Creative Advertising vs.

Direct Marketing

By

[Authors Name]
[Faculty Name]
[Department or School Name]
[Month Year]

Creative vs Direct marketing

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends & family for support
they provided & their belief in me as well as guidance they provided without which I would have
never been able to do this research.

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iii

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this thesis/dissertation stand for
my individual work without any aid, & this thesis/dissertation has not been submitted for any
examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very
own views & not essentially which are associated with university.

Signature:

Date:

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Abstract
In this study we try to explore the concept of direct marketing and creative advertising in a
holistic context. The main focus of the research is on the effectiveness of direct marketing and
creative advertising. The research also analyzes the difference between the two, direct marketing
and creative advertising and tries to gauge its effectiveness. The study follows the secondary
research methods for the data collection and data analysis. Finally the research provides the
recommendations and suggestions for the future research and also states the implications of the
study.

Creative vs Direct marketing

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...........................................................................................................................................II
DECLARATION........................................................................................................................................................III
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................................IV
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................1

Outline of the Study.................................................................................................................1

Background of the Study..........................................................................................................1
Aims and Objectives................................................................................................................2
Research questions...................................................................................................................2
Ethical Considerations............................................................................................................2
Time Scale................................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................................................5

Advertising...............................................................................................................................5
Communicating a Message......................................................................................................7
Understanding creativity.......................................................................................................10
Mysterious nature of creativity..............................................................................................11
Creativity in Advertising........................................................................................................13
Creative process inside an advertising agency......................................................................15
Marketing Campaign.............................................................................................................17
Direct Marketing....................................................................................................................18
Methods of direct marketing..................................................................................................18
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................................24

Research Design....................................................................................................................24
Literature Search...................................................................................................................24
CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION.....................................................................................................................................25

Direct Marketing....................................................................................................................25
Direct Marketing Effectiveness..............................................................................................28
Creative Advertising..............................................................................................................29
Creative Advertising Effectiveness........................................................................................34
What's the difference?............................................................................................................36
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................37

Future Aspects.......................................................................................................................38

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Managerial Implications of the Study....................................................................................39

Suggestions for Practice........................................................................................................40
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................................41

Creative vs Direct marketing

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Outline of the Study
This dissertation is based on the topic of Creative advertising and direct marketing. The
first chapter provides an introduction to the topic including the purpose and significance of the
study. The second chapter presents a review of relevant literature, highlighting the previous
research carried out in this field. It provides a study of previous work conducted in related fields
and provides specific research related to a wide spectrum of thought on the discipline of direct
marketing, The third chapter covers the methodology for this study. The analysis of findings and
discussion will be presented in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter will conclude the
dissertation, providing implications and useful recommendations for further research.

Background of the Study

Finding new customers is the most important challenge for a small business. Through
creative publicity and promotion, businesses can attract new customers and generate profits
(Carpenter 2008, 50). The purpose of advertising is to attract customers' attention and influence
their behaviour, usually in order to purchase the products or services. It can be expensive, so it is
important to ensure that the companies are sending the right message at the right people.
(Callcott 2009, 73)
Direct marketing and creative advertising are two areas that are total opposites. It seemed
appropriate to compare and analyze how creative advertising and direct marketing could be a
communication tool. Indeed, we believe that advertising communication, commonly used to
extol the merits of a product or brand, can bring added value to the communication.

Creative vs Direct marketing

Aims and Objectives

The main aims and objectives of this study are:

To explore the concept of marketing and advertising

To explain the difference between direct marketing and creative advertising
To figure out the most effective of the two, direct marketing and creative advertising

Research questions

What is the difference between direct marketing and creative advertising?

Which type of advertising is more effective towards the younger generation?

Ethical Considerations
Researcher is fully aware of the ethical issues involved in this work. The responsibility of
all procedures and ethical issues related to the project lies with the principal investigators. The
research was conducted so that the integrity of the research enterprise will remain and negative
side effects that may decrease the potential for future research were avoided. The choice of
research topics is based on the best scientific approach and an evaluation of the potential
benefits. This study is related to a major intellectual problem.

Creative vs Direct marketing

Time Scale
Time is an important factor when considering project work. One needs time to allow
adequate problem diagnosis before decisions are made about appropriate strategies and means of
implementation, however, this must remain flexible to allow for unforeseen factors.
Timescales have to be appropriate, realistic and achievable. According to researchers, a
general guide for any extended project or research is to plan to use only 75% of the supposed
time available, which should be tentatively allocated as follows: -

Introduction

5%

Literature review

35%

Research methods

10%

Data collection

20%

Analysis

15%

Conclusions and recommendations

10%

Bibliography and appendices

5%

Creative vs Direct marketing

Gantt chart
TASKS
Construct research proposal
Draw up questionnaires
Submit proposal
Timetable interviews
Begin interviews, observations,
focus groups and hand out
questionnaires
Analysis and redefine problem(s)
Implement findings
Prepare draft report
Begin full data analysis
Write 10,000 word dissertation

WEEKS
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31

Creative vs Direct marketing

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents a study of the advertising process, focusing on its creative nature
and early attempts at developing tools to assist this. The goal of advertising is to transform a
communicational objective of a product or a service into a creative idea, which forms the
foundation for effective advertising (Stewart, 1992). Thus, advertising, like art and music, is
inherently a creative field. Significant research has been carried out in the past in an attempt to
understand the general nature of a creative process.

Advertising
Advertising may be considered a form of persuasive communication that promotes
market goods and services. Advertising companies engage in informing, persuading, and
prompting consumer awareness of the value propositions of particular products and services.
Institutional advertising in any media demands paymentit is not personal, advertising's task is
to identify the sponsoring company and/or the advertised product or services (Aaker 2008, 47).
Political advertising focuses on promoting a party or candidate with the aim of winning votes.
Advertising can also be used for social purposes; for example, urging drivers to wear seat belts,
promoting antismoking campaigns, and informing consumers about protecting the environment
by specifying a green lifestyle (e.g., recycling, being aware of one's carbon footprint). In general,
advertising creates as well as responds to new consumer trends, new media, and (sub) cultural
contexts. Thus, the development of green advertising can be seen as a means of both shaping
new markets and reflecting a change in consumer preferences and desires.

