Target Marketing Magazine
Not long ago, only the most self-assured brand managers dared suggest direct response television (DRTV) for brand marketing campaigns. Due to enduring images of hard-sell pitches for questionable products ranging from psychic readings to spray-on hair – images that remain closely associated with the medium – stewards of mainstream consumer brands kept their distance. But that time is past.
Today, emboldened by the extraordinary success of trusted brands built with DRTV – such as The Home Depot, Dell and GEICO – a growing number of marketers are taking a fresh look at whether the tool should be integrated with their brand development strategies.
Only time will tell whether this trend toward DRTV is more than a fad. But brand managers entrusted with using the latest tools and technologies to champion their products should consider the wealth of evidence that suggest DRTV will be used to a far greater extent in the very near future. In fact, if you subscribe to the school of thought that believes the science of one industry often yields cross-discipline applications, you might be persuaded by looking at DRTV’s recent growth phenomenon, keeping in mind the landmark insights of high-tech marketing guru Geoffrey Moore.
In his highly influential book, “Crossing the Chasm,” Moore proposes that new technologies gain acceptance over time in a series of predictable stages. By understanding the science of the Technology Adoption Life Cycle, Moore says, technology marketers can better forecast growth patterns in user demand for products, which predictably follow a bell curve pattern over time. And although many uncontrollable factors largely determine the length of the cycle, skilled marketers have some measure of control toward facilitating acceptance and helping their products transcend the curve ahead of their competition.
If you consider DRTV a “technology” and brand managers as the “consumers” of it, following the growth of DRTV acceptance by brand managers along Moore’s bell curve yields powerful insights into the future.
Stage 1: The Innovators
The earliest adopters of new technologies are known as “innovators.” They are a very small percentage of users – often estimated at 2 percent – and have the greatest tolerance for glitches. Some would point to early infomercial pioneers in the 1950s as the true DRTV innovators, but there’s an important distinction to be made between marketers focused purely on generating transactions and those who recognize DRTV as a tool for developing brand equity. Though there may well have been others before him, the first DRTV branding innovator that comes to my mind is Sheldon Adelman, founder of Blue Coral and its high-end brand of car body treatments.
When I first met Adelman more than 10 years ago, I owned a television production company that specialized in shooting infomercials. Adelman came to me with what seemed like a radical idea: Use an infomercial format to develop brand recognition for the most expensive car wax on the market. When I commented that his product did not fit the tried-and-true DRTV formula, Adelman gave me a lesson in branding that I will not soon forget.
He said: “The problem with your industry, Jim, is that you build a relationship with consumers to get a transaction, and then you walk away. You don’t care about the quality of the experience, and that’s just like leaving all the money on the table.”
Though I was still somewhat skeptical, I agreed to help Adelman produce a DRTV campaign that ultimately created a loyal consumer following for his products and convinced leading retailers to devote shelf space to his brands. Sometime around five years after launching his products, Adelman sold Blue Coral to Quaker State for more than $100 million – a tremendous confirmation of the brand equity that can be built through DRTV.
Stage 2: The Early Adopters
“Early adopters” are the influential users who prove the value proposition of a technology through their successful adoption of it. With DRTV branding, three noteworthy examples of early adopters are AOL, GEICO and Dell. Interestingly, all three were well versed in direct-response mail prior to developing their successful DRTV campaigns.
In the mid-1990s, AOL launched an aggressive direct-response campaign when it distributed hundreds of thousands of free computer disks to entice personal computer owners to try its service. Since then, AOL has integrated DRTV ads with its campaigns that serve the dual purposes of developing the image of its brand (“You’ve Got Mail”) and asking viewers to respond to a special offer (“Call now and get AOL free for six months!”).
GEICO has used a variety of direct marketing techniques since it was founded in 1937, but its DRTV spots in the last five years are most responsible for developing a consistent and memorable brand message – “A 15-minute call could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance.” The gecko mascot used to deliver the message is brand management at its finest, but the brand image is always paired with the direct-response request.
