Direct Response in Television Commercials: Super Bowl XXXIV
Executive Summary
Introduction
The use of direct response in advertising continues to grow, with direct
response advertisements comprising over half of total U.S. advertising
expenditures1. Direct response is used for three specific purposes:
to solicit a direct order, to generate a lead, or to drive store or web
site traffic.
The most popular direct response mechanism is the toll-free number. Consumers
have incorporated toll-free numbers into their daily lives, and now expect
organizations to have one2. A toll-free number offers three
main advantages to a company:
- improved customer satisfaction, leading to brand loyalty and increased
sales
- reduced customer service costs
- increased customer information, leading to improved product/service
design, production, and delivery3,4
Findings
Sixteen percent of television commercials aired during Super Bowl XXXIV
use a toll-free number as a response mechanism. The favorite is still
the vanity number, with every toll-free number used being vanity. The
800 prefix is used 91% of the time.
Internet addresses are used in 63% of commercials.
Conclusions
The use of direct response in television commercials will continue to
grow. Millions of consumers are exposed to vanity 800 numbers on a daily
basis, leading to their further acceptance as a standard advertising tool.
Published February 1, 2000
Copyright © 2000, 800 Response. All rights reserved.
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