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TV advertising for smaller brands
Regional windows and addressable inventory have brought television within reach of budgets that could never have considered it. The production cost is now the barrier.
Key points
- Regional and addressable buying has made television accessible below national budgets.
- Production, not airtime, is now the main cost for smaller advertisers.
- Television builds recognition; expect the effect over months, not days.
Television was excluded from most mid-sized advertising plans by cost. Regional buying, addressable inventory and cheaper production have changed that arithmetic.
The routes in
| Route | Character | Typical entry |
|---|---|---|
| Regional spot buying | traditional, by transmission area | mid five figures |
| Addressable television | household-level targeting | lower, varies |
| Streaming and on-demand | targeted, measurable | low four figures |
| Sponsorship of a regional slot | continuous presence | mid range |
| Shopping and response formats | direct response, measurable | variable |
Addressable and streaming inventory can be bought at budgets that would previously have bought a few radio spots, with targeting that traditional television cannot offer.
Production is now the constraint
Airtime has become accessible; production has not fallen at the same rate. A competent commercial costs from around £8,000 and can easily cost far more.
Routes to reduce it: use existing footage of the actual business rather than a shoot; produce a simple, single-location film; commission through a regional production company rather than an agency; or use the station's own production service, which many offer at reduced rates for regional advertisers.
A modest film of the real business, made well, outperforms an ambitious one made cheaply. The gap between the two is visible to viewers in about two seconds.
What a regional commercial should do
Not sell. Establish who you are, what you do and that you are substantial enough to be on television.
The last point is a real effect. For a regional business, television presence changes how the business is perceived by customers, staff and suppliers, independently of the response it generates.
Frequency again
The same rule as radio. A burst needs enough spots that the target audience sees it several times.
Regional plans typically aim for an average of four to six exposures across a two to three week burst. Below three, recall does not build.
Measurement
Television response is diffuse and delayed. Direct attribution will understate it substantially.
What to measure: total enquiry volume before, during and after the burst; name search volume, which responds visibly to television and is free to track; and a regional holdout where the transmission areas permit one.
The streaming alternative
Advertising on streaming services offers television-like impact with digital targeting and measurement, at lower entry cost.
The trade-off is reach and the shared-viewing effect. A family watching broadcast television together produces a different kind of exposure from an individual watching on a laptop.
For a first attempt at video advertising, streaming is the lower-risk entry point and the production asset transfers to broadcast later.
Frequently asked questions
What is the realistic minimum budget?
Regionally, £15,000 to £40,000 for a meaningful burst including production. Below that the frequency is too low.
Does television still work?
For brand building at scale, yes, and it remains the strongest medium for establishing recognition quickly.
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