Dell also was a direct marketer from the moment its founder, Michael Dell, launched the company out of a dorm room at the University of Texas at Austin. During its formative years, Dell primarily used magazine advertisement and mail-order catalogs to develop relationships with businesses purchasing multiple customized computers on a recurring basis. During the last 20 years, Dell has steadily built brand equity through its quality products, convenient purchasing options, good service and headline-grabbing stock performance. In the past five years, Dell has supported and enhanced its brand with memorable campaigns (“Dude, you’re getting a Dell” and the Dell interns), but its TV spots always include a direct response offer, whether it’s a special price on a laptop, free shipping or a free upgrade to a larger monitor size. Does it work? It must – Dell was recently listed in the annual Harris Poll as having the No. 3 brand in the country.
Stage 3: Mass Market Acceptance
Between success with the early adopters and the ultimate goal – mass-market acceptance – lies what Moore describes as a formidable barrier for purveyors of new technologies. The “chasm” exists because the goals of early adopters are very different than those of the majority of users. Early adopters seek a tool to facilitate change, often a significant competitive advantage, whereas the first stage of the mass market – the “early majority” – seeks merely incrementally better, more efficient improvements.
Signs that DRTV as a brand development tool is reaching the early majority of brand managers have been appearing on prime-time TV throughout the past year.
Pfizer, a pharmaceuticals company with a well-established corporate brand, chose direct-response spots to initialize relationships with potential users of its doctor-prescribed wonder drug Viagra, which had already established a powerful brand through word of mouth and popular press before the first ad ever appeared.
A leading brand in consumer home improvements, The Home Depot, launched DRTV spots offering consumers three options to purchase the featured products: Call the 800 number, visit the special promotion on the company’s website or drive to one of its stores.
These brands, like many other present-day examples, are looking to DRTV as a means of improving performance. Judging from the increasing flow of serious inquiries from popular consumer brands we are seeing at Warren Direct, and viewing this phenomenon in the context of Moore’s model, we may very well be seeing the early days of widespread acceptance of DRTV as a brand-development tool by a majority of brand managers.
Reaching Out to Brand Managers
More than a wake-up call to an opportunity, the Technology Adoption Life Cycle provides a cautionary tale for DRTV service providers. The early majority of brand managers will not be persuaded by the well-worn arguments for direct response that focus on the measurability of each spot. Merely raising the volume while trumpeting the historical DRTV pitch will not build a bridge to the majority of brand managers on the other side of the chasm. In fact, using this strategy will drive many DRTV firms into the chasm, and out of contention for the most promising opportunities.
Instead, successful DRTV service providers will adapt their messages to demonstrate how their niche marketing expertise can be integrated into brand campaigns to yield incremental improvements. By making the case that “this is not your father’s direct response,” DRTV service providers will have the best opportunity to cross the chasm and gain the acceptance and trust of brand managers with the most prized accounts.
Integrating Brand Without Sacrificing Response
Direct marketers crossing into the domain of brand advertising should be mindful of their new surroundings but never forget the core competencies that paid for their passage. Following are some key tips for DRTV marketers who aspire to having more than just a “cup of coffee” opportunity with brand managers.
Tame the “incredible promise” and make it credible – Quality brands are trusted by consumers, so brand stewards will steadfastly avoid ads with promises that sound too good to be true.
Don’t let cost dominate your media buying decision – Buying bargain-basement media may deliver a good cost per order, but does the brand benefit if the ad immediately follows the latest spot for the “Girls Gone Wild” videos?
Manage expectations consistently and constantly – The return on investment measurements of pure brand ads and pure DRTV spots are very different, so without a hybrid measurement process that aligns the company’s brand and response goals with the ad strategies before, during and after the campaign, the true effectiveness of the ads will be under-appreciated.
Remember why you were invited to the table – Great direct response ads feature: 1) a hook that commands attention (e.g., the Dell interns storyline); 2) a unique selling proposition that differentiates the product or service from alternatives; 3) a credible promise of benefits for buying the product or service; and 4) a call to action for viewers to respond to the ad.
Many direct marketers and brand managers have collaborated to develop great hooks that deliver an effective brand message only to short-change the other core elements that must be present to yield quality responses. When this occurs, the results are predictable – expectations for the experiment with direct response are not met.
The path from direct response to brand marketing might prove hazardous for many direct marketers, but the potential rewards will be worth the risk for most. By working with brand managers, not against them, and by remembering the core competencies of successful direct response campaigns, DRTV marketers will afford themselves the best opportunity for future success.
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