasters in the country, limit advertising to 18 minutes per hour, a move taken to help "promote public interest."

Since television was introduced to the Philippines in 1953, they used imported TV Ads until 1960.

In the 1960s, P&G paved their way to start the first local TV Ad.

In 1966, when the Philippine TV turned from Black-and-white to Color, the Colgate-Palmolive Company was the first to advertise in color.

In 1994, cigarette advertisements on TV had a warning at the end of the TV Commercial. It says, "Government Warning: Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous To Your Health".

In 2007, cigarette TV ads, including radio and print ads/sponsorships, were banned from the Philippine government.

TV AD RATES

The extensive reach of television means TV ads aren't cheap. A 30-second ad during prime time, for example, can cost as much as P250,000 ($5,149.86 at an exchange rate of $1=P48.454). A TV ad campaign can thus run to nearly a hundred million per station.

In the United States, the TV advertisement is generally considered the most effective mass-market advertising format, and this is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial broadcasting airtime during popular TV events.

It has been estimated that the average cost of producing a 30-second national TV commercial is nearly $350,000. Like any other form of advertising, a television commercial can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. Not surprisingly, the cost to produce the commercial goes up as the quality and complexity of the commercial increases.

The annual Super Bowl American football game is known as much for its commercial advertisements as for the game itself, and the average cost of a single 30-second TV spot during this game (seen by 90 million viewers) has reached US$3 million (as of February 2011).

In the United Kingdom, television advertising is considerably cheaper than in the United States of America. The current record for an advertising slot on British terrestrial television is quoted at being £250,000 for a 30 second slot during the 2010 series of Britain's Got Talent. It should be noted however that while British TV advertising is cheaper, this is only to be expected as the United Kingdom has a much lower population (63 million) compared to the US (310 million).