Advertising Creative
What is the typical cost of making a TV commercial. I have seen some agencies that have a "shelf" of commercial you can buy; isn't it better to have something created based on your specific school?
The cost of making a new TV commercial can vary greatly. Typically is is done on a quote basis depending on what kind of effects and spot a person wants. I have heard of schools running free spots produced by TV stations and others running commercials that cost $5K+. It all depends on what you are looking for.
The benefit of buying things off the "shelf" is that you can use spots that are tried and true instead of taking the risk on a new piece of creative that has not run anywhere else.
The major benefit to having a spot created based on your specific school would be if you are selling something in the market that no one else has to sell.
I'm having trouble comprehending the.."The major benefit to having a spot created based on your specific school would be if you are selling something in the market that no one else has to sell."
I would assume that a major benefit to having your own creative would be if you have identical programs in the market to sell. I.e. in our market we offer core programs that everyone else around offers. I'd rather have commercials that are unique to my college then use off the shelf stuff that looks like every other commercial on TV.
Our college has used "commercial mills" in the past and in watching TV around here, you are so confused by who is who at the end of the commercial break it's a wonder anyone calls any of them.
I do agree that using some tried and true methods are key in getting a lower CPL.
A lot of the reason why the school commercials look alike is that there are certain things that work, showing people in the operating room sells surgical tech, medical assistants in scrubs in Dr.'s offices sells MA.
Research shows that people shop their options now more than they ever have and most school surveys site the reason why people enroll is usually their admissions rep or someone at the school. The major benefit to having a spot created for your specific school when you have something unique in the market could be testimonials from grads or employers, a program you have that your competition does not or a new location, lab, etc. There are many schools that want their creative to be unique to them, which is not a bad thing, production costs will typically be higher. One key thing to remember is that there are certain elements that work and in my opinion it is not worth the sacrifice of lead flow to have a spot that does not include these elements so you do not look like the competition.
Thanks, it just seems like everything looks exactly a like around here. We won't be developing new creative until next month but I agree, there are definitely things that sell above others.
Marci
I agree--you can still add your own flare to the tried and true formulas to stand out.
Depending on your need the cost of a commercial varies..... My opinion is having material created based on your school will draw more attention and leads.
Is always good to have material created based on your school, not only for more leads but for more (and better) publicity.
When weighing the cost of creative, you have to factor in the cost of airtime.
Your airtime costs are vastly larger than your production costs (usually 10 to 20 times as much).
I strongly prefer to produce my own ads.
I agree completely. You need to take into consideration the frequency of the creative piece that will be running so you can gauge shelf life and have a large enough inventory so you can be pro-active prior to results dropping off.
Why do you prefer to produce your own ads? Do you do it in-house?
I agree with the using some shelf commercials to keep costs down, but i also recommend creating some background original music or a jingle to seperate your school from the masses.
