Image vs. Direct Response Ads
Work in the advertising world long enough and you'll quickly learn that there are basically two broad categories of advertising. The image or branding category and the direct response category. The biggest difference between the two? Image ads focus primarily on mental and emotional impact while direct response ads encourage an immediate or semi-immediate reader response. Here are two examples.
Volvo Image
Direct Response
Generally speaking, for an image campaign, the key is to burn an idea into the recipient's emotion or mind. This is why car ads typically center around themes like performance, safety, luxury, etc., The immediate goal for the ad is to get you, the reader, thinking in a specific way. For example, if you are particularly safety conscious Volvo's safety theme will catch your attention. This is important because car marketers know that buying a car is different from entering a sweepstakes contest. For most people, buying a car is a decision that takes place over time whereas entering a sweepstakes contest is whimsical. Therefore, if over time Volvo can successfully convince you that their car is the safest, then there's a good chance you'll consider a Volvo when it's time to buy.
On the other hand, direct response advertisers are primarily interested in getting an immediate and sometimes even impulsive response from their readers. Consequently, though direct response ads may focus on a theme, they will also incorporate various response elements. The contest advertisement pictured above serves as a good example. The headline pulls the reader in by promising a chance to win, a deadline on the contest encourages the reader to act quickly, and the coupon at the bottom provides the venue for doing so. Direct response advertisers closely track and monitor responses to their ads and use this data to tweak the ads further.
In addition to goals, there is also a difference in the way advertisers have typically priced these two categories. Since image advertisers are primarily concerned with brand recognition, brand recall and brand affinity (as opposed to immediate orders) there has been, at least in the past, a lower level of price sensitivity when it comes to the cost of an individual ad.
On the other hand, because direct response advertisers track each ad's performance, they know how much they've either made or lost on the cost of an ad. This in turn allows them to come up with a mathematical formula for determining ad prices that are most likely to achieve their desired financial goals. This formula is called cost per thousand or cpm for short.
If you're interested in getting additional information on types of advertising a good place to start is with David Ogilvy's classic on the subject Ogilvy on Advertising. The book is around 225 pages long, comes in a paperback and last I checked was around $20.00. A picture of the cover is shown below and you can order direct from Amazon by clicking on it. Enjoy Learning!
Volvo Image
Direct Response
Generally speaking, for an image campaign, the key is to burn an idea into the recipient's emotion or mind. This is why car ads typically center around themes like performance, safety, luxury, etc., The immediate goal for the ad is to get you, the reader, thinking in a specific way. For example, if you are particularly safety conscious Volvo's safety theme will catch your attention. This is important because car marketers know that buying a car is different from entering a sweepstakes contest. For most people, buying a car is a decision that takes place over time whereas entering a sweepstakes contest is whimsical. Therefore, if over time Volvo can successfully convince you that their car is the safest, then there's a good chance you'll consider a Volvo when it's time to buy.
On the other hand, direct response advertisers are primarily interested in getting an immediate and sometimes even impulsive response from their readers. Consequently, though direct response ads may focus on a theme, they will also incorporate various response elements. The contest advertisement pictured above serves as a good example. The headline pulls the reader in by promising a chance to win, a deadline on the contest encourages the reader to act quickly, and the coupon at the bottom provides the venue for doing so. Direct response advertisers closely track and monitor responses to their ads and use this data to tweak the ads further.
In addition to goals, there is also a difference in the way advertisers have typically priced these two categories. Since image advertisers are primarily concerned with brand recognition, brand recall and brand affinity (as opposed to immediate orders) there has been, at least in the past, a lower level of price sensitivity when it comes to the cost of an individual ad.
On the other hand, because direct response advertisers track each ad's performance, they know how much they've either made or lost on the cost of an ad. This in turn allows them to come up with a mathematical formula for determining ad prices that are most likely to achieve their desired financial goals. This formula is called cost per thousand or cpm for short.
If you're interested in getting additional information on types of advertising a good place to start is with David Ogilvy's classic on the subject Ogilvy on Advertising. The book is around 225 pages long, comes in a paperback and last I checked was around $20.00. A picture of the cover is shown below and you can order direct from Amazon by clicking on it. Enjoy Learning!
<< Home