Television Advertisements

Television advertising is a prime example of Moving Image Advertising. The definition of Moving Image Advertising is self explanatory as it is in the name. Other examples are Cinema advertising.

You can see examples of television advertisements before and after movies or episodes on the commercial television channels.  Different advertisements are used in different channels purely because it will reach the target market quicker and more effectively as Advertisement is expensive and would be a waste of money if broadcasted incorrectly. For example, Heineken advert on a Kids channel.

Usually, during the daytime more household products aimed at people at home during the day are advertised, compared to late night advertisers who are advertising a different target market.

Usually, Television lasts 30 seconds, but for advertisements such as Cartier (major advertiser with a lot of money); their advertisements are up to 3 and half minutes.

Television advertisers may also use "Break Bumpers". This is showing of an advertising slogan or a branded logo at the start and finish of a programme and each commercial break.

Why use Television adverts?

    

Effectiveness

Many businesses rely on television advertising to produce consumer sales. The fact that there isn’t a shortage to retailers, manufacturers and services willing to advertise their products on TV supports that TV advertising works well and is an effective way to provide info and sell the product.

Coverage

Normally, most homes own at least 1 TV and that are used regularly. This means that well placed adverts will be viewed by a large audience.

Image

The general consumer perception of television adverts is that they are big and important. This perception can be an advantage of advertisers as it can build and enhance the reputation of the business 

Creative opportunities

The combination of vision and sound in a short commercial break opens up a wide range of creative opportunities.  They attract attention, engage the viewer, tell a story and sell a product all within a few seconds. They can use a wide range of different production techniques. For example, the advertisement of John Lewis, with the two Christmas snowmen is a creating opportunities as they are telling a short  story of two snowmen in love, engaging the customers to become interested in the story, keeping them engaged and presenting that its happy ever after after he purchased her a "John Lewis" gift.

 Intrusive

TV viewers cannot fail to be aware of adverts as they interrupt every movie/series/episode on commercial channels. This can be seen in the middle of Ellen De genres show. She always tells the customers what is happening to keep then engaged and wanting to carry on watching and then it is interrupted by the commercials, so the audience is forced to watch the adverts in order to carry on with the built up tension Ellen has created. You can see this on Episodes on Maury, they receive the results of the issue and is followed by "The results are in!..find out more after the break".

High commitment

If a business is ready to pay a large sum of money to advertise their product it can show that they are a committed business. This can be used by advertisers to encourage a wider distribution and increased stock levels. Some retailers will not introduce a newer product until the manufacturer agrees to support it with TV adverts.

Reasons for not using television adverts

Production cost

The cost of making a TV advert is usually very high. Lower costing advertisement usually looks cheap when broadcasted. The more money spent on the advert, the more likely the audience will notice it. For example, Cariter Jewellery Advertisment required many thought and time to put together such a long advertisment, this would have cost them enormous amounts to make aswell to pay for the airtime on TV.

Media cost

Television media costs tent to be very high compared with other media. But they can usually be justified by the ability to broadcast to a huge audience and achieve national coverage with relative ease. It may suit larger business to sell mass market product in higher volumes and might not suit smaller businesses with a more niche target market. As growth of channels etc. are expanding the airtime available follows meaning that in some places, the cost has decreased. Also, giving smaller business the ability to air as there are becoming more channels for niche markets.

Coverage

As TV adverts have the ability to reach most homes, it has become too extensive for advertisers that only operate on a local basis. The country can be divided up in to TV regions but sometimes even 1 can be too large. This could result in customers finding the advertisement annoying and frustrating when customers get the advert but only to find out it's not in their reach.

Wastage

 Wastage means that there is number of viewers that are not in the target market who will be viewing your advertisement but are counted in the overall views and included in the cost of media, wastage can be reduced by carefully planning your advertisement to the times of the advert and which movie/series/episode to advertise it with.

Setting a precedence

Once a product is advertised on TV, it's hard to turn back. People notice the product on TV and will also realize if stops.  This might raise concerns if the business can longer afford the advertisement and whether the business is having trouble.