Milena Traikovich is a powerhouse in demand generation, known for turning complex analytics into high-impact retail campaigns that bridge the gap between digital precision and traditional reach. In our conversation today, we dive into why a legacy-minded medium like linear TV remains a cornerstone for Batteries Plus, even as many competitors pivot exclusively to digital or connected platforms. We explore the brand’s sophisticated shift from broad broadcast buys to targeted cable inventory, the psychological impact of their “two weeks on, two weeks off” scheduling, and how an internal employee competition birthed a creative strategy that leverages 1,100 experts to stand out in a crowded market. Throughout the discussion, we unpack the mechanics of maintaining national brand awareness and the rigorous modeling used to justify a budget where television commands a staggering quarter of the total paid media spend.
Linear TV often faces criticism regarding its measurement compared to digital media. Why does it remain a top marketing channel for your brand, and what specific metrics are used to justify its cost-effectiveness and reach across national markets?
While it is true that linear TV often gets a bad rap in an era dominated by clicks and immediate digital attribution, we still view it as the most cost-effective channel for achieving pure, unadulterated reach. For a brand like ours, being able to cast a wide net across national markets is essential to keeping our services top-of-mind before a consumer even realizes their car battery is dead or their phone screen is cracked. Currently, our brand awareness across the entire United States sits at approximately 55%, but in specific markets where we have a physical presence and higher media spend, that number climbs to a robust 60%. We justify the investment by pulling comprehensive marketing mix modeling twice a year, which allows us to see the direct correlation between our airtime and store traffic. By the time we hit July, we expect to see that our 2026 campaign has delivered an even higher return on ad spend than previous years, proving that the scale of television still offers a unique “bang for your buck” that smaller-scale digital ads can struggle to replicate.
Highlighting store expertise can be a major differentiator in the retail space. How did internal employee competitions inspire the creative direction of your latest campaign, and how do you use humor to translate associate passion into a memorable brand experience for customers?
The creative soul of our “Battery Pack” and “Experts in Charge” campaigns actually stems from a very real, high-energy event we hold annually called the “Plus Games.” At our national convention, we watched in awe as our associates competed with incredible intensity to see who could replace a key fob or swap out a car battery with the most precision and speed. The atmosphere was electric, filled with a genuine passion for technical mastery that we knew we had to bottle up and share with the world. We decided to use a humorous, slightly competitive format in our commercials to showcase our 1,100 associates across 740 stores, making them the heroes of the narrative. By leaning into this “fun side” of expertise, we create a memorable brand image that sticks with a consumer, which is vital when you consider that some of our competitors in the automotive space have significantly deeper pockets for advertising than we do.
Shifting from broadcast to cable inventory can significantly reduce media costs. How does this lower price point allow for a more diverse range of service-specific ads, and how do you align those spots with the diverse demographics of various cable audiences?
The transition from expensive broadcast inventory to cable has been a strategic game-changer for our 2026 budget, allowing us to stretch our dollars much further while actually increasing our frequency. In previous years, we often felt forced to run a single, cluttered commercial that tried to mention everything from boat batteries to phone repair in thirty seconds, which can be overwhelming for the viewer. Now, because the cost of cable is substantially lower, we can afford to run multiple, distinct spots that focus on individual services, such as a dedicated ad for motorcycle batteries or a specific one for cracked screens. Our target audience is quite broad, spanning ages 25 to 64, so this flexibility allows us to place a boat-centric ad on a channel that attracts outdoorsy demographics, ensuring the message resonates with the person watching. This granular approach helps us compete more effectively against specialized rivals by appearing as a specialist in every category we serve.
Maintaining brand awareness often requires a careful balance of ad frequency to be effective. Why is a “two weeks on, two weeks off” schedule more effective than traditional monthly rotations, and what impact has this cadence had on preventing awareness dips between marketing cycles?
We have found that the traditional “heavy up” month followed by a month of total silence creates a rollercoaster effect where awareness spikes and then painfully erodes during the off-cycle. By moving to a “two weeks on, two weeks off” cadence for the duration of 2026, we are aiming to maintain a much more consistent level of “mental availability” among our consumers. We know that frequency is the lifeblood of awareness; if we go dark for too long, we lose that hard-earned momentum and have to spend more just to get back to baseline. When we ran our ads in April, we noticed an immediate uptick in awareness, and the goal now is to use this tighter rotation to stretch that feeling of presence throughout the entire year. It’s about staying within the consumer’s peripheral vision constantly so that when a seasonal need arises—like needing a new RV battery in the spring—we are the first name they recall.
Television represents a significant portion of your marketing budget, second only to paid search. How do you integrate these two channels to drive traffic, and how does your marketing mix modeling help you determine the return on investment for these high-reach video campaigns?
Television and paid search act as the two primary engines of our marketing machine, with TV making up roughly 25% of our paid spend and search taking the top spot. We see them as a symbiotic pair: TV builds the high-level awareness and trust that eventually leads a consumer to type “battery replacement near me” into a search engine. Without the visual authority and reach of our TV spots, our paid search efforts would have to work much harder to convert “cold” leads who aren’t familiar with our expertise. To ensure this mix is optimized, we rely on our bi-annual marketing mix modeling to dissect how each dollar contributes to the bottom line, rather than looking at them in silos. By analyzing the data in July, we will be able to pinpoint exactly how our new cable-heavy strategy influenced the search volume and eventual store visits, allowing us to refine the budget for the remainder of the year.
What is your forecast for TV marketing?
I believe we are entering a period where the “death of linear TV” narrative will be replaced by a more nuanced understanding of its role as a high-efficiency reach tool. While the shift to streaming is undeniable, the sheer cost-effectiveness of cable inventory for reaching a broad 25-64 demographic remains unmatched for brands that need to build trust quickly. My forecast is that more retail brands will move away from erratic, seasonal “burst” spending and instead adopt the “always-on” or high-frequency “two-week” rotations we are currently utilizing. We will see a greater emphasis on using TV to drive specific service categories rather than just general brand vibes, as the ability to buy diverse inventory at lower price points makes high-frequency, service-led storytelling more accessible than ever. The winners will be those who can blend the emotional, human storytelling of their frontline experts with the mathematical rigor of modern media buying.
