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The DRTV ads we remember are all too often the ones that shout the loudest. They use the simplest yet boldest visual techniques, and the clearest messages to drive us to respond. Ask someone to think of a DRTV ad and it's the Direct Lines, the Elephants and the Admirals people most often recall. And they work - when our car insurance for example comes up for renewal, suddenly these are the names that spring to mind. Yet this is also the type of DRTV ad that people most often term as cheap and tacky.

Traditionally the focus of DRTV ads has been to drive response. "DRTV is often seen as a talking brochure," says Arthur Parshotum, executive creative director at agency Draft London. "Get in there, get a sale and get out."

Projecting brand values

But what effect does this have on the brand? It's a question both agencies and clients are increasingly concerned about. The worry is that the more memorable ads may drive response and make people remember the brand concerned but that they're actually giving the wrong brand message.

The message being shouted from the roof-tops by many in the industry is you can't afford not to consider your brand. Every time a brand appears, be it on TV, or in the press, or through a piece of direct mail, a brand message goes out, which may or may not be the one you're after. After all, if the ad looks cheap, it raises the question of what else that brand does on the cheap.

So why employ these techniques in the first place? To make consumers notice them for one. "Most DRTV is on cheaper channels when the TV's on but not really being watched," says Ian Haworth, executive creative director at WWAV Rapp Collins. "It's ironing board TV. If it's on in the daytime it's often not a high viewing time because the TV is just on in the background."

Ads have to work hard to get noticed then, hence the use of lots of sound, arresting visual techniques and very clear calls to action. They can also help new brands entering crowded markets.

"If you want to create instant cut-through, then you can make inroads with simple strong stuff like this," says John Townshend, creative director at Rapier. "You could argue that they're not very well crafted, but they work. It depends on the proposition."

Bob Nash, creative director at Clark MacKay & Walpole, which does DRTV work for Marbles and Macmillan, points to the Esure ads with Michael Winner as a case in point. "You can look at them and say you hate Michael Winner and that the ads are crude but from a no-name brand, Esure went through the roof," he says.

The issue with this kind of technique though is the message it sends to the consumer about your brand. "The problem, especially in financial services ads is that you're trying to achieve cut-through but without any mind to brand values or personality," says Dan Douglass, executive creative director of FCBi London. "It's a tactical use of medium in a saturated market but in straying away from the brand so much, you're creating a disconnect in the mind of the consumer."

Budget is also a consideration - or an excuse. A newly launched brand may want to advertise on TV but might not have much money to spend.

"Lots of creatives will complain that they don't have the budget to do anything. I don't buy that - if you've got an idea, you can do low budget stuff," says Draft's Parshotum.

Disguising the budget

Nash agrees. He argues that it is possible to make an ad look good without filming it in Bermuda or spending two weeks in an editing suite. "To support the brand you need a certain quality on screen and this requires certain production costs but it can be done in different ways. Half the fun of a DRTV campaign is in finding ways to shoot it no matter what the budget is," he says. "If you shoot and light in DigiBeta it's difficult to tell from film on TV but has a big effect on cost."

So is it possible then to create a DRTV ad that works from both a response driving and a positive brand building perspective? The answer from marketing professionals is overwhelmingly yes, and it's something brands are increasingly seeking to do.

"Every communication should be about your brand and there's no excuse for not imbuing all messages with your brand values," says Townshend.

Rapier created the Bev and Kev ads for the AA. "Bev and Kev is successful because it's a memorable proposition. And the main thing is it's a simple dramatisation of the AA's benefits, showing a shoddy car versus a nice car," says Townshend. "If you don't get all the bits in place, strategy, simplicity of execution, mechanics and call to action, then it falls down."

EHS Brann calls this kind of ad BRTV - brand responsive TV. Ayo Hughes is the agency's head of television. "It relies on identifying a brand truth and using this truth to re-enforce the brand through the product or service offer," he explains.

