The Real Cost of Cheap Creative

By Matt Sager, Founder and Creative Director, Ferric and Flame Creative

In our last post we talked about how AI/SI lets people bring ideas to life for a fraction of what production used to cost. That's true, and it's good news.

Here's the other side of it.

The price tag isn't the cost

A video that costs next to nothing to make still costs something to run. Airtime, ad spend, your crew's time, and your name on the screen. If the ad misses the mark with your customers, all of that goes with it.

Production is usually the smallest number on the page. The biggest number is what happens when people see your ad and feel nothing, or worse, feel like they're being sold a gimmick.

Where the real cost shows up

• People don't remember you when something breaks, so they call whoever shows up first in a search.

• Your ad looks like everyone else's, because everyone is using the same tricks.

• Viewers notice when something feels fake, and that feeling sticks to your brand.

None of that shows up on an invoice. It shows up in the phone calls you don't get.

Spend the savings on the story

The money technology saves on production is worth putting back into the thinking: who you're talking to, what you want them to feel, and why your company is the one to call. That's the part that pays off long after the ad stops running.

Technology makes it cheaper to make. Missing the mark is what makes it expensive.

Creative, forged with soul.