Commercial script: [Brand], “[Spot title]”
Product | |
Versions | |
Runs on | |
Flight | |
Ad-ID | |
Draft |
Creative brief
The one thing:
Audience:
Proof:
Action:
Tone:
:30 script
Time | Beat | Video | Audio |
0:00 | Hook | ||
0:03 | Setup | ||
0:10 | Product | ||
0:18 | Proof | ||
0:24 | Tag and action | ||
0:28 | End card |
Read time and words:
Timing a :30 and a :60
Budget about two words a second over pictures. The read ends near 0:28 on a :30 and 0:57 on a :60, so the last beat belongs to the logo and the music.
Beat | Its job | :30 | :60 |
Hook | Stop the scroll or the channel change: a picture, a sound, a line | 0:00–0:03 Up to 6 words | 0:00–0:05 10 words |
Setup | The problem, the moment, or the premise of the joke | 0:03–0:10 14 words | 0:05–0:18 26 words |
Product | What it is and what it does, by name | 0:10–0:18 16 words | 0:18–0:32 28 words |
Proof | The demo, the result, or the reason to believe | 0:18–0:24 12 words | 0:32–0:50 36 words |
Tag and action | Tagline, offer, and where to go | 0:24–0:28 8 words | 0:50–0:56 12 words |
End card | Logo, web address, legal line. The music ends. | 0:28–0:30 No words | 0:56–1:00 No words |
See an example :30
Spoke & Chain, “Squeak” · a neighborhood bike shop, spring tune-up offer
0:00 · Video: CU: a rusty chain turning.
Audio: SFX: a long, painful squeak.
0:03 · Video: WS: a woman pedals uphill, wincing at every turn of the pedals.
Audio: V.O.: Every spring, the same sound.
0:08 · Video: She wheels the bike into a small shop. SUPER: Spoke & Chain.
Audio: V.O.: That's your bike asking for Spoke & Chain.
0:12 · Video: A mechanic's hands: the chain cleaned, the brakes set, the tires pumped.
Audio: V.O.: Our spring tune-up cleans the chain, sets the brakes and gears, and checks every bolt. Same day.
0:20 · Video: She rides off, fast and silent. SUPER: $49 spring tune-up, through April 30.
Audio: V.O.: Forty-nine dollars, through April thirtieth. SFX: just the tires on the road.
0:26 · Video: END CARD: logo, spokeandchain.com, 210 Elm Street.
Audio: V.O.: Spoke & Chain. Ride quiet. MUSIC: button, out at 0:30.
Why it works: 40 words, one message (the squeak goes away), the name by 0:10, and the offer said and shown in the same words. The squeak and the silence do the rest.
Mandatories
Brand or product name said and shown by 0:10
Logo on the end card for at least two seconds
Offer, price and end date:
Legal line, exactly as approved:
Web address or phone number:
Music, footage and voices cleared
On-screen text and legal
Type | Text exactly as it appears | Time (:30 / :60) | On screen |
Super | |||
Claim | |||
Offer | |||
Legal |
Other versions
Optional: :60 script
Time | Beat | Video | Audio |
0:00 | Hook | ||
0:05 | Setup | ||
0:12 | Build | ||
0:18 | Product | ||
0:25 | Product in use | ||
0:32 | Proof | ||
0:42 | Second proof | ||
0:50 | Tag and action | ||
0:56 | End card |
Optional: Radio script
No pictures: let a sound set the scene, and say the name and the web address twice.
Cue | Copy |
SFX | |
VOICE 1 | |
VOICE 2 | |
MUSIC | |
ANNCR | |
LEGAL |
Optional: Cutdowns
Version | Keep | Drop | Timing |
:15 | Hook, product line, tag, end card | Read ends by 0:13 | |
:06 bumper | One image, the product name, the logo | Everything else | Logo up by 0:04 |
Approvals
Round | Approved by | Date | Notes |
Creative | |||
Claims and legal | |||
Final script |
Before it goes to production
Read aloud with a stopwatch three times: the :30 at 0:28, the :60 at 0:57
One message and one call to action in every version
Name heard or seen in the first ten seconds, and again at the end
Every claim has its proof on file
Legal lines approved and on screen long enough to read
Hard names written out for the voice talent the way they are said