Posts Tagged ‘products’

Billy Mays: 1958-2009

Monday, June 29th, 2009

billymaysStatement from the Electronic Retailing Association on Death of Iconic DRTV Pitchman, Billy Mays

ARLINGTON, Va.–June 28, 2009 – The Electronic Retailing Association (ERA), the leading trade association for direct-to-consumer commerce, issued the following statements on the death of Billy Mays, one of the pioneers in the direct response television (DRTV) industry:

“DRTV has grown to be a $300 billion business during the last 20 years, and Billy Mays played a key role in making this possible,” said Julie Coons, president and CEO of ERA. “His dedication to DRTV will be remembered by those of us in the industry, as his animated approach to marketing dozen of products, such as Orange Glo and OxiClean, will be remembered by millions of consumers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Deborah, and to his family and friends.”

“This is a sad day for those of us that were lucky to know Billy,” said Nathan Fagre, chairman of ERA and senior vice president and general counsel of 
ShopNBC. “He worked hard, cared about his family and friends and he will be greatly missed.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Direct Response, ERA, Electronic Retailer, Infomercials, Marketer, drtv | 3 Comments »

The Onion – Direct Response Style!

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

patrickpic1Enjoy these hilarious videos that touch on aspects of the direct-to-consumer industry.


US To Trade Gold Reserves For Cash Through Cash4Gold.com


New BabySafe Ball Makes Shaking Your Infant Guilt And Injury Free

Also worth a look: Twitter Creator On Iran: ‘I Never Intended For Twitter To Be Useful’

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia Editor.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Direct Response, Infomercials, Just for fun..., Marketer, Online, Retailer, Social Networks, Video, drtv, e-commerce, technology | 2 Comments »

How to Pick the Perfect Product & Effectively Position it Within an Infomercial

Monday, April 6th, 2009

paul-greenbergIt’s never easy, but you can to narrow down your choices through a process of elimination by considering the following:

Select a product that fulfills a perceived problem that the consumer has. In most cases, people aren’t always aware of the problem they have, so you need to show them.

The product should be simple to explain yet have enough features and benefits that it can hold audience attention for a half-hour.

Pick a product that will have people instantly recognizing they have the problem – and need the solution. For example, “Are you tired of knives that just don’t cut?” Sometimes people won’t think about this as an everyday problem in their lives, however once confronted with this, they will quickly see this as a problem they would like to solve.

Recognize that DR relies on an impulse buy – people must want the product right now. Don’t try to sell products that are preventative; the products need to solve a problem consumers have today rather than a problem they may have over time. Unless you’re looking at a lead generation campaign, alarm systems or life insurance are examples of preventative products that are not suitable for the infomercial format.

The product should have a high-perceived value and be able to sell for a 5 to 1 mark-up.

The show and product are inherently intertwined like two dancers- two interlocking pieces of the same puzzle. But, you must start with the product first then focus on the show later.

The product/Pitch/Show – TV is a medium of entertainment, so you have to make sure the product can entertain for thirty minutes. Is it interesting to look at? Can you see it working? Is the function of the product interesting to watch? A blender is interesting to watch as it converts a solid into a liquid. Is the product easily demonstratable? With a food preparation device such as a counter top oven, you are watching a process occur. With a fitness machine, consumers can see a product working with results before their eyes.

Every product has a weakness and audience will figure it out in the half-hour. It is the marketer’s job to address that weakness and ideally turn it into a benefit or strength. For example, when concerned a product is too small, confront it head-on by emphasizing how compact and convenient it is.

The product and the show should be aimed at the audience that is watching. There is no use trying to sell a product to an audience that is simply not there. For instance, snow shovels in Miami would not be a way to go!

Paul Greenberg is Thane Direct’s chief creative officer.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Direct Response, Infomercials, Marketer, Retailer, drtv | 4 Comments »

You Found Your Niche; Now Find Your Nano-niche.

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

ramachandran-photo.jpg The world of affiliate marketing is immense. Those who are already in the affiliate marketing space know that breaking into this world can be a challenge, especially if you’re trying to promote a product or service that thousands of others are already promoting.

Many successful affiliates have found that if you really try to promote your “niche,” you will have greater success in driving sales. However, now that many current and prospective affiliate marketers know this trick of the trade if you will, it’s time to take it one step further.

What we are talking about comes from the idea of nano-niche marketing. Just like the Apple Nano is the smaller version of the iPod, a nano-niche is a smaller, more specific version of your niche.

Everyone has a niche, whether it is a hobby, or a sport, or simply some topic you know a lot about. For example, common hobbies include crafts, art or music. A nano-niche is breaking the hobby down one step further — a craft could be knitting hats, art could be painting landscapes, music could be the clarinet for beginners, etc.

The point is, the smaller you can focus your niche, the more focused you can make all of your affiliate marketing efforts (i.e. your blog, your video, etc). By honing in on a specific audience group, you can tailor your efforts and really engage with your audience. And the fact of the matter is, the more targeted your niche can be, the more likely it is that there will be an audience out there that has yet been reached.

