Television
Can You See Me?
Objectives:
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Upon completion of this class and the
assignments, you will be able to:
Identify
the characteristics of Television
List the advantages/disadvantages of Television as a
commercial medium
Recall the attributes of an effective Television
Commercial
State what to avoid in writing good Television
commercials
Utilize the guidelines for writing Television copy
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Television Overview
and Advantages
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Television
Has sight, sound, motion and color, and now,
interaction
Is watched by many, often, and for long periods of time
Has intimacy
Has reach: Between Network, Local, Cable, and Satellite TV can
reach any age group and demographic segment of US
consumers
Can be purchased locally, regionally, or nationally
Has a variety of commercial production costs, ranging from
inexpensive for local advertisers, to expensive for national
advertisers
Offers 30-second TV commercials (still the most prevalent), and
now, 15-second, and 45-second commercials.
Provides 10-second, station ID commercials (actually 8-seconds)
Sells air time for Infomercials, which usually run 30 minutes
Guidelines for Writing TV Copy
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Know the formats and the lengths (60, 30, 15 or 10 seconds)
Pre-recorded (hot or cold mix)
On-air personality reads
Know the audience
Select your strongest selling point or benefit
Make your proposition relevant and salient
Don’t underestimate the intelligence of viewers
Grab attention immediately
Stay focused
Talk the talk of the prospect
BE VISUAL
ID product. ID product. ID product. Show product
Repeat major points
Involve the audience
Evolve, edit, rewrite, start over
Build the Brand
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Direct Response TV Commercials
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AKA Long Form or Infomercials
90-seconds to 120-seconds
5 Minutes to 30 Minutes
Involve generating sales or sales leads … NOW
Offers are simple and direct: magazine subscription, kitchen tool, exercise
equipment
Have a response mechanism and price repeated often
800 number
WWW
Coupon
Special price for acting NOW.
Techniques:
Weave in information that appeals to customers
Break complicated process into easy steps
Use Q&A to summarize key benefits
Recap and include frequent calls to action
Show 800 number and WWW site often
Elements of Successful Television
Commercials
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Delivers meaningful content
Involves the audience in the message. Makes it
memorable
Engages the viewer so that they identify the experience
with the product AND REMEMBER IT.
Rewards the viewer for watching
Generates buzz (Viral marketing)
Sells
Better Yet it is Creative and Sells
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Elements to avoid
Offensive or alienating ideas, subjects or
language
„ Placing a TV spot (or any ad) in the wrong
environment
„ Tones eliciting distrust
„ Creating confusion or message complexity
„ Anything that is boring
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Television Commercial Timings
and Formats
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Timing:
Best way is to time with a stop-watch. A 60-second
spot should be no longer than 59.5 seconds. A 30second spot 29.5 seconds, and so on.
Format:
See my template for Television commercial formats
(different from Television show or station copy
formats)
„ All spoken words are standard upper and lower
case and 1.5 or double spaced lines
„ All other text is ALL CAPS and single line spaced
SFX or SOUND is UNDERLINED.
MUSIC and THE TITLE/DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSIC
IS ALL CAPS AND ALL UNDERLINED
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Television Assignment
Write one 60- or 45-second and one 30- or
15-second TV commercial for your product
or service
The 30- or 15-second commercial can be a
cut down of the longer commercial
Use Television
Script Template
Summary:
„
Having completed this class and the
assignments, you are able to:
Identify
the characteristics of Television
List the advantages/disadvantages of Television as a
commercial medium
Recall the attributes of an effective Television
Commercial
State what to avoid in writing good Television
commercials
Utilized the guidelines for writing Television copy
5