Creative vs Direct marketing

Advertising is not a modern phenomenon. Ancient history reveals that in early times,
people employed advertising to announce and promote their products and services. For example,
the Romans promoted upcoming gladiator fights on city walls; in Greece, town criers advertised
available goods. From the 17th century onward, with the emergence of newspapers, advertising
began to emerge as an independent field. The first newspaper advertisement was published in
1704 (Brehm 2006, 72). During the following decades, this promotional tool spread and
cumulated. By the end of the 19th century, having passed through the Industrial Revolution,
businesses became increasingly interested in advertising their mass products (e.g., soap, canned
food). With competition now growing, the need to shout louder gained importance. This
resulted in the expansion of products and shopping venues advertising (e.g., the newly emerging
department stores). The first advertising agency was opened in 1843 by Volney Palmer in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
By the 1920s, not only had advertising grown in volume but it was now spreading from
print to radio and later to television. Whereas earlier advertising focused on spreading the word
about the benefits of new products, new places, or other offers, by the mid-20th century,
advertising began to increasingly highlight products and company images. (Ahearne 2007, 55)
Today, the advertising industry is big business worldwide. Some estimate that the amount
spent on advertising worldwide is in excess of $604 billion. However, many top marketers
reduced their advertising spending in 2008 because of the global financial crisis. In the United
States, for example, advertisement spending has dropped since the crisis began and is forecast to
drop further. Advertising Age has identified telecommunications companies Verizon and AT&T
as the top two advertisers (based on U.S. ad spending and ranking) of 2008, after Procter &
Gamble, which is the world's largest advertiser. (Brenner 2007, 59)

Creative vs Direct marketing

Advertising, being a commercial business, has the potential to generate a lot of profit, but
it is not only business firms that are buying advertising. Nonprofit organizations and
governments also advertise to promote their social causes and various agendas. The U.S.
government, for example, is one of the largest advertisers in the country. Governments frequently
advertise to promote a certain mode of (social) behaviour; for example, how to cope with traffic
situations both locally and when travelling, and antismoking campaigns. (Alden 2007)
Phillip Kotler, one of the world's leading marketing experts, urges establishing
relationships with customers by communicating customer value as a top advertising goal. Kotler
stresses that marketing is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose of what companies make.
Rather, it is the art of creating genuine customer value. He suggested that marketing is the art of
helping customers become better off. The marketer's watchwords are quality, service, and value.

Communicating a Message
Advertising, which may be considered an instrument to communicate customer value, is
one axiom of the promotion mix or marketing communications mix. Other promotion elements
include sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, and direct marketing. All of these
promotion tools need to be carefully coordinated and aligned to ensure the high effectiveness and
consistency of the communicated message. (Bretl 2008, 595)
Advertising is a non-personal form of mass promotion that mostly speaks to a sizable
audience or target group. To communicate a marketing message to a target group effectively, the
most commonly used method is to first introduce the new product or service, then increase sales
and increase consumer awareness. It is of the utmost importance to establish and maintain good
customer relationships. The critical question, however, is how and where a company should

Creative vs Direct marketing

advertise, taking into consideration highest impact/effectiveness and (often) a limited advertising
budget. (Brocker 2007, 29)

[Figure 1: 3M Security Glass advertising strategy]

Key advertising decisions are determining and aligning communication and sales
objectives, setting an advertising budget, developing an advertising strategy, and measuring
advertising success. Any advertising campaign needs to start with determining advertising

Creative vs Direct marketing

objectives. What is it that the advertising campaign seeks to achieve within the framework of the
marketing communications mixto increase awareness, to persuade consumers to buy, or to
simply act as a reminder? Are these objectives in line with sales objectives? The introduction of a
new product should be accompanied by an informative advertising campaign that is usually
different from one that advertises a product that is already well known. Take the innovative
Apple iPhone as an example. When the product was launched, the first advertisements included a
demonstration of a few handset functionsfunctions that were hitherto not widely known. In
competitive markets, advertisers usually engage in persuasive marketing: they have to tell the
consumers why their product is better (or of more value to the consumers) than others.
The advertising strategy is the advertising blueprint. It contains the advertising messages
aligned with the advertising objectivesand the selected advertising media. Although in recent
years companies are spending less money on advertisements, preferring more personal forms of
advertising and new media representation, advertisements per se remain a critical element of the
communication mix. (Amitava 2007, 466)
As well as understanding the marketing and/or communication department as a profit
centre, advertising success needs to be carefully considered vis--vis the return on advertising
investment. John Wanamaker often considered the father of modern advertising, once said: I
know that half of my advertising is wastedI just don't know which half. Given that no
company can afford to waste advertising dollars, the effectiveness and accountability of
advertising of necessity must be measured (Alden 2007, 1). There are two key measurement
aspects: one is the communication (persuasion) success of the advertising campaign, and the
other is the determination surrounding the success of the advertising, as indicated by the sales
objectives. Has that particular form of advertising resulted in an increase in sales and profit? The

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multiple decisions around budget, communication, and viability of response create a complex
terrain in which green advertising and the development of green markets is situated. Green
consumption can be seen as a niche but rapidly emerging market, with green products, lifestyles,
and practices associated with social responsibility and ethical networks of production linked to
particular commodities, firms that are associated with their marketing and production, and the
moral preferences and practices of consumers.

Understanding creativity
When a thought process produces a creative idea, it is commonly referred to as a creative
process (see figure 3). This process is often studied, but the most intriguing part, where ideas
appear as a result of sudden illumination, remains unknown.

[Figure 2: Creative advertising of Oldtimer]

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Mysterious nature of creativity

Despite all the research conducted on creativity there is no all-encompassing theory of
the human creative process (Ritchie, 2006; Buchanan, 2001). It is often said that something
magical or mysterious happens inside the human brain as a new idea emerges (Johar,
Holbrook, & Stern, 2001; Guilford, 1967; Wallas, 1926; Liu, 2000; De Bono, 1970). This view
of the creative process as mysterious is often attributed to its involving an immense freedom to
create something where the outcome is unknown, in contrast to other processes where the
outcome is known (Johar et al., 2001). Instead of using words such as magical or mysterious it
has been argued that this part of creativity is rather a natural process that is unknown.
Human beings are just one species among many, fully biological, and hence capable of
no miracles, restricted to the same sorts of processes and methods as the other species. Our
creative processes are surely natural (not supernatural!), so in that bland sense they are as
biological as the creative processes of the weaverbird and the beaver. (Dennett, 2004)

Input
Raw material:
Experiences,
knowledge, data

Creative
Process

Output
Creative product, Idea

[Figure 3: We can affect the input and observe the output, but the results from studying the creative process are not
very revealing of the process itself ]

