Media Buying: Tips and tricks for buying television advertising time.

Inherent benefits of television advertising.

• Nothing has the impact that television advertising has.
• You are actually in their living room (or bedroom) talking to them.
• The potential customer can see your store or business and make a quick judgment about you.
• You can target a narrow demographic with cable television networks, or target a broad demographic with a broadcast affiliate.
• Your business can have greater perceived credibility (if you have a commercial that looks professional).

Inherent drawbacks of television advertising.

 You will be paying to reach all of the customers in a television station's broadcast area (ADI) even if you only want to reach customers in your area. (Unless your cable system only reaches your sales area)

• It is expensive and customers need to hear your commercial at least several times to remember it.
• Many people switch stations as soon as commercials come on and miss your message.
• Phone numbers and addresses are hard for the customer to remember or write down. Television works best in conjunction with print advertising but is not necessary.

 Have a professional write and produce your TV spot.  Television advertising is far too expensive and potentially too effective to waste money and opportunity on an amateur spot.  Some television stations will offer to produce a spot for you.  Pass on it.  If a cable system offers to produce a spot for you, run away. Ask the sales representative for two recommendations of independent production companies in your area.  Ask them for ideas.  Production companies may not have the copy-writing skills that a good advertising agency should, but they can give you a production budget.  If they don't have copy ideas you can hire an agency just to write your spot.

 Basically, if you have the budget for television advertising you should hire an agency.  (See the chapter on advertising agencies.)  The agency will consume part of your budget, but if the message, production quality, and spot placement are superior to what you might do on your own, then it is worth it.  I would rather have the money to run 20 good spots than 30 bad spots.

 Keep in mind what television advertising can do for your business and what it can do to your business.  A cheap looking spot may make your business look second rate.  However, a cheap looking spot my be useful if you are trying to sell a product to uneducated people.

 When buying television time you usually have two primary options.  Cable ad supported stations, like CNN and ESPN, or local broadcast stations, (which are carried on the cable systems) like the CBS and NBC affiliates.

 Do not ask to see their rate cards like you normally would with the local newspaper.  Although broadcast stations have rate cards they are not used.  Radio and television time is a perishable commodity like bananas.  It's sold on a supply and demand system at a negotiated rate.  Sometimes you can get a great deal by waiting until the last minute to buy advertising time because once the day passes unsold inventory is worthless.  However, if they are sold out at the times you want to buy, you are shutout.  Normally stations never really sell out.  They save some inventory for advertisers who feel they must be on the air tomorrow and then charge them premium rates.  The industry refers to these higher prices as bump rates.

 Cable television stations that accept local advertising can often be thought of as radio stations.  That is to say they have basically the same age and gender watching throughout the day and week. A radio station may target males from 18 to 34 and regardless of what time of day you advertise on that station you will reach that demographic.  It is the same with MTV that targets male and females between the ages of 14 and 25.  ESPN targets primarily men and LIFETIME targets primarily women.  If the cable system in your area subscribes to the Nielson Rating Service, your representative can tell you how many persons are watching the station at different time periods.

 Some cable stations are more generic.  Like broadcast stations, i.e., NBC and CBS affiliates, they target different demographics at different times of the day by using different programming.  THE NICKELODEON CHANNEL targets children most of the time, but targets their parents at night by showing reruns of old situation comedies. The TBS SUPERSTATION tries to target all demographics at different times of the day. 

 The type of movie a station shows has its own demographics.  Some movies attract children and some adults.  In fact, some movies, such as Fried Green Tomatoes, will primarily attract adult female viewers and some, such as James Bond, will attract primarily adult male viewers.

 You need to consider this fact when buying time within movies.  The audience estimate for a movie in which you are considering buying advertising time will come from a prior rating period.  If they packed a lot of male oriented movies into a rating period, the audience estimates for the movie time period regarding male viewers you are considering will look good.  However, if the actual movie skews female, you are getting a bad deal.  Also consider that stations run very popular movies during rating periods that add additional viewers to their ratings.  If you advertise in movies during non-rating periods, the actual size of the audience may be a lot lower than the station estimates.  It is not a bad idea to avoid movies all together.

 Television stations are going to provide you with information.  In my 25 plus years dealing with television stations I do not believe they have ever lied in their proposals, summaries, presentations or formal communications.  If they write it down, it's most very likely true.  However, all too often what they say is at best misleading and at worst dishonest.  You think television commercials can be misleading, well, where do you think they learned how to do it?