Ron Paul Advertising *commercials*

[cujothekitten]

Can we make our own commercials and buy our own air time or is that crossing the grassroots/campaignHQ line?

If we can do this why don't we have a couple people get together and make a really stellar 30 second clip and get it on the air? We can vote for them on youtube or something to pick the best one.

[DjLoTi]

You can do it for us :)

[LibertyEagle]

My understanding of the line that we cannot cross, is involving them in any way, shape, or form in the planning, creation or implementation of this ad. We have to operate totally independently of them and in fact cannot even discuss the fact that we are doing this, with them.

[pyrazole2]

Go for it! It's a semi-free country. Let me know if you need any chemistry/biochemistry help (just illustrating how useless I am at all this creative, social, campaign stuff).

[constituent]

i'll help in any way possible.

[Lord Xar]

Can we make our own commercials and buy our own air time or is that crossing the grassroots/campaignHQ line?

If we can do this why don't we have a couple people get together and make a really stellar 30 second clip and get it on the air? We can vote for them on youtube or something to pick the best one.

Great Idea!! YES, you can do this.... your local cable is very INEXPENSIVE!!!! just run a bunch of 30 and 60 second ads in rotation....

Call them up asap and ask what format and then come on here, if possible, and get an idea of what to put on it..

GREAT IDEA!!!!

DO IT , DO IT, DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

[McDermit]

Yeah, a ton of people want to do this. The trouble is finding someone willing to take the bull by the horns and actually run with it.

I've looked into pricing and whatnot locally, but I get lost in the execution. I have no clue where to begin, what to include in the ad, where to find quality video clips, etc. I've only ever seen official campaign ads around here.. done by the politician himself. And our local agencies only do cookie cutter stuff. So I kind of feel like a braindead cheerleader in an AP Calc class. It all goes right over my head.

[cujothekitten]

Who are the best youtube video makers we have? Aravoth is really good but we should have 3 or 4 people to make a couple different ads.

Maybe make 5 different ones all focusing on different issues?

[Lord Xar]

Who are the best youtube video makers we have? Aravoth is really good but we should have 3 or 4 people to make a couple different ads.

Maybe make 5 different ones all focusing on different issues?

Okay CUJO, can you head this up??? Can you be responsible for putting this together - via resources here and calling the cable companies and finding the right video format..

Your idea is a very good one, and one that I have seen others post... but UNLESS you take the reign on this, it might fall by the wayside again....

SO - I hereby declare you the "30/60 second commercial lead"......

sounds good?

[austin356]

people lets get this going!

Will put it on regional television here if people get them made!

[McDermit]

We have to find out the minimum dpi/fps (dots per inch/frames per second) (is it called dpi in television?) before anyone can start making videos.

Things taken from youtube are very unlikely to be high enough quality for television. Unless you do something like they do when showing youtubes on ET! and news stations, and frame the video as only a part of the screen. That could be a possibility if we can do a still background where there's text (RP logo?) beneath the video, or maybe "captions" to the left or right of the video.. where maybe a key phrase from the video clip is highlighted.

I don't know.. I do some still graphics, but I know nothing about video.

[cujothekitten]

I can do some organizing but I don't have equipment to make videos. I'm looking online now to find the rates for cable, public access, and network advertising. If anyone else finds some info feel free to post it... I'm making this thread a sticky.

We should also think about still ads to put in movie theaters... you know, the slide show that goes on while you're waiting for the movie to begin.

[Alopederii]

Hi folks, this is my first post.

I've been reading through these forums for a while now, and I love what you have done. Anyways, I wanted to set up an account so I could comment on the commercials idea: first of all, I LOVE the idea!!!

That being said, I need to point out that you probably need to form a PAC to spend that kind of money as a group. (Probably this was also needed for the Ames ad.)

I'm not an accountant, but by browsing through the FEC site I found the following brochure:
http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/citizens.shtml

Specifically, take a look at the Independent Expenditures and Acting as a Group sections.

Just wanted to give you a heads-up. I wouldn't want you to get into legal trouble.

[cujothekitten]

Here are some places that can get the ad on air.

http://spotrunner.reachlocal.net/Default.aspx

http://www.thecommercialmakers.com/index.php

http://www.rainmakersintl.com/

The price I’ve found for national networks is around 350,000 for 30 seconds. We might be able to hit that but local is probably best. We should just focus on states that have straw polls coming up.