Various theories of the creative process exist (Lubart, 2001; Wallas, 1926; Sternberg,
2006), but modelling its different phases often tells us little of the raw material in these processes
(Ritchie, 2006; Lubart, 2001). Many methods have been used to try to capture what happens
during the creative process (talk through, record history), but the task of learning more about the
process by observing it has proven to be a challenge (Lubart, 2001; Sternberg, 1999; Edmonds

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et al., 2005). When a creative idea is generated, it is difficult to post- rationalize what led to the
moment of illumination (Bonnardel & Marmeche, 2005; McKnight, 2007). One alternative is to
ignore the creative process and focus on the creative product and try to reverse-engineer this
process. Goldenberg and his colleagues have conducted interesting studies in the domain of
advertising where the method is to work backwards from the creative product by identifying
templates that model a particular style for generating new ideas for advertising (Goldenberg &
Mazursky, 2000; Goldenberg, Mazursky, & Solomon, 1999; Goldenberg & Mazursky, 2001).
The creative process is fuelled by the knowledge, experiences and information of the
creative person. Using the creative product as the source of study might reveal clues about a
possible technique or pattern, but does not shed much light into the thinking and reasons behind
specific decisions made in developing the idea for a creative product, such as what information
triggered these ideas in the first place (Ritchie, 2006). If we agree that creativity is a novel
combination of existing information (Shneiderman et al., 2006; Boden, 1995, 1998, 2003), some
form of re- organization must happen in the mind of the person creating the creative product.
What we do not know is how the human mind combines these existing things. Does the mind
work through a specific algorithm, or are there elements of randomness involved? Or is it simply
a question of the fittest ideas surviving and the bad ones discarded? Dennett has identified
similarities between the creative process and evolution:
What processes could conceivably yield such improbable achievements of creative
skill? What Darwin saw is that Design is always both valuable and costly. It does not
fall like manna from heaven, but must be accumulated the hard way, by time- consuming,
energy-consuming processes of mindless search through primeval chaos,
automatically preserving happy accidents when they occur. (Dennett, 2004)

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Creativity in Advertising
A characteristic of human intelligence is the ability to come up with and develop novel
ideas. Although this ability is valuable for many industries and domains, it is particularly
interesting within that of advertising. The core purpose of the advertising industry is to produce
creative ideas as advertisements, often in a separate creative department (White, 1972).
Despite the inherently creative nature and importance of ideas in the advertising domain,
very little research is conducted specifically on the creative process in advertising. Thus, very
little is known of how advertising ideas are created. The percentage of papers related to creativity
in advertising in the Journal of Advertising between 1978 and 1993 was only 1.4%, and between
1994 and 2005 only 1.6% (Vanden Bergh & Stuhlfaut, 2006). Many papers attempt to explain
the effectiveness of advertising (Kover, Goldberg, & James, 1995; Stewart & Koslow, 1989;
Amos, Holmes, & Strutton, 2008; Aitken, Gray, & Lawson, 2008), but very little focus exists on
the creative process itself: what triggers creative ideas; most importantly, very few tackle the
specific challenge of thinking about novel ways and methods of how to make the existing
creative process in advertising agencies more effective (Hill & Johnson, 2004; Stewart, 1992;
Johar et al., 2001; Reid & Rotfeld, 1976; Reid, 1978; Zinkhan, 1993).
The creative process in advertising is described as unpredictable and unscientific (Kover
& Goldberg, 1995; Reid & Rotfeld, 1976) while at the same time creativity is described as the
most important element in advertising success (El-Murad & West, 2004). What is creativity in
advertising then? El-Murad and West (2004) state, The evidence suggests that advertising
creativity involves the conceptualization and production of an object from new or existing
components in a novel way that is also relevant to the task in hand. One of the grandfathers of
advertising, Leo Burnett, has defined advertising creativity as The art of establishing new and

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meaningful relationships between previously unrelated things in a manner that is relevant,

believable, and in good taste, but which somehow presents the product in a fresh new light
(Broadbent, 1984).

[Figure 4: Creative advertising by Hot Pepper]

Researchers widely agree that advertising creativity is a special form of creativity where
Originality and imagination must operate within a goal-directed and problem-solving context
(Reid et al., 1998; White, 1972). One of the earliest frameworks for supporting the creative
process in advertising was introduced by J. Young (1972) in his book A Technique for Producing
Ideas. The framework (instead of a specific technique) is a series of five stages: ingestion,
digestion, incubation, inspiration, and verification, and follows the well-known stages
(preparation, incubation, illumination, verification) of a creative process as described by Wallas.
Thus, this technique is mainly a tailored version of Wallas well-known framework of creativity.
The technique introduced by Young has received some criticism for being either incomplete or

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not universally applicable (Bengtson, 1982). Both arguments may be valid but due to the
unscientific nature of the creative process it can also be argued that in pursuit of a universal
theory of creativity the critics fail to accept the inherently complicated nature of the creative
process. As part of his theory, Young presents an intriguing view of words as ideas in a state of
suspended animation:
Another point I might elaborate on a little is about words. We tend to forget that words
are themselves, ideas. They might be called ideas in a state of suspended animation.
When the words are mastered, the ideas tend to come alive again. Thus, words being
symbols of ideas, we can collect ideas by collecting words. The fellow, who said he tried
reading the dictionary but couldnt get the hang of the story, simply missed the point that
it is a collection of short stories. (J. Young, 1972, 12)
Thus, for an advertisement or an idea to be considered creative it does not have to meet
the communicational objectives of the client. It simply needs to be considered creative by the
experts in the advertising domain. This dilemma having been identified within the advertising
industry, competitions that measure the success rate of the campaign in reaching the goals of the
client have been introduced.
Creativity in advertising is creativity on demand - creativity with a deadline - creativity
within strict parameters. Where the poet may create to please himself and his loyal
clique, the advertising writer must create to please a profit-conscious client and an
indifferent public. Where the scientists may create an innovation without full awareness
of its ultimate application, the advertising writer knows the ultimate application is what
will make him a flash or a flop. (White, 1972, 36)
Creative process inside an advertising agency
Hirschman (1989) studied the advertising creative process as a task involving many
participants. How these participants experience and view the process depends on their position in
the process. The product manager as the client is responsible for the business aspects of the
process such as the profitability and successfulness in capturing market share for a particular

