DIRECT RESPONSE RADIO
Radio offers direct marketers: 1) sales to targeted highly segmented audiences; 2) the ability to get on the air fast; 3) low production costs, especially compared to television, and 4) low air time costs.
One drawback of radio - people listen while doing something else, driving, working at a project, cleaning up, etc. and don’t always have pen or paper handy to write down information to make a call and place an order.
Radio commercials must be memorable, use an attention getting, interest holding script, and repeat the phone/write in number several times during each commercial.
Radio is an emotional medium. People listen to change their mood. Great radio advertising makes an emotional pitch. The connection with the listener is direct, personal, emotional.
The structure of a Radio commercial:
1. Opening that summarizes the offer
2. A middle that sets forth the problem, presents the solution, and gives the phone and/or mailing address.
3. A close that repeats the offer, phone/mailing address
Radio differs from other direct marketing media because it is more personal and it is the medium of the imagination.
Radio does best with products and services that do not need to be demonstrated.
Though radio is a mass medium, it is possible to buy spots on a more selective basis than broadcast TV.
1. Radio is available to most people at any place any time
2. Radio is selective. The limited geographical reach of most stations and their specialized programming formats attract audiences that tend to be quite homogeneous in terms of demographics and lifestyles.
3. Radio is economical. Radio’s cost per thousand audience members (CPM) is relatively low. Production costs are also very low.
4. Radio offers rapid access. An advertiser who has an urgent message can get a live radio commercial on the air in a few hours.
5. It is involving. Listeners develop strong loyalties to specific stations. They may engage in participatory behavior such as calling the station to express their opinions or request musical selections.
6. It is flexible. A new commercial can be written or an old one revised in a matter of hours.
Radio audience selection is based almost solely on demographics - gender and age.
Marketers must determine which times of the day they wish to have their spots air. The largest audiences are available during the times when the most people are in their cars. These so-called drive times are from 6 to 10 am and 3 to 7 p.m.
Radio is a high frequency medium - a great deal of repetition is necessary.
DIRECT RESPONSE TELEVISION
Direct Marketing uses of television - direct response and support, infomercials, home shopping channels and lead generation.
Most direct response ads are 60 seconds long. Most non direct response commercials are 30 seconds long with some being 15 seconds long. Sixty seconds gives the direct marketer enough time to grab the viewers attention, explain the product, and provide ordering information. The ads must be shown repeatedly because one ad exposure will seldom reach many members of the firms target audience.
Direct response TV offers produce 60 to 80 percent of their orders via toll-free phone, with the rest coming by mail.
Direct response TV is very similar to direct mail in that it asks for an immediate response, it informs and shows the product, it can be targeted by age, sex, education and income. It can also be targeted by time of day and which programming will encourage or discourage a response.
However, unlike direct mail, the level of selectivity is low and direct response TV is expensive.
Reach - the number of target market members exposed to the ad. It indicates what percentage of the target audience was exposed to the ad during a four week period.
Frequency - the average number of times each target market member sees the ad. How often did the target see the commercial during a four week period.
The most successful direct response TV ads focus on one product or service and detail the benefits, often with testimonials.
Rating - describes the proportion of target audience members reached by one broadcast of that program. If 20 percent of an audience is reached by one showing of a TV program, that program has a rating of 20.
Media continuity - describes how ads are scheduled over the time of a campaign. Are they run continuously or are they flighted?
Flighting - or pulsing in which media use goes from use to nonuse and then back to use again.
Gross Rating Points (GRP’s) are used to characterize the gross weight of a given media effort against a defined target market, usually stated in terms of demographics. Gross Rating Points = reach x frequency
INFOMERCIALS
Usually 30 minutes long and rely heavily on celebrities.
Types of products and services: self-improvement, housewares, diet, automotive maintenance, crafts, beauty care items, business opportunities, entertainment, fitness, etc.
Home Shopping Channels
Home shopping programming uses a combination of selling and entertainment to hold the attention of it’s viewers. Viewers use their telephones and credit cards to place orders.
Television shoppers tend to be younger more active than the average consumer.
Jewelry makes us about half of what is sold on home shopping networks. It is an impulse buy and it shows well on the screen.