Hughes quotes the agency's work with British Gas. "The spots needed to sell the product benefits and make a direct exhortation to the viewer to act. How to reconcile the two? The essence of British Gas's brand promise is it says it 'does the right thing'. So, we took the offer, one that will make the consumer's life a bit better, and were able to use it to demonstrate the brand promise: British Gas doing the right thing. The value message and the style in which it was expressed reinforced the brand promise. And that's the key - the approach can only work when the product message and the brand message are mutually supportive."

Brands also have to consider where consumers are in their relationship with them as this also has an effect on how much you can combine brand and response building in an ad.

"You have to ask what you're doing with an ad," says Townshend. "If people know your products, your communication can be more direct. It depends where in the sales process you are. You can only do so much in an ad and if you're busy informing them, there'll be less in the ad asking them to react. Do they know what you do? If not, you have to tell them."

While it can be a struggle for a new brand entering the market with DRTV, it can help if you're the first one stepping into a particular marketplace. World Vision is a good example of this. With FCBi London, it was the first to use DRTV to promote both child sponsorship and gift catalogues. "If you are number one, you have an advantage in the niche and the product speaks for the brand. If you're a competitor, and you're a follower, you have to be more shrewd in what you do," says Douglass.

First mover advantage

Since World Vision took child sponsorship to DRTV, more charities have followed suit, meaning the players have to use different tactics to get themselves noticed.

"Smart players tend to use shorter spaces to try and ambush the channels where bigger players are dominating," says Douglass. "You can get a 10-second spot to work very hard for a smaller player - riding on the back of what established players have achieved. If the product is category-generic, you can take chances, and you will get certain windfall enquiries from people who'd otherwise go to the big boys."

But while it is possible to combine both brand and response, it is vital to decide which is the more important. "The key thing when you set out to do DRTV is to agree by what methods you'll judge if it's a success," says Nash. "We don't do any DRTV that detracts from or contravenes the brand - that's not acceptable - but what's important is understanding the hierarchy of measuring the success of an ad."

Measuring an ad's success in brand building isn't as cut and dried as measuring response admits Douglass, which is why it can play second fiddle. Clients are looking for a combination of brand building and response, with very clear points of evaluation so you can evaluate the brand alongside numbers of enquiries, conversions, and other metrics direct marketers can use.

"You can factor in soft measures as well and there's lots of formulae out there but no one has yet arrived at the Holy Grail and it's a challenge," says Douglass. "Brand response TV works but the metrics aren't there yet. It's difficult to evaluate the trade off between direct and brand, response and awareness," he adds.

The integrated approach

What can work better than solely relying on a DRTV ad to build both brand and response is integrating TV with other media. "Privilege's ads when they launched with Joanna Lumley did a good job for getting that initial spike," says Piggy Lines, creative director at MRM. "They established a framework and people know what it stands for. Now they're letting press and other media do the backend sweep. When DRTV partners with other media, it builds brand better than if not and where you've got support media it's easier to build a brand commercial."

A lot of it is about getting the balance right - working out what you want the ads to achieve but also taking into consideration the effect they will have elsewhere. And there is still a lot of admiration for the 'cheap and tacky' in your face approach.

"In the end, ads like Elephant's are phenomenal," says Nash. "They're about a no-name brand trying to get known and not spend too much. It can actually be a very clever strategy to do something cheesy that works."

But then again if you build a good brand ad it has longevity says Lines. "People don't tire of it - it builds slower but it does better."

The bottom line is that it's horses for courses with DRTV. Every brand's needs are different, and it's about being intelligent with the technique's use, having a good idea, knowing what you want, and being aware of the long-term affect of your actions.

CASE STUDY: GREEN FLAG

Agency MRM has created DRTV ads that fall into both brand building and response driving for its client Green Flag to promote its breakdown cover. "Green Flag had no real brand when we got the account," explains creative director Piggy Lines. "It has marginally fewer customers than the RAC but does a lot of work through partnerships, such as through Tesco and Marks & Spencer, as well as selling direct. We were very keen to establish brand values in the ads. The challenge for consumers was that they didn't know what Green Flag's credentials were. If you call at 3am, who's going to turn up? So the ads are building response but also building brand. The response has been above what's been anticipated, and we've built reassurance with a brand that was almost invisible and shown that brand values build response too."