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product. The account manager in the agency views the creative process as a means to producing
a creative product that needs to be sold to the client. The copywriter and the art director are at the
heart of the creative process as it is their task to transform the communicational objective into an
idea and produce the advertisement. A description of this process reveals some intriguing results.
A common theme of a creative process is one where many ideas are produced, the best
ones kept and the bad ones discarded (Hirschman, 1989). A copywriter describes this process as:
I just do a lot of ideas . . . maybe eight or nine, ten ideas, then I might edit it down to five
ideas. And then from those five ideas, I might present four . . . (Hirschman, 1989)
Role-based models of the creative process present the client and agency account
executives as managers of the idea, and the creative, the copywriter and the art director, as the
creators. Furthermore, the managers will agree to a more conservative version of the idea than
will the creative (Hirschman, 1989; Kover & Goldberg, 1995). The copywriter and art director
engage both separately and together in some form of idea generation such as brainstorming and
often apply the general framework of a creative process similar to those described by
Nagasundaram and Bostrom (1994).
The creative taps into what that person considers the universal needs and wants of people:
the need to be accepted, wanted, sexy, rich, well-known. The goal is to ensure that most of the
target audience can associate with these needs. If the creative process is a dialogue between the
creative and the imagined internal audience, the writer presents a personal part of himself or
herself in the creative product; possible critique of the work is directed not only towards the
ideas presented but also towards the writer himself (Kover & Goldberg, 1995). As a result, the
creatives notoriously defend their work down to the smallest detail (Kover & Goldberg, 1995).

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This is especially true since according to many creatives the accounts people, or clients involved
in judging their creative work, do not understand creativity at all (Fletcher, 1990).
Creatives are sensitive about their ideas being criticized and do not have the ultimate say
in what is ultimately published because the client has ownership of the creative product.
Therefore, creatives have developed a set of processes or tools to manage defending their work
and getting it approved.

Marketing Campaign
The bottom line is that all companies want to sell more of their products or services to
raise revenue, increase their market share and ensure long term survival. The problem is that in
order to make profits from increasing sales a company must choose a strategy that increases sales
and profitability above the amount spent on designing and implementing that strategy.
There are, in the main, three aims of any marketing campaign required to promote and
sell a product or a service:
1. Create Impact
2. Provide Exposure
3. Generate a Return on Investment
A successful marketing campaign is one that will meet all these main criteria. So this
means a marketing campaign needs to be remembered by the people who see it (Impact), be seen
by lots of people (Exposure) and that the income generated from the sales made as a result of that
marketing campaign should be greater than the cost of making and producing the campaign
(Return on Investment).

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Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is a method of promoting a product or a service by presenting directly
to potential customers. This is usually conducted on a one-to-one basis in order to generate sales
and raise brand awareness.
Campaigns include corporate events and trade shows, business to business and residential
marketing, direct mail distribution and telesales. While these campaigns may not garner the
attention of more conventional media, they are proactive, flexible, personal, and offer
measurable results which are key to delivering a return on investment in any business. These
campaigns do not involve the purchasing of media airtime or space, which reduces costs greatly.
No one denies that indirect advertising campaigns build brand awareness, make brands
famous and have the power to influence sales. What indirect advertising cannot do is explain
about the campaign directly to the customer, talk to them on a face to face basis, answer
questions, explain the benefits, get the customer involved and make a sale there and then. Direct
marketing is one of the fastest growing mediums available having established itself as a powerful
and effective advertising tool. The highly targeted nature of direct marketing ensures that
campaigns receive the maximum level of response whilst minimizing the level of wastage. Direct
marketing gives companies the platform to target virtually every household, public event and
business in the UK.

Methods of direct marketing

Direct mail: This involves sending promotional materials to target customers through the post.
Direct mail can be a relatively low-cost exercise with specific customers targeted. It is also easy
to evaluate the successes or failure of each campaign by looking at response rates.

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Direct mailing is usually a big piece of the marketing puzzle for non-profit organizations.
Before a non-profit considers a direct mailing campaign, it needs to ask a few questions of itself.
Who are we? (Is the non-profit well known and/or have a popular mission?) What is our market?
(Is the non-profit local or national, what kind of people support the organization?) How should
we position ourselves? Should we offer something in return? Are we ready for failure or success?
Direct mailing can be expensive, especially the first attempt, so a non-profit needs to assess if it
can handle the cost of such a large endeavour (Lautman, 2001). Typically, direct mailing
involves purchasing a list from a broker and cold mailing individuals, although this does not
typically have a worthy success rate. Obtaining one's own mailing list of interested individuals is
always ideal, so the non-profit should constantly be collecting contact information at events,
programs, and so on, to build on this list.
What a non-profit decides to put in its direct mailing piece is extremely important. There
are two main groups direct mail pieces are used to target: membership and charitable
contributions. The mailing should be focused only on one or the other, so the organization must
choose which group it wants to target. There are many factors to be considered in the creation of
the mailing: the person signing the letter (CEO or board president? Or someone else?), the length
of the letter (more than two pieces of paper double sided is not recommended), if there will be
any teasers, what kind of postage will be used, the size and colour and font of the letter, the size
and colour of the paper and envelope, which photographs or graphics will be used, the attitude of
the letter, and if there will be an inclusion of a brochure are all issues the organization must
consider when putting the mailing piece together (Greenfield, 2001).

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[Figure 5: Picture depicting direct mail marketing]

Email marketing: Use of email for direct marketing has grown rapidly. It is a very cheap and
quick method of promotion which allows the message to encourage an instant response. For
example, viral marketing is a good idea to get customers to recommend a friend and increase the
size of customer database in return for a reward (discount etc).

[Figure 6: Email Marketing]

The World Wide Web is becoming the most powerful tool for organizations and
individuals alike to market themselves. It is almost considered a must for nonprofits to have a

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website, and most have dedicated a lot of time and energy on making their websites both
attractive and usable. There is also the typical use of e-mail in lieu of mailing such things as
newsletters and fundraising appeals. Nonprofits can also become creative and decide to post
podcasts or list advertisements on sites like Craigslist. The possibilities are endless for ways to
market an organization on the Internet. Additionally, there is also a growing trend of using social
networking sites to market one's organization. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace,
Flickr, and YouTube are all becoming the fastest, cheapest, and best ways to reach certain
demographics.
These sites can be used to advertise events, inform the public on topics of concern for the
non-profit, post volunteer and job opportunities, and/or to ask for donations. The possibilities for
the uses of the many social network sites are endless, and since the vast majority of these sites
are free, non-profit organizations should have a presence on all of them.
Marketing on the Internet also offers a unique ability to easily track the costs of
marketing and return on investments through web programs, such as Google adwords and
Google analytics. In a matter of a few clicks, a non-profit can know how many people have
visited its website, how many have found the website by searching for certain words, which ones
(anonymously) actually explored the website beyond the first page, and who ended up donating
or contacting the organization. No other marketing venue can offer this extensive information,
especially at such a low cost to the organization.

