AppRiver, the Florida-based email security service vendor, yesterday launched a six-week national television ad campaign on CNBC to inform businesses about the need to secure email messages with encryption.

Naturally, AppRiver’s CipherPost encryption service - the TV spot purports - provides the level of security and ease of use to safeguard digital corporate communications.

AppRiver joins McAfee in taking to the television airwaves to educate consumers and businesses about security threats and the measures available to protect their computers, data and IT infrastructures from hackers and malware. Following its Focus conference last month, McAfee launched a 30-minute informercial to highlight its products.

IT vendors advertising on major and cable television networks is nothing new, but only a handful of security vendors have tried to reach the masses through the boob-tube. Cisco mounted a protected television campaign five years ago about its “self-defending network.” CA included security as part of a million-dollar Super Bowl spot.

But do such television ads result in moving boxes or writing contracts? And, more importantly, do vendor’s television advertising campaigns create the right air cover that results in better leads and shorter sales cycles for solution provider partners?

You would think that raising brand awareness will have both a direct and indirect impact on users understanding of both the threats and the potential solutions beyond the obvious market leaders. In the case of AppRiver, the six-week CNBC campaign undoubtedly represents a substantial investment in market education and brand recognition. But can solution providers connect the dots from the vendor’s investment in television commercials to their business?