Response Magazine - December 2008

online presence for their campaigns. “We still test shows without the Web component included,” says Greenstone, “but we try to discourage that, namely because the Web can represent 50 to 60 percent of a campaign’s sales right now.”

On the brand side of things, Greenstone says companies like Murad, SlimShots and Arm & Hammer have all successfully melded their DR efforts with a strong online component. He sees factors like high fuel costs and the fact that people of all ages are now buying on the Web playing a key role in this trend. “My mom is 82 years old,” says Greenstone, “and she buys on the Web all the time.”

Other major branders that are rounding out their DR campaigns with the Internet include WD- 40 and Proctor & Gamble, both of which have worked with Bridgeport, Conn.-based Liquid Focus Direct. Ken Osborn, president and CEO, says that while marketers have picked up on the synergy between the two advertising mediums, not all of them are maximizing the collaboration.

“The offline medium drives a lot more awareness and a lot more interest, but the online side is where many of companies miss the boat,” says Osborn, who advises clients to consider their DRTV and online efforts on a campaign-by-campaign basis. Some products, for example, might warrant the development of multiple “micro sites,” aimed at different audiences, while oth-

ers may include the ability to conduct market research through A/B testing (the testing of different price points for the same product).

“We can use the Web to determine factors like the elasticity of demand,” says Osborn, a self-proclaimed “business school guy” who is often ribbed about his economic jargon. “Put simply, companies can use the Web as a multi-variety testing tool and, in doing so, create a unique and defined customer interaction that goes beyond basic direct response.”

Toeing the Line

Where in the past companies were able to create and activate Web sites without having to worry much about whether their online homes “matched” their direct response campaigns, today’s consumers are demanding a more recognizable advertising strategy that integrates the Web with all other media.

“McDonald’s has its golden arches for a reason,” says Nancy Michaels, president of Grow YourBusinessNetwork.com in Concord, Mass. “Those arches are immediately recognizable, regardless of whether you see them in front of a restaurant, on a menu, in an ad or online.” Michaels says both brands and pure-play DRTV marketers can borrow a page from the fast food behemoth’s advertising strategy by striving for “consistency and repetition” across all media.

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