What is the difference between Direct Response TV (DRTV) advertising and other types of television commercials?

Traditional television 'brand' advertising is designed to create awareness of a product or service with the expectation that the viewer will respond at a later time (e.g. on their next visit to the supermarket). Most brand commercials are 30" long and the advertiser will often want to reach as many viewers as possible; that's why these commercials dominate the schedules on mainstream channels in the evening, when viewing figures are their highest.

The Direct Response advertiser is seeking to get an immediate reaction from the viewer, usually by inviting him or her picking up the phone. DRTV commercials tend to be longer, typically 40" or 60", as they have to give the viewer enough product benefits to elicit a response, as well as containing a clear "call to action" and response information.

Why are DRTV commercials usually shown on daytime TV and satellite channels?

DRTV advertisers are using television to generate sales leads; they need to be able handle the volume of incoming calls (or increasingly e-mail enquiries) generated. Most viewers (typically 95%) who respond to a DRTV commercial do so within a few seconds of its transmission. So, unlike other forms of advertising, DRTV produces high levels of response over short period of time. Because their audiences tend to be smaller, daytime TV programmes and satellite channels can deliver audience sizes at a level that will generate responses at a level that the advertiser can cope with.

In addition, TV channels tend to show their best material at peak time. People are less likely to respond to a DRTV commercial if their prime motivation is to watch the next part of their favourite programme. Transmissions shown during other times are euphemistically referred to as "low interest programming"; that's when viewers are more inclined to respond to a TV commercial.

Finally, TV channels tend to charge a premium price for peak-period airtime (because they know they can sell it to big-spending brand advertisers). The "cost-per-thousand" for airtime during the day and on satellite is generally lower -- something that make the difference between a DRTV campaign's success or failure.

What are the benefits of using DRTV?

DRTV advertising can be highly cost-effective. With the increasing number of TV channels, advertisers can target their intended respondents with ever greater accuracy. Furthermore the advertising spend is completely quantifiable and accountable. Many advertisers use a different freefone number for each TV channel so that they can accurately track where their responses are coming from. Space City often has to produce 50-100 variations of a single commercial to facilitate this.

It is important to remember that most DRTV commercials are also creating or enhancing a brand. Apart from the immediate results, they often reinforce other forms of marketing - e.g. creating an uplift in response to newspaper advertising or direct mail.

What sort of response will my commercial get?

This depends on the "call to action" - i.e. what the viewer is being asked to do and what he or she can expect in return. A freefone/free brochure offer will generally get many more calls than a commercial which invites people to make an immediate payment for something by credit card. But a successful advertiser could expect a response rate of 0.01% to 0.1% of the available audience.

How much does it cost to produce a DRTV commercial?

The average budget for producing a 30" commercial in the UK is around £140,000 (Source: Televisual magazine survey, November 2003). A typical Space City budget for a DRTV commercial will be between £15,000 and £80,000.

This is because the cost structure for a branding campaign is very different from that of a DRTV campaign. A brand advertiser may be spending £1,000,000 - £2,000,000 on airtime to create massive awareness of his/her product among the viewing public over a couple of weeks. In this case the cost of producing the commercial is a relatively marginal cost compared to the overall budget.

DRTV budgets tend to be lower as the cost of producing the commercial has to be factored into the "cost per response" generated. A DRTV advertiser will typically start with a test campaign that may involve airtime costs of as little as £20,000.

However if a DRTV commercial is initially successful, it is likely to go on working effectively for months or even years. Because the audiences tend to be low, the "wearout" factor is much less than for other more high-profile commercials. It also means that the original cost of DRTV production can be amortized over the life of the commercial.

So how can Space City produce commercials at these lower budgets?

If you look at a typical DRTV commercial, it tends to be creatively very different from a traditional branding commercial. It is usually longer and contains many more details about the advertiser's product or service. Many DRTV commercials feature a presenter speaking directly to the viewer either in a studio or on location (DRTV traditionally includes many "shouting man in   office" scenarios).

