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Cable Ads 5 Bucks!
By BIG Mike McDaniel
Cable has grown from 13 houses connected together
in 1948 to coverage of nearly 70% of all
households in the U.S. With dozens, even hundreds
of channels, Cable is now a major player for local
advertising dollars, some for less than 5 bucks.
On the Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1960's, most
of the people shortened her name from "Mary" to
"Mare". We, as a group, have a tendency to find
the short cut, giving nick name to names that
could stand on their own. Mary didn't need to be
any shorter, but it was cute to cut it down. Many
Margarets are called Peggy, figure that one out.
And many if not most John's are called Jack.
It is little surprise that Cable became the
shortened name for Community Antenna Television,
CATV. In the days of CATV, local commercial
inserts were not available.
Community Antenna Television, CATV originated as a
service to those who lived in an area where TV was
impossible to see. I visited the home of a
friend's mother in the mountains of North Carolina
several decades ago. With a tall antenna and
booster amplifiers, the best she could do was a
fuzzy picture on ONE channel. Legends abound about
who had the first community antenna. Most research
says the first official CATV company began
charging a fee to hook up in 1948. In those days
CATV was no more than one big antenna tower on a
high hill (or mountain) with a Cable running down
the side and two or more homes connected.
In 1972, Charles Dolan and Gerald Levin of
Sterling Manhattan Cable launched the nation's
first payTV network, Home Box Office (HBO).
Cable became more than an antenna for local
stations. Cable became a major player.
Today, most Cable companies have the ability to
INSERT your commercial into many of the Cable
networks. The networks don't stop the show with a
black screen for local commercials, instead they
fill the space with ads that sell something
(exercise machines, fancy knives, or something
from Ron Popeil). "..order now and we'll make the
4th payment for you!"
Local Cable commercial insertions are available 15
(or more) major networks and the list grows every
month. Local advertisers can no longer afford to
ignore the marketing potential, and lost cost,
available through the use of Cable advertising.
Most offer a package that will put your commercial
into a mix of Cable network programs at all hours
of the day for as little as $5 per commercial.
Yup, $5 for a commercial on ESPN, CNN Headline
News or the Discovery Channel. The premium
channels (those that cost extra above the standard
cable package, HBO, Showtime etc.) do not allow
commercials to be inserted
The Cable people sell very large packages with
hundreds of commercials, splattered over all the
networks allowing insertions. You have no control
over where, when, or what channel your ad will
appear. As a result, you get hundreds for a low
price.
You can see why this is so by working the math.
Ask the Cable TV salesman how many channels he has
on his system, and how many homes are connected.
Then ask how many channels will have your
commercials.
If there are 10,000 homes connected and the system
has 25 channels and your ads will be inserted into
5 channels you will need a lot of ads to reach
even a small percentage of the people. Ads are
inserted into news and sports channels and
entertainment and super station channels.
Computers do it automatically, so the Cable
company doesn't have to have people on the job 24
hours a day to run your commercial. Cable
companies can insert one or one thousand
commercials with a few keystrokes and with
thousands of slots every day, they have no problem
selling you a bunch for little money.
The major drawback of advertising on Cable is the
amateurish way most Cable commercials are
produced. Because of the low price for the ads,
Cable companies often produce commercials with a
tech school graduate and a mini cam.
Don't expect award winning commercials for five
bucks. Some charge extra to produce your
commercial, some
offer it as a part of the package. Take a look at
what they have done for others. Ask to see a demo
reel. If you don't like what you see, consider
hiring your own crew to do it your way.
One way or another you will have to pay some extra
to get a good commercial. Make one that will last
for some time. After all it will take a long time
for it to show up in all the prime slots on all
the insert networks.
Professionally produced commercials can cost over
$5,000 for 30 seconds and may take as long as a
week for initial taping, longer for final editing.
This cost can be reduced if you perform the
creative function and write your own commercials
as well as furnishing talent for the ads. Some
frugal advertisers have been able to hold
production costs to as little as $200 per ad.
As with all commercials, make sure your name and
what you do is at the beginning, at least in the
middle and at the end. Phone number is not as
important as name. You don't watch TV with a pad
and pencil to write down phone numbers and neither
does anyone else. Get them to remember your
company. Cook up a slogan.
Avoid the trap of being talked into standing in
front of store and doing the ad yourself. Most
Cable sales reps will trot this out first thing.
Ego sells! Your friends may mention it, but it
will not sell as well as a commercial featuring
what you can do for those viewing at home.
Remember, advertising is not about YOU, it's about
THEM. Value and benefits, value and benefits, not,
"look at me and my kids".
Cable can be an effective part of your local
advertising mix at a very reasonable price.
For more about advertising get my article
"What the Newspaper Won't Tell You"
MailTo:NewspaperAds@BigIdeasGroup.com
About the Author
©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel, All Rights Reserved
MailTo:Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com BIG Mike is a
Business Consultant and Professional Speaker. His
BIG Ideas Group helps small business grow with
mastermind groups, seminars and training.
http://BIGIdeasGroup.com
Subscribe to "BIG Mike's BIG Ideas" Newsletter
MailTo:subscribe-956603364@ezinedirector.net
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