Telemarketing: Telemarketing encompasses all telephone-based marketing activity including

sales, customer services and market research. Its useful for following up business-to-business
leads, setting up meetings or even closing a deal.

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Most small nonprofits do not attempt to advertise on television, and this is mostly due to
the cost. However, if a non-profit plays its card right, it can get a television station to sponsor it
through free airtime for a commercial. Even if this happens, the organization still needs all the
equipment, time, and resources to produce a commercial, so this is a marketing option that may
not have a high enough return on investment to pursue for a smaller non-profit organization.
Larger nonprofits will see more success in this marketing type because of the higher availability
of resources.

[Figure 7: Telemarketing]

There is a cheaper (if not practically free) option for a non-profit to get on television, and
that is through the local stations news reports and/or morning shows. The organization needs to
contact the assignment editor of the local television station with a story or event for the station to
cover and offer to have a volunteer or employee come on a show to talk about the event in more
detail. It helps if there are visuals the staff person or volunteer can bring. For example, if the nonprofit is an animal shelter, the spokesperson should bring in a cuddly kitten when discussing the

Creative vs Direct marketing

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large number of cats available for adoption at the shelter. This will go a long way in getting the
attention of viewers.
Telemarketing unfortunately has a bad reputation because of organizations handling the
use of cold calling inappropriately. If done correctly, telemarketing can actually be very
successful for a non-profit organization. It really takes just some serious common sense to make
a telemarketing campaign successful. The organization needs to make sure it does its research
well. Know the full name of the person on the list and the correct pronunciation of the name
before calling. Make sure the people calling are extremely polite and are willing to listen to the
prospect if the person has a comment or complaint (Horowitz, 2000).
There is a very good chance the individual on the other line will not agree to donating
anything over the phone. This is not a complete loss, however. If this happens, the non-profit
organization's telemarketer should be prepared to ask if the individual would be interested in
receiving something in the mail to learn more about the organization. This not only gives the
prospect more time and more information to consider giving a gift but also allows the non-profit
to access the individual's contact information to put the prospect on the mailing list. It is also
extremely helpful to have the person calling be a volunteer instead of a paid employee. When the
person on the other line realizes that the solicitor is a volunteer, he or she is much more likely to
be polite and to listen.

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The research is based on secondary data accumulation. The data is pressed out from
various journals, articles and books. Secondary research depicts information assembled by
literature, broadcast media, publications, and other non-human origins. In this research, we
would also be employing the descriptive method of research.
The research accession used is qualitative. Qualitative research is practically more
immanent than quantitative one. This research applied various methods of accumulating data
which could be both primary as well as secondary. As already adverted, this study chooses the
secondary method. (Silverman 2001, 45-89)
This type of study is often less costly than quantitative studies and is exceedingly
effectual in acquiring information. It is a frequently used method in instances where valued
measurement is not commanded. (Silverman 2001, 45-89)

Literature Search
The measurements of choice for literature were relevancy to research topic and year of
publishing. Both public and individual libraries as well as online libraries were chaffered to
approach the data. Some of online databases that were accessed are SAGE, Questia, emerald,
Proquest, EBSCO and so on. Data collection establishments, for example Gallup and AC Nielsen
carry on researches on a repeated basis homing in on a wide range of subjects.

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CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION
Direct Marketing
According to Belch and Belch (2001), direct marketing, once a mass media tool that used
mailings and outbound telemarketing to list-brokered prospects has become the new relationship
marketing tool. Belch and Belch propose that direct marketing in its purest form allows firms to
bypass traditional channels of distribution enabling leadership to capture transaction and
interaction data. Without transaction and interaction data, a firm could not anticipate future needs
of best and most valuable customers and prospects. Initial review of literature revealed distinctly
different perspectives of what the discipline of direct marketing is. Direct marketing has been
broadly defined in media terms by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA, n.d.) as:
Any direct communication to a consumer or business recipient that is designed to
generate a response in the form of an order (direct order), a request for further
information (lead generation), and or a visit to a store or other place of business for
purchase of a specific product(s) or service(s) (traffic generation).
According to Kotler (2000), direct marketing is an interactive system that uses one or
more forms of media tools such as advertising to create a measurable response and or a
transaction (p. 650).
The rapidly changing business environment has created a new customer-driven
marketplace according to Schermerhorn (2004). Leadership of firms must create insulated and
loyal customer relationships in order to survive.
According to Kadie and Landrum (2003), in its purest sense direct marketing is related to
channel distribution strategy. In traditional marketing theory, products have passed through
channel intermediaries such as wholesalers, distributors, and retailers on the way to the end-user
customer. Each channel intermediary added to the chain retains a portion of the profit (Kadie &

Creative vs Direct marketing

26

Landrum, 2003). Direct marketing has enabled marketers to go direct to customers bypassing
traditional channels of distribution and cultivating more prospective customers (Kadie &
Landrum, 2003).
Cultivating increasing amounts of prospective customers is accomplished when
traditional channel intermediaries are bypassed so the firm can interact directly with the prospect
without hindrance. Bypassing traditional distribution channels allows firms to capture and use
information to better understand end-user needs (Peppers & Rogers, 2005b). According to CPO
Direct (2005), direct response marketing has been growing and generating billions of dollars.
Direct response marketing shows every sign of continuing as a vehicle for new product launches
(King, 2004). Companies are using direct response marketing for customer benefits related to
time and convenience (LiKam, 2003). According to CPO Direct (2005), the leadership of firms
continues to recognize direct marketing as mass mailings and telemarketing and not as a method
of bypassing traditional channels to interact directly with customers and prospects.
According to Compton (2005) traditionalists in the field of direct marketing have resisted
emerging paradigm theory and technological advances that enable the leadership of firms to
engage in direct dialogue with customers and prospects. The reasons for resistance to emerging
paradigm theory are often sociological rather than technical (Compton, 2005). Companies stay
away from on-demand database technologies because they are concerned about up-front
investments, pricing, inner workings of each new application and about the fact these
technological tools appear to be a long-term investment not addressing the short-term profit
pressures a firm might be facing (Belch & Belch, 2001).
Compton (2005) proposed that traditional direct marketing techniques yield only an adhoc approach to pinpointing and understanding customer needs. Traditional direct marketing

