From concept to completion, TV commercials require a great deal of work. Before the filming, the idea is mapped, scripted, and illustrated to understand how the commercial will progress.
TV commercials are typically 30 seconds long. Most broadcast outlets will offer longer and shorter spots for sale, but 30 seconds is ubiquitous. Many advertisers will feature a 30-second commercial for broadcast, with longer versions of those commercials featured on-line for social media buzz.
How long does it take to produce a TV commercial?
It varies from project to project. Simpler projects can be completed in 2-3 days, while complex ones may take weeks or even months.
Let’s understand the process of how it all works out exactly, starting with pre-production.
Developing a Creative Brief
The first step in Pre – Production of a television commercial is making a creative brief. In the initial meeting between the client and the video production company, it is essential the company understands the client’s advertising goals.
After gathering subject matter, the agency writes a creative brief that includes objectives, messages, and target audience.
When working on the brief, it’s essential to consider brand guidelines, budget, and timing. Video production companies also need to focus on formatting and considering platforms on which content is to be viewed and how long it should be.
Mapping Out Concepts
After designing the initial creative brief, it’s time to develop ideas and creative concepts to produce effective Television commercials. Mapping out the idea is the most crucial step towards completion. The best way is to consider all possible approaches, including dramatic, comedic, ‘straight-forward’, etc.
There are a million commercials out there already. Your concept for a 30-second commercial needs to be out of the box, and ‘brand appropriate’ if it is to inspire your customer.
Disrupt Expectations:
Your audience’s attention span can be quite limited, so it’s hard to get noticed unless you disrupt expectations a bit. Among the most effective ways to do so is to feature some contrast with a sudden pivot.
Focus on Initial Seconds:
The first 3-5 seconds are crucial, so make sure you can immediately command your audience’s attention.
Building the Brand:
Your ad needs to focus on building brand awareness. So, when creating the concept, make sure you really stand apart and create an original brand statement while getting the product’s message across.
Targeting Audience:
This era requires you to focus on a specific audience. When creating the concept, keep in mind that your ad needs to concentrate on a particular business aspect for a specific audience.
Writing a Great Script
Once the concept is finalized, it’s time to write THE SCRIPT. While working on the final draft, it’s crucial to maintain continuous communication between the client and the writers. Keeping clients involved in the writing ensures that they get exactly what they are looking for.Writing is truly the backbone to ANY good production.
As a scriptwriter, you need to make sure that every single second is utilized to get the required message across in a carefully crafted, concise, and effective manner. Within this limited period, you must ensure that the ad embodies the client’s company’s core values while providing adequate material for the viewer to make an informed decision about the product or service in question.
Typically, a script sees 3-10 revisions before it’s finalized. The trick here is to focus on audience, vision, and execution. Scriptwriters need to ensure that the final draft is not only informative but also memorable.
Storyboarding
Before jumping into the production phase, depending on the creative nature of the spot, it may be beneficial to develop storyboards. Storyboarding a television advertisem*nt includes featuring character movement, camera placement, type of shot, voiceover, and point of view. Here, you can use arrow points to show which way a character is walking or how a camera is being angled.
Many agencies skip this step due to the cost and time involved. BUT storyboards can give you and your client an excellent visual representation of how the commercial will unfold, avoiding any costly ‘surprises’ on set or in post-production. Storyboarding also helps assure the directors that the vision is working perfectly on screen. What’s more: it actually allows for cost-effective critical changes before production takes place. Effective storyboarding ensures that all parties are on the same page.
Time for Production
Lights. Camera. Action!
Once the script has been approved and storyboarding is in place, it’s time for production. The most important
decision to be made here is who will bring life to the script, i.e., the director. An ideal director will have an artistic eye for color and composition and a good ear for music, special effects, and audio. Video production companies need to make this decision very carefully as much of the production quality depends on the director they choose.
When video agencies enter the production phase, they also must make some crucial choices about the background music, location, food, styling, wardrobe, etc. Casting is also an essential factor in this regard. Companies have to take into consideration who are the right actors best equipped for the roles in the commercial, if any.
The production phase requires us to focus on preparing the props, studio equipment, lighting, and actor’s makeover and blocking (movements). Additionally, we want to ensure that actors have memorized their lines, equipment is working perfectly, and the crew is ready.
Shooting
Time for shooting!
On average, it takes 1 day to shoot 5 pages of script, i.e., 5 minutes of film captured in the raw form. The actual shoot can last one day, one week, or even a month – depending on the elements involved. For the shooting phase, the video production company needs to place focus on the crew, which has to do a lot with the budget.
On social media, shooting is often seen as the glamorous side of advertisem*nt – but that’s not really the case. The shooting phase, while fun, is an extremely deliberative process. A great deal of time is invested in adjusting the frame while directors try and perfect the ad’s look and feel as it was envisioned.
