Commentary

Direct Response To Your Brand

For some time, I've been guilty of speaking in terms of Direct Response (DR) and Brand as if they were black and white. Left and right. Obama and McCain. You get the idea. This dichotomy largely stems from what I do in my day-to-day, as I help marketers nail the direct response portions of their advertising strategy. See? I'm doing it again!

But lately I've been hearing something interesting from my customers. While I tend to look at DR through the lens of performance metrics (ROAS, conversion rate, lift), they say interesting things to me like, "I like the way this ad functions like our website," or "I don't like how that ad has nothing to do with our brand." Huh? Weren't we talking about your ROI just a second ago?

Great marketers understand return on ad spend. They're not ignoring that when they ask about the brand implications of the ad they're running. Rather, they're experiencing their advertising from the perspective of their customers, who actually have a better grasp for the Brand/DR mix than any of us do. Consider this example:

A chief household officer (CHO) performs a search for a family trip to Cancun. A savvy performance marketer for a big Online Travel Agency (OTA) sets up a dynamic retargeting campaign that hits this searcher with a well-placed ad that shows the best deals on packages in Cancun for the same dates searched. Our CHO is reminded of the relevant (and competitive) deals of big OTA and books.

I've given this example before (probably in a MediaPost publication, even) to illustrate how perfect DR display advertising is achieved in travel marketing. But let's look at that last sentence: "Our CHO is reminded of the relevant (and competitive) deals of big OTA." This ad just achieved (for the consumer) the best brand experience of any ad that this OTA could show. We often think of brand in terms of creating buzz, raising awareness, and all that fuzzy stuff, but really brand is about influencing the decision-making process that goes on in consumers' heads when they decide between you and the other guys.

It's easy to run an ad that says "Lowest Price on Flights from NYC-Cancun" (even a dynamic ad that substitutes the name of the origin and destination cities) but what does that really do to convince consumers that your brand is truly that which offers the lowest price on this route? Ads that offer this experience to consumers can achieve this, and "walking the walk" of showing the low prices you actually have for what the consumer is interested in is the best thing you can do to prove it. This, by the way, is why people hate the "fares from $99*" ads with that annoying asterisk. Because you know what that asterisk means to them? This deal is probably not going to happen if I click this ad.

The point is, if "we can get you there for less" is the brand message you're trying to convey, the same tools you use to create the best DR-measured performance actually do double duty in creating the best brand experience for your customers. And the next time our CHO searches for a trip and is given a choice between you and a similar deal from a competitor, the brand equity you've built with that last experience with your ad will remind them why they booked with you before. So, DR and Brand become as complimentary as peanut butter and jelly. Yin and Yang. Gin and tonic ...

2 comments about "Direct Response To Your Brand ".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Adore Infotech from adoreinfotech, March 12, 2010 at 2:31 a.m.

    AdoreSoftphone has launched its new version of 'Windows Mobile Dialer' which is compatible to
    Windows Mobile version 5.0,6.0 & 6.5

    Our windows mobile softphone can support more than 183 Models from 22 Vendors like HTC, Samsung, O2, HP, T-Mobile, Qtek, Eten, Asus, Gigabyte etc.

    The Demo version of windows mobile sip client is available for free download from its website
    " http://www.adoresoftphone.com/mobile-softphone-windows.html " users will only
    download the dialer and does not need any configuration.

    Our dialer which has voip for windows mobile uses by huge base of potential customers
    who can now make calls using their standard mobile phones. The sip dialer for windows mobile which will be installed on mobile phones need to be connected to the internet either through GPRS or Wi-Fi.

    • Features
    Customized with company logo/name
    • Unlimited user license
    • SIP protocol support
    • Making and receiving calls
    • Codecs supported: g711,GSM
    • Call timer
    • Display Credit Time
    • Display Balance
    • Display Call history
    • Local signaling (Dial tone, busy, ring back, etc.)
    • Redial
    • Touch Tone
    • Silence Suppression
    • Echo Cancellation
    • Registration Time

    Read More :
    http://www.adoresoftphone.com/mobile-softphone-windows.html
    FREE DOWNLOAD :
    http://www.adoresoftphone.com/formdownload/Mobile-Softphone-Windows-Download.aspx

    mail us:
    marketing@adoresoftphone.com
    Contact us:
    +91-120-4211570 (India)
    +1 800 498 6429 (USA)

  2. Adore Infotech from adoreinfotech, March 12, 2010 at 2:32 a.m.

    Symbian Mobile Softphone ver 1.1 is a Mobile Softphone Application that gets installed on
    Symbian NOKIA Mobile and lets the caller make a VoIP call via 3G, GPRS on 2G or WiFi.

    The biggest advantage Symbian NOKIA Mobile provides is the huge base of potential customers
    who can now make calls using their standard mobile phones using Voip this is simply called
    as voip for Symbian mobile. The mobile phones need to be connected to the internet either
    through GPRS or Wi-Fi.

    Symbian mobile softphone will strategically add the power of live voice communication to any
    PocketPC/Smartphone to Phone and PDA to PDA. sip for Symbian NOKIA mobile which support
    SIP protocol especially designed to give you a smoothing communication.

    Features

    * Customized with company name
    * Unlimited user license
    * SIP protocol support
    * Making and receiving calls
    * Call History
    * DTMF Support
    * Codecs supported: g729,g711,GSM
    * Balance Display
    * Call Status Indicator
    * Save / Edit Username & Password
    * Work with all standard SIP SoftSwitches
    * Symbian (S60 third edition)
    * Silence Suppression
    * Echo Cancellation
    * Registration Timeout

    Device Supported by Adore Softphone for Symbian

    Nokia E51, E52, E55, E63, E66, E71, E72, E75, E90, N76, N77, N78, N79,
    N81, N82, N85, N86 8MP, N95, N96

    Samsung SGH-i400, SGH-i408, SGH-i450,SGH-i458, SGH-i520, SGH-i550,
    SGH-i560, SGH-i568, SGH-G810, GT-i8510 (INNOV8), GT-I7110, SGH-L870

    LG KS10, KT610, LG KT615

    More Information :http://www.adoresoftphone.com/mobile-softphone-symbian.html

    How to Download :http://www.adoresoftphone.com/mobile-softphone-symbian-download.html

    Download Now :http://www.adoresoftphone.com/formdownload/Mobile-Softphone-Symbian-Download.aspx

    Mail us :
    marketing@adoresoftphone.com

    Contact us:
    +91-120-4211570 (India)
    +1 800 498 6429 (USA)

Next story loading loading..
About the Author

,