Okay…cat’s out of the bag.  The cost of a 30 second ad during this year’s Super Bowl is. . . only 3.5 million dollars!  That’s right, a record 3-5 mill.  For a 30 second spot.  During the Super Bowl.  You know, every year the Super Bowl ad rates come out and I just. . shrug.  Whaddaya gonna do?  I’M not buying a spot during the Super Bowl.  So it really doesn’t affect us.  But for some reason, this year it really hit me like a ton of bricks.  3.5 mill?  For a spot?  Are you freakin’ kidding?!  So you figure what, 30, 40, 50 spots during the game?  I just did the math and got light headed.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to total revenue for this broadcast extravaganza.  Deep breath. . . . and exhale.  Okay.  Maybe we need to keep this in mind the next time we’re pricing out production for a TV, Radio Spot or say, a Jingle package.  Or not.  Whatever dude.  I gotta go feed the dogs.  

Sometimes we look down on young people in our business.  The advertising, commercial, jingles business that is.  You know, they’re wet behind the ears. . . inexperienced. . . don’t know the business. . . haven’t put the time in. . . don’t have any wrinkles. . . can read up close with out glasses.  Very irritating.  Yet sometimes you just have to tip your hat to young talent.  Sometimes they get it. Check out Creative Mills singer Charlie here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BrfcWnvgf4 .  He gets it. 

Being a small business, we’re pretty hands on with all of our marketing, even when it comes to photography. When we need a pic to Tweet, put in our Newsletter, or on our jingle page, we pull out our Canon and go to work. But it took us a while to figure out how to get it done.  I mean, we do music, voiceovers, TV and Radio production. (Note the absence of Photography) I won’t bore you with the ugly details of our trip down “buying a freaking camera that will take awesome pictures without spending $1,700 Lane”. Just know this. As with most purchases, you get what you pay for. Find out what a DSLR camera is. . . and get it. Do not get a digital. Do not get an SLR. You can get a good DSLR camera for around $500. Makes all the difference. In fact I’m working on getting some shots for our radio production page right now. Asking the wife for a 75-300mm lens for Christmas. We’ll see. Happy Holidays! 

This just in:  Radio Advertising is a highly effective marketing tool. Caveat. . . when done properly.  What does that mean?  It means you have to be smart when placing your ad “buy”.  I mean, why spend good money on top notch radio production if your spot doesn’t get heard often enough?  Find the station or stations that cater to your target demographic, then find the strongest day parts on those stations.  Then. . . and this is the most important thing. . . buy with high “frequency”.  Buy in Bulk.  Think: Sam’s Club.  The bigger ad package you buy, the more people hear your message AND you get more bang for your buck.  Negotiate with stations.  They want your money, and you want their audience.

So we have a client who's looking for that awesome jingle.  Hooky, cool, and a monster branding tool.  No problem.  We’ve produced thousands of ‘em.  Why should this project be any different?  Well. . . there’s this: Often, after going through all of the pre-production meetings/calls, filling out our jingle prep information sheet, and generally honing in on what will be an effective musical sound for the client, we’ll get this comment: “Cool.  But I really like Black Sabbath”.  Really?  Black Sabbath?  The epic heavy metal band from the 70’s and 80’s?  Because you indicated your target demographic is 25-54 Stay-At Home Moms.  Okayyyy. . . don’t make the mistake of confusing personal musical taste with what will ACTUALLY WORK for you or your client.  We see this a lot.  Don’t make it personal.  Make it RIGHT.  Memorable.  Hooky.  Effective.  That’s what works.  

I run across this a lot: Clients will ask, “So. . . how come we need a jingle?”  Great question.  So let’s break it down.  Client “A” goes the more, I guess, traditional route.  You know: average copy read by local radio DJ/Professional Announcer/Business Owner.  Produced over a standard “music library bed”.  Cool.  If you have a RIDICULOUS radio/tv buy with UNBELIEVABLE frequency (translation: client spends a boatload of money on their media buy across the board), you MIGHT have some branding success.  Client "B", on the other hand, has a smokin’ jingle, with an IRRESISTIBLE tag line. . . or Sing Out. . . you can spend far LESS money doing a consistent Radio/TV buy and get wayyyy better results.  Why is that?  Hmmmm.  It’s because our brains recall music and lyrics at a far higher rate than the spoken word.   Good jingles will amplify your brand.   Google it.  Tweet it.  Facebook it.  It's true.   So the next time you're thinking about using a jingle in your Radio or TV marketing, remember these three words:   Brains.  Recall.  Music.

Yeah, owning a small business can be hard.  The everyday pressure.  The battles with the “Big Boys”.  The long hours.  The sleepless nights.  The. . . wait a minute.  When I think about it, I get to write and produce jingles, perform and produce voiceovers, compose and produce original music.  I get to do things I’m passionate about.  Every day.  FOR A LIVING.  Not many people can say THAT.  Wow. 

So I’m minding my own business, checking out the local newspaper when I come across this headline: “TECH TURNS NON-MUSICAL STUDENTS INTO COMPOSERS” (Cincinnati Enquirer 9/28/11) The article is about how a high school is using music technology like midi, loops, software and various voice/instrument “correction” devices to teach non-musically inclined students to become composers. Really? That’s how one composes a jingle? (pause to take medication here) I, like many other professional composer/musicians was born with the muse. . . you know. . . incredible curiosity and passion about music, natural rhythm, great musical “feel” and excellent pitch, all of which drove me to spend hundreds of hours of my youth honing my performance skills at various instruments. I made a lot of money in high school gigging with my band at weddings, bar mitzvahs and college frat parties, attended the Music School at Illinois University, spent 10 years touring around the country, sharing the stage and jamming with the likes of Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, James Taylor, Tower of Power, among others. That body of work and experience is what makes me a successful professional composer. Not music technology. (Although I will utilize it to expedite some projects) Sigh. So the next time you hear a jingle or original music that has no heart and sounds overly technical. . . now you know why.   

When it comes to advertising, many clients want everything to be BIG. Big words. Big Sound. Big Budgets. But if every commercial is done that way, how do you make yours stand out? Answer: It’s hard to do. That’s why some notable companies are taking the less is more approach. It works for jingles. It works for voice overs. It works with video. According to a recent American Advertising Federation article, Toyota is doing just that with it’s Yaris product line. The gist of the entire campaign is simply: “Yaris. It’s a Car.”   Cool huh? Try it. You might like it. 

A headline in the Wall Street Journal yesterday read, “TV Lures Ads as Audiences Scatter” (9/21 Jessica Vascellaro & Sam Schechner). Basically, it states that although fewer and fewer people watch TV, advertisers continue to spend big bucks on ad production. Why? The theory is that because of the ever-increasing variety of mediums consumers have at their disposal, there are now very few places where large numbers of us can be reached at one time. Even so, advertisers believe broadcast television is still the best way to do that, and they’ll keep on dishing out the dough until proven otherwise. No complaints here.