By Publication

Successful DRTV marketers should be entertaining and educating, not just selling

No one likes to be "advertised to," but everyone loves to be entertained and educated. Knowing this, why aren't more marketers taking a page from the large corporations' books and creating commercials that do more than just push products and services on consumers that really aren't watching - or paying attention - anyway?

Should you consider using a toll-free vanity number with your DRTV campaign?  Our first instinct is to say "skip the vanity number." Why? Vanity numbers defy the very goal of traditional DRTV, and that's to create an accountable campaign where you can tell exactly how and where every call - and ultimately every sale - is generated. Vanity numbers inhibit traceability and thwart a company's ability to track their media buys, successes and failures to specific telecasts and stations.

Hand written letters. Baseball before steroids. Gasoline for a buck. Some smaltz, some regret, some yearning. Conjure up a personal "good ‘ole days" remembrance and you'll get a smorgasbord of associated emotions. For advertisers today, it's probably some longing, some terror -- for the bygone era of a sane number of media options: TV, radio, print and billboards. Today, of course, media seems as hopelessly fragmented as Humpty Dumpty after his fall. But when you manage to wrap your head around all the new options, you'll find your plate packed with choices that should have your DRTV-marketer's mouth watering.

There's a global economy waiting out there...are you ready to tackle it? We live in a global world, and we're all part of an international television advertising industry that presents significant opportunity for marketers looking to dip their toes into international waters.

If you've read any advertising related news story, blog or newsletter lately, you wonder how we all stay employed. Barely a day goes by without some new alarm that the web, cell phones, video on demand or gaming will doom traditional ad models. If we don't plunge in quickly, we'll perish.

What was once a love-hate relationship has slowly transformed into an all-out love fest for all things DR.

Stroll through the aisles of any mainstream retailer these days and you're bound to run into one or more DRTV products. Whether it's the George Foreman grill in the housewares section at Target, a Roomba vacuum or tube of Miracle Hand Repair at Sharper Image, or a full array of everything from Space Bags to Pasta Pots at Bed Bath and Beyond, these products have become as prominent at retail as they are on DRTV commercials.

Knowing when DRTV will and won't work can help alleviate issues down the road. The product marketer comes to you with big dreams of selling oodles of units via short-form DRTV. The brand marketer knocks on your door, looking for someone to produce an infomercial that builds brand awareness and supports its traditional advertising methods. The large organization calls on you to create a mix of long- and short-form shows to raise awareness of its mission.

Circa 1984, David Letterman mounted his Late Night pulpit to impose a national catch phrase. Despite unflagging effort, "They pelted us with rocks and garbage" didn't exactly catch on. Twenty years later, the little known Spiridellis brothers authored a web animation that satirized 2004 presidential candidates George Bush and John Kerry. Within weeks, millions of netizens were buzzing about their barb-filled This Land is Your Land. Unintentionally, Jib-Jab had manufactured the mania that Dave sought.

We spend a lot of time with clients in our "creative think tank," going over that exact question. The analysis we go through to determine whether to go with short-form or long form takes a close examination of product complexity and price point, marketing goals. To help us determine a client's DRTV strategy, short-form vs. long-form (and sometimes we recommend launching both simultaneously), we review the product against a set of parameters.

Television advertising ROI is no longer the province of DRTV Marketers. And we have the Internet to thank. Over the past 10 years, internet search, with its known Cost Per Leads/Clicks and now comprising over 40% of all online advertising, has become de rigueur for most Brand advertisers. Its growing importance has made the pursuit for advertising ROI a major initiative among Brand marketing teams across the U.S.