TV Adverts:

From this written research I have conducted on TV Adverts, I now have a widely knowledge on the positives and negatives of TV adverts and how significant it is for brands to target their specific audiences. It also allows you to reach many different ranges of people and develop a strong brand image, which is vitally needed to sell your product or service. 

I have also looked at some stop frame animation adverts and wanted to further my research on this form of advertising.   I found out how popular they were becoming with advert agencies and the extended creative freedom and manipulation of the subject matter can gain rather than shooting in live film.

Radio Advertisement:

Commercial radio stations make most of their revenue selling “airtime” to advertisers.  Radio advertisements or “spots” are available when a business or service provides valuable consideration, usually cash, in exchange for the station airing their spot or mentioning them on air, therefore directly connecting their brand to their specific radio station.  
They have a broad range of choices when it comes to the type and length of radio commercial message they air. With changes in the radio industry and better production technologies, the mode of commercial presentation has changed, and commercial advertisements can take on a wide range of forms. The two primary types of radio ads are “live reads” and produced “spots”.


‘Live reads’ refers to when a DJ reads an advertiser’s spot on the air, delivered from a fact sheet or from personal knowledge.  It can also refer to when the DJ “endorses” the advertiser’s goods or services. The Radio Advertising Bureau defines an endorsement as: “A commercial in which the…program personality personally recommends an advertiser's product or service, often done live during the program.” Produced spots appear to be more common.


A spot is ‘produced’ if the radio station or an advertising agency creates it for the client. Produced commercial formats include: straight read with sound effects/music in the background, dialogue, voiced by two or more personalities, monologue (where the voice talent portrays a character, as opposed to an announcer), and jingles. Studies show that the quality of the commercials is as important to listeners, generally, as the number of ads they hear. This is the advert I would be producing if I made a radio advert instead of a web pop-up. I will need to work with sound and music, and creatively make the product message stand out.

Regulation of Advertising:

In order to monitor and control advertising a number of different regulatory bodies have been established. Many countries have an Advertising Standards Authority, whose job it is to listen to complaints from the public, and establish whether or not a particular ad or campaign should be withdrawn. In the UK the situation is complex, as each medium is governed by a different regulatory body:

·         Non-Broadcast Advertising is dealt with by the Advertising Standards Authority.

·         UK TV Advertising complaints are referred to the OfCom.

·         All advertising in the UK is subject to the Committee of Advertising Practice's Code (known as the CAP Code) and also to the Code of the European Advertising Standards Alliance.

There are many rules and legislations which must be followed by an agency seeking to produce a campaign. There are extremely strict rules regarding the advertising of tobacco (banned), alcohol (going that way), medicines/medical services and products aimed specifically at children.

Committee of Advertising Practise: CAP Code

Misleading Advertising:

3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.

3.2 Obvious exaggerations (“puffery”) and claims that the average consumer who sees the marketing communication is unlikely to take literally are allowed provided they do not materially mislead.

3.3 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material

information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.

Harm Offence:

4.1 Marketing communications must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. Compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards.

Marketing communications may be distasteful without necessarily breaching this rule. Marketers are urged to consider public sensitivities before using potentially offensive material.

Children:

5.1.1 Children must not be encouraged to enter strange places or talk to strangers

5.1.2 Children must not be shown in hazardous situations or behaving dangerously

Except to promote safety. Children must not be shown unattended in street

scenes unless they are old enough to take responsibility for their own safety.

Pedestrians and cyclists must be seen to observe the Highway Code

5.2.1 Children must not be made to feel inferior or unpopular for not buying the

advertised product.

Alcohol:

18.1 Marketing communications must be socially responsible and must contain nothing that is likely to lead people to adopt styles of drinking that are unwise. For example, they should not encourage excessive drinking. Care should be taken not to exploit the young, the immature or those who are mentally or socially vulnerable.

18.2 Marketing communications must not claim or imply that alcohol can enhance confidence

or popularity.

Tobacco:

21.1 Tobacco products may not be advertised to the public.

21.2 Marketing communications for rolling papers or filters must neither encourage people to start smoking nor encourage people who smoke to increase their consumption.

Product Placement:

Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the good or service is featured. Product placement became common in the 1980s.
Definition from Wiki.

In April 2006, Broadcasting & Cable reported, "Two thirds of advertisers employ 'branded entertainment'—product placement—with the vast majority of that (80%) in commercial TV programming."   It allows the brand to show plug-ins and therefore target their specific target market.   Product Placement allows the brands to move away from in your face ads, and focus on movies, music videos which feature "real-life scenarios" with the product(s) hovering in the background.

Today's consumer is inundated with advertising everywhere: television, radio, billboards, magazines, buses, newspapers, the Internet.  Even television networks that depend on advertising dollars to stay in business know that it can be useful to ditch the interruptions and present a show without ads from time to time. FOX did it for its hit series "24" in 2002, whereby they Ford sponsored the show with two three-minute spots opening and closing the episode. Also the characters  drove Ford vehicles, therefore selling their products to their specific target audiences.  

James Bond- Sony Vaio Laptop featured in this scene.

How does advertising work?

To advertise on TV it’s best to hire an agency. Agencies have experience in dealing with all types of campaigns and can offer invaluable advice before proceeding. In addition, agencies negotiate with contractors, plan your campaign with your target audience in mind, monitor ratings, and help track the results. They also tend to advice on who to recruit to produce the commercial.

Resource- http://www.marketingminefield.co.uk/television-advertising-overview/

In an attempt to get a better price dealing direct with TV contractors can seem like a good idea but in practice you’d be leaving yourself open to be exploited. The advice and knowledge of an experienced agency is invaluable. There are many top advert agencies such as DDB London, Ogilvy, Saatchi and Saatchi and Mother London.


Does Advertising still work?

For my research I have conducted some information on whether Advertising is still a popular form to connecting with businesses’ target audience as I feel this is highly significant in my brief and will help me understand the positives and negatives of advertising.

Television advertising does still work for many businesses. On average, over the first 28   days of advertising on TV brands can expect a 5% sales increase.  Many satellite channels that have highly targeted audiences and smaller businesses advertising can record significantly higher figures. However Advertising is very expensive and this makes it harder for small brands and businesses to have enough money to afford TV commercials. 

Although with the growth of digital TV means that many people now have a choice of hundreds of channels, with many of these channels highly focused on a specific topic, thereby offering highly targeted audiences for potential advertisers which allows businesses to focus on their specific customer.   Advertising is still a powerful, creative and ever growing way in which to sell products to customers.