Woven Pixels

Why Local Commercials Suck

Most TV commercials are poor because they are done for free. Many local television stations produce commercials as a loss leader to sell the air time.

It is hard to compete with free.

Ambitious, naive producers, myself included at one time, see the sad state of most local spots and think market opportunity.

However convincing a small, local business to pay you for several days of work with gear when they can have a commercial produced by the local TV Station for free is a tough slog until you have proven work.

When I say proven, I don't just mean that the spots look and sound good. The moment of truth for your clients is return on investment.

Will the local spots you produce increase actual sales and help the reputation of the business?

That question is the standard that commercials should measured against. Perceived production quality, although helpful, is not enough

To the marketers and business people reading this, my observations could not be more obvious. But I'm not writing to marketers and business people today.

I'm writing to producers, directors, camera operators, sound recordists, make-up artists, writers – every craft within video production. Although it is critical that we are true to our craft, it is more important that the goals of our clients be served.

If you are signing the checks, it is all about you, and not even then most of the time.

Given that maybe local commercial don't suck in any way that matters. Maybe they just look and sound bad.

DVD is Dead

Or it will be in the next five years.

By dead, I don't mean obsolete or non-existent. I mean irrelevant.

Movie distribution over the internet is about where electronic music distribution was in 2000. Napster then, PeerFlix (or pick your flavor) now.

Look at CDs. My $18.00 thumb drive holds more than a cd, I can wear it around my neck, and read and write to it thousands of times. How long will it be before my $18.00 thumb drive holds more than a standard DVD? 18 months?

Music on CD? Digital Rights Management is the only reason I'd consider buying a CD instead of going to iTunes.

YouTube, Apple TV, Joost…

DVD, we loved you, but you are already gone. As soon as the large corporations figure out how to get paid, content will come via a network.

This article posits HDDVD or Blu-Ray as the successor, but I think those formats may be too late.

Internet delivery of video is:

1. Greener than DVD production
2. Cheaper than DVD production
3. Potentially more interactive than DVD
4. Billable as a subscription service, like NetFlix without waiting for the mail

It's just a matter of time.

Doing the Least

Here is an example of doing the least, and the unforeseen cost.

How much is Guy Kawasaki’s time worth?

AT&T is saving pennies by wasting Guy's, and everyone else’s, time. They borrow without payback, never mind interest.

This is similar, philosophically, to a manufacturing plant dumping waste into the air and water. They don't have to pay, and the cost is the public health, or tax payer dollars.

Check out this lesson from The Foundation for Teaching Economics on toxic waste in the Grand Banks.

Here is the money, pun intended, quote:

"The market economic system operates on the theory that both consumers and producers have the freedom to make certain economic decisions to solve the basic problem of scarcity. When consumers and producers meet to exchange goods, services and ideas, a market exists. However, there are times in which the effects of such transactions have a negative effect on those NOT directly involved in such exchanges. When this occurs, a spillover cost (negative externality) exists. In our contemporary market economic system, the government has assumed the responsibility to take corrective actions in order to protect citizens from the adverse effects of such spillovers."

If we hope to thrive, we need to be very careful about choosing the path of least resistance. When free falling, there is little resistance until you strike the ground.