I also found this:


First, the following text by Gaebler provides an overview of the TV
advertising costs:

"The standard half-hour of television contains 22 minutes of program
and 8 minutes of commercials - 6 minutes for national advertising and
2 minutes for local. National advertising is obviously your most
expensive option, but even then the rates vary by Nielsen-rated
viewership. Highly-watched programs can command rates in the millions
of dollars. For example, a 30-second spot during the 2005 Superbowl
sold for $2.4 million. Commercials during less-watched programs are
more affordable, but the cost of those commercials may still run in
excess of $100,000 per 30-seconds.

Most small- to medium-sized business owners find that local
advertising fits better with their budgets and marketing goals. A
30-second time slot in a medium-sized market can be purchased for as
little as $5 per 1,000 viewers, meaning that you could easily expect
to pay less than $100 per commercial slot. Even cheaper rates may be
available for off-hour programming."

TV advertising rates are typically quoted per 30-second commercial and
thus as you suspected, a longer commercial will cost more (ie 60
second commercial is double unless otherwise discount is otherwise
negotiated). For example, 30-second commercial for the popular show,
American Idol, cost $705,000 while the superbowl cost $2.5M. For more
prices (recent and historic) on major shows/events, please take a look
at the following link:
http://medialit.med.sc.edu/thirtysecadcosts.htm

Local ads are also quoted per commercial as you can see on the Horizon
Television website (http://www.horizontel.com/tv/advertise.html) and
Glasgow EPB Cable TV (http://www.glasgow-ky.com/ADRATES/INDEX.HTM).
As you can see on these sites, the prices depend significantly on the
hour in which you run your commercial in, which is directly correlated
to the number of viewers. Of course, the number of viewers and their
TV viewing patterns will vary from region to region and thus, the
local rates will differ significantly from each other.

The standard price will get your commercial shown at any random time
within the specified period range and a small premium will allow you
to choose any specific program on any network, as long as it's not a
special event such as a major sports game (there's no distinction
between advertising on TV shows vs TV movies).

In terms of cost per thousand, the Myers Report, quoted by the NY
Times, indicates that prime time TV advertising sells for $17 per
thousand audience members.
http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/internet/advertising.html

The follow article on BusinessWeek indicates that the average rate for
a TV commercial is $20 per thousand viewers.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2006/nf20060511_7450_db011.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

The following paper indicates that the average rate for TV advertising
in the UK is 8 pounds per thousand viewers (prices shown from 1961 to
2003).
This is a fascinating and well written research paper that uses
econometric modelling techniques to analyze and build economic models
for the UK TV advertising market (including market elasticities,
illustrative forecasts, etc)
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/tvadvmarket.pdf

Though the cost per thousand impressions is more complicated, the
individual cost per thousand households for the major shows can be
calculated by using the cost per 30-second commercial from the link
(http://medialit.med.sc.edu/2005-2006_ad_rates.htm) and the stats from
Yahoo! TV (http://tv.yahoo.com/nielsen/).
For example, CSI: Miami, the cost for the commercial is $465,000 and
14.333M households viewed the show so the cost per thousand households
is $465,000 / (14.333M / 1000) = $32.24

[cujothekitten]

Hi folks, this is my first post.

I've been reading through these forums for a while now, and I love what you have done. Anyways, I wanted to set up an account so I could comment on the commercials idea: first of all, I LOVE the idea!!!

That being said, I need to point out that you probably need to form a PAC to spend that kind of money as a group. (Probably this was also needed for the Ames ad.)

I'm not an accountant, but by browsing through the FEC site I found the following brochure:
http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/citizens.shtml

Specifically, take a look at the Independent Expenditures and Acting as a Group sections.

Just wanted to give you a heads-up. I wouldn't want you to get into legal trouble.

Thanks! I'm not sure what the rules are for this type of thing... I was thinking we might need to form some kind of PAC for it to be legal. If anyone has any more info about it that'd be great. I'll go do some research and see what I can find.

[Thom1776]

I posted this in another thread, but since this is a sticky, I'll repeat it here:

This is in reference to Ron Paul crack whore or whatever her name is from this thread:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=12230

Setting: outdoors, daytime, nice weather, field with green grass, trees, just a nice, outdoor setting. I'd start with a closeup of her face, about the same size as that in the video. The camera slowly zooms out. As the camera zooms out, we see that she is wearing a Ron Paul tee shirt. She is standing front and center of a large crowd of very diverse people, all wearing Ron Paul tee shirts. There are large signs and banners in the back of the crowd and people in front are holding smaller signs at a lower level. The whole scene looks just like any sign waving rally.

