At the same time Mercury Media is busy branding itself as one of the largest independent performance media companies in the U.S., it often has to explain to people exactly what performance-based marketing is.
For the uninitiated, the methodology produces marketing strategies so effective that the marketer is paid strictly on measurable results. That’s the structure governing most Mercury Media accounts, and it works particularly well for entrepreneurial businesses that lack large media budgets and thus can’t afford marketing risks.
While the ROI of other agencies’ efforts can be hard to link to exact numbers, Mercury focuses on providing a qualitative link between the dollars customers spend and the ROI they receive. To do that, it examines each spot and digital insertion for effectiveness. Customers are, in effect, buying outcomes.
Nicole Cordero
Vice President, Hispanic Strategy and Planning
Mercury is something of an anomaly among media businesses, as most work under a fee-based or manpower-based model. Founded in 1989 and now based in New York, the privately owned agency is the result of the consolidation of several different direct-response agencies through the years. It employs more than 200 people at five offices across the U.S., works with global affiliates and generates annual revenues of more than $600 million. Major clients include the Wall Street Journal, Waterpik, Lenox, Guthy-Renker, Omaha Steaks, Inogen and American Standard.
As part of that strategy Mercury frequently maximizes direct-response strategies across channels, and that’s partly why it partners with Dial800. These days, traditional and DR ad agencies are increasingly seeking help from specialists like Dial800 that can help diversify their marketing while providing crucial customer data, explains Nicole Cordero, Mercury’s VP of Hispanic strategy and planning.
Mercury Media values our partnership with Dial800 because its services are an extension of our offerings to our clients,” she explains. “It is very important to us to have a single platform where we can view and analyze our call data. We see true value and insight through Dial800’s platform.
Dial800’s Rapid Recall, hybrid and vanity numbers are effectively used in Mercury ad campaigns and enable the agency to integrate operations from multiple Mercury locations, she notes.
“The right phone number with the right media will bring in more calls, and has helped increase Mercury’s media efficiency,” Cordero adds. “High-profile media buys deserve the highest-quality phone number to maximize their efficiency and value to our clients.”