Attorney Advertising - Personal Injury TV ads

Guess Which Medium Is as Effective as Ever: TV
Despite All That Ails the Toob, Marketers Can Still Reach the Audience They Are Looking for -- Even Web-Obsessed Youth
by Jack Neff Published: February 23, 2009
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- The drumbeat of doom for TV advertising has sounded for more than a decade -- DVRs, channel surfing, fragmentation, clutter, the flight to digital media ... Jay Leno moving to prime time. Now the recession has even TV's most reliable moneybags of yore, such as Procter & Gamble and General Motors, yanking big wads of cash off the table.
Yet a funny thing is emerging from the smoldering ruins of what may be the ugliest quarter TV has ever encountered financially: a growing body of evidence which suggests not only that TV advertising still works, but that it may be working better than ever. Analyses by people and companies that have studied or made bets on advertising effectiveness for years find no evidence that all of the problems TV advertising faces have done anything to render it less effective.
A seven-figure ethnographic study due to be released next month by the Nielsen Co.-funded Council for Research Excellence from research firm Sequent and the Center for Media Design at Ball State University appears set to punctuate that point, finding that TV remains the dominant medium even for reaching youth, despite the inroads of digital and social media, according to a person familiar with the research.
If time shifting, ad skipping or clutter really were rendering TV less effective, then it should show up in marketing-mix analyses that have been done since the early 1990s as a lower average sales lift per gross rating point over time.
It doesn't, according to Marketing Management Analytics (MMA),* a unit of Aegis Group's Synovate. "We haven't seen a significant trend in the erosion of effectiveness of TV," said Douglas Brooks, senior VP of MMA. In fact, MMA, which reports to clients each year on its findings regarding aggregate TV effectiveness, has seen a slight uptick in effectiveness in recent years.
Offline driving onlineMMA also has found a surprising spillover effect for TV in digital media: About a third of search queries for brands studied are driven by offline advertising, particularly TV -- a higher proportion than that driven by online-display advertising, Mr. Brooks said.
Leonard Lodish, a marketing professor at Wharton and one of the authors of the 1995 "Why Advertising Works" study, has discovered equally surprising results. He's found that TV advertising actually became more effective, not less, after 1995, in a paper published in 2007 by the Journal of Advertising Research, soon to be updated in a new study now awaiting publication by the same journal.
He got at the findings differently than MMA, and with less statistical modeling required, by using data from Information Resources Inc.'s BehaviorScan markets and other matched-market tests that compared different levels of spending in different test markets. Specifically, the average volume lift from incremental TV spending has increased since 1995, according to the study by Mr. Lodish, Wharton colleague Abba Krieger and University of Houston marketing professor Ye Hu.
One reason could be that commercial avoidance, fragmentation and clutter actually increased the reward from spending more. But the study also found a similar, if smaller, improvement since 1995 in volume lift for brands when they had any amount of TV vs. having none at all.
Despite the improved effectiveness since 1995, more than half the advertisers (16 of 29) in the study still lost money by running their TV ads. "The ones that did make a profit, though, did very well," said Mr. Lodish, to the extent that on the whole, advertisers in the study made a profit from their TV ads after 1995, but lost money before 1995.
Creative mattersThat's obviously a serious caveat to the value of spending on TV. The other caveat is one that other marketing-mix analysts also report from client work that creative quality makes a big difference, in many cases explaining more about success and failure than media choices.
Mr. Lodish said he still doesn't really know how TV advertising effectiveness could have increased since 1995. Mr. Brooks can't really explain it either, though he has a theory that the highly analytical clients using marketing-mix modeling or matched-market tests may compensate for the impact of DVRs, fragmentation and clutter by making smarter bets.
"When the fish get finicky," he said, "it makes you a better fisherman. The presentation of the bait and how it's delivered -- getting it in the right spot at the right time -- becomes critical."
The other question Mr. Brooks often hears these days is whether recession historically has caused the average sales lift per GRP to decline. The answer, at least based on data from the relatively mild recession of 2000-2001, is no.
Looking for even more evidence? Executives at A. Eicoff & Co., a unit of WPP Group's Ogilvy & Mather that's one of the biggest direct-response TV shops in the U.S., said response rates from its TV ads haven't deteriorated at all over the years. "The death of TV has been exaggerated," said William McCabe, the shop's senior VP-business development.~ ~ ~

With television, radio, and the internet, it is easy to overlook the power of one of the oldest and most cost efficient forms of advertising - direct mail. While it may seem antiquated and lackluster, direct mail marketing reaches people. It is personal, and in today's high tech environment where few people bother to write a real letter on paper, it is refreshing and comforting - a tangible document that conveys a sense of stability and permanence rather than the fly-by-night feel of email and other electronic communications.

Direct mail uses the advantage of timing by getting the message in front of your potential clients when they are ready to give it their attention. They also see it when they have money on their minds. It's right in there with the stack of bills, and if you have reached the right audience, it can offer the solution to the bills that they are trying to figure out how to pay at that very moment.

Direct mail is very cost-effective, but to maximize your ROI it has to be done right. Scattered, random mailings will not do the trick. You want to send very targeted, personalized advertising, not junk mail. In order to accomplish this, you need to work with an experienced creative team who will target the right audience with the right message, and that message has to be consistent with the branding of your firm.