The camera point of view is from above. The zoom stops once the entire crowd is in frame at about 19 seconds and holds on the crowd for 4 seconds.

The girl is doing her spiel the whole time. She has to do it in 23 seconds. Then fade to a portrait shot of Ron Paul with the words "Ron Paul" behind and above him. The words "Hope For America" fade in on the bottom of the screen as a voice over is saying: "Ron Paul: Hope For America" with all the legal fine print at the very bottom of the screen.

And if a verbal credit is required, put it quickly at the very start of the ad.

[skiingff]

When I was over at ronpaulforum.com (no S) when this forum was down, we created the following thread:

http://www.ronpaulforum.com/showthread.php?t=36996

It basically says we need to form a PAC, and a website for the PAC where people can view, vote on, and donate to get TV ads on the air ASAP.

We NEED to get a PAC up and running, I'm still not sure what Lord Xar is doing with AUL PAC (Americans United for Liberty) that ran the newspaper ad in Ames, I was told he was creating a website for the PAC to continue the grassroots advertising, but have heard nothing since...

So we need to form a PAC quickly, get a website up and running quickly, and have someone develop that website to where RP supporters can view ads and vote on the best ads. Then we will have a fundraising bar or something, the kind of things where you have to get to the top of the bar (eg $5,000) to meet the fundraising needs for the effort. After the fundraising needs and logistics are met, the ads would air. We could also vote and debate on the best places to air them.

[DjLoTi]

See.. NOW we're starting to think bigger... this is exactly the direction we need to be taking this.

[cujothekitten]

When I was over at ronpaulforum.com (no S) when this forum was down, we created the following thread:

http://www.ronpaulforum.com/showthread.php?t=36996

It basically says we need to form a PAC, and a website for the PAC where people can view, vote on, and donate to get TV ads on the air ASAP.

We NEED to get a PAC up and running, I'm still not sure what Lord Xar is doing with AUL PAC (Americans United for Liberty) that ran the newspaper ad in Ames, I was told he was creating a website for the PAC to continue the grassroots advertising, but have heard nothing since...

So we need to form a PAC quickly, get a website up and running quickly, and have someone develop that website to where RP supporters can view ads and vote on the best ads. Then we will have a fundraising bar or something, the kind of things where you have to get to the top of the bar (eg $5,000) to meet the fundraising needs for the effort. After the fundraising needs and logistics are met, the ads would air. We could also vote and debate on the best places to air them.

Awesome! Awesome! I'm making another thread for PAC creation

[Lord Xar]

When I was over at ronpaulforum.com (no S) when this forum was down, we created the following thread:

http://www.ronpaulforum.com/showthread.php?t=36996

It basically says we need to form a PAC, and a website for the PAC where people can view, vote on, and donate to get TV ads on the air ASAP.

We NEED to get a PAC up and running, I'm still not sure what Lord Xar is doing with AUL PAC (Americans United for Liberty) that ran the newspaper ad in Ames, I was told he was creating a website for the PAC to continue the grassroots advertising, but have heard nothing since...

So we need to form a PAC quickly, get a website up and running quickly, and have someone develop that website to where RP supporters can view ads and vote on the best ads. Then we will have a fundraising bar or something, the kind of things where you have to get to the top of the bar (eg $5,000) to meet the fundraising needs for the effort. After the fundraising needs and logistics are met, the ads would air. We could also vote and debate on the best places to air them.

I like the motivation but I think that this needs to happen on a more homegrown level, at least as it pertains to commercials - unless the forums have a specific target. ie.. iowa straw poll.

THERE WILL BE A WEBSITE: www.unitedforliberty.com

Its coming up... give it some time.

[maiki]

I don't know if people know this, but when buying TV ads, if you have the option (you might not, these slots might be reserved for the national commercials), try to get the first or the last commercial slot in a commercial break. Because people with TiVo are likely to only see the first and last commercial as they turn on their little skip commercial machines.

[DeadheadForPaul]

:: looks for Avaroth ::

[skiingff]

Ok, this should get things moving.

http://www.pledgebank.com/20kforpaul

[mtmedlin]

I like the motivation but I think that this needs to happen on a more homegrown level, at least as it pertains to commercials - unless the forums have a specific target. ie.. iowa straw poll.

