Chapter 23: Direct, Interactive
and Viral Marketing
Direct Marketing
• Direct marketing generates $1.93 trillion in
incremental sales
• Direct mail campaigns returned $15 for every
dollar spent.
• 1.7 million direct marketing employees in the
US, 8.8 million jobs that depends on DM.
• e-mail marketing investments provided a $51
return for every dollar spent in 2006.
• Direct marketing generates 10.3% of US
GDP
(Direct Marketing Association)
Forecasted Direct and Interactive Spending
Advertising budgets will remain flat, but the percentage of budget spent on these media
is expected to grow from 12% to 29% of the ad budget by 2014. (Ad Age, 7/21/2009,
“Advertising Will Change Forever)
Direct Marketing Definition
Direct Marketing
• Sending marketing messages directly to consumers
(usually) without the use of intervening media
> Delivering a message
> To a targeted audience
• When they are looking
• Where they are looking
• Speaking in a way that resonates with the target
> Prompting a desired action
Involves commercial communication, mainly:
> Direct mail
> e-mail
> Telemarketing
> Catalogs and mail order
Delivering a message
• Example
> Brand messaging
• Using colors, logos to build brand awareness
• Presentation of core messages in ad copy
> Benefits of a specific offer
• Benefits and/or offer for product, service
To a targeted audience, when/where they are
looking:
> Social networking (facebook, twitter, sermo)
> Transportation (bus shelter ad, airplane seat-tray)
> Trade journal
> TV (time of day, programming)
> Banner ads (google, nick jr)
> Direct mail (personalized, non-personalized)
> Door hangers
> Package inserts
> Pay-per-click ads
> Voicemail broadcasting
> Infomercials (DRTV)
> Search engine optimization (maximizing hits)
Prompting a desired action
• Get the customer to:
> Request information
> Sign up to receive something
> Purchase something
> Apply for something
> Go to a website
> Call a number
• How do you tell if it is direct marketing or
advertising?
> Call to action is present—asks consumer to do
something other than simply process the information in
the advertisement
Prompting a Desired Action
> An Old Navy commercial presents information about the
brand and builds brand awareness (not direct marketing).
> Credit card ads almost always have a call to action (are
direct marketing).
> The Slanket and the Snuggie are classic direct mail TV
commercials, as is the Soloflex gym. In general,
infomercials like these are direct marketing.
> Local banks often have "take ones" (pamphlets) for credit
card applications. These are direct marketing.
> Magazine and print: Makeup ads are usually focused on
building brand awareness (not direct marketing).
> Magazine and Print: Sleep Number Bed ads often have a
call to action, directing consumers to a website or 800
number (are direct marketing).
“Standard” Marketing vs. Direct Marketing
Mass Audience & Media
Impersonal
Promotion Strategy visible
$$ Determines Promotion
Amount
Target’s reaction unclear
Analysis at segment level
Surrogate Effectiveness
Measures (awareness
or intention)
Direct Communication/
Targeted Media
Personal (Name/Title)
Programs “invisible”
Can React to Results
Action Specified and/or
measurable
(inquiry/purchase)
Analysis at individual or firm
Level
Measurable & controllable
Example
Evaluate Targeted Marketing
• Banner ad from Medscape:
> Message: Selling the opportunity to attend
continuing medical education (CME) via the
Medscape network
> Target audience
• People that need CME credits
• This population is very specific, they do not even define the
acronym here. They are advertising on a site often visited
by health care professionals
• The Call to Action is to click through to access the CME
activities.
Banner Advertisement from Kaplan SAT Prep
> Message: Selling online test prep
> Target audience
• People (likely 15-18 years old) who need to take the SAT and
need to improve their scores
• Assume you know what the SAT is, show an example of the
support in place for training
• The Call to Action is to click through to learn more.
