The Idiot Box Smartens Up

WELCOME, TELEVISION! For years you've been the last great bastion of brand marketing. With the exception of late-night spots, most of your dollars have come from marketers loath to include direct response mechanisms in their advertisements. But according to an article in The New York Times, this is changing — and those of us who have long acknowledged the power of direct response are sitting around asking, “What took you so long?”

Lack of accountability, sure: People don't like to have their feet held to the fire when, merely by creating a pretty-picture ad, they've discharged their duties as marketing directors. But with the advent of digital video recorders, consumers — especially affluent ones — are skipping right past your advertisers' spots to their prerecorded shows. And you've been screaming your head off at Nielsen Media Research, as well as at anyone else who might listen.

No longer, apparently: You've decided to switch rather than fight.

According to the Times, KFC has actually gone out of its way to reward people who tape its television ads. The chain incorporated a secret word, visible only to those watching in slow motion, into one commercial. By entering the secret word at KFC's Web site, viewers earn a coupon good for $1 off one of its sandwiches.

Other companies, such as Home Depot, are encouraging consumers to vote on which of three commercials the home improvement chain should run. Much to its delight, visitors popped over to its Web site and voted 453,000 times for their favorite spot, the Times reported.

Read that again, folks: Consumers went on a Web site to let a marketer know which of its advertisements they wanted to view. Most, if not all, sat through three separate Home Depot spots just so they could place a vote for their favorite.

Think that's a powerful mix of branding and direct response? I sure do. (The opportunity to vote isn't on the site anymore. But please, please, Home Depot, tell me you at least made an attempt to capture voters' information.)

What's even more amazing is that visitors logged on to the site without the promise of a hard reward. They merely wanted to be heard — and, assumedly, entertained.

Dentyne gum's marketing department didn't risk not capturing Web site visitors. Its new TV spot offers the beginning of a vignette, then invites viewers to visit the site and choose their favorite of four possible endings (that is, I think there are four; one was blocked as being “Too bold to show you!”).

Voters were rewarded with a free pack of gum. Of course, to receive this gum, they had to give their birth date, name and both physical and e-mail addresses. Dentyne even tacked on a bit of market research: Voters could choose their free pack from three different flavors.

Nicely done. I'm going to keep right on clicking until I break through and see that mysterious fourth ending.

And with every click, the grand message is reinforced: Dentyne…Dentyne…Dentyne….