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need some creative input

R

Rockstar_pizza

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we are going to jump into the world of COMMERCIALS, we have a NFL kicker who would star in it, so we are excited…wanted to do something memorable! thanks
 
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Wow. Too bad you don’t have a great QB who could still do it there! :lol: sorry…

You have two ways to approach it: dirt cheap or top dollar.

on the cheap, you can get attention for zaniness and originality. Top dollar will be able to put across a much more dignified image. It can truly be expensive. Every city has it’s wacky ads for local businesses…in St Louis it’s Becky the Carpet Queen now, it used to be Steve Mizerany Appliances.

If you use music, unless someone writes a track for you specifically and gives you permission for not much monetary consideration, you’ll spend a good chunk for mechanical rights.

Shoots are certainly not cheap. It can vary greatly from company to company, and quality will often vary as well. Just like anything else, actually. But it’s your image being presented, you need to ensure it is the right image. From script to storyboard to shooting to editing, you need to be involved every step of the way. Don’t let anyone push you off the project, you MUST stay involved. Ask to see roughs, well before any music or graphics are added. Check for accuracy and message.

You can do something fact-based—the guy walking through your store, and he’s having a conversation about your products. Or, you can do it as a fan, he walks in and everyone expects him to kick the pie through the oven and have it land right on the pan. Or staff and patrons ogle him and do every stupid thing possible to get his attention. Or, pure zaniness all around, it’s a football game inside the restaurant. But, if you want to mention any connection to the NFL or a specific team, you’ll be paying plenty for that as well.

When will your ads run? How much will it cost? How many runs will you get for that price? How many stations will carry the same ad? I’m not asking for those answers, just some things to think about. I hope it works for you; often, TV is not worth the money, sad to say. It simply takes so much of it to make a good campaign.

Best of luck with it!
 
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Ok…kicker lined up and place setter holding block of mozz…as it gets kicked it shreads and lands on the pizza skins held by 2-3 receivers. Then a re-kick or get a qb to throw with a full stick lf pepperoni and turns into slices mid-air. Cheerleaders with spice shakers to top the pies and the coach gets doused with a giant #10 can of pizza sauce. Get your cheese=, pep, and sauce companies onboard to display their names on the product images. Ref calls a timeout on the field to check the pizzas in the ovens. Kind of paints a football picture or sorts and takes a lot of the different game functions and makes it all pizza related. Quick span of camera to crazy fans dressed like pizza toppings…etc. Damn I think I have a good one here! :!:

Also before the kickoff…have the watergirls run out to the receivers with water “sauce” bottles to squirt sauce on the skins and a shot in the mouths of the players. Basically fully assemble a pepperoni pie in a 30 second spot with the refs calling timeout to take that finished pie out of the oven to have a slice! :idea:
 
$100k for that amazing idea. Unless there’s a family member who is expert level on Final Cut Pro (it’s video, not pizza) and the related packages needed, you’ll be certainly in the $70k range for that little bit of ad. It’s fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but 1 second of CG can run $10k or more. That’s only $333 a frame, probably a very low estimate.

This is an ad worthy of one of the big boys, who would do it in a heartbeat. Good one, Mike!
 
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Many times, something memorable and something that sells pizza are two different things. With TV ads, if you are not on prime time, you need to be on all the time. Prime time is expensive and if your commercial is not ‘good enough’ (by customer standards, not yours), it could do more harm than good.

The perfect situation would be to make 3 commercials, and then test them against each other on youtube. Then run the one that tests the best in areas like name recognition and memorability. I made 14 TV commercials(yes, that is me), and the number of people who said, “Hey, I love your commercial for Sunglass Hut” was about 40-50%. I was just paid to act in them but it drove me nuts. The owners of the chain would not listen to anyone. They knew what they wanted, they paid for it, and their customers went elsewhere. The moral of that story is to get your name in there prominently.

Pick up a copy of the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing and PT Barnum’s Art of Money Getting, or, Golden Rules for Making Money. They are well worth reading and will help you get the maximum bang for your marketing buck.
 
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I can not for 1 second think that a television commercial will give you a good return on your investment…You are a “small fish” in a “huge market”…How much of your investment will be wasted on folks that are not in your market area?..

Also, find a copy of the Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads…There are a few pages on TV ads…Although brief, they are enlightening…
 
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royster13:
Also, find a copy of the Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads…There are a few pages on TV ads…Although brief, they are enlightening…
Click to expand...
Great book! I bought a used copy on Amazon for $7 including shipping.
 
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I also have to echo what Royster said. If you are maxed out in your marketing, then TV is a good option, but unless you have your bases covered with new customer generation and customer retention, you have much cheaper low hanging fruit to grab before you start with TV.
 
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Local TV ads aren’t as expensive as they were in the days of network-affiliated stations being the only options. 30 second spots on local sports network affiliates in a million population metro area are probably much cheaper than people think.

I don’t agree about trying to control all elements of the ad content and production, unless you’ve spent many successful years in the advertising business?! If someone was successful in it, why would they switch to the pizza business?

I think an ad created by someone experienced and successful producing for other local businesses would get far more return than anything you do yourself. If you want to control it all, then it’s just vanity advertising, like vanity publishing of books, and you can just have fun. But, don’t expect it to pay off.

It’s like a 20 handicap husband teaching his wife how to play golf, instead of spending a little money on lessons from a pro. :mrgreen:
 
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I never said inexpensive! It just came together in my mind… pretty good though at least I think. Good visuals. I do agree that being a small player that tv ads are a big investment and unless you can run it over and over… the one or two time they play will not stick in peoples minds. Take that money and give it away in promotions or free pizzas to larger corporate customers. I think your ROI would be much higher than with tv ads. :idea:
 
Royster, For the most part I agree with you, But I plan on doing my fishing in MY POND, cable offers popular shows/channels ESPN, Top Chef, jersey shore, Keeping up with the kardashian, I Carli, The Real House wives of PMQ. Locked up abroad, Pawn Stars,
MY most expensive 30 sec is ESPN NBA playoffs, 40 dollars! most everything else is anywhere from 20 to 35.00 a spot. Now I do have to buy a package, smallest one is 350.00 I can spread it over a year if I so choose. Just like the major chains mine will be to introduce new and exciting items (like beer and wine) or a new gourmet pizza. I am ON THE VERGE of displacing the chains here and I am more as Branding myself. Being associated with a group of professional aesthetes who will do it PRO BONO, is a gift from heaven.
As far as production, Lady luck has fell into our hands once more. My wife’s college roommate is the producer for the local fox news and has access to editing (no CG) and filming an HD commercial. the cost will be less than a val-pac run.

So here is what I THINK I am going with, what do you think? camera opens in on a sign that says Training room…pans over and we have several guys (Angerer, Shipley and McAfee in front of the strength coach, saying how important a strict diet is,

We see pat slip out into the break room where he opens a box from Rock star pizza, says “its simply irresistible” then a little product
placement , then back to pat, eating the pizza then you hear coach yell “McAfee” He gives a shocked look then smiles…scene

another lucky break our daytime manager is married to the strength coach.
 
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Rockstar,
Consider asking about deals on unsold inventory. Around here they have crazy deals on buying time in unsold inventory spots. All the ones in the pool rotate through any unsold time slots based on whatever criteria you pay for . . . frequency, specific channels, specific time slots, and so on. It could be worth asking about at the local station(s).
 
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yes I have a schedule and what he called a drop in (they can drop my commercial in on any program we select during the 5-6pm time slot that goes unsold for ten dollars) max twice a day.
 
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