Evaluate Targeted Marketing
• Here is an example of a banner ad from Cocacola’s website
Evaluate Targeted Marketing
• Spring water example
> Message
• Selling a reassurance that the branded water you purchase
will be clean, safe, and natural
• Selling the reliability of the Spring Natural brand
> Target audience
• This target population is health-aware enough to be
choosing water over soda. They want to feel healthy when
they are choosing this product (notice the supporting copy
points).
• CTA: Here the call to action is less pronounced: key
message is for the reader to feel better and trust more. The
CTA is offered as an additional level of instilling trust, but it
is not the goal of the banner to drive traffic to the CTA
Online Marketing
Why Online Marketing Works: Website Growth: 10 Year
Timeline
Stickiness
Stickiness
A measure of a Web site’s
effectiveness; calculated by
multiplying the frequency of
visits times the duration of a
visit times the number of pages
viewed during each visit.
Stickiness = Frequency x Duration x Site Reach
For marketers today, three of the most important measurements of Web site hits are
recency, frequency, and monetary value.
Online Direct Advertising
Companies use online advertising to target customers.
These ads are unique in that the customer can take
direct action in response to the ads by “clicking
through”.
> Banner ads
> Pop ups
> Rich media ads (incorporate animation, video, sound,
and interactivity)
> Search-related ads: Specific ad comes up in response
to your search term.
> Search engine optimization: Companies pay search
engines for higher placement on the solutions list for
particular searches.
Online Marketing
Click-only companies:
>Operate only online without any brick-andmortar presence.
•
•
•
•
E-tailers (Amazon.com)
Search engines and portals (Google)
Transaction sites (eBay)
Content sites (ESPN)
Click-and-mortar companies:
>Traditional brick-and-mortar companies that
have added online marketing to their
operations.
Online Marketing
Online marketing domains:
>Business to consumer (Amazon)
>Business to business (Staples)
>Consumer to consumer (Ebay)
>Consumer to business (Blogs, rating sites,
feedback sites)
Word of Mouth Marketing
Word of Mouth
• WOM spending grew from $76 million in
2001 to $981 million in 2006
> Grow to $3.0 billion by 2013
> 78% of respondents trusted “recommendations
from consumers”
• Word of mouth marketing can be:
> Amplified
> Organic
• Word of Mouth Marketing Association
> www.widecircles.com
Word of Mouth Online
• Smirnoff Tea Party
• Rampenfest
• Coke and Mentos
• www.shaveeverywhere.com
• Brawndo
• The Hire Series from BMW: Ambush
• Lux Brand in Japan
WOM Categories www.womma.org
Buzz Marketing: Using high-profile entertainment or news to get
people to talk about your brand.
Viral Marketing: Creating entertaining or informative messages that
are designed to be passed along in an exponential fashion, often
electronically or by email.
Community Marketing: Forming or supporting niche communities that
are likely to share interests about the brand (such as user groups,
fan clubs, and discussion forums); providing tools, content, and
information to support those communities.
Product Seeding: Placing the right product into the right hands at the
right time, providing information or samples to influential
individuals.
Cause Marketing: Supporting social causes to earn respect and
support from people who feel strongly about the cause.
Influencer Marketing: Identifying key communities and opinion
leaders who are likely to talk about products and have the ability
to influence the opinions of others.
Buzz Marketing
Unethical WOM Practices
Stealth Marketing: Any practice designed to deceive people about
the involvement of marketers in a communication.
Shilling: Paying people to talk about (or promote) a product without
disclosing that they are working for the company; impersonating a
customer.
Infiltration: Using fake identities in an online discussion to promote a
product; taking over a web site, conversation, or live event against
the wishes or rules set by the proprietor.
Comment Spam: Using automated software ('bots') to post unrelated
or inappropriate comments to blogs or other online communities.
Defacement: Vandalizing or damaging property to promote a
product.
Spam: Sending bulk or unsolicited email or other messages without
clear, voluntary permission.
Falsification: Knowingly disseminating false or misleading
information. www.womma.org