Creative

Creativity Beats Media In TV ROI

~ K. Quesenberry ~ 1 Comment

If you merely glanced over a recent article in Advertising Age you may have thought it was about media buying. The first sentence of the article tells us Demographics have almost no effect on whether TV ads produce sales, and consumers’ purchase history is the most reliable predictor of success. Okay I say, but how do I buy TV media based on purchase history?

The article goes on to tell us that ads produce a greater sales lift the closer they come to the purchase decision. Again, can I buy TV ad slots based on my target’s purchase decisions? We do learn however that we shouldn’t shy away prime time placement and higher prices because in general prime time’s sales return on media investment trumps other day parts. That is something we can use – keep buying prime time.

But you may have read this entire article except for the last sentence and missed the most important conclusion highlighted by TRA President Bill Harvey at the Advertising Research Foundation 360 Measurement Day Workshop in Chicago. His company has been pairing data from set-top TV boxes with retail loyalty-card purchase data since 2008.

There are limits to what media choices alone can accomplish. The ads themselves matter most. Mr. Harvey said, “Data suggests 65% of TV ROI is attributable to the creative and 35% to the media.” Now that is something I can control. The worst mistake of all is to spend all your time nitpicking media choices and neglecting to invest in choosing great creative.

Why this lopsided emphasis? Maybe because it was a media workshop and not a creative conference.

Can Direct Response Be Creative?

~ K. Quesenberry ~ Leave a comment

You’ve seen this kind of ad – huge logo, direct no frills headline, star burst and a lot of information and photos packed together. Does direct response have to be this way?

In Adweek a couple of years ago a direct marketing practitioner John Livengood talk about the perception that direct marketing creative is not very creative compared to general advertising. Cost cuts in direct marketing resulted in low production values, creatives with poor conceptual skills, bad design sense and copy that feels like a used car pitch. But times are changing as brand/awareness advertising is feeling pressure to become more accountable while direct marketing agencies are being pressured to deliver more conceptual thinking and brand-building work

But others say stick to the basics. Professor John Philip Jones’ says that direct response creative should not use the puns, plays on words, jingles and jokes of general advertising. Direct response advertising can’t take a chance in not being understood in an effort to be humorous or entertaining. It must have simple, straightforward statements. Go for the “no-brainer” creative solution instead of reinventing the wheel. Direct response is more of a science where you use the words that have worked in the past like “free,” “announcing,” “new,” “now,” and “you.”

GEICO Direct is an example of a direct response success story. It uses humorous ad appeals and innovative television media buys to sell car insurance direct. The campaign was created by general advertising agency the Martin Agency and won many creative awards while selling a lot of car insurance. Maybe being different and trying new things can really pay off. What is your viewpoint on direct response creative?