DirectNet Advertising Inc., a St. Petersburg, FL, performance-based direct marketing agency, has allied with Corinthian Media Inc., a New York independent media buyer.
Operating on a revenue-share basis, the alliance will offer integrated, performance-based Internet and direct response television marketing services.
“We decided that by working together, there's tremendous commonality between the two media that we could offer integrated solutions to advertisers,” said Paul Soltoff, chairman/CEO of DirectNet.
Terms of the alliance require DirectNet to develop, produce, implement, integrate, track and manage campaigns across channels. These marketing efforts will include Web addresses as traffic drivers to the advertisers' sites for sales or leads.
Corinthian will manage broadcast media buys. Corinthian claims to be one of the leading privately held media independents, with billings last year of $350 million.
Both DirectNet and Corinthian boast access to a plethora of media outlets.
DirectNet has a proprietary database of more than 5 million e-mail addresses, access to another 60 million opt-in e-mail addresses and 40,000-plus Web sites, and the ability to track consumer response to creative.
DirectNet clients include Dirt Devil, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Eddie Bauer, American Express Co. and JCPenney. Because the agency is privately held, it does not disclose billings.
“The fact is that we're a performance-based direct marketing agency — clients compensate us for delivering customers,” Soltoff said. “In essence, we eliminate their advertising work on the Internet because they're not buying banners or impressions or clicks. They're compensating us for actual customers.”
Corinthian places ads on 1,140 broadcast and 200 cable stations and syndicates.
The partnership is already in play. DirectNet recently launched a program for Rhino Linings. The San Diego company has 450 dealerships nationwide that sell spray-on truck bed liners that match the vehicle's color and are easy to wash. Rhino Linings' campaign includes a direct response TV spot that not only has an 800 number but also a Web address leading to a unique landing page.
“Thirty percent of all qualified leads are coming from the Internet, and 70 percent are coming from inbound phone calls,” Soltoff said. “The overall campaign has reduced their cost per lead by over 20 percent, and the business's overall revenue activity is higher.”
