The Cost of TV Advertising

The cost of TV advertising, or should that be, the cost of not advertising on TV?

There used to be a day when only the large well-established brands would consider advertising on television in South Africa. Back then, there were only three or four TV stations and they pretty much charged what they liked. The result was that smaller brands couldn’t get a look in. Today, the situation is much-changed – with more stations, more channels, more variety and more flexibility. These days, you’re just as likely to see a TV commercial for a brand you’ve never heard of as you are a brand you grew up with, and which (thanks to television advertising) is today a household name.

What a good thing this is. Affordable TV advertising allows small and medium-sized companies the opportunity to grow their brands and businesses via the biggest advertising medium of them all. The result is a greater number of profitable businesses, more employment and a more robust economy. In essence, a win-win situation for all.

Television is probably the most sought-after medium in the country due to the sheer number of people it reaches. Having said that, marketers need to use it correctly. It stands to reason that one can’t just get a TV commercial produced and flight it anywhere. There needs to be an advertising strategy in place, and the logical starting point is to determine exactly who it is you wish to target. If your targeted audience is, for instance, black youths living in rural areas, you’d be best advised to flight your commercial on SABC1 or SABC2. Having decided on this, you’ll need to have your ad flighted at times most likely to reach them. Similarly, if you’re planning on targeting a more affluent market in the LSM 8-10 category, you’ll do well to advertise on M-Net and DSTV.

The point of this is to ilustrate the importance of a well-thought out advertising strategy – and there are a number of companies you can turn to to help you in this regard: companies who have the necessary expertise and data to plot exactly where you should be spending your TV advertising budget, and when.

Television advertising can get your product moving off the shelf like no other medium, but it cannot be approached haphazardly. Having an award-winning TV commercial produced is all very well, but if it’s flighted on the wrong channels and in the wrong time-slots, it’s money down the drain.

I’m often asked what it costs to flight a TV ad. Without given more clarity, it’s a difficult question to answer – and is dependant on a number of factors ie the duration of the commercial, the channel it needs to be flighted on, the desired time slot etc. But to give an idea pertaining to TV advertising rates:

• The cost of a thirty second ad on TV1 ranges from R2 500 excl VAT in the early morning to R85 000 excl VAT during evening prime time.
• A thirty second ad on TV2 from R8 000 excl VAT in the early morning to R142 000 excl VAT during evening prime time.
• A thirty second ad on TV3 from R2 000 excl VAT in the early morning to R71 000 excl VAT during evening prime time.
• A thirty second ad on eTV from R7 000 excl VAT in the early morning to R54 000 excl VAT during evening prime time.
• A thirty second ad on DSTV from R3 000 excl VAT in the early morning to R24 000 excl VAT during evening prime time.
• A thirty second ad on M-Net from R4 000 excl VAT in the early morning to R59 000 excl VAT during evening prime time.

Of course, it must be borne in mind that costs vary month by month and according to the exact time of day. It must also be made clear that a number of TV packages exist, through which one can get greater value. Also, whereas one could adopt the conventional route of flighting a thirty second ad, today there are a great many other options available.

You could, for example, sponsor a popular TV series or negotiate to have your product or service weaved into the storyline of a locally-produced series like Generations. By appointing an on-the-ball advertising agency or media planning and buying facility to handle your TV advertising campaign, you can achieve great things, and their services don’t have to cost you a cent extra. In fact, if you’ve never advertised on TV before, they could negotiate you a first time TV advertising discount. Food for thought, especially for small or medium-sized businesses who have never advertised on television before and are perhaps frightened by the costs of doing so.