The Future of the 30 Second TV Commercial

Some History and the Current Situation

My first employer-employee job in video production was working for a small cable advertising company in Chico, California. I had paid work before that as a freelancer, but this was an 8-5, Monday through Friday job. I made 30 second TV commercials – a lot of them – five days a week. Eventually, my work took me to freelance and I started my own production company, and the 30 second commercial remained a stalwart of my production portfolio.

Frame from a Tri Counties Bank commercial shot on location at Mugshots Coffee in Oroville, CA.

The 30 second TV commercial has been the standard in video advertising for decades. This is what I was making daily in the early 2000’s, a hay day for the cable advertising industry.  

Fast forward 17 years and I’m still making videos, but a lot less of the 30 second commercials. There are a few reasons for that.  

1. My pricing is higher than many local and even regional advertisers want to spend. TV stations offer production services that is incredibly cheap, which is hard to compete with. However, “you get what you pay for” rings true here.
2. The internet has opened up a whole new world for advertisers to spread their message. Distibuting your video content (it doesn’t have to be 30 seconds) is easier than ever before. This means I am producing videos that don’t fit the “30 second commercial” mold, but often serve a similar purpose. 
3. The pricing for traditional media is overpriced. TV, Radio and Billboards are struggling to keep attention. They offer reports that are biased and ignore human behavior trends. This leads to fractured attention, and paying too much to reach too many of the wrong people. Whereas Google, Facebook, Instagram and others offer you attention at a fraction of the price, and you can laser focus your spending on the ideal audience. Some advertisers are catching on and killing it, others are stuck in the past and may go the way of the dinosaur. 

So, What is the Future of the 30 Second TV Commercial? 

If You asked me this question when TiVo and DVRs first came out, I would have said it was bleak. However, as we’ve moved to on-demand TV, YouTube and other online distribution, the pre-roll ad has created a new distribution option for time-constrained advertising. Better yet, advertisers can laser target their audience and get better metrics then traditional media could ever offer. Add in re-targeting, look-alike audiences, and other modern advertising strategies, and you have an incredible ad space to work within. Oh, and did I mention, it’s incredibly underpriced!

Now, let me say that I think traditional advertising can still work. I do think it is overpriced, but for certain businesses in the right markets there is ROI and benefit. I also still make these commercials on a weekly basis. However, advertisers may reap greater benefits on those same dollars elsewhere, and many are splitting their budgets between traditional and digital platforms. 

There is now an even better, larger, and more effective way to advertise your business. By creating content, advertisers can skip the media companies and deliver messaging directly to their customers, fans and audience. This is so much more effective, conversational and authentic. Creating content and using platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to connect with your customers puts you directly in the driver’s seat. What’s more, you don’t need a big following online because this same content can be placed in targeted demographic’s newsfeeds just like ads, for a fraction of the price of traditional media. Best of all, it’s right where people are paying attention. 

Conclusion

Attention is what you are after. The TV ad has a shelf life. But great video content is here to stay and growing exponentially.

Great messaging, audience connection, and strategy are the key elements to being remembered and inspiring customers to take action. How are you using video to get your message out there?

How To: Replacing the Sky in Your Drone Footage - An After Effects Tutorial

Raw Footage Shot with DJI Phantom 3 Pro

Hey everyone! This is my first foray into making a tutorial. It's a quick one on how to replace the sky in your drone footage, however, this technique is not limited to drone video. It works with just about any kind of footage you may have.

Final Composite Image with Replaced Sky

In the tutorial I go through some quick color correction and color grading, and spend some more time showing you how to use masks, motion tracking and parenting layers to acheive a sky replacement that follows the camera movement of your shot.

Please enjoy, subscribe to my channel, and let me know what you would like to see more of.

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The example I used in the tutoral was from a TV commercial for Wittmeier Auto Center, a business located here in Chico, California. Check out the original commercial below.

Working Vacations

I’m on vacation right now, sitting in the lounge of a hotel up in Tahoe. I'm thinking about work and vacation. Well, actually, now I'm writing about it while enjoying a beautiful view and eating breakfast. My thoughts are that the there are working vacations and then there are vacations where you bring your work. Let me explain.  

Working Vacations

To me, a working vacation is when you have an assignment or work related motivation to travel, and you are able to convert your downtime into vacation time. In my work as a filmmaker this happens quite a bit. I’ve had assignments all over the world, and typically these involve several travel days mixed with production days. I love to travel and explore during my downtime. Sometimes I take the opportunity to extend my stay a few days beyond the wrap of production. 

Vacation Where You Bring Your Work

Being a CEO, self-employed, or principal within a company often means you are always working. This could easily mean that with every vacation you bring your work with you. For some this sounds like a nightmare and for others it just sounds necessary. You might think only workaholics would work while on vacation, but I think otherwise. 

You see, I love my work. It is my passion and therefore it rarely feels like work to me. Vacation is a great time for me to focus on branding, creative and strategy. Often being in a new place brings new perspective. I love being able to think creatively about a video production project, or how to get my clients story in front of their audience. Spending some time working on social media, marketing, or script writing is a fun way for me spend my downtime.

