The most important element of any ad campaign is to sell. It’s as simple as that.

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To sell a new product, to sell a person, to sell a brand, to sell an idea. There are a thousand empty thought pieces on the transformative magic of advertising but the truth is, any real commercial success is directly related to return on investment. It’s a cold, hard truth that will help you get to grips with the budget spend for your next big project.

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“In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.”

‍David Ogilvy - Founder of Ogilvy & Mather

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The above statement is from the man widely referred to as “the father of advertising”. It seems like a pretty straightforward quote at first glance. Sales mean everything. But if you take a deeper look at what Ogilvy meant, it might help you focus on the most important facets of your ad campaign. The onus isn’t strictly on hard sales being the only factor in a successful campaign. It also highlights that the creative needs to be bang on point right from the beginning.

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With selling at the top of your mind, it might be tempting to devote everything to the big media spend. The logic states that if enough people see your ad, you will sell more products. This “if you build it, they will come” attitude isn’t always the best strategy in the modern advertising game. When preparing your budget you’ll need to carefully decipher where exactly on the scale your split will land. It’s a decision that will show how well your big ideas can sell.

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The non-standard split

There was a time when deciding on how you split the budget was simple. The standard rule of engagement was an 80/20 split. That would give you 80% of the total budget to put towards your media space and the other 20% on everything else. It was a division of funds that made perfect sense during the pre-internet era. With the main focus concentrated on more expensive TV and print media there was an almost set in stone framework to how any ad would be created as well as where it would be beamed out to an audience.

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Times have changed. In the hyper-accelerated digital world we now live in, there are endless ways to create original content that can reach into the palm of any demographic that you see fit. Of course, the traditional means of doing business (TV and print) are still booming and will continue to do so for quite some time but the explosion of fresh media channels has altered how businesses are calibrating their marketing budgets.

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The non-standard split is the norm for many of the largest companies on the planet because brand managers now have more choice than ever before.  Blogs, videos, microsites, web magazines, banner ads, and social media are among some of the new ways to get a brand message out into the public domain. It’s a happy problem to have and it’s also challenging the conventional budget divide.

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One of the biggest champions of new digital advertising channels has been the global super-brand Nike. The largest sports company in the world has never shied away from doing the unexpected when it comes to their marketing strategy. Since their inception back in the 1970’s, they’ve beaten their own marketing path and are leaders in their field, from personal sponsorship deals with the biggest stars to breaking down barriers for minority groups. It’s something they continue to do with their digital strategy.

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In the last 5 years they’ve transformed their digital output by adding cutting edge online marketing alongside their products and apps. Their unique approach has bolstered their brand loyalty with the new smartphone generation. And for some of their campaigns, it’s allowed them to flip their 80/20 split upside down, in favour of production instead of media buy. They can spend more on the value of their video and interactive content because of the smart way they are able to get it out via untraditional means. It’s no longer the case that a standard 80/20 split will always be the right combination to hit the sales targets that you need. In the modern age, a flexible approach can pay dividends.

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Plan for success

The real blood and guts of any ad spend is in the return of investment. What your ad makes back in revenue is the most important part of the campaign. The split you decide on can have a direct result in the sales generated during and after your new commercial is pushed out into the world. Attracting customers and keeping their loyal business is not always an exact science but when you design a plan that works then the benefits will be obvious to see.

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If all your TV commercials  have been aired on the main networks and used a traditional model with great success then you’ll probably want to stick to this plan. We work with incredible brands that constantly reap the rewards from their TV media buying plan. It’s an output where we see ourselves as experts, providing the slick motion content perfect for a broadcast audience. By investing in the production spend, it gives your commercial the quality needed to drive future sales.

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When you need to rework a tired or failing media split or overall plan, there are no limits to what can be achieved. It’s an area where we are always looking to gain that extra edge for our clients. It might be that you want to refocus on a more multi-channel approach or bring the standard of your production up to the next level. Either way, you should use a plan that is designed for the needs of your own business. With first-rate knowledge in media spending and expertise in end to end production, we can help you hit the sales targets you always dreamed.