How do you feel about television commercials?
Like them or hate them, commercials have traditionally been the largest economic driver of the television broadcasting business. As the business model evolves, subscription fees can replace advertising revenue, but the need for businesses to communicate with customers means advertising will always be part of our world in some form or fashion.
Many video production professional work in the marketing and advertising niches, on local and national levels.
Video production, advertising, sales, and marketing, often go hand in hand for the simple reason that visual communication, be it film or video, broadcast TV or internet, is the single most effective and personable mode of mass communication known. So naturally, businesses will use it to their advantage in the form of marketing and advertising.
Marketing and advertising includes much more than television commercials, but those are one of the most obvious and prevalent forms with which you are no doubt familiar. As your knowledge grows, you will be able to recognize and differentiate the commercial messages more easily. They are all around you every day.
Sales and Marketing: An Art Unto Itself
High-budget commercials have grown to become some of the best short films anyone could imagine, even if the audience does not always appreciate them as such. The artistry and clever storytelling can be extremely entertaining. For example, Super Bowl commercials sometimes eclipse the actual game with some viewers.
If you examine them closely, not only are high-budget TV commercials cinematically gorgeous, they are mini storytelling marvels. In 30 seconds, they manage to develop definable characters and present a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end.
Lower-budget commercials, such as those produced by your local TV stations, are usually much simpler and don’t rely so much on cinematic storytelling, but rather feature the business owner or a spokesman giving the details of their service. Commercials like this are not as much fun for viewers, but they can still pack a powerful sales punch. The people seen on camera can become local celebrities. The large, magnetic draw they generated for their business always astounded me.
Marketing, advertising and sales are three related, but different things. Let’s define them now.
- Marketing: Overall strategy, anything the company does to promote itself. Marketing is how a company defines itself as a brand.
- Advertising: Buying time on TV or radio or space in a newspaper or magazine for an ad that promote the company or products. You can also advertise by direct mail, or stapling up posters you make yourself.
- Sales: Usually a direct interaction between two people where a product is purchased. Sales can also take place on the internet, in a car lot, or store.
Companies use their marketing philosophy, to guide them when constructing advertising, which in turn drives sales. Video production can be used all along the way.
The World of Marketing is Bigger Than You Might Realize
Marketing is an extremely broad subject. Let’s think of it as anything a business does to communicate with customers. The sign on the front of their store is a form of marketing. Marketing can be a contest, a newspaper article, a commercial, a YouTube video, a website, a poster, or any one of numerous other methods. In a well-thought-out campaign, even the style of font and exact colors are chosen for all ads, stationary, and labeling.
Marketing can also take the form of an educational campaign, so it’s not always promotional in nature.
Occasionally, marketing can also look like a party. Local radio stations are a good example. They often hold and broadcast festive events in order to draw people in, to then be exposed to a sales message of some sort. Free food will always draw folks in.
Develop Cohesive, Consistent Strategy
Professional marketing relies on a well-thought-out strategy so it communicates a cohesive message. The marketing strategy includes what they want to do, how they want to do it, and what tone it will all take. Will it be based on characters? What is the exact message you need to communicate? Focus on that message and hammer it home in multiple ways. Strategy sessions in high dollar national marketing campaigns can go on for months before decisions are reached.
Good marketing follows a well-thought-out theme and philosophy based on the company brand and mission. Companies study their customer base to determine what people like or don’t like about their products. The marketing messages and methods are used to enhance the positive and decrease the negative.
Many video production professionals work in sales, marketing, and public relations related video industries. As with any genre of video making, the soul of your video is a story. As a storyteller, you need to recognize there are vast differences when it comes to professional practices standard to each individual niche of production. In other words, a news story is a much different thing than a commercial. In fact, a good journalist tries to keep commercialism out of their stories, while someone directing a TV ad is 100% focused on promotional methods.
- Journalism is an attempt to tell the objective truth about a subject. The good, the bad, and everything in between. The journalist then goes on to explain what that means in context.
- A commercial, on the other hand, has a bottom-line message of, “our product is something you must have. We want you to part with your money and purchase our product.” Commercials are persuasive in a positive way and never reveal anything negative.
Generally speaking, a video production professional will choose one path or another career wise, and few work in both news and commercials. The mission is too different.
Food for Thought Discussion Questions
- How do you feel about TV commercials? Do you use them as an opportunity to make a snack, or do you watch?
- Imagine yourself in a store. You see a cardboard cutout of a celebrity sports figure right next to a display of the product they advertise. Is this an example of marketing, sales, or advertising?
- Imagine yourself listening to an announcer. He says, “you’ll absolutely love this incredible product, I do!” Is he a commercial spokesman or a newscaster?