sari

Direct response is where most of the money is in digital advertising, which makes sense—direct response drives real outcomes for brands, and it’s highly measurable. Direct response lends itself naturally to the internet, where attribution is easier than with TV or physical advertising like billboards.

It is, in other words, a credential that is particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. During the last recession, millions of Americans decided to go back to college for an advanced degree. Business schools face a tougher test: How do you build a social network in the time of social distancing?

The strategy tends to work well when the group of companies being brought together are similar enough that they can benefit from shared, scaled out fixed “infrastructure” across core business functions but are different enough (end customer demographics, positioning/brand, geography, etc.) that they don’t encroach too aggressively on one another.