Is the DVR the Demise of TV Advertising?

The Leichtman study predicts that the number of U.S. households with DVRs will grow to over sixty million by the end of 2011. Does that mean that drtv advertisers will have a harder time reaching people who can fast-forward through the commercials? Not necessarily.

The study also points out that while eighty-four percent of DVR owners rate the ability to skip commercials as very important, only eight percent of DVR owners say it is the greatest benefit of having a DVR. Additionally, forty-five percent of DVR owners record five or fewer programs per week, again pointing to the preference for live TV.

The Growth of DRTV

Sieglinde Friedman, VP of communications and strategy at the Electronic Retailing Association, has followed the growth of DRTV and infomercial advertising. "The Geicos and Procter & Gambles are using the actual methodology of direct response – basically, wrapping content around anything in a compelling way with a call to action: 'Come to my Web site!'" Friedman says.

Observes Koeppel: "Consumers who view direct response television appear to be more engaged consumers. And, because of that, marketers are able to develop more of a relationship with those consumers, because they're going to the Web and doing research, or they are talking to a customer service person. It's more of an interactive relationship."

Even in today's fragmented media world, consumers still turn to direct response television. Marketers are integrating multimedia approaches into their strategies, while embracing the essential elements that have made DRTV so effective for so long

Infomercial DRTV

Infomercial DRTV is the leading web site for cutting edge information about infomercials. The site is designed to answer all your questions about infomercial marketing. Infomercial DRTV will help explain the entire infomercial marketing process, including evaluating infomercial products, determining the optimal price points, measuring infomercial ROI, understanding the infomercial target audience, infomercial production, infomercial media testing, campaign rollout, infomercial back end sales, the role of the Internet in infomercial marketing, and taking infomercial products to retail, among other topics. Inventors, entrepreneurs and infomercial marketers rely on Infomercial DRTV for the most comprehensive information on infomercial marketing.

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The Expanding Influence of the Googlopoly

An article titled Googlopoly in the July issue of MEDIA magazine explores Google's expanding media empire and how it might affect the drtv ad industry. Google has gained a foothold in the TV, radio, newspaper and online ad businesses, and they now own the largest online video site. Here's how Google's media assets are allocated among the various mediums and how those assets were created over the last year:

They purchased dMarc to establish a presence in the radio industry and also formed a relationship with Clear Channel to gain inventory on 675 radio stations.

- Their acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion establishes them as a leader in the user-generated video business.

- They formed a partnership with EchoStar (Dish satellite TV), which provides them with access to the ad serving and viewer research from Dish's 13 million+ TV households.

- They are partnering with major newspapers to offer print media to their advertisers.

- They are attempting to purchase DoubleClick, to help them dominant the online display advertising business.

Peter Koeppel is Founder and President of Koeppel Direct, a leader in DRTV and direct response television online, print and radio media buying, marketing and campaign management. With a Wharton MBA and over 25 years of marketing and advertising experience, Peter has helped Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and entrepreneurs develop direct marketing campaigns to increase profits.

Multichannel marketing fuels DRTV growth

By adapting interactive media and using direct response television for nontraditional purposes, multichannel marketers are growing the DRTV industry as a marketing medium, according to a new study from the Electronic Retailing Association, called The Evolving Role of Direct Response Television in Multichannel Marketing Execution. The report, conducted by the Winterberry Group, attributes the growth largely to DRTV marketers who are accelerating their adoption and customization of emerging technologies, especially in the interactive sphere of the Web.

"The consumer is in charge - that is the big message here," said Sieglinde Friedman, vice president of board and strategy at the ERA. "It used to be all about the call to action call, right then and there: 'Call this number: We're having a 75 percent sale.' That's an old model in a way, because the consumer is finding its product in many different ways and DRTV recognizes that. [Marketers] are much busier now than [when consumers were just driven] from an 800 number."

The report shows that the DRTV industry is being reshaped by the increasing number of brand marketers in the DRTV space, the growing use of DRTV to develop and nurture customer relationships rather than merely sell individual products and the increasing use of DRTV to drive Web and retail traffic.

"This study helps to reinforce that direct response is really coming to prominence and more and more marketers - larger marketers, brand marketers, marketers looking to drive retail and looking to drive their Web traffic and sales - are going to be adopting and considering direct response," said Peter Koeppel, president and founder of Koeppel Direct, a direct response media buying agency in Dallas.

