DRTV
Direct Response: Commercials that get results
If you want clear and measurable results, and you want them fast, DRTV is the way to go. These adverts are all about engaging the audience and getting them to take direct action. Space City is one of the UK’s leading Direct Response TV advertising agencies. We know how to make commercials that deliver viewer engagement, more enquiries and more sales.
Featured DRTV Ads
The Production Process
With over 30 years of experience in producing adverts, we have refined a tried-and-tested process that that will make your campaign a success.
Every successful DRTV campaign starts with a good brief. Together, we’ll agree the commercial's core objective, the key messages and what benefits are likely to maximise response. Briefs don’t need to be long, and our team can guide you through the process to make sure we are heading in the right direction.
Building on the brief, we then develop several concepts based on your strategy. The ideas may take the form of scripts, storyboards or animatics (a simple animation that gives an idea of how the commercial would work). Alongside the creative, we provide an itemised budget and detailed production schedule, giving you confidence that our ideas align with your budget, timeline and objectives. We do this work up-front, for free. If you don't like the ideas, they won't cost you a penny.
Once an idea has been agreed, we go straight into pre-production. Our expert team organises everything for you. We recruit one of our trusted directors to bring your vision to life, as well as organising a casting to find the perfect artists to represent your brand. We source all the crew, costumes and catering and scout various locations to give you a choice of venues for filming. We keep you in the loop throughout, securing your approval on all the key decisions so there are no surprises on the day of the shoot.
Our typical shoot spans one or two days, either on location or in a studio. We always encourage our clients to join us and welcome your active involvement throughout the day. While on set, we have dedicated viewing monitors set up for you to closely observe the creative process. We love to see a collaborative approach between you and the director; it's your brand, and your valuable input can lead to even better results.
Following the shoot, we move into post-production. This begins with creating an initial edit, referred to as the “Offline Edit”. This is shared with you for review and comment. After incorporating your feedback, we invite you to join us for the Online Edit. In this final session we record the voice-over, mix with your specially composed music and finalise any graphic decisions to complete your advert.
Completing the advert isn’t quite the last step! Before it can air, every ad must receive full clearance. Our expert team manages the Clearcast approval process from start to finish so you can be confident it complies with regulations. Once approved, we handle the final transmission, delivering your ad directly to broadcasters to ensure everything is in place for a successful launch.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you need any help or advice about creating a successful DRTV campaign, please get in touch!
It typically takes 6-8 weeks to complete a new ad, all the way from agreeing a script and having it approved by Clearcast, to delivering it to TV stations for transmission.
We like our clients to be involved in the production process at every stage, so that they can approve every detail. This includes attending the shoot and the final edit, so that they can be sure that everything is exactly as they imagined.
The cost of producing a commercial depends on the complexity and ambition of the creative idea. A one-day shoot on location would typically start in the £25-£35,000 range. Commercials can be made for lower budgets using animation or existing library footage. But remember, the main and ongoing cost with any TV campaign is the airtime. As a general rule, advertisers tend to allocate about 10-15% of their budget on making the commercial, with the larger part being spent on media.
Not really. Teleshopping commercials are governed by different regulations from those for DRTV. Teleshopping often takes the form of a longer programme, typically 15 or 30 minutes long (most DRTV commercials are between 30” and 90” long). Teleshopping must offer a product or service for sale, and it must include a fixed price on screen.
Clearcast the TV broadcasting regulator. We are required to make sure that everything we say or show in our commercials abides by their strict standards. This means that every script is checked for accuracy before anything is filmed; the final commercial must also be checked and approved before it can be transmitted.
Drop us a line
Whether it‘s a big idea or a small question we‘d love to hear from you
