A. Eicoff & Company Growth and Increased Spend on DRTV Advertisements Signals Industry-Wide Movement

CHICAGO - March 12, 2013 - PRLog -- Chicago, IL – March 12, 2013 – Longer television advertising spots that enable marketers to tell a story, motivating viewers to respond via 800 number calls, web site clicks or store visits, are becoming increasingly important marketing channels for businesses nationwide. A. Eicoff & Company (http://www.eicoff.com/), the leader in direct response TV (DRTV) advertising, has experienced this trend firsthand, growing its business 20 percent year-over-year in 2012. This growth is in part a result of the increase in overall industry spending and usage of two-minute and direct response commercials. Overall spending on :120 commercial spots has increased 117 percent from $638 million in 2007 to $1.39 billion in 2012 according to Kantar Media (http://www.kantarmedia.com/). During that same time period, spend on direct response TV (DRTV) ads increased by 99 percent.

“Longer, direct response commercials enable advertisers to tell a story, increase brand recognition and most importantly, prompt target audiences to act,” said Bill McCabe, president and CEO of A. Eicoff & Company. “DRTV ads also better serve the Internet age, as they can draw viewers online to further engage. The Super Bowl is a great example, where we’re seeing more one and two minute spots containing direct response vehicles – like a URL or phone number - that let consumers strike up a conversation and really connect with the brand. As the largest DRTV ad agency and buyer of two-minute spots nationwide, we have experienced these trends firsthand and are poised to help even more clients make the transition as DRTV advertising best practices become the industry norm.”

Orders from TV Advertising on the Rise

In correlation to the spend increase on longer, direct response commercial spots, Experian Marketing Services (http://www.experian.com/marketing-services/marketing-serv...)’ Simmons National Consumer Study shows that overall orders as a direct response from TV advertisements are on the rise.
TV orders from a combination of online, phone and catalog increased 17 percent from the spring of 2011 to the spring of 2012 and 30 percent from spring 2006 to spring 2012.  
Online orders have increased the most significantly over the same time period, growing 23 percent year-over-year from the spring of 2011 to the spring of 2012 and 115 percent from the spring of 2006 to the spring of 2012.
Consumer spending as a direct response to TV advertising has also increased. Experian Marketing Services reports that consumers who spend more than $1000 annually as a direct result of TV ads increased 26 percent between the spring of 2006 and spring of 2012. During this same time period, there was a 35 percent increase in consumers who spent $150-$199 annually and a 5 percent decrease in those spending less than $50 per year.
Consumers are also spending more money online as a result of TV offers. Experian Marketing Services reports in the spring of 2006, 865,000 consumers spent over $1,000 online annually as a direct result of TV ads and in the spring of 2012 that number climbed to 1.7 million consumers, an increase of 97 percent.

A. Eicoff at the Forefront of DRTV Trend and Industry Growth

An ongoing focus on data, customer centricity and accountability has enabled A. Eicoff & Company to thrive in a changing market. Advertising industry trends, combined with Eicoff’s ability to recognize the importance of accountability in television, have led to the agency’s growth and ability to deliver results. In 2012, Eicoff business milestones included:

20 percent year-over-year revenue growth in calendar year 2012  
12 new clients signed during the year, signaling ongoing adoption of DRTV best practices
Larger, established brands like TD Ameritrade, Chase Bank, Lenovo and Genworth Financial have worked with Eicoff to establish DRTV strategies
The design and development of Eicoff proprietary software to track real-time analytics incorporating both offline and online ad data to provide sophisticated metrics to clients
Appointment of Bill McCabe as the agency’s new CEO – the third in the agency’s 54 years in business. McCabe was named to Crain’s Chicago Business “Who’s Who” in 2012.
Increased opportunities for advertisers to target new markets and conduct language testing – i.e. Spanish, Polish, Asian and more – is a unique differentiator for Eicoff that drove additional business throughout 2012

To download the infographic related to today’s news, please go to  http://www.eicoff.com/drtv-news/drtv-blog. (http://www.prlog.org/pub/%20http:/www.eicoff.com/drtv-new...)  

Click to Tweet: @Eicoff – New report: Research shows advertising industry shifts to longer length, direct response spots; A. Eicoff at forefront of the trend.  Click to tweet: http://clicktotweet.com/a3R8j

About Experian Marketing Services
Experian Marketing Services is a global provider of integrated consumer insight, targeting and interactive marketing. We help brands from around the world intelligently interact with today’s dynamic, empowered and hyper-connected consumers. By coordinating seamless interactions across all marketing channels, we enable marketers to plan and execute superior brand experiences that deepen customer loyalty, strengthen brand advocacy and maximize profits. We call it Marketing Forward. For more information, please visit http://www.experian.com/marketingservices.

About A. Eicoff & Company

Eicoff is the largest direct response television (DRTV) agency in the country. The company was founded in 1959 by Alvin Eicoff, who understood that television had the ability to function as a store and that media rates were a negotiable commodity. The phrase “or your money back” was coined by Alvin, and the 800 number came into being, in part, because of his vision and direction for the television advertising industry. In 1982, A. Eicoff & Company became a division of Ogilvy & Mather. For more information, visit http://www.eicoff.com.