Response articles from August 2008

Response archives from August 2008

'There ain't no cure for the summertime blues'.(Editor's Note)
August 1, 2008... So said Eddie Cochran's classic 1958 hit, later covered by dozens of rock bands around the world. Paraphrasing another hit song about the season (with apologies to Bananarama), what a cruel, cruel, summer it has been so far for the...

FCC takes another look at product placement rules.(Field Reports)
August 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it will review rules on how U.S. television programmers may display commercial products in shows. The discussed tightening of rules would require producers to let viewers...

Candidates turning to MTV and online for youth vote.(Field Reports)
August 1, 2008... NEW YORK -- A study released by PR agency Waggener Edstrom Worldwide shows that the youth vote is turning away from traditional media and turning toward the Internet, reported AdAge.com. The report says that 64 percent of 18- to...

Daily video consumption to rise 25 percent by 2013.(Field Reports)
August 1, 2008... NEW YORK -- A recent study from Forrester Research found that consumer consumption of video content will rise about 25 percent to five hours per day in the next five years, reported AdAge.com. The rise is attributed to the increase of video...

FTC releases CAN-SPAM updates.(Field Reports)(Federal Trade Commission)(Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) added updates to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 that include making E-mail opt outs a one-step process, reports DMNews.com. The update, which took effect July 7, has enacted four new provisions:...

NBC to buy The weather Channel.(Field Reports)
August 1, 2008... NEW YORK -- NBC Universal and two private equity firms, Blackstone Group and Bain Capital, are set to buy The Weather Channel Cos. from Norfolk, Va.-based Landmark Communications. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources close...

"Oreck Air Purifier.".(News Corner)
August 1, 2008... * Northern Response (International) Ltd. is chosen to be the international distributor of the best selling infomercial "Oreck Air Purifier." The company already distributes the Oreck infomercial in Canada.

DRTV.(News Corner)
August 1, 2008... * Cesari Direct receives the Green-sheet Award for Infomercial Excellence for its production on the DRTV campaign for Eagle One's Nanowax, an automobile appearance care application.

Turban towel.(News Corner)(Impact Products Ltd)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... * Impact Products Ltd. announces it has shipped its 4 millionth Turban Towel, a TV item that was considered "dead"--because of its increasing costs and tighter margins--when Impact Products took over production four years ago. The company...

M.O.R.E. (Media Ordering for Regional Excellence).(News Corner)
August 1, 2008... * ID Media, a direct response and digital media services company, launches a Web-based system called M.O.R.E. (Media Ordering for Regional Excellence), which combines ad building with media ordering. The system allows localmarketers of brands...

Caryn Fallon.(News Corner)
August 1, 2008... QVC Inc. names Caryn Fallon, a QVC employee of 17 years, vice president of jewelry planning. The company also promotes Jim Powel to vice president of consumer insights, where he will support long-range planning, testing and development of new...

Cannella.(News Corner)
August 1, 2008... Cannella Response Television has secured the rights to the Web domain www.drtv.com, which will now serve as Cannella's corporate Web site.

Kent Mora.(News Corner)
August 1, 2008... Ronco Acquisition Corp. hires Kent Mora's DR Support Team to assist with its direct response initiatives and facilitate the move of the company from Simi Valley, Calif. to New York.

DRTV.(News Corner)
August 1, 2008... DRTV agency InfoWorx wins three more awards for excellence. The company's 30-minute infomercial for the weight management tool C-Fabaline won a Remi Award. InfoWorx also received a Merit award for the Memacin short-form DRTV spot and a Summit...

Horizon Media.(News Corner)
August 1, 2008... Horizon Media announces 13 new hires in the Los Angeles and New York offices as well as three on staff promotions: Mike Lozito, account executive; Desiree Fortuno, junior account executive; and Jennifer Hettenbach, media planner. New hires...

Unilever develops interactive television initiative.(Field Reports)
August 1, 2008... NEWYORK -- Unilever teamed up with BrightLine iTV Marketing Specialists to develop a new interactive television initiative for Axe, Unilever's line of men's body products, reported DMNews.com. Using Verizon FiOS technology, users can now use...

