I recently read a piece by Michael R. Shannon, President of MANDATE: Message, Media & Public Relations, in which he advised political candidates to invest in a quality production team when creating their political spots.
The article explained what we all understand, though maybe not explicitly: that a low-quality production may get in the way of the message.
Shannon argues in the article that a television spot will introduce the candidate to far more people than they will ever encounter in person, and to create a low quality production is to damage their reputation and presentability.
The same goes for any video that introduces a product, service, or any information. Audiences are used to seeing polished products on television and a low-budget ad is easy to pick out from the bunch. Think about the probably tens of commercials for car dealerships or injury lawyers you’ve seen in the past few days: there was probably one with a man in a cowboy hat yelling at you to BUY CARS! or PROTECT YOUR FAMILY IN CASE OF UNEXPECTED ACCIDENTS IN THE WORK PLACE! These ads are jarring, aggressive, or just plain lame. Now think about an ad with a car driving down the road while pleasant text and voiceover promote great deals. You’re going to pick the car dealership with the welcoming ad, or the lawyer that doesn’t yell at you to make you feel comfortable because you are not comfortable and you never want to see that cowboy hat again. Simply put, a low-budget ad takes away from consumer confidence in a product or service.
A small company may put their spot on the air in one small community in Wyoming but so will Old Spice and American Express and other national or global companies. That small company’s spot will be compared side by side with larger companies and will come up short if they don’t invest in a quality production.
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Emily Magida was a Spring and Summer 2012 RedEye Intern
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