The emergence of DRTV into traditional brand marketing.

Expanding the horizons of DRTV into consumer brand marketing? How can that happen when direct marketers and consumer brand managers don't understand each other?

Let's start with the core issue. Direct marketing agencies (and other direct marketing suppliers) are wildly enthused about

getting a piece of the big budgets of the big name consumer brands. At the same time, the brand management world has a rapidly growing interest in the mysterious new world of direct marketing (a.k.a. marketing one-to-one, relationship marketing, database marketing, target marketing, differential marketing or whatever buzzword you've recently encountered). Whatever label you place on it, the brand 'marketing world's interest in this more targeted approach was fully evident at The DMA's first-ever Brand Marketing Conference in January of this year. Over 200 people attended, with a healthy representation from brand management from many well-known Fortune 500 companies in the audience.

Since we have two groups so intensely interested in each other, one would think the situation ripe for a merging of the two, no? Unfortunately, "no" is correct. How could that be?

The answer is really quite simple. The worlds of direct marketing and consumer brand marketing are completely different. That holds true whether you're talking about TV, direct mail, print, or any other medium. The objectives, measures and evaluations are all different. The two worlds speak different languages and, unfortunately, there are precious few "bilinguals." Direct marketers talk about things like cost per lead, call, or order. They calculate and live by a concept called "lifetime value." Brand managers, on the other hand, speak of building brand equity and awareness, gross rating points (GRPs), cost per unit moved, cost per coupon redeemed, payout, etc. There are a lot of great brand marketers, and there are many great direct marketers, but there are very few marketers who know how to effectively apply one discipline to the other. Therein lies a huge opportunity.

It's not unexpected that there are so few who can apply "direct" to "brand marketing." Direct brand marketing is a hybrid set of skills for which there are few training opportunities.

DRTV - What it Has Been

For many years, direct response TV was the bastion of the classic direct marketer. From short-form to long-form to infomercial, the one common element was that somebody was selling something directly to somebody.

The objectives behind DRTV could be anything from trying to make a profit from the TV spots alone to forcing a new product into retail distribution. Many times, it was some combination of both. To those of you in the DRTV business, I'm telling you very, very old news, but I need to set this up a little for our friends on the brand marketing side.

What it is Becoming

In recent years, a growing number of consumer brand marketers have begun experimenting with a new and different kind of DRTV. While there is direct consumer contact, there's no selling direct-to-consumer; the process is normally driven by providing coupons, samples, information and/or other purchase incentives. This system is also an ideal way to build a proprietary database and gather key information for household/individual-level marketing.

Let's say, for instance, you have a new pharmaceutical product that is targeted at a small percentage of the population, and sold only by prescription. DRTV might be a great way to have target households "hold up their hands" so you can market to them one-to-one. You might even refer them to a physician near their home. What a great tool to generate trial of a new product! In addition, as a brand marketer, I can fill most of a 30-, 60-, or 120-second TV spot (or even more) with all kinds of brand building, image/equity enhancing messages. Wow, double-duty TV! Part general image advertising value, part promotion value. (More on that later.)

Is That Really DRTV?

My definition of the "new" DRTV requires only that something of value be offered in exchange for a consumer response. It could be someone buying a blender, or it could be someone calling my 800 number to register for free information and coupons for a brand available at the local grocery or mass merchant. At present, that's also the most common definition used by those who sell DRTV spots. So what does this broad definition mean?

It means that I can buy at the lower DRTV rates, as long as I offer the consumer something of value in my spot that, in all other ways, appears very much like my equity-advertising spots. There are other issues to consider like "clearance" of the spots, buying based on dayparts, etc., but all these are very manageable if you have the right resources.

This is probably a good place to clear up a misconception that exists on the part of some consumer marketers - buying at DRTV rates does not mean your spots will have to run at 3:00 a.m. The inaccurate notion held by some consumer marketers that DRTV spots only run at odd hours of the day is one probably perpetuated (or even initiated) by general agencies who are trying to dissuade clients from trying DRTV.

