Getting the technical stuff done!
With the creative taken care of, your ad will need to go through a few procedures to make sure it gets on air and stays there!
Clearcast
Clearcast is an agency that ensures your ad complies with UK advertising codes. If they disapprove, it's a no-show for your ad. Whoever you are, and whatever your budget is, you will need to get Clearcast approval. It's a 2-stage process. First, the script with any proof of claims you make (substantiation) must be submitted.
Our services will manage your expectations around what Clearcast might say before entering the script on your behalf. We will then deliver the result back to you with a report including what you need to do next. Our service starts at around £120 for a single entry.
Subsequent submissions may need to be made until Clearcast is satisfied your claims are justified and that you don't breach the codes on ethical issues. When they approve, you are good to go ahead with production. After completing the ad, Clearcast will need to see it one last time to make sure it stays true to the script.
Got a pre-made ad without approval? Don't worry. We can advise you how to get your ad compliant. We can also offer you an excellent design service to alter end frames, fix supers, add voice overs right through to creating new animation elements or (in extreme cases) re-filming sections. And you can buy as little or as much as you need, with a minimum of a single hour.
We made a film about the Clearcast process, which you can watch here
Clocking
Your ad will need a unique clock. So that the broadcasters can identify that you have Clearcast approval, a 'clock' will need to be added to the ad's start. This clock will not broadcast and is effectively 'cut off' on transmission, but all broadcast material requires this clock. We can take care of this for you if required. We can then provide the correct file formats for the broadcasters, making your life oh-so-easy
There are some additional checks we can do for you:
1) Audio levels. If we haven't generated the sound, it will need to be supplied at exactly the right levels so there isn't a sudden drop in volume. We can check and correct this for you if required.
2) Text safe and legal. Text has to be within a certain broadcast text area or it may get cut off on transmission. Also the text for legal claims have to be on for a specific amount of time.
3) Illegal colours. Sometimes, colours can go 'out of gamut' ( meaning they won't work on broadcast TV). Even though they might look fine on a computer monitor, they could be overbright or oversaturated for broadcast TV. We can run a 'legalising' programme to make sure they stay within the correct ranges without dulling the picture.
4) Flash testing. To prevent triggering photosensitive epilepsy, TV broadcasters strictly regulate the frequency of flashes within a commercial (or any broadcast material). If your commercial has flashing images, we can run a test to make sure it doesn't infringe the legal limit of flashes per second.
Delivery
Once the commercial has been clocked and approved, it will need to be delivered to the broadcasters, where it will reside in their video library until it is called upon for transmission. To avoid late fines, it should arrive with the broadcasters at least three days before it airs. Several companies do the delivery on our behalf, and we will choose the most cost-effective one for your needs.
CARIA
CARIA is an intranet system that allows media buyers to notify the broadcaster when to show an ad. However, the system requires the creative agency to finalise instructions. We can handle this for you on a one off or monthly fee.
Just send us an e-mail and we'll answer your question!