MUMBAI: Speaking at the PromaxBDA 2012 held in Mumbai on 23 and 24 May, Astro creative director Rob Middleton enthralled the audience with a stimulating presentation on the topic 'Something out of nothing'. The session focused on creating good quality engaging creative on tight budgets.

According to Middleton, "There are four pre-requisites to a good television promo. Content, communication, chop (the editing) and copyright. The biggest television taboo would be a lack of belief in self." He firmly supports the belief that whatever a channel or brand does, if done properly, can be used a tool for mini-positioning. This helps create brand presence and map it in the consumer's psyche over a period of time.

What a brand's logo stands for, bear more importance than how it looks. A brand's manner of communication is as important as its 'look' in the market space in order to leave an impression on the consumer's mind. In this case, the communication objective should be to leave an impression through effective expression.

In case the budgets do not permit the extravagance one would want, one may use techniques like type face and simple graphics to make interesting promos. The use of animation takes the production to a different level while maintaining the budget limits.

Music is another element that can be used to enhance a promo. Experts believe that nearly 80 per cent the audience's reaction on a promo is through its music. More than music, it is the sound that it used. A clever assortment of everyday sounds can make for a very good audio piece. The trick is to synchronies the audio with the video and the context of the communication. A seamless integration of the four elements makes for a good promo.

Humour always sells, he added. Infusing humour in the promos not only makes for a good viewing, but also helps brand recall. It is common knowledge that commercial with a humourous twist are faster in catching the audiences' fancy and may even be the topic for discussion. All this contributes to establishing a brand in the consumer's life.

Lastly, he said that investing in technology makes sense as it helps reduce cost in the long run. With technology emerging as an ally, the avenues of creativity are ever increasing.