• by Lucas Donat , July 14, 2006

I went into a pitch the other day, and the CEO of the company was wearing his grouch mask. By the time we walked into the room, he had endured two other pitches from direct response companies. He was a brand guy who wanted accountability for his advertising. He wasn't afraid of math, but he did look pretty freaked out by the DR shops that had preceded me. In fact, after the second reel of commercials featuring spots for hair replacements and diet pills, he walked out. "This isn't what we need," he told his vice president of marketing.

He was right. He had a great brand. He needed advertising that built his brand. And he needed ROI accountability every step of the way. His former agency was a brand shop, and they didn't want their creativity constrained by accountability. And the DR shops didn't seem to get his brand. I've seen an increasing number of major brands confront his predicament. There seems to be a gap in a growing segment of need--standout, brand-building creative that drives response, supported by a media plan that harnesses the tenets of good old DR.

In traditional DR, media is often driving the engine. DR accounts get awarded to media shops, and the media shops are tasked with bringing in a couple of "chop shops" to bang out some creative. But this approach undervalues the contribution of brand strategy and creative. It may work for certain kinds of DR, but this is not the solution best suited for companies that will sell their services or products based on long-term trust and credibility. This group is embracing a new form of advertising that takes the best thinking from both worlds to form a new hybrid called "ROI Positive Advertising."

Progressive Auto Insurance is a perfect example. Its entire brand is positioned around creating trust with consumers by offering comparative quotes from the company's own competitors. Its ads underscore that trust by not only showcasing examples of people who have saved money, but also by admitting that Progressive's rates aren't always the lowest. The campaign builds a relationship with potential customers by positioning the company as an honest partner in the search for affordable auto insurance. eHarmony.com, Geico.com, Hotwire.com and Lendingtree.com also offer good examples of ads that create brand while calling for action.

ROI Positive Advertising transcends both brand-building and direct response advertising to deliver a measurable, positive return on investment. It's where creativity meets accountability, where brand meets results.

• It's a high-concept creative ad with an immediate call-to-action.
• It drives consumers to call or log on and, most importantly, to purchase.
• Results are trackable and quantifiable, dollar for dollar.
• ROI Positive campaigns result in a positive return on every ad dollar spent.
• Brand awareness is built through the frequency afforded by increased media budgets that are rapidly scalable due to positive ROI.

Cultivating a trustworthy brand is critical and is an integral part of what drives response using the ROI Positive approach to advertising. But brand building alone is not enough. In a study conducted by the Millard Group in 2004, just 2 percent of respondents indicated that brand was the crucial factor in their purchase decision. Likewise, merely triggering a response falls short in a world in which consumers increasingly click to buy. The goal no longer is direct response, it's direct action --not intent to purchase, but an actual purchase.

The rules are changing in the DR category. Those who aren't taking notice are missing a huge opportunity. Used to be, for example, that certain tenets of DR were sacrosanct: testimonials work. Get your phone number up for as long as you can. Feature befores and afters. Show visibly demonstrable benefits. Use :60 and 2 -minute formats for DRTV.

But of late, I have witnessed paradigm shifts for all of these hard and fast rules: winning weight loss campaigns with no befores and afters, :30 second spots that outperform longer formats, short CTAs, and sentiment outperforming visibly demonstrable benefits. The ability to have winning creative without all the former trappings of DR is one more signature of ROI Positive advertising. And that may well be one of the reasons so many brands are taking a fresh look at what they used to dismiss as DR. Not having to flash an 800# to have a successful, response-generating campaign is welcome news to brand-sensitive advertisers who want positive ROI on their ad spend.

We keep hearing the doomsday predictions that TV advertising is a thing of the past. Perhaps one day it will be, but, in the meantime, many companies are doing exceedingly well on television. Maybe the thing that is dying is TV advertising that lacks accountability. And ultimately, the rise of ROI Positive advertising in its place may not be such a bad thing for advertisers after all.