Working on Post – Production
After the long, hectic journey, the footage acquisition is complete. Now it’s time to compile the footage via loads of video editing, cuts, overlays, etc. Post-production involves cutting frames together, color grading shots, and bringing saturation, color, detail to one point, ensuring all audio is working together seamlessly, and adding visual effects and audio design. This phase ensures that the final ad has the perfect stylized effect that you require.
Post-production is all about editing – and that is the most crucial part of all. It’s where we bring the whole concept to life. Agencies want to ensure that they produce a product of maximum production value. It’s all about trimming, special effects, loads of audio overlays, and overall ad appeal.
Wrap Up
Producing TV commercials is a stressful job that requires detailed planning. The production time depends entirely on the scale of the project. It could take you anywhere between 6 days to 6 months, accordingly.
TV commercial production is an art. It’s not something that can be done well without extensive knowledge and a talented team. If you need to advertise your product ideally, it’s time to ask the professionals.
So. ask yourself: do you want a commercial that can boost your marketing and branding potential? If so,can help visualize your dream. Braun Film offers complete production services from script to screen. We take pride in bringing you big ideas – the ones that will get you noticed, the ones that will change the behavior of millions of people. What are you waiting for? Contact us right away to help with your advertising needs!
FAQs
How long should my ad be? The standard length of a TV ad is 30 seconds long and approximately half of all ads are 30 seconds. However, ads can also be 10, 20, 40, 50, 60 seconds or longer. Your ad needs to be a multiple of ten to fit into the ad break.
How many times do you need to see a commercial to remember it? ›
Business Dictionary defines it as "Advertising, the theory that a consumer has to be exposed to an ad at least three times within a purchasing cycle (time between two consecutive purchases) to buy that product."
What makes a good 30 second commercial? ›
Your 30-second commercial should: Identify who you are. Highlight a few strengths and accomplishments. Show how you can bring added value to an organization.
How many minutes of commercials are allowed per hour? ›
There are no rules regulating the amount of airtime a television station or network — cable or otherwise — devotes to commercials, according to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spokesperson. The exception to that rule is in children's programing.
How many words is a 30 second commercial? ›
30 Second Spot – 75 to 85 words.
How many words should a 30 second commercial be? ›
The average person speaks roughly 2-3 words per second. So, a 30-second spot script could be roughly 75 words. For a 60 second script, you get around 150 words.
What is the 7 times 7 rule? ›
The Marketing Rule of 7 states that a prospect needs to “hear” the advertiser's message at least 7 times before they'll take action to buy that product or service. It's a marketing maxim developed by the movie industry in the 1930s.
What is the rule of 7? ›
What is the rule of 7? The rule of 7 is based on the marketing principle that customers need to see your brand at least 7 times before they commit to a purchase decision. This concept has been around since the 1930s when movie studios first coined the approach.
Does rule of 7 still apply? ›
The Marketing Rule of 7 has been around since the 1930s when it was used by movie studios. They realized that for people to want to see a movie, they needed to see the advertisem*nt at least seven times. The gist of the Marketing Rule of 7 hasn't changed in nearly a hundred years, and that's because it works.
What is the 5 second rule ads? ›
The rule: A person is likely to glance at your ad from 1-5 seconds.
...
So, in those 5 seconds or less, your ad needs to:
- Capture a person's interest.
- Tell them what they're supposed to do.
- Entice them to act (click!) and leave their current browsing session.
30 Seconds is the Ideal TV Commercial Length
Studies completed by the World Advertising Research Center have shown that 30-second spots are ideal in order to effectively tap into all three components of a good brand-building television commercial.
Is a 15 second ad better than a 30-second ad? ›
30-seconds is more effective in “explaining complex messages.” 30-seconds is more effective for the launch of a new product or campaign. 15-second spots cut down from the 30 are effective as a reminder of the 30-second spot -- but only if the longer ad is fully established first.
Are TV commercials getting longer? ›
Brian Weiser of Pivotal Research analyzed the Nielsen data and determined this November, the amount of commercials in TV network programming actually grew from 10.7 minutes last year to 10.9 minutes this year. By the way, the longest commercial ever run on television? 13 hours (still not kidding).
How long is the average TV commercial break? ›
How long is the average TV commercial break? The length of a commercial break can vary from broadcaster to broadcaster, but it's usually around 2 or 3 minutes. These breaks include advertising from external companies as well as the broadcaster's own promotional materials.
How much does it cost to make a 3 minute commercial? ›
Your video production budget will include estimates for these types of supplemental visuals, including: A 2- to 3-minute professionally produced corporate video typically costs anywhere from $20,000 to $70,000.
