What a great idea! It solves my problem! That’s a better way! Now it’s easy! I’ve got to have it! All of these statements, and hundreds more just like it, are common thoughts we all have when watching Direct Response Television. And of course, these are thoughts the creative geniuses who write and produce DRTV want you to have. Why? The obvious answer is because products and services are being sold and sellers want viewers to buy. But that’s putting the cart before the horse. The real answer, and not so obvious to the viewer, is DRTV’s ability to create demand. Whether it’s a product or service no other form of advertising has the ability to create demand like DRTV. 

DRTV holds the unique ability to visually demonstrate to the viewer the difficulty in the way they are doing something now and how their life can be improved and made easier with that particular product or service – creating demand. A case in point is cleaning the inside windshields of our family cars. I like a clean car and I admit to being a little fastidious about it. But I absolutely dread cleaning the inside windshields.  The windshields are at an awkward angle forcing me to lie across the front seats, waving my arm at an angle it doesn’t naturally go, with a soggy paper towel that starts falling apart, while trying to get it clean and streak free. And the rear windshield is an even bigger nightmare. Crawling into the back seat to work in an area half as accommodating trying to duplicate the nearly impossible feat I just attempted in the front. Sound familiar??

Well, lo and behold, I saw a DRTV spot for a truly wonderful little gadget that makes all the dread and aggravation of cleaning windshields disappear. Nothing more than a cloth on the end of a long pivoting handle, this little device solves my problem and makes my life better. The spot clearly demonstrated my futile efforts to get a streak-free and spotless windshield and how this product eliminated my problem and gave me a solution. The spot created demand.

Try creating that same demand with direct mail or any type of print magazines or newspapers. It can’t be done. Words printed on a piece of paper may provide information regarding features, benefits, and price but do little to create demand. Words alone cannot provide the same impact of visually demonstrating the frustrations or difficulty of a particular task or service. Adding photos to words do little more than show the product, add color, and make the ad more visually appealing.

General advertising in any form may provide a degree of brand recognition but cannot and does not show you why you need it and how it will make your life better. No other form of advertising other than DRTV creates demand and creating demand creates buyers.

Tweet