How to analyze TV commercials to develop effective strategies.

Knowing how to analyze your competitors' or your own TV commercials will help businesses learn valuable lessons. From there, businesses can plan a new, more effective advertising strategy. In this article, we will discuss how to analyze TV commercials to optimize their strengths and overcome weaknesses, ensuring your brand communication campaign achieves the best results.

Why is analyzing TV commercials so important?

Before going into detail, we need to understand why we should dedicate time and effort to analyzing TV commercials. This is not only an interesting marketing exercise, but it also brings enormous strategic benefits, specifically:

• It helps businesses gain a deeper understanding of their target customers: A successful TV commercial is one that speaks the right "voice" (insight) to the customer. Through analysis, you can identify which insights are truly effective and resonate with you.
• Learn from the successes and failures of your competitors: How are your competitors communicating with customers? How are they positioning their brands? Analyzing their TV commercials is the quickest way to find the answers, and from there, identify gaps or a differentiating strategy for yourself.
• Optimizing budget and resources for businesses: Instead of guesswork, data-driven analysis and successful case studies help you make informed, creative decisions, minimize risk, and maximize return on investment (ROI).
• Seeking creative inspiration: Analyzing advertisements from various industries and countries will unlock a treasure trove of ideas on storytelling, imagery, and music, helping your team break free from conventional thinking.
• Measuring and predicting effectiveness: By analyzing the constituent elements of a TV commercial, you can predict audience reaction and the potential for the advertisement's reach before filming officially begins.

Key factors to consider when conducting a TV commercial analysis.

An effective TV commercial is a combination of many elements. When analyzing it, you need to "break down" each layer to understand the role and connection between them. Below are the most important elements you cannot ignore:

Message & Big Idea

This is the soul of a TV commercial. To understand the message and idea behind the advertising video, you need to answer questions such as:

• "What is the main message?" What does the brand want viewers to remember most after watching a 15, 30, or 60-second commercial? Is the message simple, clear, and unique?
• What is a Big Idea? The big idea is a creative, unique way to convey the message. Is it compelling enough to grab attention from the very first seconds and different enough to stand out among hundreds of other advertisements?

For example: With Dien May Xanh, the message is "Buy electronics at Dien May Xanh." But their "Big Idea" was to create a group of bizarre, dancing, blue characters who obsessively repeat the brand name. Simple yet incredibly effective in terms of memorability.

Customer Insight

Insights are underlying truths, the hidden "pain points" or "joys" of customers that a brand has discovered and exploited. Questions to answer when analyzing them:

• "What insight is this TV commercial tapping into?" Is it a need for validation? Concerns about family health? Or a desire for self-expression?
• "Is the insight deep enough and relevant to the target audience?" A valuable insight will make viewers nod in agreement, "That's right, exactly what I thought!"

For example: Biti's Hunter's "Go to Return" campaign was a resounding success because it perfectly captured the insight of young people: They yearn to travel to explore the world and grow, but the journey home for Tet (Lunar New Year) is always the most meaningful and sacred experience.

Storytelling & Emotion

People remember stories and emotions better than dry facts. This is an integral part of the art of analyzing TV commercials. At this point, questions arise such as:

• "Does the TV commercial tell a story?" What is the story structure like (beginning, climax, ending)?
• "What is the dominant emotion?" Happy, funny, touching, proud, or surprising?
• "How deep is the emotional connection?" Does the advertisement make you laugh, cry, or think? Does that emotion motivate action or strengthen your love for the brand?

Visuals and Audio

Let's analyze the visual and audio aspects of the TV commercial:

• Images (Visuals): What is the dominant color scheme? Do the setting, camera angles, and lighting support the story and message? Is the scene transition fast or slow? Do the actors fit the brand image?
• Audio: What is background music (exclusive song, instrumental music)? What is its purpose (creating emotion, increasing drama)? Are the dialogue and sound effects natural and effective?

For example: Vinamilk advertisements typically use a dominant blue and white color scheme, featuring images of lush green meadows, cheerful cows, and bright, upbeat music to reinforce the message of "purity from nature."

Branding

A great advertisement that nobody remembers is considered a failure. Here are some questions to help you analyze effective TV commercials that boost brand awareness:

• When, for how long, and where did the logo and brand name appear?
• Is the product/service integrated into the story naturally or contrivedly?
• Are the colors, tagline, or other brand identity elements used consistently?

Call to Action (CTA)

After watching the video, what does the brand want the audience to do?

• Is the CTA clear? (For example: “Buy now at…”, “Scan the QR code to…”, “Visit the website…”)
• Is the call to action (CTA) compelling and well-placed?

