Ask a typical above-the-line creative director what he or she thinks of direct response TV or direct mail and your response will first come in the form of what the Greek satirist Aristophanes called a “fart-smelling face.” The creative director would make this face with good reason: most direct response creative stinks. Let’s face it, for every award-winning piece of direct response, late-night TV runs at least two like this one:
Or this one:
We should not blame brand advertising folks for thinking that direct response creative must look awful and scare/appall consumers. Truly Translinear marketing, however, demands that direct response creative not only drive sales but that it must also look good doing it.
