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Regional TV advertising · Marketing

Kannada subtitles on a Hindi film are read as somebody else's advertisement.

Television advertising answers whether a broadcast buy is worth making at all. This page starts after that, at the moment you choose between a national Hindi feed and a Kannada, Tamil or Telugu channel. Each of those languages has a page of its own, and this is the decision that comes first.

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Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Editorial illustration for Regional TV advertising

In one paragraph

Regional television advertising buys spots on a language feed watched in one state, sold in ten-second units against a named channel and a time band. The purchase is that state's market, not the language on the soundtrack. GullySales plans the channels and bands, coordinates the booking with the broadcaster or their agency, and reads the telecast log afterwards.

The choice is a market, not a language. A Kannada entertainment channel in its prime band sells against the serial running there, and that serial's viewer is the housewife in Davanagere as much as in Bengaluru. Your ten seconds is bought against her evening.

A dubbed film gives itself away. The lip movement, the names, the shop in the background and the accent of the voice-over all say this was made for somebody else. Shoot the regional version or buy a different medium.

Who it is for

This is written for you if these sound familiar.

  • State and multi-state brands whose buyers watch in their own language
  • Hospitals, jewellers and builders advertising across a state rather than one city
  • Food and consumer brands with distribution in the towns a state feed reaches
  • A national brand running its Hindi film in the south and wondering why nothing moved
  • Education groups buying around results season and the admission news cycle
  • Businesses willing to shoot a second version of the film in the state's language

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • Businesses selling in one locality, where most of a state feed is paid for outside your delivery area
  • Anyone needing to prove which spot produced which enquiry, because television reports telecast and nothing else
  • A brand with no dealer network in the towns the feed covers, since demand arrives where you cannot supply

The problem

Does this sound like your business?

What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.

  • “The Hindi film was dubbed and it showed”

    The mouth does not match the words and the voice is plainly not from the state. Viewers take it as an outsider's advertisement and look away.

  • “We bought the channel and not the band”

    A spot at three in the afternoon and a spot inside the prime serial are the same ten seconds at very different value. Our plan carried only the channel name.

  • “Nobody checked what actually telecast”

    Spots are dropped, shifted or run in another break. Without the telecast log set against the release order, there is nothing to claim back.

  • “The feed does not reach where we sell”

    Carriage is decided operator by operator and area by area. Your distribution stops at three districts and the buy covered thirty.

What we do

Everything that is included.

Each deliverable, and what it gets you. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. Feed and market check

    Which channels are carried in the districts you actually sell in, and whether the feed on offer is the state one or a wider regional beam.

  2. Band and programme mapping

    The time bands and what sits inside them: the prime serial, the afternoon repeat, the morning devotional hour, the news spike on a results day.

  3. Spot length and frequency plan

    Whether the budget goes on ten-second spots repeated through the week or on thirty seconds fewer times. Both are defensible and they buy different things.

  4. What commercial time is free

    The advertising time inside a band is limited and committed spenders hold first call on it. We ask what is genuinely available before anything is promised to you.

  5. Regional creative rather than a dub

    A script written in the language, a voice from the state, and on-screen text read by somebody who reads it every day. Shot fresh where budget allows.

  6. Booking through the proper route

    Coordinated with the broadcaster's sales team or their appointed agency, with band, dates and spot count written on the release order.

  7. Telecast log reconciliation

    The post-telecast log read line by line against the order, with a claim raised for every spot that did not run as booked.

  8. A response route you can read

    A campaign number or a code on screen, and enquiries counted district by district before, during and after the burst.

How the result is measured

  • Spots telecast against spots booked, by band
  • Rate per ten seconds against the first quote
  • Credits claimed for spots that did not run
  • Calls to the campaign number during the burst
  • Enquiries by district before, during and after

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

How it works

How the regional TV advertising work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

  1. 1

    Fix the market first

    The districts where you can supply and service. A jeweller with three showrooms in south Karnataka has no use for a feed that reaches Bidar.

  2. 2

    Shortlist channels by carriage

    We work out which channels reach those districts, and what your buyer has on at that hour of the evening.

  3. 3

    Choose bands, not only channels

    Every spot in the plan names its programme band. That is what decides the value, and it is the first thing a broadcaster moves.

  4. 4

    Negotiate and get it on paper

    Rates are negotiated and the schedule confirmed through the broadcaster or their agency, with spot counts and bands on the release order.

  5. 5

    Produce the regional version

    Script, voice and on-screen text made for the state, approved by you, delivered in the broadcaster's format well before the start date.

  6. 6

    Reconcile and report

    Telecast log against order, credits claimed where spots were missed, and enquiries by district set beside the weeks before the burst.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 1, prospecting and lead generation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.

  1. Step 1

    Sales audit

    Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.

    Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.

  2. Step 2 · you are here

    Sales process design

    One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3

    Sales management

    A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

    Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
Should we dub the Hindi film or shoot a new one?
Shoot again if the budget stretches. A dub is recognised in two seconds by the lip movement and the voice, and a viewer who decides the advertisement is not for them looks away. Where a reshoot is impossible, re-record the voice with an artist from the state and change the on-screen text.
What is a band and why does it cost more?
A band is a block of the day, and the programme sitting inside it is what you are really buying. Ten seconds in the evening serial and ten seconds at three in the afternoon have the length in common and nothing else. Every spot in a plan should name its band.
Can you guarantee our spot runs in the serial break?
No. The broadcaster allots the break, and spots move when a larger advertiser commits or a programme overruns. What we can do is put the band on the release order, read the telecast log, and claim the credit when it did not run as sold.
How do we know it worked?
Not by attribution, because television reports telecast and nothing about the viewer. We put a campaign number on screen and read enquiries district by district against the weeks before. Where a state feed lifts one district and not another, that is worth knowing.
Is regional television affordable for a mid-sized business?
That turns on the band and the channel, since an afternoon slot on a smaller regional channel is nothing like a prime serial break. Production is the other half of it, because a regional film has to be made properly. Both are quoted before booking, and our fee is settled after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

By industry

Regional TV advertising, written for your industry.

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