Direct Response (DRTV)

Every industry has at least one: the "dirty little secret" that only industry insiders are generally aware of. Planes with too many empty seats suddenly develop mechanical problems, requiring you to take the next flight, which just happens to be booked to capacity.  What's the dirty little secret of the electronic retailing industry?

For the past 10 years, I've struck out every time I've pitched testing the one-CTA infomercial. But now it's time we destroyed the myth about the absolutist three-CTA infomercial format.

If anyone ever doubts the power of advertising — of mass media — they only need to visit modern day Africa. Though still rooted in a subsistence farming-based economy, Africa has been "globalized." And it is advertising that powered this change. For good or bad, advertising changes minds, changes lives, even cultures and countries.

As the November election appears on the horizon, it’s my civic duty to give the candidates and their handlers a primer on how they could modernize their approach and utilize some advanced electronic direct response advertising techniques to their advantage. After all, Infomercials are the most effective and measurable form of advertising there is.

Reading the tea leaves of advertising’s future gets more difficult each day. As technological advances enable new options, we experiment enthusiastically. Yet in critical ways, our innovations look strangely familiar. Both the Internet and our portable media devices increasingly resemble interactive variations of television.

In the early 1990s, recognized brands and Fortune 500s like Apple and Barun Nissan embraced long-form DRTV. While enjoying the big budgets and credibility boost that these advertisers brought, DRTV insiders worried that shrinking inventory and higher media rates would force out entrepreneurs. That tide has receded. A February Jordan Whitney "Top 60 Infomercials" report listed only one major brand--Humana--whose Gold Choice show registered at number 60. What changed?

According to media pundits, the writers' strike has the nation's big advertisers nervously wringing their hands. As viewers find favorite scripted dramas replaced by the likes of That Reality Show and Apprentice: WWE, they're shifting allegiance to cable, syndication and the Web. Advertisers, in turn, wonder how in the world they will chase down these scattering viewers.

How will the transition from analog to digital affect production on DRTV campaigns? On February 17, 2009, federal law will end transmission of analog TV signals in favor of digital. We've heard this before, but the deadline was extended. For that reason, some agencies will take a wait-and-see approach before switching to high def production. But DRTV shops should act now.

As marketers flock to user-generated content (UGC) as the latest road to riches, the increased traffic has created some potholes. Clumsy creatives, self-absorbed spots that stray from product benefits and overtly negative brand associations are landmines that all sensible marketers should avoid. But since a UGC campaign's goals are positive and promising, advertisers must develop a strategy to harness consumer communities' energy.