That means that DRTV commercials tend to have more straightforward creative concepts. Whereas a high profile brand commercial may be filmed in Barbados over 1-2 weeks, a typical DRTV commercial may be filmed in Barking over 1-2 days!

Space City is also able to be highly cost-effective because we produce more commercials than any other UK company (cf. Televisual Magazine survey referred to above). We can therefore obtain competitive rates from suppliers on the basis of the volume of work we can provide. In addition Space City has extensive in-house production and post-production facilities (as detailed elsewhere on our website).

How do I set about a DRTV campaign?

There are two other elements that usually need to be in place before considering the creative approach to a DRTV campaign:

Media Buyer; it is essential that the prospective DRTV advertiser has the services of a specialised media buyer who can plan and negotiate a suitable airtime package. Space City can provide contact information if required.

Response Handling; many companies will be unable to handle the response generated by a DRTV campaign in-house; as such they need to use the services of a response handling company that uses either trained call centre staff or some form of automated call-handling system.

Then it is time to consider the campaign's creative approach. This usually begins with a client's creative brief that formulates a clear strategy for what the commercial is intended to achieve. It will identify the target audience and explain the product benefits that are to be featured; it will include information about competitors and the intended "call to action". A good brief may well be supported by detailed market research, but it doesn't have to be longer than 1-2 pages.

A creative team will then devise script ideas based on this brief. Many clients use their existing advertising agencies to do this; others ask Space City to devise creative ideas. Either way, scripts are usually accompanied by "story boards" which give a rough idea of the visual images to be filmed.

What are the stages of production for a TV commercial?

Once a script/creative idea has been agreed, it can be costed. Space City will provide an itemized budget, detailing all elements of pre-production, filming and post-production. The budget may include various cost options; for example, it is cheaper to shoot a commercial on video than using film.

The script needs to be cleared by the BACC (see below). Once the script and budget have been approved and cleared, the commercial can go "into production.:

Pre-production entails finding locations, studios and casting for in-vision performers.

The commercial will then be filmed over one or more "shoot days". Post-production involves compiling a rough-cut of the commercial (the "offline") before proceeding to a final broadcast quality "on-line" edit. Music, graphics and voice-over are added at this final stage.

Once the commercial has been finished and approved (again by the BACC), transmission tapes can be despatched to the required TV stations.

Who does all this stuff?

Space City Productions is a one-stop-shop for all your TV commercial production needs. That means we take care of all stages of making your commercial as well as BACC clearances, transmission copies, contracts, consignment notes and all the other tedious paperwork involved!

How long does it take to make a TV commercial?

We suggest that a client should ideally allow six weeks from the date of an agreed (and approved) script until the first on-air date for transmission. This allows plenty of time for all stages of pre-production, as well as delivery of the broadcast tapes to the TV stations at least a week in advance of transmission.

What is the BACC?

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre is an organisation acting on behalf of, and funded by, all the major terrestrial and satellite television broadcasters in the UK. Its function is to pre-vet television advertising before it is accepted for transmission by these broadcasters.

In practice this means approving a script before a commercial is filmed, and approving a videotape of the finished commercial before it is transmitted.

All commercials are identified by a unique "clock number". A commercial cannot be tranmsitted by any of the participating stations until this clock number has been approved.

The BACC has existed in one form or another since the start of ITV in 1955. It was recognised the and is still true today, that television advertising is a very powerful and largely uninvited guest in British homes. The broadcasters recognised that they needed to self-regulate television advertising

in order to protect the viewer and to maintain high standards and the integrity of the medium.

The BACC is now answerable to OFCOM, the broadcasting regulator.

Those who have not advertised on television before may be surprised by the level of scrutiny required. Many products that can be advertised in the press or in other countries (for example many medical products) will not get approval for UK television advertising.

So why should I choose Space City to make my commercial?

Space City has been producing television commercials for over 12 years; the company itself has existed since 1981.We are now the largest producer of commercials in the UK. We do not make TV programmes or corporate videos -- we concentrate on doing what we do best.

We have some of the best and most experienced producers and directors in the business. We set very high standards of reliability and efficiency. And we offer high quality productions at extremely cost-effective budgets.