Media Campaigns for DRTV Blur

By David Hofmann

With more and more traditional advertisers using DRTV, marketers and media planners need to find the right combination of direct response and traditional advertising. Despite the blurring of these lines, media planners and marketers can create successful and measurable campaigns when they take the right approach.

Measurable results on TV are the Holy Grail. Those in the DRTV world already understand they can create a bigger effect when they buy their TV differently. If big brands like Oxiclean and Rug Doctor have created huge success using direct response television, why shouldn't everyone?

THE HYBRID ADVERTISER
Unfortunately, not all companies have the time to invest in high-return traditional DRTV media plans. Their media needs to accomplish more, faster, and in a measurable way. Driving retail sales, increasing online sales and building the brand are all typical goals of a "hybrid" DR advertiser.

The typical hybrid advertiser: Is an established company seeking measurable TV advertising; needs to drive retail and online sales; believes ROI is as important as overall reach; and has a target audience in a well-defined demographic.

Both long form and short form play key roles in DRTV. When it's combined with long-form media, short form becomes a powerful strategic marketing tool. It can target a specific audience, build on the product's existing brand, and allow marketers to test a broader demographic to increase overall sales.

Every day, we marketers prove that offline and online marketing must be measured together due to the crossover benefits. That's why online media metrics are essential to the DR campaign, revealing both the ROI and the direct connection to TV advertising. What's more, different online media can generate similar benefits: a 2006 study by Atlas Institute showed that online searchers converted 22 percent more often when first exposed to a brand's display ads.

When building a hybrid media campaign, remember these steps:

• Prioritize your objectives. What is the most important metric? What are secondary objectives?
• Determine the budget. The bigger the budget, the more variables you can test--but remember to test with each variable in mind. The smaller the budget, the more important it is to stay focused on the primary goal, test it well, and then use it to gain momentum on additional growth steps.
• Form a timeline based on when the client needs to see results. Compare it to the campaign priorities to ensure you can deliver the key data in time.
• Gather all necessary research data to build the media plan: historical buys, competitive data, demographics, etc.
• Include online marketing in the media plan if only to track the data, and look for trends that may relate to DR advertising.

The line between traditional and DR marketing is only going to get blurrier. So know what is best for your clients, and keep results truly measurable.

David Hofmann is vice president of media of Cesari Direct, a full-service direct response advertising agency in Seattle. He can be reached at (206) 281-7975, x308, or via e-mail at dhofmann@cesaridirect.com.