Toll-free Numbers in Television Commercials: Super Bowl XXXV
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.
One of the most popular direct response mechanisms is the toll-free number.
Consumers have incorporated toll-free numbers into their daily lives and
prefer to do business with companies who have one. A toll-free number
offers four main advantages to a company:
- confirms customer service orientation
- reduces customer service costs
- increases customer information
- overcomes area code confusion
Findings
Twenty percent of television commercials aired during Super Bowl XXXV
use a toll-free number as a response mechanism — an increase of four
percent over last year. The favorite is still the vanity number, with
every toll-free number used being vanity. The 800 prefix is used 85% of
the time.
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 28, 2001
Copyright © 2001, 800 Response. All rights Reserved.
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