Riverside Dinner Theatre and Lounge

Just some recent work.
Big Truck Night
De Soto Daze
Kingdom Kids

We have been real busy at Commercial Images & Design over the past few weeks. We have just rolled out the first section of a four-part series on Murphysboro. You can see the finished work by clicking on the link below.

Also, we have completed the graphic design work and orders for Big Truck Nite. It is a great event for one of our clients Child & Family Connections. The event is free and in basic terms they get big trucks of all sorts out in a parking lot in front of Dick's Sporting Goods in Carbondale and let children play on them and just have fun. They give a way tee shirts, tatoos and other things we produced for them.

We have also completed logo work and brochures for Kingdom Kids a youth program at Berean Christian Church.

That is just the tip of the iceberg.

If you have any advertising needs please contact Russ or Keith at 618-867-2778.

New Year New Advertising Budget
Setting an advertising budget is one of the hardest calculations that a company can make. In tough economic times guessing at your ad budget is just not a good idea.

The following opinion is a general way to calculate your range of advertising budget. This is not an attempt to get everyone to raise their ad budget but it is a way that some successful businesses find the right amount to invest in advertising.

So how do we find the minimum and maximum ad investment?

The first step is to figure 10 percent of your annual gross sales and write that figure down. Also, take 12 percent of sales and write that number down.

You need to have a track record and understanding of current economic times to make that estimate or projection, but I find that most business folks, that have a head for business know approximately what their gross sales will be. Once you know the number multiply each by the markup made on your average transaction. Keep in mind that we are not talking about margin but the gross markup or profit above cost, expressed as a percent of cost.

In other words if you are selling a $100 widget for $200, it is a 100 percent markup yet your margin is only 50 percent. In retail, as most of you know, a 100 percent mark up is not unusual but some operate as little as 50 percent. Of course there are some businesses that have less. Boats, cars and other expensive items are less.

The second step is to figure in your rent. Location, location, location. It has advertising value. Generally the higher the rent for retail sales the higher the traffic volume and in theory the more you pay in rent the less advertising you need. Subtract your annual rent from the 10 and 12 percent figure.

The remaining amounts are your minimum and maximum allowable advertising budgets for the given year.

These figures are good rules of thumb for advertising. It may be a great idea to take the past few years of known numbers and see if the advertising investment has been correct according to this figure. A lot of business folks have never even looked at their advertising from this perspective. Often the advertising is knee-jerk and on a whim. Businesses book ads when they have extra cash or have been hounded into a buy. Often times advertising without a plan is just a waste of that hard-earned dollar.

If you have any questions regarding your advertising budget or need an advertising plan for this year call Commercial Images & Design Corp. Keith or Russ will assist you with your budget process and plan. They will also assist with creative advertising that will have an impact. They will help turn your advertising budget into an investment.

Think Advertising Now for the Holidays

How many of you have thought about your Holiday advertising during Thanksgiving week? You make frantic calls the day after Turkey Day but despite your best efforts, no one wants to talk about advertising as the sales folks are still under the hypnotic trance induced by too many trytophan laced turkey legs.

Or worse, you get a hold of an eager sales representative only to find out that the commercial shoot is going to be trouble. It will take at least a week to get the commercial written, shot, edited and approved. Meanwhile, every moment that goes by you let potential customers slip away.

This unpleasant picture is not one that is uncommon. Many businesses forget to get an advertising plan in place before the Holidays and then they are suddenly in the middle of December with no advertising running at all or worse; they have poorly thought out advertising production that reflects negatively on the business, doesn’t hit the target demographic and doesn’t say what you want it to say.

There is a Better Way

With a phone call and a meeting, a representative from Commercial Images & Design Corp. can sit down with you and discuss your business, formulate an advertising plan and then put the plan in place. You can leave the booking and production to us giving you time to watch football and your commercials on Thanksgiving in between your great-uncle’s snores.

Commercial Images & Design is full-service advertising agency that will work with you to put a plan in place then implement that plan to help your business grow. To start your holiday advertising off right call Keith or Russ at 618-867-2778. With over thirty years experience in television advertising and production we can help you tell others effectively about your business.