How do I find the time? The nice thing about vacation is it often presents moments of downtime throughout the day. Sure, I spend time reading a book or exploring the area, but I also find moments where I am feeling creative or focused on business development and I enjoy that as much as anything else.

Love what you do.

There is a quote that says, “Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life”. Sounds catchy. I don’t think it’s entirely true because sometimes it does feel like work and hard work is the most predictable measurement of success. However, I do agree with the fact that you need to love and have a passion for what you do to be truly successful. Find something that you love, something you are good at, and something that can provide for you and your family, throw in some hard work – and you are on the right path.

Now I think I’ll go back to just relaxing. I mean, I am on vacation after all.

Three Types of Videos Businesses Should Be Creating

How do you engage your customers, convey information, and tell your brand story?

It’s no surprise that video is quickly becoming (if not already) the media of choice in our online worlds. From FaceBook to Instagram, YouTube to your very own websites, video content is everywhere. Humans are visual creatures, and video is a dynamic medium that conveys ideas and emotions like nothing else can.  

I work with businesses to produce video content and deploy strategies to tell their story. Often people don't know what kind of video content to put out, how often, or how to get it produced. They also wonder if anyone will watch. Many think it's overly expensive as well. Luckily, technology and the social environment within our phones means it is easier than ever before to create content and place it in front of our potential customers.

I think businesses and brands should be creating content regularly. Here are three kinds of video content that every brand should understand.

1) Story Videos (Instagram Stories / Facebook Stories / Snapchat)

Purpose: These videos exist to engage your customers in the life of your business. Day-to-day, human interactions that show them a little bit of who you are. These don't live online for more than 24 hours typically and don't need to be refined or curated. What they accomplish is an ongoing relationship with your audience. 

Production: If you have a phone with a camera, you can produce these videos. I hesitate to even use the word produce because it is really as simple as holding down a button to shoot, then pressing send. It is really that simple and you can have engaging content. For ideas, follow some other brands and watch their stories to see how they are creating this content, then find what works for you.

Frequency: Multiple times a day. These stories are small snippets that can evolve throughout the day. Keep them short and frequent. 

2) Informational / Webcast / VLOG Style Videos

Purpose: The goal of these videos is to communicate complex information. These are less about touchy-feely brand stories, and more about the nuts and bolts of what you do. Certainly, there is an opportunity to establish rapport, expertise, and likeability as well You've seen these videos in the form of a product review, a vlog, or informational type of show. Usually shot with a person speaking directly to the camera, these are the video form of a blog or article. 

Production: Production value can range quite a bit with these. It can be as simple as setting up a phone on a tripod, to a full-blown production, but I would say it usually falls somewhere in the middle. Often, with a small investment and a little training, a business can be set up to film these on their own, and even edit them. Possibly requiring some professional assistance on more complex projects.

Frequency: Varies from daily to several times per month. Some people and brands put up a video like this every day, but typically a few times a month is good for most businesses.

3) Brand Video / Commercial / Culture Documentary

Purpose: Telling the brand message, showcasing products and services, and telling your company's story requires an engagement of not just our senses, but our emotions. That is where brand videos come into play. When done well, these expertly crafted videos have a longer shelf life and help to convey the personality of your business and represent the professionalism of your offering. If the other videos are the sprints, these are the marathon and are meant to drive long-term awareness, understanding, and loyalty.

Production: Unless you are a professional video producer, you need to hire out for this. Camera, lighting and an understanding of effective brand storytelling is a must for these to succeed and stand up to the expectations of viewers. 

Frequency: Depending on your market and product cycle, these videos could be as often as monthly, but typically fall into a quarterly or annual cycle.

What's Next?

I only have one piece of advice: Start creating content. You have value to bring to your customers and the only way to discover what it is is to begin. So start today.

Phantom Falls: A hike and scenic aerial film.

Hiking is on my short list of hobbies. I love to hike, to backpack, and simply get outside. Nothing beats the warmth of the sun and crossing the earth with the power of your own two feet. On February 13, 2016 I was able to get out for hike on Table Mountain. I had been wanting to get up there to see some of the waterfalls after the rains we had experienced this year. I'd seen photos of Phantom Falls for quite some time, and despite living within 20 minutes of them for 35 years I never made the trip. 

I made the trip. With a new backpack designed to carry my drone / quadcopter (what I use for aerial filming), I hiked out to Phantom Falls. It was beautiful and there were plenty of friendly people enjoying the day. I was fortunate to get some great footage and meet some really lovely people in the process. Below is a simple edit of some of the footage.

Make the Hike Yourself

If you are looking to make the hike yourself, here is some public information about how to get there. Enjoy the hike and the views, it is worth it. Leave only footprints, take only pictures.

• Chico Hiking Website - Phantom Falls
• Chico Hiking Website - Map
• Backpaker.com - Phantom Falls