Elements of a Successful TV Commercial

For any market, the main purpose of a TV commercial is to sell the brand or at least lure the consumer to the trial. Of course, advertisement along with their strong message to buy, must entertain the viewers as well.

For those viewers who are perhaps no the actual target audience, ad recall value matters the most. An ad with a good jingle and appealing visual is bound to hit the target but there are much more important attributes of an effective TV commercial than mere jingles, copy or celebrity appeal.

The dream of a advertiser is that the viewer feels good to rewatch the ad on either TV or digital media. TV commercials are not mini movies, but it is quite amazing how much can be unfolded in just 30 seconds or less.

The most successful commercials are just plain fun to watch. Here are few ideas that work the best.

Emotion

Depiction of strong emotions relates to our minds more than words or images. To make people like the commercial and enjoy watching it, advertisers must identify the emotions they want the consumers to feel. This however needs to be addressed during planning and conceptual phase and not just used as filler later.

The emotions associated with an ad depend largely on the brand or product. For a local mechanic, the emotion of trust would work best. Likewise, the emotion of celebration and joy may work for any product linked with family bonding.

Information

Unfortunately, advertisers only have about 30 sec to give maximum information about their product. The tricky part is knowing what to say, and what not to. The most common mistake advertisers make is to try to say too much that often goes to waste. At the planning stage, narrow down to maximum two strong points you prefer to harp on about your product. It could be convenience, low cost, luxury or exclusivity. Think why should anyone buy your product?

The Call to Action

The advertisement must have an objective to drive the viewer to action. However, many extremely successful commercials do not ever ask the viewer to do anything. That is because they are using an implied call to action, which is typically tied to the emotions they want you to feel.

Drink a cold drink and feel refreshed is an implied call to action. The call to act could be subtle or hard hitting but it should either tell the viewer to buy or get them to want to buy.