Jordan Whitney's program rankings.(Research)
August 1, 2008... TOP 10 INFOMERCIALS Rank Last Month Program Host 1 1 Free & Clear John Beck 2 NR 10-Minute Trainer Tony Horton 3 8 Magicjack Mel Arthur...

The IMS top DRTV national cable rankings.(Research)
August 1, 2008... TOP 5 VERTICAL MARKETS NATIONAL CABLE INFOMERCIAL RANKINGS RANK PRODUCT MARKETING PRICE AIRS NAME COMPANY OFFERED HEALTH & FITNESS 1 10-Minute BeachBidy ...

Backchannelmedia DRTV snapshots.(Research)
August 1, 2008... Largest Change in Paid Programming Hours--Broadcast Stations (from May 2008 to June 2008) CALL SIGN DMA AFFILIATION CHANGE IN HOURS Best KEYE-DT2 Austin Ind. 138 Worst...

Research TMP search engine internet popularity report.
August 1, 2008... Research TMP Search Engine Internet Popularity Report RANK TITLE NUMBER OF SEARCHES DISTRIBUTOR 1 Girls Gone Wild 2,281,454 Mantra Entertainment 2 Proactiv Solution 551,655 ...

1Q short-form DRTV Media Billings double in 4 years: "computers, software and home office" category gains $78 million, while cable TV expands $158 million.(Research 1Q Short-Form 2008 Media Billings)
August 1, 2008... The year 2008 marks the fifth year of Response magazine's reporting and analysis of short-form DRTV data from TNS Media Intelligence (TNSMI). First-quarter 2008 became the 13th consecutive quarter that short-form DRTV numbers have increased,...

J.G. Wentworth's direct response aria: CMO Ken Murray calls the financial services leader's comedic opera-themed DRTV spot the most successful campaign in his stellar two-decade career.(Cover Story)
August 1, 2008... "I think there's a new genre of advertising--direct branding--that companies like ours are helping to shape," says Ken Murray, chief marketing officer of Bryn Mawr, Pa.-based J.G. Wentworth, the United States' largest purchaser of deferred...

The added value of rewards: a new era of financial service products offer benefits and relevance for both merchants and consumers and are also key players in direct response campaigns.(Financial Services Market)
August 1, 2008... When the economy is in a slump, consumers look to cut back on spending. But more importantly, tight purse strings mean that the average American is looking to spend money more wisely. So for merchants and marketing agencies, that means one...

The support report: experts in teleservices, fulfillment and shipping, and payment processing explain what DR marketers need to know to raise profits, lower headaches and ... much more.
August 1, 2008... The way Matt Fisher sees it, a trend is brewing. A trend that, if ignored, might kill off some companies in the support services industry--a trend that may very well revolutionize support for direct response. "I'm definitely seeing a trend...

Sharper image bankruptcy is a warning call to DRTV: build brands now; even if it means giving up some short-term sales.(Media Zone)
August 1, 2008... I was saddened to read about that they have been forced to seek suitors to purchase their assets. Sadness aside, those of us in the DRTV business must take notice of this failure. In its heyday, The Sharper Image had one of three campaigns that...

Hitting the new demographic.(Net Gains)
August 1, 2008... Since the beginning of advertising, businesses have defined target consumers using a number of criteria. These demographics include, but are not limited to age, gender, income, race, geography, household type (single family home, apartment,...

Be careful managing the chargeback ratio: a cautionary tale from the Berkeley Premium Nutraceutical trial.(Legal Review)
August 1, 2008... Virtually all direct response companies with a continuity program have credit card processing issues, but none is more significant than the chargeback ratio. The chargeback ratio is simply the fraction or percentage of the total electronic...

Shopping channels and DRTV are not the same.(Guest Opinion)
August 1, 2008... We all know that the chances of a successful DRTV product selling well on a shopping channel are good. After all, the keys to both of these communication channels are similar: great demonstrations; unique, never-before-seen qualities; and an...

Response ... on the road.(But Wait, There's More!)
August 1, 2008... The summer months always bring a bit of a slower social schedule in the DR business, but two cocktail events spiced up the calendar in Southern California. On July 16, the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) hosted an event at Casa del Mar...