A 5-step process for systematically analyzing TV commercials.

To ensure the analysis is concise and yields practical results, you should follow a professional process. The basic steps of the analysis are as follows:

Step 1: Define the goals and context of the TV commercial: First, put yourself in the brand's shoes. What was this TV commercial created for?

• Target: Is it about increasing brand awareness, launching a new product, boosting sales (Sales Promotion), or rebranding?
• Context: When was the TV commercial released (holidays, festivals, World Cup, etc.)? What was the social and cultural context at that time?

Step 2: Watch and experience the TV commercial multiple times:

• First viewing: Watch as a regular audience member. Don't analyze anything. Just let your feelings flow naturally. Write down your first impression: do you like it, dislike it, or are you completely unimpressed?
• Second attempt: Mute, only view the image. Focus on color, acting, setting, and visual rhythm.
• Third attempt: Close your eyes and listen only to the sounds. Pay attention to the background music, dialogue, and sound effects. What emotions do they evoke in you?
• From the 4th time onwards: Watch and begin to "dissect" it. Based on the core elements outlined above.

Step 3: Conduct a detailed analysis of the TV commercial using the checklist: Use the elements in Part II as a checklist. Make detailed notes for each item:

• Message: …
• Insight: …
• Story: …
• …

Step 4: Evaluate the effect and extent of spread (if any): If the TV commercial has already been released, look for the actual data:

• On social media: Views, likes, comments, shares. Was the community reaction positive or negative? What aspects of the TV commercial are they discussing?
• In the media: Which articles and news sites have written about this TV commercial?
• This is a crucial step in verifying your subjective analyses with objective data.

Step 5: Summarize the lessons learned and apply them to your strategy. This is the most important step. From all the above analysis, let's conclude:

• Strengths: What made this TV commercial a success? What can we learn from it?
• Weaknesses: Where could this TV commercial be improved? What should be avoided?
• Opportunity: Are there any insights or ideas that competitors haven't yet exploited?
• Apply: How can you apply these lessons to your brand's upcoming campaign?

Case Study: Analyzing Biti's Hunter's "Go to Return" TV commercial.

To better understand, let's apply the above process to analyze the classic TV commercial "Go to Return" (using the first season with Soobin Hoang Son as an example).

1. Objectives & Context: Launched during the Lunar New Year, the goal is to connect with young people, reposition Biti's brand from "durable" to "experiential," and boost sales of the Hunter product line.

2. Message & Big Idea:

• Message: Traveling is about experiencing, growing, and the journey back to reunite with family is always the most meaningful.
• Big Idea: The contrast between the youthful desire to "travel" and the sacred meaning of "returning home" for Tet (Lunar New Year) is expressed through a catchy song and visually stunning travel music video.

3. Customer Insights: The campaign taps into the "underlying truth" of young Vietnamese people: they are constantly torn between exploring the world and their responsibilities and emotional attachments to their families. The campaign legitimizes and celebrates both of these aspirations.

4. Story & Emotions: It tells the story of a young man who travels far and wide, experiencing new things, but ultimately always longs for home. The dominant emotions are pride, youthfulness, mixed with warmth and emotion upon reunion.

5. Image & Sound:

• Image: The majestic and beautiful scenery across Vietnam reflects the spirit of "traveling." Interspersed are heartwarming images of families celebrating Tet (Vietnamese New Year). Biti's Hunter shoes appear as a natural companion on every trip.
• Sound: The song "Going Away to Return" became a national hit, with its modern melody, meaningful lyrics, easy spread, and strong emotional connection.

6. Brand elements: The Biti's Hunter logo appears subtly. More importantly, the product (the shoes) becomes an integral part of the story, a "companion" rather than a forced advertising object.

7. CTA: There was no direct "buy now" call to action, but the entire TV commercial and song created such a strong desire to own the product that viewers were compelled to search for information about Biti's Hunter themselves.

Lessons learned: A successful TV commercial doesn't need to sell a product. Sell a story, an emotion, a value that resonates with your customers. Then, they will naturally seek out your product.

In short, analyzing TV commercials is an essential skill for any marketer. It's not just about watching ads and making subjective judgments, but a scientific process requiring keen observation, critical thinking, and the ability to connect facts. By regularly practicing analyzing competitor TV commercials, those of major brands, and your own, you will gradually develop a "strategic intuition," helping you make informed decisions and create advertising campaigns that are not only creative but also truly effective, touching the hearts of customers and delivering lasting value to your brand.