Ms. Vendice

Sales & Marketing

The Importance of Seasonality in Direct Response TV

By Beth Vendice, President, Mercury Media Boston

For travel marketers there is always a good reason to stay active in direct response TV. But the seasonality of most travel companies and destinations makes having a keen sense of the calendar extremely important to a successful direct response campaign. Of course, not all companies are seasonal. A hotel chain will always have a reason to advertise via direct response TV to keep brand awareness high, and quality leads flowing. Likewise, cities like Las Vegas are year round destinations. But ski resorts, golf courses, and other destinations have ebbs and flows. Regardless, all travel companies need to be prepared.

That preparation starts with an awareness of the range of TV advertising rates from month to month and season to season. A good direct response advertising agency will continually buy inventory for its clients to guarantee the best price, minimize fluctuations and clearance, while also presenting greater opportunities for the most efficient times of year (i.e. January is the most attractive month in terms of inventory and rates). While audience size and composition and programming changes regularly, the need for travel companies to be in front of the right audiences does not.

Most direct response TV advertising space is traded at a price that has a direct relationship with a station’s average price (SAP). The SAP is calculated by dividing the total revenue in a month by the total viewing for a particular audience. The higher the viewing on one particular month, the lower the price will be. The months where viewing is highest are in the winter, when the weather is colder and evenings are darker, and we all stay at home more and watch television. For example, the average amount of time individuals spent watching TV in January 2009 was 4.02 hours daily compared to 3.43 hours daily in June 2009. The higher a station’s revenue is in a particular month, the higher the SAP will be. The months that are most in demand are typically October and November, as pre-holiday advertising is in full swing, followed by Back to School and end if June.

In terms of direct response TV planning, however, we recommend a consistent approach regardless of the seasonality of your brand. Direct response TV will continue delivering qualified leads and bookings on a consistent basis while simultaneously your brand top of mind. Remember that DRTV, even for travel brands, is aimed at communicating a brand, a destination, and a service. We’re not recommending buying an aggressive schedule for a ski resort in June. But we do recommend that such a destination hit hard from November through February and plan accordingly.

The key to success and affordability is planning ahead. It allows a direct response TV agency to buy time at the best rate and for the best dayparts. It allows the creative team to be ready with several different approaches to best optimize your campaign within the calendar plan. And while seasonality is more important than specific months, the following calendar recommendations might give you an idea of the dos and don’ts of planning for different time intervals.

January:

Do: Plan for spring holidays. Think golf, fishing, Father’s Day and family travel during Easter break. The price of January spots can be excellent if programming is run against major sporting events such as the NFL playoffs. It can be prohibitive if you are planning spots within sporting events because that is when the audience numbers are at their highest.
Don’t: Back off in January because your company has spent a lot of its budget during the previous fourth quarter. Rather, be consistent. It’s a different audience that plans their travel in January. Recognize that, and make sure your agency partner does too.

February:

Do: Counterprogram. February has become the most event-driven TV month on the calendar. The Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, MTV Movie Awards and, of course, The Super Bowl all fall within the month of February. These awards shows and sporting events will get their share of the mass audiences and direct response available time slots are minimal. But just as in January, there are great counterprogram opportunities. Not everyone watches the big events, so consider buying on some of the cable networks, and don’t forget to consider what the non-event watchers will be looking for, as you’ll need to change your offer to accommodate them.

Don’t: Buy TV time for Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is an impulse driven holiday that may attract some consumers, but it is not a travel holiday. If you’re thinking local, direct response TV can work for an impulse Valentine’s Day trip. If it’s not local, don’t worry about Valentine’s Day.

March/April:

Do: Plant seeds for the upcoming summer vacation season. This is where a good long-term direct response TV plan really works for travel companies. Use a “tease” creative to get customers to go online for more information or to get them to think about special deals you will be offering in season and collect those leads for follow up closer to the summer. Rates in March and April make for good deals and high ROI.

Don’t: Run an old spot just for the sake of taking advantage of low rates. Relative creative is key. It’s worth spending your budget on creative changes in spring for summer conversions.

May:

Do: Make the summer push. Rates are low in May, network TV is winding down its big shows and cable networks have solid audiences during this time. May is the best month to bulk up on advertising for summer destinations and to capitalize on the leads you’ve been building since the spring.

Don’t: ignore network TV. Networks can have some great available time slots for direct response advertising in May. Your agency partner should have insight and inventory for you to take advantage of this month.

June/July:

Do: Stay the course. Summer vacation planning can be an impulse, and it should be a consistent goal of any travel direct response TV campaign. Keep your spots running throughout the summer, capture your leads, and push for conversions. Rates are lowest on cable and network TV in June and July. Don’t: Make the mistake of placing direct response TV spots on shows that don’t have an audience of decision makers. Kids, for example, can be influencers, but they are not responders.
Don’t Run spots on kid’s networks just because the rates are cheap in the summer, and there just might be a decision maker watching.

August:

Do: Think fall and think weekends. A lot of the travel planning done by families are short trips for leaf peeping and maybe a “last summer fling.” Take advantage of low TV rates available to bargain seekers. There is an audience of customers who vacation when the crowds have gone.

Don’t: Alienate customers who are trying to contact you by improperly managing your call center during summer vacation time. Manage your call center personnel’s vacation time to ensure you are never understaffed.

September:

Do: Break new creative in September. Networks start their new programming seasons and audiences have a fresh attitude. September also starts the ramp up to the holiday season. For winter travel and winter destinations, this is the time to create leads and set key audience segments up for the winter vacation push.

Don’t: Overpay based on new show hype. Be smart about rates. If you and your agency plan and buy effectively in early summer, your September rates should be efficient.

October/November:

Do: Make sure you’re represented. This is make or break time for a lot of travel companies. Make sure you’re in the market when your key customers will be. October and November are your chance to capitalize on the planning you’re done all year and the data you’ve collected. It is also a chance to optimize the creative and placements you’ve worked on all year.
Don’t: Be stingy. Excessive caution can kill an effort in the fourth quarter. Set your budget and spend it. Take advantage of opportunities.

December:

Do: Optimize in December. Cable networks have highly rated holiday shows, audience segments are set in their new seasons, and brands should have intelligence about the creatives and placements that are driving ROI. They should also know the ones that don’t work. Make the right changes in December.
Don’t: Ignore consumer data. There’s a lot of customer data available in December because so much planning and purchasing happens in this month. Remember, the sale that isn’t converted still yields valuable data.

Regardless of whether or not your travel brand is seasonal, your direct response TV planning and execution must take the calendar into consideration. Make sure your agency has a sharper calendar than your competition’s does.

Beth Vendice joined Mercury in 2001 and brought with her over 10 years of national client service experience. Ms. Vendice has led the firm to significant year-over-year growth by attracting clients that include Mandalay Bay Resorts Group, Neutrogena, LifeLock, Liberty Medical, Boost Mobile, Conair, Vegas.com, among others. Ms. Vendice is President of Mercury Media Boston and is responsible for leading the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the national short-form practice. She has over 20 years of experience partnering with clients in a range of industries to successfully extend their marketing scope and appreciably grow their businesses. Ms. Vendice can be contacted at 508-449-3222 or bvendice@mercurymedia.com Extended Bio...

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