It’s so expansive that it’s taken us a while
to figure it out,” Lee contends. “We’ve
expanded from generic, organic search to
more pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, E-mail and display advertising. We believe
we’re just scratching the surface on the
Internet. We’re now testing landing pages
that can be localized, bringing consumers
to their local brick-and-mortar store.”
Partner Knowledge Drives DirectBuy
DirectBuy’s marketing partners have
been crucial to the company’s expanded
marketing universe, Lee says. “There are
a lot of agencies out there, and we’ve
worked with quite a few — it’s how you
learn who can offer the best service and
knowledge,” he contends. “It makes the
most sense to go with the ‘best of breed’
in every category — agencies that drill
down and know a particular media.”
In addition to using Euro RSCG Edge
for its U.S. DRTV media buying, the
company works with Mercury Media for
its Canadian TV buying — “the two best
DRTV media buying companies,” says
Lee.
This best-of-breed plan continues
across all media. “We use Robinson Radio
for radio buying — they’ve proven they
can get results,” Lee says. “We work on-line with a few agencies, but Undertone
Networks and Intermundo Media are,
simply, second to none. For print, specifically free-standing inserts (FSI), we’re
very happy with Novus.”
Television continues to be the most effective
media outlet for DirectBuy, according to David
Lee, director of marketing. “TV gives us the
base to do everything else,” Lee says.
Lee contends that the common de-
nominator with all of DirectBuy’s agency
partners is market knowledge. “It’s price-
less — in house, we can only know so
much,” he says. “There are certain ques-
tions you can’t answer. To be able to tap
into these experts and maximize their
services makes our lives easier.”
Looking ahead, Lee expects DirectBuy
to continue to lean on DR marketing
across all media. He enjoys the breadth
of opportunities direct response provides,
as well as the constant effort to maximize
ROI from each campaign.
“DR always presents a new challenge
— every day, there’s always opportunity,”
Lee says. “With a branding campaign, it’s
simply about recognition. But with DR,
there are just so many ways and angles to
attack it, to make the phone ring, to bring
in customers.” ■
