RESPONSE 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY FEATURED IN ADNEWS
ost of the businesses in the
glass towers of Midvale’s Union Park Center are associated with real
estate — real estate brokerages, mortgage firms, title companies.
For some reason, then, it’s not surprising to find Response Advertising’s
new offices nestled among them. Whether by design or inattention, this agency
has always seemed to operate outside the industry’s inner circle.
You’ll rarely see them at Ad Fed luncheons. They don’t enter
award competitions. They still wear suits.And while every ad agency has its unique approach, Response Advertising ’s borders on polarizing. To them,creativity isn’t a selling point, but a given.(“Duh,” quips a Response Advertising house ad, “The way we see it, if they ’re in the advertising business, they’d better be creative.”) At Response Advertising, the focus is producing measurable advertising results, and systematically improving those results over time, without having to increase the client’s budget.
Agency founder and president Steve Cuno operates a little left of center himself. His opinionated, sardonic articles (which frequently grace adnews) draw reactions ranging from indignation to cheers. It takes a while before you learn to recognize his trademark, barely-detectable smile — and know whether he’s deadly serious or putting you on. But whenever the subject turns to measurable advertising, Cuno’s or
“Most advertising isn ’t measured,” Cuno explained. “Clients tend to evaluate ads from informal feedback, like inferences from overall sales, comments from friends and colleagues, and industry accolades. In a very few cases, advertisers do post research to see how many people recall an ad. So actually quantifying bottom line results is rare, and it leads to surprises. We’ve found that much of the advertising we all enjoy fails to produce an effect beyond being fondly remembered.”
Cuno says Response Advertising clients are often surprised when measured advertising reveals what truly motivates the market. A favorite example involved a client who increased sales by seventeen times when the agency replaced their high-production TV spot with a straightforward one. Another client doubled sales when the agency added a letter to their direct mail package. Yet another increased business two-fold when the agency replaced their standing offer with a new one.
If you think such dramatic results from such small tactics would seem unlikely, Cuno would be the first to agree. “Our business is often counterintuitive,” Cuno said. “That’s why we advocate real-world testing. We let the market show us what matters to them, instead of assuming we know, or trying to infer it from research. Right
Cunoisms
During our interview,Steve Cuno alluded more than once to having learned “a thing or two, mostly by doing things wrong the first time” in the course of his career. When I asked for some examples, he handed me this collection of thoughts, jotted at 4 one morning when he was unable to sleep. Some, he says, he learned the hard way himself, and some he picked up from wise friends and associates. Never tell anyone anything you’re not willing to own having said, no matter where it should happen to be repeated. This rule will keep you out of more needless trouble than any other. People who share what others confide will tell your secrets, too. Manipulating people will catch up with you.Besides, you’re not as good at it as you think you are. People deserve honest praise. There is nothing harder to be than yourself. |