What is DRTV advertising?

Understanding DRTV

Direct response TV (or DRTV) is a form of TV advertising that drives leads, sales and measurable actions in a bid to deliver maximum ROI. DRTV is often the preferred advertising format of medium-sized TV advertisers, whilst also being a key tool in the marketing repertoire of many large brands and household names.

What makes an advert ‘DRTV’?

There is no single ‘format’ that an advert must follow to be classed as a DRTV advert, however there are some characteristics that many share:

Clear calls to action, both on-screen and in the voiceover
Simple narrative, communicating features and benefits
The product or service advertised appearing prominently throughout
The brand name/logo staying on screen throughout
Focus on an offer, event or discount with limited availability
Fast in pacing, short in length – DRTV ads are typically between 10’ and 30’ long.
Rarely silent or music-only – voiceover is used to capture attention.

In short, the focus of a DRTV advert is on simple, clear, repeatable messaging that leads the audience to understand the benefits of your product quickly and easily, and drives them to take action.

Where does DRTV sit in the customer journey?

In marketing theory, DRTV qualifies as a form of Below the Line advertising – it is targeted, measurable and drives conversions. DRTV’s natural position in the customer journey is therefore close to the point of sale – the moment when a customer picks up the phone, visits an online store or pops into their local branch with the intention to make a purchase.

Traditionally, DRTV’s focus on targeting and conversion have set it apart from other forms of TV advertising that aim to drive awareness among a mass audience. However, nowadays brand TV ads are often highly targeted too, thanks to innovation in the TV advertising industry which makes it easier to segment audiences into meaningful groups.

Likewise, brand response TV ads also aim to have it both ways by generating conversions and awareness (there’s more on this in our article Direct Response TV vs Brand Response TV).

Nevertheless, it’s DRTV’s laser-like focus on targeting and conversion that set it apart from its peers. Yes, you can segment a brand campaign and yes you can drive sales with a brand response ad, but if you want to maximise targeting efficiency and immediate ROI, then DRTV is an excellent choice.

What are the benefits of DRTV advertising?

DRTV can:

Drive immediate, measurable revenue – rarely a bad thing!
Provide proof of concept for TV as a marketing channel. TV can be a hefty investment, so demonstrating ROI to the rest of the business is important.
Capture market share by putting products in new consumers’ hands, making it easier to market to them in the future (particularly so if you operate a razor-and-blades model).
Push traffic to your website, allowing you to gather audience data and insight for future campaigns and remarketing through other channels (ie PPC).

Examples of DRTV advertising

Below are some DRTV adverts that showcase different styles and techniques.

(Shameless plug alert: these are DRTV adverts that Happy Hour made!)

SunLife – It Always Pays

We’ve produced many DRTV adverts for SunLife over the years. For It Always Pays, we took a key selling point of their insurance – its reliability – and used it as a hook around which we built a whole DRTV advert. Have a watch and see if you can spot some of the characteristics of DRTV adverts we described above.

Thortful Cards – Fathers Day

This DRTV advert for Thortful showcases a few important DRTV themes in action:

Hanging off an important event with a deadline – Fathers Day!
Voiceover to create engagement (through humour)
Showcasing the product – cards – prominently throughout
Website address appearing on screen for the duration of the ad, supported by a call to action at the end.

Yopa – However You Say It

We produced this DRTV advert for online estate agents Yopa, with the goal of driving traffic to their website from people looking to sell their home. A simple pun weaves in the repetition of the brand name (with the logo also interspersed on ‘Sold’ boards in various shots). Features and benefits are articulated clearly and simply by the voiceover.

Finally, there is a clear call to action at the end which takes up a whole 20% of the advert’s total runtime – count the seconds if you don’t believe us!