Los Angeles: A cable television commercial for the Redondo Beach Californian restaurant ‘Eat at Joe's' features high-definition video, a cast of 40 and a catchy jingle that will leave you humming.

Particularly enthusiastic about the slick new ad was Alex Jordan, the restaurateur who decided to take the plunge into TV advertising after meeting a couple who were starting their own ad agency.

They wrote and produced the 30-second spot for just $5,000 (Dh18,361) and they helped him broker a deal to deliver it to 300,000 homes for $1 (Dh3.67) every time it ran.

In a still-tough economy, hard times in advertising and media have led to a surprising bonanza for small businesses seeking to market themselves. Across all media, the cost of developing marketing campaigns, creating ads and placing them is down -making marketing more affordable than it's ever been.

At the same time however, as smaller businesses test the advertising waters, they're providing much-needed work for start-up production companies and graphics artists and filling space at TV stations, on billboards and in other media that would otherwise go unsold.

Bill Burnett and Deborah Lemattre, an entertainment industry couple struggling through a slow period, shot the ‘Eat at Joe's' ad with a digital camera and edited it at home. They set up all the shots in one day and cast it with actors who were willing to work for free.

Verizon Communications, eager for advertisers on its FiOS TV service, which is sent through telephone lines to about 300,000 subscribing households in Southern California, charged a buck a pop.

Cost of TV ads

According to the American Association of Advertising Agencies, a typical 30-second television commercial costs about $130,000 to make. ‘Eat at Joe's,' with 20 shots and 40 actors, would have cost about $200,000 several years ago, Burnett estimates.

But the economic downturn has made the process cheaper at every turn. Producers will work for less, advertisers are charging less, and businesses, burned by the recession but needing to reach out to new customers, are paying less.

Nationwide last year, the average cost to air a 30-second ad on a network-affiliated TV station in a major media market was $921, down from $1,109 the year before, according to Nielsen, spots on cable TV stations, always significantly cheaper than networks, were also down.

As a result, many small businesses can afford a level of advertising that was previously beyond their reach. Some are embracing the opportunity, hoping that visibility on TV, billboards and the internet will help them recover from tough times.

"Smaller clients can definitely get more for less now," said Michael Knott, Senior Vice President and Media Director for West Coast operations of the advertising agency Draftfcb.

"There's more of a willingness of vendors to work with you, offering lower rates and more value for your money."

Jordan said the TV ad boosted business at the diner by about 10 percent. It worked so well, he said, that he's now planning to expand the commercial's reach by showing it on the larger Time Warner Cable system starting this month, paying $5 to $15 per showing, depending on the time of day.

"I was a little nervous," Jordan said. "I didn't want it to be cheesy. But it turned out really well."

Nationwide, the cost of producing a TV spot dropped about five per cent in 2008, the most recent year for which the American Association of Advertising Agencies has figures.

The reduction was largely the result of decreases in the length of time used for shooting and the salaries paid to the director, actors and producers.

Market recovery

The advertising market is beginning to recover after a profound slump last year, but experts say it will be some time before prices hit boom-time levels, if they ever do again.

As banks, car manufacturers and large retailers reduced their marketing budgets or went out of business during the economic downturn, media companies began to intensify efforts to sell ads to smaller businesses.

Billboard operators offered better placement and promotional rates, while TV stations and cable operators sent salesmen to meet with local businesses that rarely advertised. Newspapers lowered their prices for ads and graphic designers offered websites for less.

Even television networks have reached out to smaller businesses, helping them hone pitches to be aired on affiliated stations.