research for that, fire them
This just in from Marketing Daily: “A new study by Ace Metrix reveals there is little difference in advertising effectiveness among so-called engaged viewers and those who are not as involved with the program … The most important factor in ad effectiveness is relevance.”
These are startling new insights? Let’s look at each one.
Regarding viewer engagement with programming: Direct marketers have known this all along. How? Not from studies and surveys, which are powerless to provide anything beyond the inferential. Instead, we try things and then, instead of asking people what they think or measuring what they remember, we watch to see if they buy anything. Yeah, I know. Old-fashioned, isn’t it.
Had Metrix asked us, we could have told them something else. When you want people to call a toll-free number, response increases as viewer involvement in programming decreases. That is why you never see direct response commercials — at least, from advertisers who know what they’re doing — during Prime Time. The fact that non Prime Time schedules cost less is a happy coincidence.
As for the importance of relevance: If your advertising agency needed research to tell them that, fire them.
—Steve Cuno