Top 5 adverts for less than 100k

24th January 2018

Adverts have cost multinational companies millions of pounds, but some renowned and effective adverts have cost a fraction: enjoy our top 5 here

TOP 5 Adverts should cost multimillion pounds, you would think, but some of the 21st Century’s best advertising campaigns have cost less than 100k.

Whether you are a start-up, SME, or major corporation, your business does not need to spend millions of pounds on creative effective advertising campaigns.

Lucrative advertising does not necessarily have to be achieved through extortionate buyouts, artists or an eclectically complicated array of shots.

Ultimately, it is whatever it takes to elicit the emotions your business desires to incite from consumers.

In this sense, the focus needs to be on whether you feel a live-action-shoot, animation, or other kind of ad would be appropriate to evoke the connotations necessary.

There is no price on this level of resonance, with it ultimately being subjective, the conflation that the more you spend, the more success you enjoy, is flawed.

The top 5 ads listed below all cost less than £100,000 to produce from script-to-screen, while they all elicited profitable business success.

5 – Typhoo Tea

Cheaper ads do not need to be austere in terms of artist expenditure; eponymous broadcaster and writer Ben Fogle featured in this advert for Typhoo Tea.

Although the location was a ubiquitous domestic setting, the quality and impact of the ad was not compromised by the lack of expenditure.

The emotions sought from the brand response creative were that of relief and delight, as a result of the solace found within the Typhoo Tea.

Wowcher advertising production shoot
Some of the best cost-effective adverts have made it to the top.

Having created a common family-based scenario, Ben Fogle’s acting and visible emotion was prioritised over spoken words: the unequivocal nature of this tact ensured that consumers could empathise with the scenario, with rapport and memorability elicited as a result.

The final advert was so successful that is was used by Typhoo in six iterations, ensuring that they could appeal to varying consumer segments at different times.

4 – Rolo Biscuits

Although a revered and respected brand already, Rolo utilised the services of Space City for the advertising of their biscuit range.

The creative was mobilised by the motion of the product in the ads themselves, with activity immersed in the advert throughout – driving the action and emotive resonance without the need for too much attention on special effects.

Editing time was the only intensive element of the commercial, which required the surfeit of rushes to be examined and integrated into the final advert.

Saving budget again through the use of a humble, domestic location, there was no need for a celebrity endorsement to assist with memorability.

Ethically, having a focus on sporting participation, ensured that the encouragement of such an activity created the context of the reward with the Rolo Biscuits.

Subsequent results were so strong for Nestlé that the commercial was used within the X Factor ad break.

3 – Primula 

Having never advertised on TV before, the debut commercial focused upon creating affirmation through humour – something that was profoundly successful given the ad’s ranking in the top 5.

Knowing TV carries great leverage with potential consumers who seek experiences as they view adverts, escapism was created through the usage of the product as a conduit for irrationality and fun.

This niche ensured that consumers could connect with the product in a scenario where the product could be purchased in late quantities – at parties or gatherings for instance.

As a result of the production, the limited number of shots required ensured that costs were kept down, with costs only incurred through location fees and the artists utilised within the shoot.

The commercial impact of the advert was incontrovertible, with sales increases recorded of 27% in the wake of the ad.

ROI and efficiency should be the KPIs of advertising, as your business looks to make it to the top of your industry.
ROI and efficiency should be the KPIs of advertising, as your business looks to make it to the top of your industry.

2 – Protect Your Bubble

Featuring tennis legend, John McEnroe, the insurance providers sought a commercial that could carry resonance through metaphors, animation and celebrities.

An expensive combination at a glance, but utilising one location, synonymous catch-phrases and a blend of animation and live-action ensured that the cost of the advert was significantly reduced.

Although needed to pay for a celebrity to assist with driving the action, the need for just a one-day-shoot and the lack of need to utilise licensed music saved the company further funds, which would subsequently used on media spend and future ads as the business expanded.

Being brand and response driven, the adverts delivered record sales increases for the business, while underscoring future growth.

1 – Moonpig

The synonymous producers of greetings cards were just a mere start-up before Space City produced the debut advertising campaign for the now major corporation, thus ensuring Moonpig is a fitting winner of the top five adverts produced for less than £100,000.

Devising a jingle that would embody emotion and the brand, the Moonpig adverts in all their iterations have relied upon the same jingle throughout the last 15 years.

Having initially launched with the live action and animation combination, the adverts have subsequently being reproduced to cater for seasonal events and evolving consumer groups, yet the jingle that underscored the success of the business has remained in place since.

In the wake of the adverts, the founder of Moonpig, Nick Jenkins, subsequently sold the company for £160 million before appearing as a Dragon in the ongoing BBC show, Dragons Den.

Watch the successful Moonpig advert here.

Space City has been producing TV commercials, like the aforementioned, for more than 25 years, delivering comparable ROI to leading agencies, despite working with budgets that are fraction of what is commonly worked with.

Contact the team now and enjoy sales increases of up to 600% with the UK’s number one producers of TV adverts.

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