What's the point of creativity in Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing - what’s the point of the creative work?

John GriffithsPlanning Above and Beyond

Bucharest Sept 8th

The application of behavioural economics to DM

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creativity and strategy

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Why?

Recession – double dip? Pressure on prices - budgets Low barriers to bad practice – Focus on channels and message

delivery NOT content, effective engagement

SO Response suffers

What is creativity for?

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Creativity is not the primary driver of response

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Direct Marketing is NOT an Ad in an envelope!

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Which gives you better response?

Send great creative to the wrong target group

OR

Send terrible creative to the right target group

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Contribution to response

Targeting40%

Offer25%

Creative20%

Tactical15%

Source: Direct Marketing Association

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Intrigue

Black envelope Heavier paper, Official crest

Actually an invitation to spend moneyAnnual conference £400Dinner £3000 per table

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This invitation is going to cost me money!

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What is the creative strategy?

Makes me curious Make me think this invitation is

Unusual Exclusive Limited

Confuses my price perceptions Engages me so I think about attending

even if I am a regular attender non attender lapsed attender

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Les Binet – how advertising works

Review of IPA effectiveness winners since 1980

Which are more effective: emotional or rational campaigns?

16%

26%

31%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Emotional Combined Rational

Campaign strategy

V l

arg

e p

rofi

t g

ain

s (

% r

ep

ort

ing

)

Effective ads work via emotions, not messages.

Source: Les Binet 2009

39%

28%26%

16%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Fame Emotionalinvolvement

Combined emotional& rational

Any rational

Communications strategy

Ve

ry l

arg

e p

rofi

t g

ain

s (

% r

ep

ort

ing

)Rational messages are LESS powerful

Effective ads create ripples of influence throughout society.

Source: Les Binet 2009

The most profitable advertisingmakes me less price sensitive

20%21%

26%

37%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Price sensitivity Share growth Share defence Sales growth

Campaign objective

V l

arg

e p

rofi

t g

ain

s (

% r

ep

ort

ing

)

Effective ads “tilt the demand curve”.

Source: Les Binet 2009

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The way the Marketing Societyevent creative works is..

NOT to get me to respond

NOT to sell the benefitsof the conference

To make me feel it isA privilege to go

The price is irrelevant!

Targeting task I am already a

Marketing Societymember

Creative task Make me feel

differentlyabout attending

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How marketing thinking is changing

Neuroscience Emotion

MemoryDecisionmaking

Herd theory

Behaviouraleconomics

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Sometimes.. We want people to think

We want people to think – for example brand switching

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Sometimes .. We don’t

Sometimes we don’t want them to think – for example renewal

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We DO want them to gothrough a process

The creative strategy designs that decision process

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Where creativity can make a difference

Reposition the brandRestructure the decisionPrevent change

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Neuroscience

focus on brain activity NOT unproven models of how we make decisions

Do you have evidence that the mental models you use actually work?

Human

Mammal

Reptile

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Emotion

Driven mostly by the mammal brain The essential component for decision

making

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Memory

Is always a copy of the decision not a unique, permanent original record

Changes every time memory is used –dynamic

If customers have bad experiences – we can modify the memory

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Herd theory: what everyone else is doing

We are influenced by other people 9 out of 10 owners say their cats

prefer.. We imitate gestures We like the idea of sharing taste

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Behavioural economics we’re not rational We don’t have the time to

consider all the alternatives We post rationalise our

decision – so give a different reason

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Heuristics

Heuristics are quick general rules not logic which help people to make choices Decoys Anchoring Mandated choice

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The decoy: how to assist choice

If you put a similar offer close to the offer you want to push – and make that offer unattractive – you massively increase the response

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3 way offer

Source Don Ariely

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2 way offer

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3 way offer

Source Don Ariely

16

84

0

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2 way offer

68

32

Source Don Ariely

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Anchoring

The brain relies too heavily, or "anchors," on one trait or piece of information when making decisions.

When making the decision the mind can’t discount the anchor

Put in a higher priced product thatno one buys – allows you to pricethe medium product higher – thisincreases sales to the medium price

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Irish post office

RMG TargetDublin

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Irish post office: Heuristics in action

Letter with a penny Scratch to find a unique URL Enter URL On website greeted by name by mind

reader who gets you to empty your pockets and does mind reading project

ERGO – direct marketing works – look what you just did!

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Mandated choice

The way you preset the answers affects the response

Default is YES! Example Readers Digest Nudge – how to influence the context

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Priming

Pre-condition response Intelligent word exercise helps quiz

takers give more intelligent answers, 10 commandments more honest answers

Give your recipients something memorable to do to increase their involvement

Example mailing to persuade sales reps to sell Windows more aggressively

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Windows

Y&R Auckland

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Loss aversion

People strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains

If you remind them of the risks of losing they will actively avoid them

Even if the losses are very small Tell respondents what they lose if they

don’t buy Example IBM – the risks of buying the

wrong IT system

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Ogilvy Beijing

IBM Shark

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The power of FREE

Variation of loss aversion Zero risk always the preferred option The Free offer always attracts buyers Even if you have to pay more to get it!

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Herd thinking

Who you identify with Who you want to imitate

Aspiration Mimicing

Works with anti role models .. Selling fine whisky.. In South Africa – to trade and media reps

Works with youth video bloggers to raise money for lifeboats

Works with Chevrolet media opinion formers – who become the hero

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Brandhouse whiskey – anti hero

JupiterDrawing RoomSouth Africa

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Proximity London

DMA Grand Prix

RNLI: role models for youth

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Arc WorldwideKuala Lumpur

Chevrolet makes it all about YOU!

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whose job is this anyway?

Account management? Constructing the offer?

Data planning? Is this a targeting issue?

Account Planning? Should it assist with creative strategy?

Should the client choose the mechanic?

If creative doesn’t own this area then do you need more than an art director to make the pack look good and brand?

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Beware of channel thinking

Does the crisis force us to find the cheapest way to market?

Is the lowest allowable cost always the best solution? Particularly if it leads to lower sales?

Should creatives have an point of view about the medium?

Or should the client prescribe the cheapest channel?

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In summary

Creativity is for a commercial purpose – focus – we’re not entertaining people to make it easier to sell to them

Or to win creative awards!

We’re using creative ideas to reshape the offer and to connect them with it

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The books of the film..

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The best DMcreative resource I know..

And its editorPatrick Collister

The Directory

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Thank you foryour attention!

What are you going to take with you?

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