For the past year, when I am not working on Whyville, I have had the wonderful job of making commercials. I never thought I'd end up in advertising. My dream was always to write television shows and films. But my life took a different turn, and I couldn't be happier. Now I work at one of the best advertising agencies in the world, and I am learning something new every day. Have you ever wondered how the Geico gecko came into being? Or how the slogan, "Got Milk?" became famous? Well, I'm here to tell you!
I'd like to take you through the steps on how a commercial is made from start to finish. Like I said, I work at an advertising agency. Not all commercials are made by agencies. A client (the brand, like Gap or Target) will hire an agency to come up with the campaigns, help them produce the commercials, and keep the advertising new and on the air year around. Some smaller clients (local stores, parks, etc) may not hire an agency to do their advertising, and they'll create commercials on their own. Since my experience is with an agency, that is how I will explain the process. I'll use Whyville as the client while I am writing this series. So read on and learn how those wonderful thirty seconds we sometimes fast-forward past are made!
The first step is Concepting
Concepting starts when the client (in this case, Whyville) gives the agency a brief. The brief is a document that tells the agency what the client would like to accomplish with the commercial. Usually the brief has a single minded message. This is what the viewer should understand after watching the commercial. For example, a brief for Whyville might say: This commercial will showcase the Whyville Times and how it is a way for our citizens to express themselves and discuss common topics with each other. The goal of the commercial is to get that message across.
Now that the agency has the brief and goal in mind, the creative team will start to concept. The creative team usually consists of a copywriter, an art director, and a creative director. This team works together to create the commercial. The copywriter's job is to write the dialogue and voice over. The art director's job is to create the visual world that the commercial will live in. The creative director is the head of the team, and his job is to oversee this process and make sure the commercial is accomplishing what it needs to. Everyone works together to come up with some ideas and scripts. This process can take a few days to a few weeks, depending on the complexity of the brief and what the commercial will require.
After the creative team has a few ideas, the account team will find a good time to present to the client. The account team works directly with the client (again, in this case, Whyville). They are the go-to people between the agency and the client, and make sure that everyone is working together and the client is happy with the work being done. The client for our brief above would most likely be the Times Editor.
Once a time has been set, the creative team will present the scripts to the client. They usually present a few so that the client has some different options to choose from. Sometimes, the client does not like any of them, and it is back to the drawing board. But if you're good and are right on what the brief said, then you'll now have an approved script!
Now that you have an approved script, it is time to make the commercial! The next part in this series will be Production. Production is the process of actually making the commercial. Next week we'll talk about pre-production and all of the things that go into prepping a commercial, before it is actually made.
I hope you've enjoyed this series and are a bit more interested in the commercial-making process. Tune in next week to learn how a piece of paper, becomes the moving image you see every day. Please post any questions you have in the BBS.
Looking forward to the next brief,
AMae