THERE WILL BE A WEBSITE: www.unitedforliberty.com

Its coming up... give it some time.


Would it be possible to use the UAL PAC and have this forum "adopt" NH and specificlly target our efforts in getting higher name recognition for RP in that state. In one other thread I posted that on spotrunner you can get about 600 30 second spots covering the majority of NH for about $10,000 plus the cost of the video clip. I know everybody wants to do stuff locally but I think it would really help the campaign if we were to bombard one or two states. If his poll numbers were to climb to double digits in NH then the press coverage we would get would be much more valuable then the $10,000 we spent.

[1000-points-of-fright]

Just cuz you can edit together a video for Youtube does not mean you can put together a broadcast quality spot. It's a whole different set of parameters.

If you don't want it to look like crap, you'll need real editing equipment (iMovie won't cut it) and high quality video to edit together. Unless you shoot every frame yourself.

I know how to edit video (even with old school A/B 3/4" tape machines) but I don't have the equipment or software.

[rpsupporter]

There are a lot of people who have called in testimonials about Ron Paul right here:

http://shilliber.com/listings/12-Ron-Paul

You can embed this anywhere...

[Elwar]

For the equipment, a lot of communities have their public access channels. When I was in college a few of my housemates wanted to do a little skit show for the channel. We went to the cable company, we took a little class on how to use the equipment, then they let us borrow the cameras. All we needed to do was buy our own tape(I forgot what the type was, certainly not VHS...it may have changed by now).

We did a little bit of recording, we never ended up doing anything with the few shots we got...but the key is they let you borrow all the equipment you need to use for free. This includes editing equipment etc.

[fj45lvr]

Our local cable for 40,000 subscribers charges as low as $2 per 30 second spot and we are planning on airing an ad.....I want to know if any of these videos that people have made are available in the higher resolution necessary for TV compared to youtube???


Let us know if anyone has high quality ads to be able to edit or use.

Check your local cable rates as they are suprisingly DIRT cheap... we will link the ads to the meetup group(s).


More pricing example with Comcast cable here in Pacific NW

6am-9am (random placement) $3 per 30 second spot---FOX and CNN $15 per 30 second

midnight to 6am random placement (all channels) $2 per 30 second

6am to midnight random placement (limited channels) $3 per 30 second spot

I am quoting these from memory without the pricelist ....this area has a population of 145,000 aprox. with 40,000 subscribers....

You do need to fill out some type of paperwork identifying who you are as "friends of" or something I am told.....(although a person can donate so much towards a campaign so I don't know why a group of people can't collectively have a large amount of money for these inexpensive ads.....

NOW is the time to use them to spawn growth in meetups.


HELP

[zeuslegion]

I'm a voiceover artist and copywriter (TV/Film/Radio) if any of those skills are needed .

http://zeuslegion.voices.com/

[Lord Xar]

Our local cable for 40,000 subscribers charges as low as $2 per 30 second spot and we are planning on airing an ad.....I want to know if any of these videos that people have made are available in the higher resolution necessary for TV compared to youtube???


Let us know if anyone has high quality ads to be able to edit or use.

Check your local cable rates as they are suprisingly DIRT cheap... we will link the ads to the meetup group(s).


More pricing example with Comcast cable here in Pacific NW

6am-9am (random placement) $3 per 30 second spot---FOX and CNN $15 per 30 second

midnight to 6am random placement (all channels) $2 per 30 second

6am to midnight random placement (limited channels) $3 per 30 second spot

I am quoting these from memory without the pricelist ....this area has a population of 145,000 aprox. with 40,000 subscribers....

You do need to fill out some type of paperwork identifying who you are as "friends of" or something I am told.....(although a person can donate so much towards a campaign so I don't know why a group of people can't collectively have a large amount of money for these inexpensive ads.....

NOW is the time to use them to spawn growth in meetups.


HELP


I think what you need to do is go to youtube and find videos that interest you and then contact the submitters and see if they have "high quality orgiinals". I am not sure many here have access to high quality videos.

[skiingff]

Our local cable for 40,000 subscribers charges as low as $2 per 30 second spot and we are planning on airing an ad.....I want to know if any of these videos that people have made are available in the higher resolution necessary for TV compared to youtube???


Let us know if anyone has high quality ads to be able to edit or use.