How long is a script for a 30-second commercial? ›
Writing for a 30-second ad
A good rule of thumb is that the average person speaks about two to three words per second. This means your final 30-second script should be around 75 words (give or take). If you use a lot of long words, it might need to be shorter!
How long does it take to make a 30-second commercial? ›
These estimated film times do not take into consideration any mishaps that may occur throughout the day. In fact, our own video production crew here at Sheffield Audio-Video Productions has shared that filming raw footage of a 30-second commercial can take at least 4 hours to capture perfectly.
What does a 30-second commercial cost? ›
According to AdAge, 30-second spots will cost companies a record $7 million. Last year, Super Bowl LVI ads costed $6.5 million.
What is a 30 minute commercial called? ›
Infomercials are a form of video advertising that lasts for a long period of time, usually from 30 minutes to an hour. They provide an in-depth demonstration of a product and urge the viewer through a call to action to buy the product.
How many words is a 1 minute commercial? ›
Video Length: 1 minute = 120-word script.
The biggest golden rule is to carefully identify what your clients need and want, and then to show them that you can provide them with the service that will meet those needs. You need to have a direct connection with your target market to get the best return on investment from your marketing spend.
What is the 7 11 4 rule? ›
Research by Google suggests that a buyer needs 7 hours of interaction, across 11 touch points, in 4 separate locations before they make a purchase.
What is the 40 40 20 rule in marketing? ›
The dictum is that 40 percent of your direct marketing success is dependent on your audience, another 40 percent is dependent on your offer, and the last 20 percent is reserved for everything else, including how the material is presented.
What is rule number 5? ›
Definition. Held each December, the Rule 5 Draft allows clubs without a full 40-man roster to select certain non-40-man roster players from other clubs.
What is the rule of 3 in marketing? ›
Three is the smallest number to create a pattern. The simple formula was used heavily in the past through paid TV spots to hit the largest segment at the same time: serve up your 30-second TV spot three times to your audience and the message will likely stick.
What is rule number 3? ›
Rule #3 is don't believe everything you read or hear or see. Fact-based story of a professional con artist who ran a scam on another well-to-do con artist. The title refers to the rules that a con artist lives by. Rule #3 is don't believe everything you read or hear or see. Mitchell Cox.
What is the number one rule of marketing? ›
First Rule Of Marketing: Focus On Your Audience.
What is the rule of 7 in advertising? ›
The marketing rule of 7's states that a potential customer must see a message at least 7 times before they'll be provoked to take an action.
How many times do you have to hear something before it sinks in? ›
The magic number seven
Studies have shown that people need to see a message at least seven times before it sinks in. It supports the notion that people learn, and therefore remember, by repetition.
What is the 90 10 rule in advertising? ›
So the 90/10 rule basically suggests that to get really successful and to get really fast results, spend 90% of your marketing efforts doing just one thing remarkably well. And the other 10% can be spent farting around because we're not all perfect, we're all going to get distracted, us included.
What is the 80/20 rule? The 80/20 rule indicates that 80% of social media posts should be useful to your audience — meaning, it educates, entertains, or offers a solution to their problems — and only 20% should explicitly promote your business.
What is the 30 30 rule in advertising? ›
This means you'll spend 30% of your content talking about yourself, 30% talking about others and 30% posting fun and engaging info. This also gives you room to post real-time messaging and responses with the other 10% of your content.
Why are commercials getting so long? ›
The amount of commercial time on cable TV keeps increasing as networks try to make up for shrinking audiences by stuffing more ads into every hour of television.
Why do you need several 30 second commercials? ›
Ultimately, it is how you can quickly and concisely introduce yourself to a potential employer. A 30-second commercial is a personal blurb that sums up the “professional you” and can be delivered quickly.
How do you measure the effectiveness of a TV commercial? ›
Footfall Attribution. Traditionally, viewership — how many people have seen an advertisem*nt — has been the predominant way of measuring television ads. However, understanding whether people simply saw an ad does not in fact mean they took any action afterward to engage with that brand or convert.
Why do 15 second unskippable ads exist? ›
Viewers don't have the option to skip your ad. With videos between 6 and 15 seconds, non-skippable ads allow you to reach viewers with your entire message.
What is the 3 second rule ads? ›
The Three-Second Rule
The general rule of thumb in digital advertising is that you must capture user's attention within the first three seconds of the ad or else you risk losing them completely.
What is the 2 second rule in advertising? ›
The IAB Digital Video Glossary says a video ad is considered “viewable” if at least 50% of the ad is viewed for two consecutive seconds.