Creative vs Direct marketing

27

techniques are only able to accomplish a disjointed collection of data consisting of spreadsheets,
database reporting tools, and manual processes insufficient for painting a picture in-depth enough
to enable a firm to differentiate customers or anticipate future needs (King, 2004). According to
Belch and Belch (2001), direct marketing efficiency can increase when response motivation tools
are linked to direct mail or telemarketing programs. Without response motivators incorporated
into traditional direct marketing programs, response rates are low and reach non-prospects
yielding failure rates in the high 90% (Belch & Belch, 2001). Belch and Belch characterized
traditional direct marketing methodology to be devoid of critical response motivation tools that
could increase response rates and create measurability.
According to DiGioia (2005) when a significant enough response motivator is linked to a
direct marketing contact, response rates can be higher and can motivate prospects to pre-qualify
themselves or visit a booth at a tradeshow. According to DiGioia leadership in firms using
traditional direct marketing tools to make contacts based on purchased lists from brokers that are
not pre-qualified do not achieve favorable response rates because of the lack of relevance and
personalization of the contact.
According to Belch and Belch (2005) response rates are uncontrollable when direct
marketing programs are devoid of response motivation tools. Response rates may be more
controllable than traditionally believed. According to Day (2006) the higher the desired response
rate, the more significant the value attributed to the response motivation tool. Belch and Belch
(2005) proposed that higher response rates are made possible when contacts are timely, relevant,
personalized, and pre-qualified. Traditional direct marketing methodology does not address these
limiters in a significant way. In the case of Fulcrum Analytics (according to DiGioia 2005), a
sweepstakes with a limited number of participants sharing opportunity to win a new red corvette

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28

achieved high levels of response and delivered prospective customers to a trade show booth.
DiGioia proposed that the success of this program was predicated upon the leadership of the firm
altering a traditional view of what direct marketing was and significantly revising an approach
that created accountability and measurability.
According to Rapp and Collins (1990), traditional direct marketing techniques have
targeted broad segments of markets based on demographic categorizations such as age, income,
ethnicity, geographic location, and educational level. The authors proposed such targeting is too
broad-based, not deep enough or focused enough to garner high response rates desired by direct
marketers.
Rapp and Collins (1990) compared traditional direct marketing methodology to emerging
direct marketing methodology by using a funnel analogy. At the top of the funnel customers and
prospects are not segmented deeply enough and marketing resources are wasted when groups are
targeted based on broad demographic characteristics such as age, income, or ethnicity. Travelling
deeper down the segmentation funnel allows the leadership of firms to target niche-market
groups or individualized and customized needs of prospects and existing customers (Moore,
2006).
According to Rapp and Collins (1990), traditional direct marketing campaigns have been
predicated upon the acquisition of names of prospects based on demographic characteristics.

Direct Marketing Effectiveness

Firstly, let me overcome a common misconception. Direct Marketing is NOT direct mail.
Sure, direct mail is the birthplace of direct marketing but it no longer ends there. Direct
marketing principles embrace all advertising and personalized communications. Press

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29

advertising, TV, email, text messaging, sales promotions, websites and telephone are all direct
marketing methods. Put simply, Direct Marketing is any message thats intended to stimulate
measurable (and immediate) actions.
Unfortunately for the direct marketing world, the industry suffers from poor strategy. The
industry is smaller than stands to reason because would-be direct marketers arent applying
strong thought to their campaign planning. This lack of thinking means their campaigns are not
given a fair chance to succeed. Most often, the lack of thought comes from a lack of training and
knowledge. Frankly, the ignorance within the industry is frightening. There are too few
practitioners who are aware of the tried and proven techniques that work time and time again.
This is not a general statement there are also some talented, well studied individuals who know
what works and push the envelope to uncover new methods.
Direct marketing isnt hard. The methods are logical and common-sense. After all, it is
rational for us to learn from the successes and failures of others. Just as repeating other peoples
mistakes can be expensive, emulating their successes can be extremely rewarding. Put simply,
anybody in the industry from client through to agency planner and creative types should know
the basics of the trade. If you, your staff and your agency dont know these basics you are putting
your business at risk.

Creative Advertising
Creativity in advertising has been the subject of much recent discussion in the marketing
literature (El-Murad and West, 2004; Ang and Low, 2000; Ang, Lee and Leong; 2007; Smith and
Yang, 2004; Smith, MacKenzie, Yang, Buchholz, and Darley, 2007). It is thought to be one of the
most important, yet least understood, components of advertising effectiveness (Reid, King and

Creative vs Direct marketing

30

DeLorme, 1998) with much research cantering on the creative process and the presentation of
creative ads. However, creativity has several definitions, with much debate remaining over
creativity and its effects in advertising (Sasser and Koslow, 2008).

[Figure 8: Creative advertising by FedEx]

Conflicting opinions over ad creativity and its effects do little to diminish its importance.
Creative ads, if anything, are more essential to the marketer today than ever before. With firms
desire for greater returns from marketing investments, the need for effective and efficient
advertising has never been more important (Frank, 2009). The continued significance of
creativity for executives (Reid, et al., 1998) and the ongoing calls for research on creativity
(Zinkhan, 1993; Sasser and Koslow, 2008) are further testimony to this. Nonetheless, there is still
much to be understood regarding the specific effects of advertising creativity. While creativity is
intuitively an important component of advertising effectiveness, the mechanisms through which
creativity influences consumer responses are not completely clear. This work begins to address
some of the issues regarding creativitys definition and its effects upon consumer recall.
There are no rules about creativity. (Fast Company, 2009, p 59) This list of the 100
most creative people in business, spanning from chief executives to brand personalities, to
doctors, inventors and media moguls highlights the broad reach of creativity in business.
Investigations of creativity trace back to Guilfords (1950, 1956) work on the psychological

