Commercial Video Production
We're talking TV spots, YouTube pre-roll ads, social media campaigns, and more.
What are commercial video ads and why use them?
A video advertisement, like those you see on TV or online, is a short (60 seconds or less, but ideally 30 seconds) branding-oriented video that promotes your company, product or service. A commercial video is inherently high level and should not dive into the details of what you do and how you do it, like an explainer video would.
An advertisement is meant to grab attention, garner interest, and get people excited about what you do. It’s a teaser designed to draw in potential customers. If you’re working on online-only content, we think a digital ad campaign is one of the best ways to really spread your brand message and also make the most of your commercial video production efforts. If you're looking for something where your company is less front-and-center in the video, perhaps consider a branded video production.
What does a commercial video production look like?
- 30 seconds or less
- High level branding content
- Generates buzz and excitement
- Motivating call-to-action
- Share-worthy
When and how should I promote my video?
A video ad should be used at the top of the funnel. They’re most useful for generating awareness and excitement for a product or service. We suggest foregoing television, and posting your ads on YouTube, Facebook, streaming services, and other digital channels in the form of a digital ad campaign. We often develop several videos, either targeted versions of the same video or different videos leveraging the same concept, as a part of our commercial projects.
Just keep in mind, to get traction, you’ll likely need to invest some marketing dollars to promote your spot. Don’t expect an overnight viral sensation though a few of our paid ads quickly racked up over 1 million views. Or in the case of the commercial we made with Sealed, over 7 millions views—that's a lot of eyeballs!
Check out our recent video ad campaign for GEICO:
GEICO Ads From The Vault: Easy As Pie
GEICO Ads From The Vault: Dancing Kitchen
GEICO Ads From The Vault: The Chase
GEICO Ads From The Vault: 24/7 Milkman
How does Demo Duck create a concept for an advertisement?
Coming up with a concept for a commercial video production spot is one of the more fun and exciting jobs we get to do around here. An ad has one purpose, and that’s to get people excited about your product or service. That means our team needs to get excited too and develop creative ideas that grab attention and resonate with your audience. It starts with experiencing the product or service first-hand, truly understanding your market and customers, and developing fresh, creative concepts that balance creative and strategy.
How do you measure success for a commercial video production?
Unlike most video content, view count is one of the leading indicators of success when it comes to commercials. If no one is seeing it, the ad doesn’t have a chance to do it’s intended job. Like we mentioned earlier, getting a significant number of views may require allocating some budget towards promoting your spot. Once views are up, keep an eye on engagement to see how much of your ad people are watching. For a short 15-30 second spot, engagement rates should be around 80%-90%.
How much does a commercial video production cost?
Depending on the style and complexity, a commercial video production typically costs between $25,000-$50,000. Budget factors include: style and complexity of the video, length of video, where you anticipate the spot airing, licensing fees for music and talent, etc. If you’re working on a series of videos for your commercial ad campaign, the per video price may be reduced as you increase the number of videos in that production cycle.
How long does a commercial video take to produce?
Because video ads are meant to grab attention, that often means additional time for commercial video productions. For example, our spot for CertainTEED required 3D environments and characters, while ClubWPT had a live shoot plus 3D animation done in post. All of these things take time, but you can plan for 6-12 weeks.
Live-Action or animation for your commercial video production?
Ah, the age-old question. Spoiler: we don’t have an exact answer for your specific situation. But we’ve worked across a variety of styles for our commercial video productions and ultimately the production approach question is one that we chat through with our client. Discussing everything from the budget and scope (live-action is often more expensive for a single video but perhaps not for a multi-video campaign), to brand voice, to where the video will be promoted, and many more points. We often think the best exercise is to poke around the internet (or right here on our website) and whether commercial videography or animation video production feels most aligned with your brand and vision. Of course, you could always do both!
One client. Two styles of commercials.
For our production partnership with Rippling, we were lucky enough to take a stab at creating commercial content in two styles: animation and live action.
The animated video is more focused on showing their array of features in a very quick manner, while the live action piece focuses more on the issue with the status quo. Take a look and enjoy!
Where have our commercial videos been viewed the most?
The short answer is…the internet! Of course, that’s not terribly helpful so let’s dive a bit deeper. Typically, our commercial video productions are used as pre-roll ads on social media (including YouTube) or in paid promotional posts on those same platforms. Sometimes these projects are used as in-video advertising on some streaming platforms (think ESPN, Peacock, etc.). While the usage will impact the budget, it can also impact creative, so let’s be sure to discuss the most likely uses for your video prior to kicking off.
Check out our recent video ad campaign for Wheels For Wishes:
Wheels for Wishes: What Makes A Car Patriotic
Wheels for Wishes: Roadmap To Wishes
Vehicle for Veterans: Wheels Go Round
Vehicle for Veterans: A Cars' Wish
Here's a recent commercial video campaign we made for Geico:
Geico: Retention Multi-Policy
Geico: Retention Text Reminders
Geico: Retention Discounts