• by Wayne Friedman , June 6, 2011

TV direct-response advertising got a big initial lift in the recent ad recession from marketers looking for more accountable returns on their media investment.

One new direct-response media agency born during this period, Winter Park, Fla.-based Kre8 Media, is starting up a new division targeted to growing Hispanic viewers: Kre8 Resultados.

Kre8 Media founder and president T. Lee Cutler stated: "Hispanics have accounted for more than half of our nation's population growth over the last decade, and this trend shows no sign of abating. Plus, they are consuming more media than ever and are avid buyers of products and services sold via direct-response advertising."

Kre8 Media, which launched in January 2009, says Hispanic viewers, on average, spent more than $300 last year on purchases made through the mail.

Increasingly, the company says tracking sales through a company's Web address is an effective way to measure direct-response media buys, where the same commercials running on different stations and/or networks can be measured.

Kantar Media says TV direct-response advertising dropped 5.8% to $4.5 billion in 2010 in the U.S., while overall U.S advertising grew 6.5% to $131.1 billion. Still, overall TV advertising grew 10.3% in 2010 over 2009.