What is the longest running TV commercial in the US? ›
The world's longest running TV commercial is the Discount Tire Company's Thank you commercial, produced by Swartwout Productions (Arizona, USA) and first aired in 1975. The same commercial has been aired continuously every year in parts of the USA.
Is TV advertising on the decline? ›
TV's share of display advertising is expected to continue to erode in 2023 as online adspend expands its majority—TV is expected to make up 26% of display advertising next year, down 2% from 2022. Internet display advertising is meanwhile expected to grow from 52% market share to 54% share.
Fox Television Network and the Fox News Channel run the most commercials time per hour among the respective broadcast and cable network categories.
Who holds the record for longest TV commercial? ›
Old Spice's Inception-style TV ad is the longest ever at 14 hours - and will run forever online. 14 hours straight? Amazing! More than the time any Old Spice will ever last!
What is the shortest TV commercial? ›
Heinz releases world's shortest commercial at 0.57 seconds, that you'll miss if you blink. Heinz, the popular food company known for their ketchup and condiments, has released a new commercial that is so quick, viewers may have to pause it to catch all the action.
How many commercials are you exposed to during a 1 hour TV show? ›
There are usually two commercial breaks in a half-hour programme and three commercial breaks in an hour-long programme, with the exception of news programmes.
How much does the average person get for doing a commercial? ›
How much does a TV Commercial Actor or Actress make in the United States? The average TV Commercial Actor or Actress salary in the United States is $73,952 as of February 27, 2023, but the salary range typically falls between $60,941 and $90,292.
What is the most expensive commercial? ›
Chanel. Despite being released all the way back in 2004, this ad for Chanel No. 5 perfume is still by far the most expensive commercial that we know of. It carries an eye-popping budget of $33 million!
How much does someone get paid for doing a commercial? ›
Commercial Actor Salary
| Annual Salary | Monthly Pay |
|---|
| Top Earners | $104,000 | $8,666 |
| 75th Percentile | $67,500 | $5,625 |
| Average | $62,107 | $5,175 |
| 25th Percentile | $29,500 | $2,458 |
In the United States, a 30-second commercial spot on a popular prime-time TV show can cost about $100,000. However, in some European countries, it costs less than $10,000. Depending on the market, the average cost of a 30-second TV advertisem*nt will be around $8,000.
How many minutes of commercials in a 30 minute TV show? ›
Most TV half-hour show are roughly 22 minutes. So, 8 minutes are devoted to commercials, in bumps, out bumps and other short teasers. What that leaves is about 6–7 minutes of 15, 30 and (rarely) 60 second commercials.
Is 15 second ads better than 30 seconds? ›
30-seconds is more effective in “explaining complex messages.” 30-seconds is more effective for the launch of a new product or campaign. 15-second spots cut down from the 30 are effective as a reminder of the 30-second spot -- but only if the longer ad is fully established first.
Writing for a 30-second ad
A good rule of thumb is that the average person speaks about two to three words per second. This means your final 30-second script should be around 75 words (give or take). If you use a lot of long words, it might need to be shorter!
How much is a 3 minute commercial? ›
Your video production budget will include estimates for these types of supplemental visuals, including: A 2- to 3-minute professionally produced corporate video typically costs anywhere from $20,000 to $70,000.
What is the longest TV commercial? ›
Old Spice's Inception-style TV ad is the longest ever at 14 hours - and will run forever online. Jordan Mills but why ? 14 hours straight?
How much are advertisers paying for a 30 second spot? ›
From 2017 to 2021, a 30-second advertisem*nt cost an average range of $5.4 to $5.5 million.
Are TV ads getting longer? ›
Does it seem like those commercial breaks between shows are getting longer? Well, it's not your imagination. Ad loads, or the amount of commercials shown per hour on television, are at or approaching all-time highs across a slew of broadcast and cable networks.
Are TV commercial breaks getting longer? ›
Brian Weiser of Pivotal Research analyzed the Nielsen data and determined this November, the amount of commercials in TV network programming actually grew from 10.7 minutes last year to 10.9 minutes this year. By the way, the longest commercial ever run on television? 13 hours (still not kidding).
Why are there so many more commercials on TV now? ›
Media companies are adding more commercials because sponsors are more sensitive to price increases than to clutter, said Brian Wieser, global president of business intelligence at the advertising giant GroupM.
What is the 3 second rule in advertising? ›
Just Three Seconds
According to the rule, the first three seconds of your video needs to have the hook to keep your audience interested. Research shows that it takes only three seconds for your viewers to decide if they'll continue to watch or scroll past your video in their social channel's feed.
decision to be made here is who will bring life to the script, i.e., the director. An ideal director will have an artistic eye for color and composition and a good ear for music, special effects, and audio. Video production companies need to make this decision very carefully as much of the production quality depends on the director they choose.
