Mays' broad appeal was not a surprise to me. Several years ago my
agency was hired by OxiClean, the brand that put him on the map, to
deal with its "Billy Mays" issue. The company had rapidly grown
from a "pitchman" and "home shopping" product into a large national
retail brand, to a great extent based on the power of Billy's
pitch. Big-money competitors were nipping at its heels with
versions of "Oxi" products, and OxiClean wanted to keep up the
momentum. It had initially been advised that it needed to migrate
from DRTV into a more sophisticated brand strategy and had hired a
well-known brand agency to produce expensive, beautiful and amusing
new commercials. The result was a miserable failure, with sales
dropping quickly. OxiClean then came to us, hoping to "up the
production quality and brand message" while maintaining its
direct-sales roots. It was also worried about its dependence on
Mays. He was synonymous with the brand, and OxiClean was rightly
concerned about one personality being the face of its company.
As often happens when analyzing DRTV, consumer feedback on Mays
had absolutely no correlation to his success. He was polarizing.
Many consumers were disturbingly vocal in their dislike for him.
But the true test of the effectiveness of DRTV is based on results,
not random consumer complaints, and that was where Mays shined.
People would complain about Billy, but he got them to buy, from TV
and at retail.
We produced two ads with a different spokesperson and two with
Billy. There was no comparison. Consumers wanted to buy from Billy,
and not just any Billy but the loud and in-your-face pitchman doing
interesting demonstrations. Accordingly, it is no surprise that
years later, after OxiClean was acquired by mega-marketer Church
& Dwight, Billy remained the brand's spokesman, doing his pitch
the same way he always had.
Mays' success reinforces many facts that direct-response
marketers innately understand but brand marketers still find
elusive, including:
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Everyone watches DRTV. Kids, moms, lawyers,
business execs, poor, middle class and the rich -- they all watch.
DRTV is not a demographic profile; it is a marketing method and
sales channel.
-
Direct response is a valid approach to brand
building. The essence of brand is not beautiful imagery or
clever slogans; often it is more about consumer acceptance of a
product's ability to solve a problem. In fact, after OxiClean's
success, mega-brand marketers such as P&G and Clorox entered
the DRTV world, often with products and creative designed to
replicate what OxiClean had done.
-
DRTV drives sales. For most products, the real
miracle of direct response is its ability to drive retail sales,
and it allows companies with limited advertising budgets to do
battle with the big boys. OxiClean was a nice little company when
it only sold direct to consumers. When it rolled into retail using
the cost efficiencies of DRTV, it became a powerhouse that
threatened the world's most sophisticated retail brands.
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People like to be sold. Brand advertising is
frequently so obsessed with itself that it often forgets to sell us
the product. Show us what you want us to buy, and tell us why we
should buy it. Mays made us understand the value of his
products.
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The only true test of DRTV is "live testing."
Clients constantly ask about an alternative to a real media test,
but unfortunately there is no replacement. People in a forced group
environment act differently than they do in the privacy of their
own homes. I can guarantee you that Billy Mays never would have
made it out of a focus group, yet he became one of the most famous
pitchmen in history.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Tim O'Leary
is co-founder and CEO of R2C Group, the largest independently owned
direct-response-advertising agency in the U.S. Mr. O'Leary's
award-winning book on entrepreneurship and management, "Warriors,
Workers, Whiners & Weasels," was released in 2006, and his
latest work, "Pitchmen," is scheduled for release in 2010. You can
also catch up with him on his blog, The
Bizzy Life.
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