niche.: Direct Response Advertising.... we're too cool for that

First thing that hit me whenever someone talks about a direct response ad was always the annoying telemarketing phone calls, direct mails, clutter advertisements in the papers, and the old-school direct marketing TV programs.

With no positive thought assocated with it, I was thinking whether people in this generation like us... are finally getting over one of the oldest types of advertising, and moving on to something more exciting - like iAd (yay!)

In fact, a forecast from DMA in 2002 also suggested that the growth of direct response advertising spending has hardly been as strong as predicted.

Initial predictions by the DMA suggested marketers would spend $206 billion on direct marketing this year, but the figure is now expected to be closer to $193 billion, up only 3.4% from 2001 and almost 7% below the initial estimate.

However, it seems like the business is not quite dying yet, but the dynamic of it did change a little bit.

Direct Response ads nowadays appear to be created in a even more appealing, tech-savvy, and humourous way. With the invention of the great World Wide Web, now a direct response ad can be considered successful as long as it drives traffics to the desired website, instead of being restricted of its value depending on sealing the deal.

This advertisement for Cash4Gold is a successful example of the contemporary direct response ad.

With its objective solely being driving people to the website, it did create a huge buzz as well as a large amount of website traffics during the time the ad is shown which equals to successful outcome (Over 1 million Internet views! click here for their media release). In fact, this 2009 ad is the first direct response ad during the Super Bowl TV spot, its success lies in the eye-catchy website which shows at the very start and the end of the ad, and the strong impression it leaves for the audience.

Moreover, just like a lot of other advertising categories, the target market of most direct response advertisements nowadays have also moved towards a more specific niche. In other words, advertisers would have more chances and resources to allocate the spending and make the ad more sophisticated. With less money spent, they still manage to achieve a higher success rate.

This print ad is a classic example of the statement stated above. The objective of the ad is to promote attendance at the Client/Server Conference, a seminar designed to teach new high-tech computer methodology. While the advertisement itself is done in a humorous and creative way, we can see it is also targetting not at a large market, but a certain tech-savvy crowd.

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Credits:

Cash4Gold "One Up"

Brand: Cash4Gold

Agency: Euro RSCG Edge
A collaborative creative team created the commercial with Cash4Gold. This team was led by Euro RSCG Edge, and included sister HAVAS Agency Arnold Worldwide and veteran Super Bowl commercial director Bryan Buckley.

Client / Server West Conference and Exposition
ad created by Mollica Design

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