It's easier to advertise on TV in the UK than you might think.

We’ve been helping UK brands make TV adverts for years: it’s a fun and rewarding process, in terms of both financial results and personal satisfaction!

There’s a myth that TV advertising must be complicated, but it is actually straightforward, if you know how it works.

In this article, we're going to break down the process of advertising on TV into six steps:

1. Decide what sort of TV advertising to run.
2. Find a TV advertising agency.
3. Set a budget for your TV campaign.
4. Select a creative route for your TV advert.
5. Produce the advert.
6. Put it on air.

Simple, right? Let's break that down some more:

Decide what sort of TV advertising to run.

Successful TV advertising comes down to having clear objectives for your TV campaign.

For new entrants to the UK TV advertising market, we tend to recommend focusing on either direct response or brand response. ‘Pure’ brand advertising, in the style of Coca Cola or Nike, is great if you’ve got the budget and the time to wait for long-term results.

Many first-time TV advertisers don’t have that luxury though, so direct response TV adverts, focusing on driving leads and sales, are a great choice for your first TV advertising campaign. Direct response TV drives immediate ROI (and putting products in consumers’ hands can’t be bad for brand-building either).

Another option for advertising on UK TV are brand response TV ads, which drive some response (like DRTV) whilst also building long-term recall (in the way brand advertising does).

If you’re having trouble choosing what kind of TV advertising campaign to run, our blog on Direct Response vs Brand Response might help. Or you could always, ahem, contact an agency specialising in response TV advertising to discuss your options too.

Find a TV advertising agency for creative and production

Having decided what kind of TV advertising campaign to run, next you need to find an agency to develop the TV advertising creative – and then produce it.

When we say “TV advertising creative”, we essentially mean the concept, script and ‘look’ of your advert. It’s about defining a visual and narrative structure that will get your audience to take action – visiting a website, calling a phone number, putting a product in their basket. 

“TV advertising production” by contrast refers to the process of planning, filming, editing and everything else that’s required to turn an idea into a real advert.

You can use the same TV agency for both creative and production – having it all under one roof can definitely make things easier to manage. Some agencies specialise in either TV advertising creative or production, but we do both. We believe it makes for a smoother process, faster turnaround, and better continuity of ideas and execution for our client brands.

Deciding a budget for your TV advertising campaign and choosing a media buyer

Ideally, you would set a budget for your TV advertising campaign before you even start choosing an agency. In reality, that isn’t always how it happens. You probably have a ballpark figure in mind, but to reach a final budget you want to understand the creative routes available at different price points.

If so, have that budget conversation early so that your chosen agency can recommend options for the level of TV advertising spend you’re comfortable with.

Remember that your TV advertising campaign budget also needs to include the cost of media – advertising space on UK TV. The TV advertising agency you choose for creative and production can often recommend a reputable media-buying company, who in turn can provide costs for advertising on different UK networks, primetime vs daytime, regional vs national and so on.

The TV advertising creative process

With budget and agencies sorted, you can kick off the creative process for your TV advert.

Your TV agency will usually start the creative process by presenting a few creative routes for your advert. These can be based on specific instructions from your brief (“we want Alan Titchmarsh”) or just broad guidance (“show us options for live action, animation or both”).

The right creative for your TV advertising campaign can be the difference between success and failure, so as your creative develops it’s worth asking challenging questions while also being open to ideas.

After choosing a creative route, storyboards and script come next. These flesh out the concept and narrative of your TV advert and give the producer and director everything they need to start producing your TV advert.

TV advertising production – an overview

Your TV agency should handle the nitty-gritty of producing your TV advert. Briefly, this includes organising the shoot, director, casting, crew, props, locations, scheduling and post-production.

You can of course be involved as much or as little as you want. Most people want to attend the shoot, for example (because let’s face it, it’s fun!) and it’s also normal for a brand’s marketing team to be involved in the casting and set design.

One step you have to be involved in is Clearcast approval. Clearcast checks TV adverts prior to broadcast in order to substantiate any claims they make and check that nothing breaches the Broadcast Committee Code of Advertising Practice (BCAP).

This is important because a BCAP breach can lead to Ofcom investigating and potentially banning your TV advert – both a PR nightmare and a waste of budget! Most broadcasters also require Clearcast approval as part of their terms. Clearcast will check scripts prior to filming as well as finished adverts in case anything changes.

Post-production of the TV ad is another area you'll be involved in, because this is where final edits, soundtrack and graphic components are added in. It’s your final chance to make tweaks to your TV advert before it’s broadcast.

Once the advert has been finalised, your TV advertising agency will take care of organising and delivering playouts to the stations. And with that…

Congratulations, you’re on air!

And with that we conclude our brief guide on how to advertise on TV in the UK – we hope it was useful. Advertising on TV can be a complex process, but we’re here to make it simple. If you’d like help making a TV advert, you can read more about our services below or get in touch via our contact page for a chat.