ADVERTISING NOW HAS A VOICE ALL OF ITS OWN
News – Thursday October 28 2026 – London
ADVERTISING NOW HAS A VOICE ALL OF ITS OWN
Remember ‘the good old days’ when brands used mass media to deliver their general messages. Printed copy, TV and Billboards, and perhaps the most effective of all, the radio!
All of this was pretty expensive; If we look back just twenty years, Primetime national advertising on ITV, in the UK, would cost anywhere between £60,000 – £100,000 for a 60 second slot. Push that to around £200,000 should the ad run around major events such as the Queen’s Jubilee.
Take a look at the same run, on equivalent channels in the U.S. Just as it is in the UK, the popularity of the show, in which the ad may appear, changes things quite dramatically. Looking at primetime and a popular show, that 60 second ad slot would cost the brand a whopping $200,000-$600,000! Not to mention getting your ad on NBC’s network during a major hit like ‘Friday Night Lights’ and we’re talking between $480,000 – $650,000.
Any influencer, in the current day will find this hard to believe but a brand worthy of appearing during an airing of the undisputed champion of US ratings, Fox’s American Idol, would be looking at between $1.1m and $1.2m. Fair enough to say that in America, 30 second ads are vastly more popular than 60 seconds, which are charged at exactly half of those figures. Take into account though, exactly who might invest in a 60 second slot on ABC’s Premium Live Sports coverage of The Super Bowl and that commercial would cost them an astounding $5m.
Everything has changed beyond recognition, as far as the figures go. However, what is really interesting too is that whilst brands paid, what now seems like, incredible rates for mass media advertising, just twenty years ago – all those ads did was to ‘talk to the listener’.
The world is now transparent – the brands’ trust makes it possible for the talent to honestly and fairly influence its viewers by whispering silently “I know you can see right through this, so you’d better believe it”.
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