"It also helps to reinforce what we've been trying to sell to marketers - Fortune 1000 marketers - who haven't maybe entered the space yet: that DRTV does really have value," Koeppel added. "In today's more fragmented media environment you have to understand different media channels and how they are going to impact on your sales and work together to build sales or build brand or drive retail."

The study aimed to understand the rationale behind the perpetual success of DRTV and involved interviews and surveys with about 100 senior industry executives in North America.

source:dm news

Smokin' DVD sales through DRTV

Northern Lights Direct Response Television has launched a campaign to promote a 50th anniversary DVD edition of the classic Western TV series "Gunsmoke," the longest-running drama in TV history.

The national campaign, which includes both 60 and 120 second DRTV commercials, was created for BMG Columbia House as part of their promotion of the Columbia House TV on DVD club.

"This campaign is really media-specific driven, targeting people who are watching nostalgia stations, Western stations and re-run stations," said Ian French, president/chief creative officer of Northern Lights Direct Response Television. "It's a small thing but it's a fundamental shift in the way that Columbia House has used DRTV. It's really niche, which is common in the brand world, but it's very uncommon practice in the DRTV world."

The campaign looks to broaden the audience beyond "Gunsmoke" to target those viewers who enjoy learning about the history of the frontier.

Christena Garduno, chief operations officer of Koeppel Direct, the multichannel direct response television (DRTV) company that handled the media buys for the "Gunsmoke" campaigns in the last two years, said Columbia House had not had success with TV in the past and turned to direct mail instead.

"What's made this campaign unique and successful is the strategy we recommended about how to go about buying media," Ms. Garduno said. "What we would do is take the classic titles that we knew networks were airing with frequency and knew there must be an audience for." Using this strategy, the company ran ads against "Gunsmoke," "Murder, She Wrote" and "Little House on the Prairie."

This is a different strategy than the one the company used for its direct mail pushes.

"What works for Columbia House in direct mail doesn't necessarily cross over into TV and vice versa really," Ms. Garduno said. "It's almost a very simple strategy: 'Let's use our understanding of the media and how networks select and what's involved with that and use that knowledge and apply it to a campaign like Columbia House.' " The previous "Gunsmoke" campaign, which was season-specific, aimed to persuade viewers to order the first season of the show by offering them the second one free. The new campaign offers volumes instead of seasons and each volume includes "best of" shows from all 20 years the show ran.

"It's designed with a very strong sales message, of course, but it starts off with a little bit about 'Gunsmoke,' " Mr. French said.

The latest spot shows a toll-free number and offer URL at www.gunsmokecollection.com.

The financial details of the current and the previous "Gunsmoke" campaigns were not disclosed. However, Ms. Garduno said Koeppel Direct definitely exceeded its cost-per-order goal on the first run.

Mr. French said Columbia House had success with the first "Gunsmoke" DRTV push.

"That's why they've gone back to this one," he said, "because it's proven so effective."

Mix Up Your DRTV Marketing Mix

When San Diego's modern art museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), decided to market its expanded downtown location early this year, it wanted to attract an entirely new population of museum-goers -- young ones. Specifically, the museum wanted to find art lovers under the age of 25, to whom it would offer free admission.

There was one problem, though. Used to interacting with an older audience via traditional advertisements, the museum realized that its tried-and-true media buying and marketing tools were the very same ones being rejected as suspect and old fashioned by most modern-day young people. A standard newspaper ad would no longer do. It needed something different.

"Our greatest results are coming from a combination of more traditional media outlets with other, more extreme non-traditional ones," says Jonathan Bailey, CEO of Bailey Gardiner, the San Diego-based integrated marketing company that MCASD hired to help it reach its new demographic. "Our ideal strategy for clients is at least a 50 percent spend on non-traditional mediums."

The strategy his team recommended for MCASD was no different. The museum launched a traditional ad campaign via magazines and billboards in order to reach its older base of customers. It coupled that, however, with an interactive viral Web site, www.feedthegreedyorgan.com, designed to encourage younger consumers to "feed their greedy organ" -- their eyes -- with a free visit to the museum. The museum's traditional ads drove traffic to the non-traditional Web site, resulting in a 200 percent increase in museum attendance by the under-25 set.

The lesson for small business owners is this: In order to succeed with your marketing dollars, integrate, innovate and interact. "You need every marketing dollar to count," Bailey says, "so simply relying on methods that might work for Fortune 500 companies and household brand names will not work for emerging companies."