Creative vs Direct marketing

31

components of creativity and creative thought; this, along with Knellers The Art and Science of
Creativity (1965), which investigated that insightful aha moment of creativity, set the
foundations for our understanding of the concept.
From these beginnings, the study of advertising creativity has centred upon two realms:
the production of creative ideas and execution of these products, and the consumer response to
the same (Sasser and Koslow, 2008). Within these realms, two components of creativity have
emerged: divergence and meaningfulness (El-Murad and West, 2004; Amabile, 1983; Ang et al.,
2007; Smith and Yang, 2004). Divergence is the original, novel, difference found within the
creative product. Meaningfulness, also categorized as relevance, is how an advertisement, relates
to a situation, goals or experience. This relationship can be between the consumer and the ad, or
the agency creating the communication and the advertisement. This section provides a discussion
of the prior theory and research for our study. In particular, we review creativity and
meaningfulness, provide a summary of creativity in advertising, as well as investigate recall and
the role of repetition and exposure length within this context.
The advertising literature highlights two main concepts regarding our understanding of
creativity: divergence and meaningfulness. Divergence is common throughout all discussions of
creativity. In order to be creative, the object must differ from the norm. Divergence has been
most often characterized as novelty (Ang et al., 2007; Ang and Lowe, 2000; Kover, Goldberg,
and James, 1995), but can also be seen as differences, flexibility, or originality (McCrae, 1987).
Divergence is that component of creativity that differs from the expected; it provides the
differential spark of the advertisement that separates it from simple communication. Divergence
moves beyond the anticipated result and expresses the flexibility and imagination found within

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32

the creative object. It is what propels the advertisement forward beyond its previously expected
limits and borders into a new realm (Simonton, 2000).
Past research has attempted to decompose divergence in many ways. Guilford (1950,
1956) presented seven factors related to divergence (sensitivity, fluency, novelty, flexibility,
synthesis, redefinition/reorganization, and complexity). Later Torrance (1987) broke divergence
down into 14 determinants (fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration, resistance to premature
closure, unusual perspective, synthesis, humour, richness and colourfulness of imagery, fantasy,
and expression of emotions, empathic perspective, provocative questions, future orientations).
More recently, Smith et al. (2007) built upon these past constructions to synthesize divergence as
a second-order factor, made up of 5 components (originality, flexibility, synthesis, elaboration,
and artistic value).
The creativity literature brings in another component of creativity; meaningfulness.
According to some, meaningfulness relates to appropriateness and goal orientation (Amabile,
1983). Creative relevance is something that is meaningful and connected (Smith et al., 2007; Ang
and Lowe, 2000; Ang et al., 2007). According to this distinction, meaningfulness concerns
whether the elements in an ad are relevant to the message conveyed and the intent of the
ads.(Ang and Lowe, 2000, p 836) Here, meaningfulness relates to how well the design of the ad
has incorporated its message into the final creative product. It is how the ad relates to goals of
the brand, firm and the designer producing the advertisement. A related concept, connectedness,
addresses how relevant the ad is to the consumer. It addresses how the consumer relates to the
advertisement, in terms of their product desires or needs.
Meaningfulness appears to be a necessary condition for an advertisement. It places
boundaries upon the creative act and defines the structure and purpose of that creation, and

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becomes the framework that binds the formation of the advertisement (Earle, 2007). Creativity
without boundaries may be inefficient or even harmful (Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon,
1999). Meaningfulness is a reflection of how ad information contributes or detracts from the
communication (Heckler and Childers, 1992). It is the ad creators perspective regarding what
message is to be conveyedand how the message is to be executed. (Ang et al., 2007, p 221)
When an object is created, it is bound by the intentions of the design of the created product. In
other words, when the intention of a piece of music is to convey the message of the business,
heighten emotions towards a brand and elicit responses and increases purchase intentions, then it
is an advertisement; a jingle. In contrast, another work of art, like a symphony may be created to
express emotion and connection through melody and harmony in an attempt to highlight the
struggle of humanity. When the intention is to express this, it necessarily becomes a symphony
and not an advertisement. The meaning that is put into the creation of an ad jingle is different
than the meaning put into the creation of a symphony, even though both may use music as the
medium.
The second context of meaningfulness focuses on how connected the ad is to the
consumer or those experiencing the communication. From the perspective of the consumer,
meaningfulness reflects how relevant the ad is to him or her (Greenwald and Leavitt, 1984;
Krugman, 1967). Here relevant ads are meaningful, appropriate, useful, or valuable to the
audience in some way (Smith et al., 2007, p 820). Consumers see an advertisement as
meaningful if it speaks to their interests, needs, wants or demands. As conceptualized here,
meaningfulness is a component of all advertisements, regardless of their creativity.
Connectedness is the term used to express the unique relationship between the ad and the
individual viewing the advertisement.

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Creative Advertising Effectiveness

In art, the artist sets the limits to his room without governed by any aspect of
functionality as opposed to advertising. Any advertising campaign is governed by the same
criteria: effectiveness. Advertising effectiveness is one of the first fruits of the profession because
it is meaningful. (Brock 2008, 650)
Investment in creative advertising is carried mostly today. However, investment in (direct
marketing) is increasing year after year to nearly equal the investment in creative advertising.
This turnaround is due to new audiences that have hated mainstream media and they must
communicate with direct marketing techniques. Moreover, it is due to the enormous difference in
communication budgets and subsequent achievement of objectives. (Brenner 2007, 59)
Clearly, the purpose of advertising is to create change in peoples mindset in particular,
to enhance predisposition to purchase a brand. Until recently, most advertisers believed
advertising was a rational process. However, this belief was overturned it is largely our
subconscious, emotional feelings that decide outcomes and what we say consciously about things
is generally a rationalization of unconsciouslyformed feelings.
In a recent issue of the Journal of Advertising, Sasser and Koslow (2008) highlight the
history of creativity research in advertising. They categorize creativity research based upon the
design of the study and the perspective of the creative function.
The primary research domains of creativity are the production of the advertisement and
the consumer response. These research designs centre upon three functional perspectives: person,
place and process. We build upon this framework to outline the past research in creativity and
advertisement.

Creative vs Direct marketing

35

Production focused research is concerned with the creation of creative advertisements,

whether it is the person creating the ad; the place, or creative agency and situations, forming the
creative environment; or the process through which creative advertisements are produced.
Response orientated investigations are more concerned with the effects of creativity, whether it is
the persons, in this instance the consumers response to the ad; the place and location of the
creative ad (either in the viewing environment or within context of other advertisements); and the
process of how creative advertisements are viewed. While we highlight the major findings within
this stream, further review and discussion can be found in Sasser and Koslow (2008).
Creativity has been the subject of much interest in marketing. It has been seen as a
necessary, but not sufficient, component of advertising effectiveness (Zinkhan, 1993). The extent
to which creative ideas are generated and how they influence both practitioner goals and output
has been a driving force in ad agency strategy (Koslow et al., 2003).
Creativity has been shown to have a substantial influence on ad recall and recognition
(Till and Baack, 2005; Baack et al., 2008), and may also influence attitude towards the ad, brand
and purchase intentions (Smith et al., 2007). Creativitys role upon consumer response has been
less researched. How consumers respond to creative advertisements and the role of the creative
presentation have yet to be fully investigated (Sasser and Kaslow, 2008). Further, how creative
advertisements are encoded and processed by consumers is still unknown. The ability of
creativity to cut through consumers attention and the role of repetition as it relates to creativity
is still open to discussion.

