7. Getting a Response

The aim of advertising is to change perceptions, but many campaigns are aimed at stimulating sales, too, so it is usual to include some point of contact where a customer can find out more. This can range from a subtly-placed website address to a booking number writ large over posters and TV spots (or even aeroplanes, in the case of the budget airline easyJet).

Ads which carry a very obvious, sales-based call to action fall into a category called direct response advertising, because their intention is to stimulate an immediate purchase.

This area started off simply with telephone numbers being included in TV ads. But it has grown massively with the development of electronic communications channels such as the internet and digital television, where, because they are linked to an advertiser’s website, commercials tend to be of the direct response variety by definition.