So, if it's DRTV and Brand Building, How Should I Evaluate it?

Good question, easy answer: what are your objectives? It's amazing how many programs you find already in process that have no firm and measurable objectives in place. Even if there are objectives, they tend to be very unilateral - either traditional advertising objectives (GRPs, etc.) or direct response (cost per call, etc.). Who said we can't have some of each? If approached in the correct manner, successful TV spots can deliver GRPs, build brand image and awareness, generate consumer response to initiate one-to-one marketing with our best prospects, and help build a brand's proprietary database for analytics and relationship marketing.

The key is to set specific objectives for each of the areas encompassed by your goals. The measurement of success in each area then becomes pretty straightforward.

One thing is certain: if I have a good image/brand equity spot running, and then I decide to add an 800 number to it, the image/equity value doesn't suddenly go away. I don't now evaluate the success of the spot based on some "cost per call" or "cost per lead?" calculation. I've simply piggybacked on a good brand-building spot in order to interact with the users of my brand.

DRTV - what it Can Become

If properly approached, well-done DRTV can serve a number of masters simultaneously, becoming like a "mass media" vehicle that also acts as a net to catch and identify key consumers for the category. You can build your brand, get your GRPs, identify your best consumers (and those with the potential to be), help your trade partners, drive your sales volume and market share, and - maybe most importantly - begin to build a true relationship with your consumer franchise.

Where Do I Turn For Help?

As I've already pointed out, new hybrid resources that understand both the brand side and the direct side are very scarce. This is equally true for agency/suppliers and for Fortune 500 employees. What is one to do? If you are on the brand side, look for agencies in the direct marketing world who seem to know something about your business or, at a minimum, are willing to devote substantial resources to learning it. This is a rare commodity at best.

In addition, work to get your key brand people exposed to target marketing concepts and strategies. Direct marketing is not limited to sending coupons out via direct mail, as many assume. Target marketing is a strategic change in direction; it requires a change in mindset. It needs a champion.

On the direct response agency side, it's a very similar story: look for the visionary brand manager. It takes someone with a little guts and foresight to venture off into this brave new world. Once you find your visionary brand manager, do everything in your power to learn the business, one which works in a completely different way than direct response. Finally, get your people exposed to brand marketing. That means different conferences, different training programs, and maybe even different hiring practices. It's very hard to compete in an industry where none of your employees has prior job experience.

The Big Opportunity

The only thing remaining to be said is that a great paradigm shift may be just ahead of us as we move into the new millennium. I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for those who undertake the challenge of understanding both the world of the brand and the world of direct. That understanding can provide a tremendous competitive advantage for individuals, brands and corporations alike. Don't get caught on the backside of the wave.

The Number of Brands Using Television With a Response Device (Measured by
Quarter)

1st Quarter '97            51
2nd Quarter '97            54
3rd Quarter '97            89
4th Quarter '97            78

1997 Total                272

1st Quarter '98            98
2nd Quarter '98           110
3rd Quarter '98           121
4th Quarter '98           129

1998 Total                458

(A 68% increase over the previous year.)

1st Quarter 1999          178

These numbers include commercials that use an 800 number and/or a Web address.
Each number cited represents a different brand.

Source: DBM/SCAN[R], a service of John Cummings & Partners, (Armonk, NY,
914/273-4691).

Dan Davidson is director of strategic target marketing for Ralston Purina Company's, CheckMark Communications Division (St. Louis, MO). He has been responsible for Ralston Purina's pilot test projects to evaluate the strategic potential for database marketing and targeted programs within the more traditional consumer brand marketing arena. His work led to the development of a consumer marketing database, one of the largest in the packaged goods industry. A frequent speaker at conferences in both the U.S. and abroad, Davidson currently heads a "top talent" staff of professionals that comprise the Strategic Target Marketing within CheckMark Communications. He can be reached at (314) 982-1228, or at ddavidson@ralston.com.