For most businesses going on TV for the first time, yes. Not because brand advertising doesn’t work, but because you need to know whether your first campaign is paying back, and response is how you find out quickly.
Why response first
A first TV campaign is a test. You want to know, within a few weeks, whether to spend more, change the ad or stop. A brand ad can take months to show up in your sales. A response ad shows up in your phone log the same evening.
It also keeps everyone honest. When the board asks what the TV money did, “calls up 19%” is a better answer than “people seem to have noticed us”.
Response doesn’t mean cheap-looking
The old idea of DRTV is a shouty man and a flashing phone number. It doesn’t have to be. Our first ad for CI Group was fronted by Anna Ryder Richardson, a face their audience knew from Changing Rooms, and built around a simple, relatable problem: conservatories too hot in summer and too cold in winter. It looked good and it sold. £5 back for every £1 of airtime in its first five weeks.
The craft and the response aren’t in competition. The best response ads look good enough that people trust the company, and are clear enough that they know what to do next.
How to build response in
- Lead with the problem your customer has, in their words.
- Give them one clear thing to do, and a reason to do it now.
- Put a tracked number or web address on screen, big, and say it out loud.
- Plan short versions. A 30” can run in more slots, and a 10” reminder keeps the number in people’s heads.
When to go brand-first
If you sell through retailers, so there’s no phone to ring, or you’re launching something people need to understand before they’ll act, a brand-led ad can make more sense. Even then, give people something to do: search your name, visit a page, find you in store.