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Why your 1959 bills
for tv commercials
are up 20% over 1954
^ Five-year rise in commercials cost due as much to higher creative demands as new talent, filming costs
^ The 1959 tv spot averages 15%-20% higher in price than 1954, hut items like talent have climhed 80%
#% commercials producer of a Madison Avenue agency remarked the other day, "The campaigns that used to cost us $10,000 five years ago seem to be costing us $12,000 today, hut I haven't quite stopped to figure out why"
This comment is typical of today's opinion among agency and film men: commercials are costing more now than they use to, hut no one seems to agree why they cost more.
Some agencies accuse film producers of higher prices. Most film producers, in turn, point a finger at higher union rates for technicians, and the technicians note that talent costs have risen considerably. But, while it's undoubtedly true that simple dayto-day costs of doing business in the commercials field have risen, there's actually another equalb important reason for rising costs.
Its this: commercials cost more
because they are doing more and doing it better than, say, five years ago. Point one: heavier competition and the rise of new brands has resulted in more demands on commercials: Point two: a general rise in the level of production values; Point three: widespread use of original music and scoring.
In defense of higher costs, one production executive said this: "Sure, commercials cost 20' < more in 1959 than in 1954 — but no one apparently realizes that they're 33 r< to 407c better than they used to be. Take out an old commercial and look at it: you'll be laughed right out of the projection room. Tastes have changed drastically upwards in the last few years."
Many brands, today faced with a competing product spending more on its commercials, are making the decision to retaliate in kind. W bile a few have moved from the SO7.000 "moderate" range into the "luxury" $10-15,000 range, the big shift is for brands with inexpensive $3-4,000 commercials, to upgrade what they're producing. Its not unusual for commercials to add $1,500 to new budgets for the single item of original music and scoring. Furthermore, selling via visual "gimmicks and complex presentation ha\e added greatly
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HERE ARE TYPICAL PRICES 5 YEARS AGO AND TODAY
OVERALL RANGE, FILM
I9R4
S27000 512,000
1959
$3,000-$15,000
ANIMATION
lone character)
$6,200 $6,500
$6,500 $7,500
SIMPLE LIVE-ACTION
lone actor)
$2,500 $3,800
$3,000 $4,500
ELABORATE COMMERCIAL
Marge scale production)
$8,000-$12,000
$10,000-$15,000
MI)i;Oi\lT,
OVER-ALL RANGE "AVERAGE"
$l,000-$5,000 $2,000-$2,500
Illllllllllllllllllllllllll!!! Illllllllllllllll!!!!!llllllllllllllll!lllll!!llll!!l!llllll!ll!lll!lllllll!lll!ll!!illlllllll
10
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Illllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll SPONSOR • 16 MAY 1959