Ultimately, successful affiliate marketing relies on driving sales through promotion. Therefore, if you are able to target and drive very specific traffic to your website, your conversion rates will be higher than just marketing to a huge general audience – driving your sales up immensely.

Although many people new to the affiliate marketing industry think to go big right off the bat, it is in fact more likely you will find success in the nano-niche, in the targeted and specific areas that others have yet to discover. So instead of going big, take that one extra step to go small – right to the audience that really wants and needs your product or service.

Dush Ramachandran is vice president of sales and business development at ClickBank.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Direct Response, Marketer, Online, Research, Retailer, Social Networks, Web Analytics | 6 Comments »

What Is the Fate of Consumer Testimonials?

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

picture.jpg Currently, the FTC is proposing changes to its guidance on consumer testimonials. These changes will directly affect you and the way you do business. There are several reasons why honest marketers, particularly in the direct response world, should be worried.

If these changes are approved, the FTC will no longer allow for the general use of a “results not typical” claim. Marketers may instead offer clinical evidence of the typical performance of the product, or in some cases, offer an extreme level of detail about how the product was used—but generally, they may face liability without the more stringent type of disclosure. Here marketers will be asked to remove claims that are factually accurate and adequately documented.

As you know, in most cases, it will be extremely difficult or even impossible to provide the evidence the FTC is looking for. It is likely that companies will lack the resources to do a comprehensive study, so the consumer will be left with absolutely no idea of whether the product works at all. This gives them little incentive to try the products put forth by honest advertisers who wish to comply with the fullest extent of the law. Or worse, because the FTC does not propose very stringent standards for the type of clinical evidence needed, dishonest marketers will be rewarded. For example, today Mary says she has lost 20 pounds by following an exercise regime and the consumer is clearly reminded that most people will not have the same results she had. Tomorrow, if these guides are approved, less honest marketers will risk running afoul of the FTC’s guidance and say “the median weight loss for women under 30 who remained in the program for more than one year was 15 lbs.” when, in fact, a more accurate description of the product’s performance would be “the mean weight loss for program participants was 2 lbs.” The exact same product could appear to produce vastly different results by altering the study design.

The FTC also plans on amending rules that apply to talent and aspiring actors who do testimonials in the hope of gaining exposure. These alterations would impose liability on “experts” or celebrities for certain types of claims. It would also add to the disclosure requirements. Additionally, the changes could impose liability on bloggers and other new forms of advertising. The full proposal can be read here.

ERA is involved in presenting a forceful response to this proposal. We will be submitting comments to the FTC and continuing our advocacy on the Hill. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like to learn more about this issue.

Tomi Turner is ERA’s legislative manager. She can be reach at (703) 908-1022, or via e-mail at tturner@retailing.org.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Direct Response, ERA, Government Affairs, Infomercials, Marketer, Research | 7 Comments »

Leveraging Video in Online Merchandising

Monday, January 5th, 2009

rick-martin-of-sellpoint.jpg Retailers know all about the importance of effectively merchandising their end-caps, shelves, and racks to provide in-store shoppers with key “why to buy” messages, but when it comes to translating some of these approaches in the online world, most are failing to provide shoppers with the same level of attention.

With 90 percent of consumers going online to research products before making a purchase, online merchandising is equally (if not more) important as in-store merchandising. Visit any product page on most retailers’ sites and chances are you’ll see little more than a “picture and a paragraph” describing a product. Very rarely will you see specific “why-to-buy” messages, let alone more persuasive merchandising that leverages the unique capabilities of the online medium, such as video, audio and animation.

With their online venues, retailers have tremendous opportunity to engage and educate their shoppers using video tours that dynamically demonstrate product features and benefits. The use of rich media allows unique product capabilities to be seen by the shopper in the context of real use scenarios. Video product tours can also be augmented with other compelling product content such as sell sheets, 360-degree images, printable user guides and product specifications – elements that would be impossible to provide alongside a product in store, and once again take unique advantage of the online environment. There’s no better time to pull out the stops and impact your highly qualified niche of shoppers than while they are in the process of researching and buying products online.

Online video product tours aren’t all show. Independent third party studies show they increase conversion rates by providing shoppers the information they need to make informed purchase decisions. In so doing, video tours also make your site ‘stickier’ - in fact, shoppers view video product tours for an average of two minutes per tour– a major victory of extended engagement in the online retail world where your competition is only a click away.

But perhaps the most compelling news for retailers is that video product tours are provided free of charge by leading manufacturers through various content syndication networks. The video tours are also hosted by those same networks, so there’s no IT impact for the retailer. Effective, free, and easy – it just doesn’t get any better than that.

Rick Martin is SellPoint’s CEO.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Direct Response, Marketer, Online, Research, Video | 1 Comment »