DM might not be celebrated but it is integral
Alongside Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and the Twilight movies, Aleksandr Orlov ranks as one of the biggest popular cultural phenomenon of the last two years.
Comparethemarket’s Russian meerkat, and the television campaign that he starred in , not only provided a catchphrase hungry public with new material it also jolted price comparison sector marketers out of their torpor.
The meerkat juggernaut not only led to an uplift in Comparethemarket’s site traffic, it also engaged with consumers, via Facebook fan pages and the like, in a way that players in the previously anonymous sector had never managed.
In response, Gocompare launched opera singing Gio Compario into the marketing sphere, while Confused.com hired new creative and media agencies, introduced a fresh above the line campaign and launched a search for its first CMO.
As any marketer in that fledgling sector or indeed any other will tell you, it is one thing to boost recognition, it is another to increase direct response.
Enter the direct marketing agencies to shore up the return on their client’s investment.
Comparethemarket.com appointed EHS 4D to handle DM duties in January after a five-month pitch process and now Confused.com has reportedly fired the starting gun in the search for a retained agency.
EHS 4D and whichever agency nets the latter account will be tasked with the nitty gritty. The above the line agencies may have facilitated a date between the bargain hunting consumer and comparison site but it the DM agency that is tasked with developing and retaining the relationship to ensure a happy ever after.
DM campaigns and the agencies that develop them might not be able to bask in the same glory often bestowed upon celebrated and much discussed television activity, but when it comes to the bottom line, they are as integral and as important to the long-term success of the main players in the comparison and many other sectors.