Your list must target potential clients, people who need your services. The list must be accurate, free of duplicates, and embarrassing misspellings. Your mailings should be personally addressed to individuals.

The message in your direct mail must fit the recipients. You must offer them something they need now. It has to get their attention and be meaningful to them. That message must demonstrate consistency and reliability when your audience follows up on it. When they visit your website, it should reflect what they saw in the mailing. It should be immediately recognizable. When they call or visit your office your staff should be familiar with the mailing and ready to answer the questions it may generate.

If you are ready to put together your direct mail campaign, contact Network Affiliates today so we can help you create targeted and effective mailing.

As other law firms slash their advertising budgets in a knee-jerk reaction to the economy, the demand for prime advertising slots is declining and you can get more bang for your buck. Law firms that are continuing to advertise are dropping their highest price media slots in favor of cheaper ones and that means that the most coveted placement is now being offered at bargains like never before. You could actually wind up paying less for the best spots than your competition is paying for the less desirable spots they hold onto.

Not only will you get your name out there while you the rest are huddled in the shadows, but you can get the best placement at a discount, possibly at a discount that will outlast the downturn in the economy. Right now you have the opportunity to negotiate and lock down the good price. Our Media Buyers are reporting that our personal injury law firm advertisers are actually paying as much as 25% less than a year ago. When the economy turns around and other law firms are trying to buy up media slots again, they will have to pay more, but if you lock in your rates, you can continue to advertise more effectively with a smaller budget, edging out the competition.

At Network Affiliates we already have the connections to have the first word on these good deals as they become available and we know how to negotiate even better deals than what are offered, bringing you the most value for your advertising buck.

Contact us today to find out how you can optimize your advertising dollars today and take advantage of this crazy economy.

With state deficits growing, even the courts are not immune to budget cuts, layoffs, and even closures. While this can mean more delays and raised docket fees in some courts, it may also work in your favor as others look to more creative solutions to their financial woes.

In a speech last week, Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe of Philadelphia recognized the value of civil cases and the funds they can generate. According to the National Law Journal, "Dembe is looking at the civil side of the court, counting on civil attorneys to generate revenue for the court. She said she wants to make the Commerce Program and the Complex Litigation Center for mass torts even more attractive to attorneys 'so we're taking business away from other courts.'"

While the courts compete for your business, we understand that what you really is the right marketing approach to ensure that you get the right kind of cases. At Network Affiliates, our creative advertising team stays on top current legal developments so we can fine tune your legal advertising. We know how to respond quickly to new cases - whether it is a recalled drug or an aviation accident. We will make sure your ad campaign stays on top of the curve without compromising the unique brand of your law firm. With over 25 years of experience marketing for lawyers across the country, we understand how to combine the branding that is so important for setting you apart from the competition with the right media placement to make sure you are reaching the right clients at the right time.

Contact us today so we can start creating legal ads for you that are both current and enduring.

In a recession, marketing budgets are often the first to get slashed. For many that means cutting programs, cutting spending and cutting staff in order to make it through the economic downturn. But marketing in a recession isn't about marketing less, it's about marketing better and smarter. In this issue of Customer Connection, I want share with you techniques for marketing more efficiently and effectively, particularly on a tight budget.
How to Build Customer Loyalty in a Recession
While it may seem counter-intuitive on the surface, the simple fact is that strong companies use a recession to take advantage of weaker competitors. How do they do it? They stay true to their core values and optimize the customer experience. When faced with new budget constraints, they focus their resources on proactively engaging existing customers, cross selling to current customers, and encouraging former customers to buy again. Bruce Temkin, with Forrester studied nearly 5,000 consumers and examined the correlation between how customers rated a firm's customer experience and two measures of loyalty: 1) their willingness to buy another product from the firm, and 2) their reluctance to switch business away from the firm. His analysis covered 112 firms across nine industries. Here are three takeaways from the research you can use to make sure you company stays in a position to capitalize on the business up-turn that lies somewhere ahead.Continue to champion the differentiated customer experience. Forrester's Research shows that there is a correlation between customer loyalty and a firm's customer experience. Make sure that your senior management is making budget cuts, and changes that will not make a significant impact on the customer experience. Prioritize your moments of truth. There are several critical times during a customer's relationship where a decision is made - by the customer - to continue or discontinue interacting with a company. This may be the first bill, a customer service call, a retail experience, a Web site...any event that helps clarify the relationship with a particular brand, product, or service. We call these "moments of truth" and how a marketer interacts with the customers can significantly increase (or decrease) the long-term viability of that relationship. With less money to spend on wide-ranging customer experience efforts, it's even more important to pick the right moments of truth to meet customer expectations. "Switching intentions can swing 18%. When it comes to the consumers' reluctance to shift business to a competitor, those in the top quartile of the CxPi were 6.8% higher than the industry averages, while firms in the bottom were 11.2% below the average, noted Bill Band, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research.Identify and protect your most valuable customers. Find ways to improve the customer experience and increase business with your "best" customers. In addition, leverage buying history, and knowledge about customers to re-connect, stay in touch, and demonstrate the value that the brand brings through the products and services. Band recommends, "You may want to increase spending in some areas and make up for it by entirely cutting off other areas. It is crucial to deliver the best experiences for your most important customers, even if it means lower priority segments may have to suffer."Overall the research concluded that in an economic downturn, firms need to keep customer experience momentum and chart a course toward Experience-Based Differentiation.