Direct Response in Television Commercials: Super Bowl XXXIV

Introduction

The use of direct response is widely integrated throughout all advertising media — direct mail, catalogs, telephone marketing, newspaper, magazine, television, radio, Internet, and other media. Direct marketing sales growth continues to outpace overall sales growth in the U.S. economy, with direct response ad spending comprising over half of total U.S. advertising expenditures⁵.

The most popular direct response mechanism is the toll-free number. In the 30 years since the toll-free 800 number was first introduced, the telemarketing industry has grown from seven million calls in 1967 to over 34 billion in 1997⁶. In 1998, over $482 billion in goods and services were sold through telephone marketing, while over $429 billion were sold through direct mail. Total direct marketing sales in the U.S. are expected to exceed $2 trillion by 2004⁷.

Telephone-based, interactive technologies have become one of the most powerful ways to attract, motivate, and retain customers. Telemarketing is an established, cost-effective tool providing personal, two-way communication at a fraction of the cost of face-to-face contact. Telephone media cut through the clutter of traditional advertising, offering more opportunity for consumer involvement than any other medium.

Researchers have found that a properly managed toll-free number offers three principal benefits to a company: improved customer satisfaction, leading to brand loyalty and increased sales; reduced customer service costs; and increased customer information, leading to improved product/service design, production, and delivery^8,9. All of these factors relate to building strong, long-term relationships with customers while keeping costs low.

In addition to serving immediate prospect, customer, and company needs, toll-free numbers provide a constant stream of information about prospects and customers, allowing for better database management and staffing arrangements. Knowing customer needs leads to clearer and more timely communications with them.

Consumers have incorporated toll-free numbers into their daily activities and use them for everything from ordering products to making financial transactions. Toll-free numbers are free, easy to remember, convenient, and simple to access. Researchers have found that over 50% of consumers use toll-free numbers frequently, while only 3% never use them¹⁰. Overall, 89% of consumers use them¹¹, with one-third of Americans making 60 or more toll-free calls per year¹². Use of, and satisfaction with, toll-free numbers increases with education level, as does the propensity to order products rather than simply request information¹³. According to Bank Marketing, 86% of customers associate toll-free numbers with high quality products.

Toll-free numbers have achieved a high level of acceptance with a broad range of consumers in many areas of the marketplace — consumers have even begun to expect organizations to have one¹⁴. Ten years ago, only half of the nation’s largest firms offered toll-free numbers; today, nearly 90% do. More than half a million businesses and government agencies accept toll-free calls. Large businesses receive about 3,500 toll-free calls a week, compared with 260 letters or faxes¹⁵.1-800-FLOWERS, a business based on its toll-free number, receives over 9 million calls a year. On an average business day, 40% of the calls on AT&T’s network are toll-free calls.

As companies continue decreasing their marketing and sales costs through the integration of technology into their relationships with customers, toll-free numbers will become an ever bigger part of satisfying both parties.

Objectives

This study documents the use of toll-free numbers and other direct response mechanisms in television commercials aired during Super Bowl XXXIV. Our objective was to see how prevalent direct response has become during this program. We also wanted to learn which toll-free prefixes were being used (800, 888, or 877), as well as which types — vanity (numbers that translate into words for easy recall; e.g., 1-800-NEW-CARS), or numeric (e.g., 1-800-639-7543).

Methodology

On Super Bowl Sunday, January 30, 2000, all commercials which aired during the football game were recorded, yielding a total of 70 commercials. For each commercial, the following data were collected:

• Phone number
• Prefix (800/888/877)
• Vanity or numeric
• Prominence of phone number display
• Internet address
• Prominence of Internet address display
• Product/Industry
• Length of commercial
• Use of a voice-over of the toll-free number
• Use of a voice-over of the Internet address
• Advertiser

Published February 1, 2000
Copyright © 2000, 800 Response. All rights reserved.

Top of Page