Advertising Budget

How much will you spend on ads? Duh. What may not be duh is that the cost of shooting the commercial is usually like 1 percent or less of the total ad budget of the media buy itself.

That is, a commercial - an amazing one with celeb hair getting set on fire, fireworks, and entire cities blown up - might cost a million bucks. But the whole media buy might be a couple hundred million.

Think about how many times you've seen Aaron Rogers do the discount double-check thing, or Peyton Manning mumble about pizza and/or Nationwide being on your side. The modern era is driven by internet ads. Think: Google Search Engine Marketing. This new world is granularly measured. Every dollar in is tracked, as are sales jumps via campaigns.

Catchphrase: I know half of my advertising budget is wasted. I just don't know which half.