WHY TOAST TV?

We offer a perfect marriage of creativity and production agency. We have in-house resources, allowing us to make the most of your budget. Toast is a one-stop shop for TV commercial production; we can handle everything, including creative, filming, editing, regulatory clearance and delivery to stations.

Take a look at some of our work – We have an excellent track record of helping companies like Innocent Smoothies get on TV. Whether you already have a budget for your television commercials or you’re researching TV advertising costs, fill in the contact form below, and we’ll guide you through the process.

Running adverts on TV allows companies to build trusted brands and boost sales by putting their product in front of vast numbers of customers. Toast is a complete TV ad production company partner that has access to media buyers, planners, creatives and production teams.

How long does it take to make a TV advert?

A TV commercial can be made in 8 weeks if absolutely necessary. But we prefer timelines of at least 12 weeks, it makes decisions less rushed. Below are some of the steps along the way.

PRE-PRODUCTION

During pre-production, we will work out the logistics of any filming that needs to take place. If the route picked is an animation, we’ll generally start storyboarding the animation at this stage.

Before filming, we’ll have a final pre-production meeting to sign off all aspects of the shoot so that everyone knows what will happen during the advert filming. The Pre-production meeting locks down, location, wardrobe, talent and any props.

FILMING OR ANIMATION

Choosing between a live-action or an animated TV advert is governed by several factors, including timeline, budget, and aesthetics. This choice is often driven by budget, as animated adverts can be a cost-effective way of getting into TV advertising.

Animated characters in TV adverts are appealing; they're also unlikely to be spotted drunkenly stumbling out of a nightclub at 3 am. Sometimes a blend between live-action and animation works, the Loaf TV advert uses simple motion creatively.

THE TV COMMERCIAL SHOOT

The shoot day is when the TV commercial director’s vision comes to life on screen. At Toast, we pride ourselves on running extremely organised shoots. A well-run shoot is a happy shoot. The director will organise a shot list before the shoot day.

We recently filmed a TV advert for Hays travel featuring Davina McCall, much of the shoot happened on the street. Managing a busy external shoot and talent obviously brings challenges but with good planning everything went swimmingly.

EDITING AND EFFECTS

The footage from the advert shoot gets edited into a rough version of the TV commercial, which locks down shot selection but not timings. The edit, graphics, effects, sound and voice-over are all refined until the finished TV commercial is polished and ready.

When editing endframes and packshots it’s always good to keep advert reversioning in mind. We make sure that edits are build to allow flexibility at a later date.

How much does it cost to make a TV advert?

Toast TV generally works with budgets ranging between £80-£450K for TV commercial produciton.
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We are always very transparent in our budgets. And once we have agreed on a budget, we stick to it. As a TV advertising production company with a long track record of quality adverts, we know how much quality costs.

We also know how to make savings if needed. There is a level of quality we like to stay above. Putting a low-quality advert on TV will tarnish your brand.

Please use the form above if you need a ballpark budget for a TV advert. TV advertising is one of the more expensive marketing options, but nothing comes close to the reach of TV advertising. With the reach of a TV advert, it’s a compelling option for any marketing mix.

TaxScouts

TV ADVERT CLEARANCE AND DELIVERY

Each TV advert that goes on air in the UK needs approval before it’s shown on TV. Clearcast is the UK’s regulatory body handling all TV adverts.

Clearcast checks any claims made in an advert and will ask for substantiation in writing to back them up.
‍Clearcast will accept TV commercial scripts, rough cuts, and final TV adverts.

Toast would advise obtaining approval for a script before planning any TV advert production, as some script changes are not possible once filming has begun.

TV adverts we’ve produced

Tax Scouts TV Advert

TaxScouts asked Toast TV to produce a DRTV advert that reimagines the often-daunting task of tax preparation. Directed by the Nott Brothers, the TaxScouts takes a humorous look at filing taxes.

Our relationship with HMRC can feel one-sided and a little frightening. TaxScouts positions itself in the gap between taxpayer and HMRC, and the advert shows how that gap gets easier, and even a bit fun, once TaxScouts is involved.

This is trust-led, advertising built around simplification. The brief was to take a task people avoid and make it feel approachable enough to act on.

Davina Hays TV Advert

Hays asked Toast TV to produce their biggest ad so far.

Davina became the first brand ambassador for the UK’s largest independent travel agent, filmed on location outside a Hays Travel store.

The campaign shows how a trusted, familiar face builds confidence in a business built on personal service.

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360º CAMPAIGN

Moneybox TV advertising campaign

Moneybox, the money management app, asked Toast TV to produce three TV adverts covering different parts of its offering: ISAs, home-buying, and investing.

The films needed to bring a sense of warmth to categories that can feel dry. Because financial markets shift, the adverts were built from the start to be easily reversioned, so rates and offers could update without a fresh shoot each time.

The ads are consumer finance advertising doing category education. Casting plays a major role in these ads, the characters bring a sense of calm and reassurance.

Trivago TV Advert

This ad was developed to build confidence and trust in Trivago whilst bringing to life their new Brand Expression and Promise – “Search savvy. Feel super”.

With Trivago already employing AI technology in their TV advertising adaption process, we carefully considered these needs and restrictions when devising scenes, performances, camera angles, speed, cuts and dialogue.

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TV Commercial Production Company in London