Uniqueness, Charisma and Humor in Television Advertising

Television advertising has almost become an art form rather than just a means of spreading the word about your product. A TV ad now has to have a compelling story, interesting visuals, a musical theme running through it etc. In some ways, it’s even harder to make a TV ad than it is to make a TV series because you have to fit a lot of information into a small period of time. TV ads are 15, 30 or 60 seconds long. How do you manage to grab the viewer’s attention within that short period of time and convince them to buy a certain product or service? Here are a few tips:

1. Uniqueness: Given that there are so many television advertisements being aired, you’ve got to bring something new to the table if you want to grab the customer’s attention. At the same time, it doesn’t always help to use sensationalism. You’ve got to be unique in an authentic way, without just using sex, money or power as your selling points. Or if you are going to use these, it’s best to do so in a more subtle way because people have become a lot more savvy nowadays and will recognize when they’re being sold something that isn’t necessarily true.
2. Charisma: People who make TV commercials make it a habit to fill them with beautiful people, especially recognizable ones like celebrities. To a certain extent, this might work with your target demographic. But there is a quality that is more effective than beauty and that’s charisma. It’s the ability to attract attention via something other than just the symmetry of your features and the perfectness of your figure. So if you can find someone with this elusive quality to star in your advertisement, it has a greater chance of succeeding.
3. Humor: This is another underused element in television advertising. But if it is done well, it can be very successful. In order for humor to be successful on television, it has to be well-written and intelligent, without discriminating against any group of people. It also has to be delivered well by the person in the advertisement. You can’t tell a joke too quickly; you have to pace it in the right way. But if you manage to get this right, a humorous advertisement is likely to stay in a person’s mind far longer than one without humor.

Contact us for more great tips for making a TV advertisement for your product or service.