1. November 16, 2015
Five Reasons Consumer Packaged Brands Need Accountable Advertising
http://www.madmarketer.com/topics/news/articles/413118-five-reasons-
consumer-packaged-brands-need-accountable-advertising.htm
Jessica Hawthorne-Castro
The shift in consumer attitudes towards brands and movements in disposable
incomes both present challenges for CPG marketers that are striving to carve out
revenue in increasingly fragmented markets. K. B. Shriram of PwC’s Strategy & in
2015 Consumer Goods Trends, states “In many markets, consumer wages have been
static for five years. Even where economies are starting to perform better, the
squeeze on after-tax wages, especially for the middle class, younger people, and
families, is depressing consumer spending.”
Coinciding with market fragmentation is new channels of media consumption
driven by the rise of smartphones and tablets. Every channel, whether it’s web,
social media, radio, TV, or mobile has distinct requirements, audiences, economic
metrics, and requires unique attention. Making all of these channels work cohesively
requires coordinated marketing campaigns. “Collectively, these shifts challenge the
way CPG companies manage their brand and business portfolios,” says Shriram,
“and call for a rethinking of their go-to-market approach, with an emphasis on
analytics.”
Despite the challenges, opportunities are there for companies that proactively look
for underutilized or new marketing strategies and channels. Many of the world’s
largest brands have discovered that television can be very beneficial for advertisers,
especially since Americans watch up to five hours of TV every day. For CPG direct
marketers, utilizing DRTV advertising presents several benefits:
 Tracking and analyzing. Other advertising channels do not offer tracking
that can be found with DRTV, where the initial point of contact and actual
sale occur so closely together. Companies can leverage this information by
adjusting their campaigns by moving funds between networks and
performing other similar actions. Analytics is nothing new for DR marketers,
despite the clamoring from digital agencies that claim they own the analytics
crown. CPG advertisers that consistently use DR understand its benefits
including up and down-sell opportunities and streamlined A/B testing.

2.  Streamlined brand recognition. DRTV builds energy for a brand, whether the
spot itself is 15 seconds or a full half-hour special. Given how media schedules
are built, they still delivery TRP levels and audience delivery rates while
managing costs efficiently. Brands are boosted while still getting ROI for
marketing dollars.
 Accountable to limited budgets. The business environment demands close
attention to costs. With analytics and metrics, companies can no longer spend
millions on a campaign and simply hope for the best. DR offers CPG firms an
accountable way to reach target audiences that can be done with a reasonable
budget. Chief marketing officers at several CPG firms are looking harder at DR
options such as DRTV in order to operate within more limited marketing budgets.
 Analytics are essential. Analytics are vital for CPG advertisers in 2015 and
beyond. For example, consider directing consumers to retail outlets, an initiative
that is both complex and expensive that requires educating and motivating
customers. We use our proprietary Market Retail Penetration Index (MRPI) which
creatively uses upfront analytics to help firms lower costs and increase responses.
On the retail side, the MRPI can be used to further drive national sales by
analyzing specific target market responses.
 Adding DR to marketing portfolios. Discounted media rates and better
advertising frequency make a compelling case for DR. Marketers at CPG
companies gain access to less expensive media rates so they can boost the number
of ads and have more time for consumer education initiatives. This
frequency/engagement combination through DRTV helps fulfill two primary
goals for marketers.
Tastes and the media environment change in the blink of an eye. Staying “top of mind”
among consumers is a significant challenge for CPG marketers. DRTV is a cost effective
way for firms to achieve high brand scores that drive consumer action at an attractive
ROI.
Jessica Hawthorne-Castro is the CEO of Hawthorne Direct, an analytics and technology
based agency that specializes in Accountable Brand Advertising. Hawthorne Direct has
been a leader in the Direct Response industry that was pioneered by Chairman Tim
Hawthorne nearly 30 years ago. Jessica’s leadership role involves innovations in
analytics and accountable advertising accompanied with service-oriented relationships
with the company’s high profile clients, helping them to envision, create, and execute
powerful advertising campaigns that build brands and ignite consumers. To date,
Jessica’s clients have included 3M (Command, Post-it, Scotch-Brite), Armor All, Audible,
Black & Decker, Brother, Carbonite, Dyson, Fellowes, Gerber, Hamilton Beach, Home
Advisor, Hoover, L'Oreal, Neat, PETA, Remington, Transamerica, United Healthcare,
zulily.com, and more. She can be reached at (310) 248-3972 or via email at
jessica.hawthorne@hawthornedirect.com.