How Expensive Is TV Advertising?

There is a perception that TV advertising is unaffordable and by unaffordable we mean really expensive. We’re not planning to trick you, TV advertising is not cheap but then it’s perhaps not as expensive as you might think to run a campaign that will reap exciting benefits.

As we explored in our last article Busting The Myths Around TV Advertising, TV adverts generate an average of £1.79 in profit for every £1 spent. Couple this with the fact that commercial TV reaches 94.2% of the UK population every week and you will realise that it’s time to explore the possibility of advertising your brand on TV.

That’s all well and good but the question that remains is how much does it cost?

There isn’t a definitive guide to the cost of TV advertising- there are just too many factors that affect the price of TV ads to provide anything concrete. But hopefully this will help give some inkling as to what it takes to launch a successful campaign.

What affects the price of TV Advertising?

Numerous factors affect how much a TV ad will cost. A few of the most common are:

-Season (July/August are considerably less expensive than the Pre-Xmas Nov/Dec Period)

-Transmission and programming schedule (you will pay a huge premium for prime spots such as X Factor)

-Demand (high demand periods such as the Olympics, World Cup etc can push prices up)

-Region (London is of course the most expensive region. Up-weighting activity in less expensive regions can work very effectively. For regional advertisers outside of London TV can be extremely  cost effective). Multi-channel can be highly effective for national advertisers, often with greater reach than ITV and with a much lower cost per thousand).

-Target audience (buying against housewives is considerably less expensive than buying against an ABC1 Adult audience for example).

That’s not factoring in external variables such as the economic situation. So the cost of TV advertising varies.

Still, one thing we can give near enough exact prices for are past adverts and a statistic that makes for interesting reading is the fact that:

“61% of TV advertisers spent less than 250k on TV in 2015″

That’s not a small figure but it’s undoubtedly less than the millions many envisage having to spend when it comes to a TV campaign.

But how effective are lower cost TV adverts? Let’s look at the Chambord case study.

Chambord’s 200k Success Story

Prior to 2014 Chambord was relatively unknown in the UK. The brand’s strategy to change this focused around TV advertising. They had a 200k budget.

The brand decided the best approach would be sponsorship of a TV show, which gives the advertiser a spot between the adverts and the beginning of the show.

Chambord selected Channel 4’s Revenge as their show to sponsor. It seemed to fit well with what Chambord stood for in regard to the fact it was predominantly set in the luxurious confines of the Hamptons where the show’s characters held lavish parties and drank champagne like water.

The show ran during summer, the optimum time to enjoy Chambord. Due to their careful planning, the brand were able to achieve exemplary results, despite their smallish budget:

Chambord’s Results As Reported By Thinkbox

-42% increase in brand awareness

-Sales increased 47% year on year

-Chambord’s Facebook engagement increased by 50%

-People talking about Chambord on the social network increased by 37%

-Top traffic driver to the Facebook page was channel4.com

-Advert won Thinkbox’s ‘Best Newcomer to TV’ award at the TV Planning Awards

As you can see, exceptional results don’t have to cost the world.

Want your own TV advertising success? Why not contact The Living Room for expert advice.