Check your local cable rates as they are suprisingly DIRT cheap... we will link the ads to the meetup group(s).


More pricing example with Comcast cable here in Pacific NW

6am-9am (random placement) $3 per 30 second spot---FOX and CNN $15 per 30 second

midnight to 6am random placement (all channels) $2 per 30 second

6am to midnight random placement (limited channels) $3 per 30 second spot

I am quoting these from memory without the pricelist ....this area has a population of 145,000 aprox. with 40,000 subscribers....

You do need to fill out some type of paperwork identifying who you are as "friends of" or something I am told.....(although a person can donate so much towards a campaign so I don't know why a group of people can't collectively have a large amount of money for these inexpensive ads.....

NOW is the time to use them to spawn growth in meetups.


HELP


I can answer all your questions sir. Getting an ad on TV is ABSOLUTELY NO EASY TASK, I can promise you that.

Here are the technical specifications:


Submit your ad.

If you've produced a 30-second ad for your business but still want to use Spot Runner’s powerful, targeted scheduling, let us know—we’ll work with you.

For a $249 fee, you can use Spot Runner's media planning and buying capabilities to run the ad that you've created.
To submit your ad:

* Make sure your ad meets all the requirements below.
* Pay the $249 handling fee to reserve your ad slot
* Create a Spot Runner airtime schedule for your ad.
* Link your purchased ad slot to the airtime schedule you've created on your My Campaigns page.
* Mail your ad for review.

Ad requirements:

All ads must be submitted at least ten (10) days prior to your airtime schedule start date. We require a 10-bit, uncompressed QuickTime .MOV format (720 x 486) that includes all of the following information and sequencing. Spot Runner will rename the file of your ad prior to trafficking. We will not alter the content of your ad.
Acceptable video and audio quality:

* Average digital audio levels must range between -17dBfs and -20dBfs (Analog: 0dB @ +4 dBm ref).
* Digital audio levels should peak between -10dBfs and -12dBfs (Analog: no higher than +3), with a maximum of three peaks per second.
* Setup level should equal 7.5 IRE.
* Luminance levels should not exceed 100 IRE.
* Chroma levels should not exceed 120 IRE.

Note: Your file will be very large, around 800 megabytes. This is normal, as the quality needed for your spot to run on television is very high, much higher than what looks good on your computer screen. Please be sure to meet all the requirements or your ad may be rejected by the media outlets.

Be sure to name your file with this ID: NU0L and write this ID along with your first name, last name, email address, and company name on the data DVD so we can properly associate your ad with your Spot Runner account.

The content of your ad must meet all current FCC requirements for Broadcast Quality. We will decline ads that do not meet the appropriate guidelines for nudity, profanity, proprietary material, etc. In the event that we have any concerns with regard to content or technical requirements, we will contact you by email. There is a $249 fee associated with submitting your ad.

Please note these specifications are for the ad company Op NH will be using, I'm not aware of which company you'll be using so can't help you there.

As to the legalities, you'll need to form a Political Action Committee (PAC) and put the following disclaimer at the bottom of the ad:
"Paid for by Whatever PAC. (Contact info here). Not endorsed by any candidate or candidates committee."
With the PAC, you may accept donations of up to $5,000 per person per election cycle, and MUST collect the name, address, and occupation of anyone who donates over $200 to report either monthly or quarterly to the FEC.

Please read the following about establishing a PAC and READ IT THOROUGHLY for Christ's sake:
http://www.fec.gov/ans/answers.shtml

And by the way, you can't use ANY copyrighted songs, videos, etc. without express written permission of the owner of the content. You run into copyright law and infringement with that.

Also, NO YOUTUBE ADS WILL WORK AS A TV AD. Read where it says the file should be around 800 Megs. That's almost a Gig, and many computers only hold about 40 Gigs! Content for TV has to be EXTREMELY high quality. Good luck with that.

If you need any help, please feel free to contact me

Thanks for your enthusiasm!

Brandon



-

[fj45lvr]

I can answer all your questions sir. Getting an ad on TV is ABSOLUTELY NO EASY TASK, I can promise you that.


-

I just want to find out about some already made videos that are of a resolution good enough for TV......I am not interested in Paying for the video.

I already advertise my biz on cable and shot the stuff from scratch....it is cheezy compared to what you see on YOUTUBE.....

come on people......TV quality video??????? without a fee????