a dollar out there, you’re going to get something back.
There’s no other vehicle like that,” says Arthur Wing,
president of Little Giant Ladder Systems, a DRTV
marketer. “And even as we surround ourselves with social, I still want to meet the first person that says they
can monetize that. DRTV is probably the most measurable gut-check reaction you can get from an audience.”
The sluggish economic recovery has also helped
DRTV’s reputation in some ways. As brand-name companies have moved into the space to save money and
to demonstrate their ROI to corporate executives, the
quality of products in the DRTV space has improved,
notes George Leon, SVP for media and account management at agency Hawthorne Direct.
“It has brought a new advertising space to the DR
platform. We are now seeing more insurance com-
panies, more automotive companies and more of the
traditional, general-rate advertisers looking at direct
response as a more cost-effective way to reach a con-
sumer,” he says. “You don’t see the same number of
$19.99 products out there. It’s become a more suitable
option for brand advertisers and those who are doing
hybrid direct response and brand marketing.”
Put more bluntly, French explains that DRTV is “not
as sexy and budgets are not as big” as traditional adver-
tising, but marketers will embrace it when they need to
prove that their ad spending works.
“The underlying thing is that the economic downturn
hurt businesses, and they have less money to invest and
they need a return. It’s not like the boom times, and
there’s not a lot of discretionary spending — and they
need the maximum return from their money,” he says.
“Direct marketing is measurable, and it tends to be way
more efficient than brand advertising.”
Direct response brand-building
hybrids
Driven by the need to prove ROI, marketers are also
using DRTV to improve brand awareness, while also
taking advantage of its ability to drive consumers to
retail or e-commerce purchases. In the process, brands
are quickly blending their DRTV efforts with other
marketing tools.
“Before, we created products specifically for DRTV —
now we look at all channels and see we need to not
only emphasize the need to make money from DRTV,
but we need to use DRTV to advertise it on all
different channels and promote it on different chan-
nels,” says Baynes. “I wouldn’t say we use DRTV for
branding, but to optimize the advertising there and to
sell it through multiple channels.”
The hybrid approach, which combines elements from
traditional and DRTV marketing, has also been fu-
eled by large advertisers getting into the DRTV space
due to the difficult economic climate.
“Because of the recession, we introduced the hybrid
branded response to new advertisers, and we have seen
DRTV now become BRTV: brand response TV,” says
“DRTV is
probably
the most
measurable
gut-check
reaction
you can get
from an
audience.”
Arthur Wing,
President,
Little Giant Ladder
Systems
Leon. “From the creative standpoint, it is preserving
the brand. From the measurable and attribution per-
spective, it is adding value to the ad dollar. It makes the
advertiser accountable to every ad dollar spent.”
Although industry experts say the use of hybrid
DRTV tactics will continue even if the economy im-
proves, they differ on how it will work on interactive
platforms such as interactive cable TV and tablets.
“New technologies are the $64,000 question. Dish
Network has integrated a platform and done some click-
to-call and other order types. They all know it’s com-
ing, but it has been coming for a few years, so I think
it will still be a few years before you see it start to take
hold,” says Medved. “The other question is consumer
acceptance. Not everyone is going to be sitting around
with the remote and willing to click and order. There
is going to have to be an educational process with the
launch of any new technology.”
However, direct response technologies evolve in the
coming years, marketers say brands will need to con-
tinue to integrate DRTV campaigns with other tactics.
They also say they will have to integrate their exper-
tise with DRTV across various media, as well as their
expertise in analytics and search marketing, into their
direct marketing strategies.
“Most CFOs need to be able to quantify and justify
the marketing spend, so being able to demonstrate a
clear-cut ROI is something that has obviously become
more prominent as the economy has become more
challenging,” says Lee Cutler, founder and president of
Kre8 Media, a direct response firm. “We are constantly
encouraging a holistic approach by direct response. I
don’t think any platform works in a silo, but in harmony with each other. You have to know how one
affects another and how together you can deliver the
customer’s desired ROI.” n
Newegg’s 30-second DRTV spots helped the company extend its budget
