Television and Out-of-Home Reinforce Your Advertising Strategy and Deliver Stronger Results

Dealer Marketing Magazine, December 2010

It is common knowledge that dealers use a variety of advertising outlets to reach buyers in their markets. Two studies have grabbed my attention recently: one on television advertising and the other on out-of-home advertising.

News on television advertising

The Associated Press recently ran a story describing the trend in television advertising towards 15-second commercials. According to Nielsen, the number of 15-second television ads has jumped more than 70 percent in the last five years.

There are a couple of reasons for this; one, many advertisers’ budgets have shrunk, and two research shows that shorter ads actually capture a viewer’s attention longer than 30 or 60-second ads. Kantar Media’s chief research officer says that about five percent of an audience viewing a 15-second ad abandons watching before it is over, but that number jumps to six percent for 30-second ads.

The impact of this trend is significant. Viewers are now exposed to even more ads for more businesses, services, and products, which also means that advertisers have that much more clutter to break through and less time to make an impression. In a 15-second ad, this is only possible with strong visual components and highly memorable information.

If you are considering joining the trend towards 15-second branding spots (or if you have already), then you will need to include a memorable URL and phone number. Chances are your URL is an adaptation of your dealership’s name. Including a phone number that also spells out the brand you sell, like 1-800-NEW-FORD®, or your niche in the market like 1-800-PREOWNED, is proven to bring you more phone-ups. In fact, research shows that consumers are nine times more likely to recall a vanity phone number in broadcast advertising—like television—compared to a numeric phone number. In addition, they have a 45 percent higher recall rate of a vanity 800 number over a URL. Including both in your 15-second branding television campaign will be sure to cover all the bases.

Out-of-home advertising research

Clear Channel Outdoor recently explored the effect of using out-of-home advertising in conjunction with other traditional formats in the advertising mix. The findings of their recent report, “How Out-of-Home Advertising Works” shows that out-of-home advertising (like billboards, bus shelters, taxis and buses, and stadiums and arenas) contributes to a brand’s overall advertising campaign’s effectiveness. Including out-of-home advertising in the mix provides a direct impact on sales by increasing brand awareness.

The report also shows that out-of-home can provide significantly higher sales rates when run along with television ads where the creative messaging is consistent across both formats.

The same consumer research that shows vanity numbers are more impactful in television advertising also shows that advertisers can expect up to an 84 percent improvement in recall of memorable vanity phone numbers in visual media types, like billboards, as opposed to numeric phone numbers.

These two reports as well as consumer research data, demonstrates that using these two advertising formats to support a well-rounded campaign will generate results—the leads that you are looking for.

Laura Noonan has 16 years of experience in the vanity 800 numbers and telecommunications industry. She coaches clients each year on using toll-free vanity 800 phone numbers as direct marketing tools to increase advertising response rates. Laura can be reached at lnoonan@800response.com or 1-800-NEW-SALE.

Dealer Marketing Magazine, Copyright © 2010