Creative vs Direct marketing

36

What's the difference?

Effective marketing will generate new customers by making them aware of your
business. Knowing the difference between marketing and advertising lets businesses become and
stay successful. Marketing is not an overnight activity; it takes time and can involve in-depth
research for a marketing plan to be utilized effectively. Think of marketing as whatever an
organization does to make it possible for an exchange of product or services between a company
and their consumers.
Implementation of an effective marketing plan needs to be done on a consistent basis;
only 1 percent to 3 percent of the population at any given time is interested in buying a product
or a service. Marketing frequency is the only way for a business to stay in the consumers
mindshare. Contacting prospective clients through advertising has to be done for the long haul.
Marketing to your target market month after month keeps the businesss identity in front of
exis1in and future clients.
Without marketing there would be no business, and advertising is just one of the
marketing tools needed to generate business. Both marketing and advertising need work hand-inhand to be effective in recalling and getting customers to be proactive in buying a product or
service. Another way to help distinguish between marketing and advertising is this: marketing
consists of planning a marketing strategy and the correct steps in implementing the strategy.

Creative vs Direct marketing

37

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION

As an aid to the reader, this final chapter of the thesis restates the research problem and
reviews the major methods used in the study. It further summarizes the results, put forward
conclusions, admit the limitations and give the implications and recommendations based on the
results. It is an accepted fact that all ads do not work and are not equally effective. By this study,
the researcher wanted to resolve a query regarding the active role of Creativity element in
Advertising. In conclusion the empirical results show that intensity of Advertising. Creativity is a
contributing factor in the effectiveness of an advertisement. These results also confirm strong,
positive relationships among Creativity in Advertising,
In sum, this study investigated several issues regarding the use of Creativity in
Advertising. This investigation fills a gap in the literature by bringing together the opinion of
leaders in advertising community and real consumers at the grass-root level. The researcher has
increasing confidence in these conclusions, however, because the pattern of findings makes a
great deal of intuitive sense.
The best medium is direct marketing while communicating with younger generation.
Everything else also has a cost. This is current opinion, but not the most exact. There is no doubt
that word of mouth is one of the best and most economic forms of advertising, but it is of many.
In recent years, marketing has gained increasing importance for the body. (Brehm 2006, 72)
Direct marketing allows a help to cater a large number of potential customers, but at
times direct marketing may not be noticed by most of the customers. For this, to ensure that the
direct marketing is effective, it is important to pay attention to direct marketing strategy and the
type of customer that are targeted. (Alden 2007, 1)

Creative vs Direct marketing

38

The creative process of producing ideas in advertising is complex and rarely studied. This
has two implications: first, since little is known about how creativity in advertising works,
information for developing a tool is limited. Second, there is an obvious need for more research
in this area to ensure the research-based advancement of creativity in the field of advertising.
However, despite the lack of research in this area, some interesting observations were made. I
conclude by discussing what specific implications these observations could have for a tool
developed for supporting idea generation in advertising.
Creativity by directing attention to the ad and enhancing motivation to process the ad
message speeds up wearin in addition to increasing recall. This is highlighted by the high
evaluation of creative ads upon a single viewing, where control ads required two exposures to
reach maximum evaluations. By increasing the opportunity for the consumer to acquire and
access more information regarding the communication creative ads, utilize designs that
continually surprise and enhance awareness (Goldenberg and Mazursky, 2008), creative ads are
able to hold the attention of the consumer and enhance their evaluations reducing both wearin
and wearout.

Future Aspects
'The findings of this study provide some benchmarks for those who wish to study the
issues further. This survey study addressed some issues in an explorative way to provide some
preliminary findings in order to stimulate further research on the topic. This has definitely paved
the way for subsequent work, which will give a better feel for the expansive applicability of
much of what the researcher found. Yet there is still more to be pursued in a deliberate and well
thought out fashion and to be accomplished. The research possibilities for extended, systematic

Creative vs Direct marketing

39

replications are quite numerous, but potentially well worth the effort. In fact, replications of this
work are needed to further substantiate its conclusions and to give conclusive evidence regarding
the reasons behind these findings.
The future of direct marketing because of its advantages is very promising. The presence
of direct marketing techniques in the new technologies we predict a strong evolution
development, increasing its importance. Moreover, most young people show their preference for
the new interactive media, contrary to their lack of interest in traditional media. These new forms
of communication, in which the viewer user is directly involved, encourage the use of direct
marketing techniques via phone calls, games, quizzes, making the most of the acquisition of
goods or services, by simply putting an X or by clicking on the right place.

Managerial Implications of the Study

The findings of this study have wider implications for marketing and advertising
managers of corporate undertakings, which deal in frequently purchased consumer goods. The
most important among these is that managers can minimize the advertising wastage by diverting
the resources from advertising agencies that do not follow high creativity standards. As rational
client, they can even reshape their advertising budget based on the results of this Advertising
Effectiveness study so that optimum allocation of resources can be ensured. It is also important
that these findings can be clearly and concisely communicated in terms of their potential value as
an aid to strategy and tactical planning. Anyhow, translating this researched effect into market
effects requires considerable use of managerial judgment. Marketing managers of consumer
product companies may also find these results useful in learning the type of advertising efforts,
which increase the level of awareness for their brand.

Creative vs Direct marketing

40

The present study results may even be extended towards resolving the existing conflicts.
Both academic researchers and practitioners agree that higher level of Creativity is needed to
achieve better results. When it comes to the testing of Creativity by way of research, they do not
agree on its reliability. This study result, to some extent, strikes a balance between academic
researchers conclusion and practitioners perception.
There is historic evidence that the views of both creative people and ' research personnel
have been a source of conflict. But it is meaningless in the strict sense that the work of the
researcher is to identify valid, new meanings and that the work of the creative person is to find
novel ways to communicate these meanings. In fact, the most effective advertising does both,
that is evident from the study.

Suggestions for Practice

Although a single study cannot provide a sound basis for the practice of advertising, this
study and other studies with similar findings would suggest that the professionals in advertising
agencies should not underestimate the value of Creativity in its effectiveness and should give due
consideration for this aspect in advertising.

Creative vs Direct marketing

41

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