To put this in better context, consider the increasing popularity of pop-up stores.  Many retailers have embraced the pop-up store during the holidays as a way to add flexibility and expand reach in order to take advantage of seasonality.  The concept here is to offer a selection of popular products in smaller stores located in high-traffic shopping areas.  These additional locations will also increase visibility for a retailer, and create a residual lift for their permanent retail locations and e-commerce platform. DRTV can have a similar impact.  But it isn’t limited to traditional retailers.

E-commerce Opens Doors; DRTV Makes the Sale

As a marketer, if you have an e-commerce platform, you have a virtual store.  Like most brick and mortar stores, it is a fixed location and relies on consumers to find it.  Most e-commerce marketers rely on brand advertising support to create a buzz and drive high-volume traffic.  Other than that, traffic is driven in lower quantities via targeted digital tactics like search and display advertising.  But in most cases, none of these tactics are actually selling any product.  For e-commerce, a DRTV commercial (:60 or :120) can serve as a virtual pop-up store, presenting your products for sale to a mass audience in the targeted high-traffic environment of television.

In a pop-up store, you can learn more about the specific products, and there are sales people on hand to convert the sale.  A DRTV commercial can do these same things as an extension of your web site.  And in the process, generate accountable revenue. But unlike a retail location, with DRTV you don’t have the commitment of a lease.  Sure, the cost of creative production can be seen as a fixed cost similar to the cost to build-out, stock, and set-up a temporary retail location.  But the media is flexible and accountable, so it can be optimized based on performance.  And that is a big advantage.

It’s Time to Consider DRTV in Holiday 2011 Planning

It is easy for traditional marketers to overlook DRTV, because they are not familiar with its ability to deliver across several objectives: awareness, education, direct sales, and retail support.  And prior to the development of their e-commerce platforms, most marketers didn’t have a way to efficiently fulfill sales directly to the consumer.  But it is now time to take another look.

If you have the means to sell product directly to consumers, then DRTV is your virtual pop-up store.  It is a two-pronged tactic that can increase retail sales and generate direct sales that will, at the very least, help fund your marketing costs.  And if successful, it will produce an entirely new revenue stream.  Given this potential up-side, don’t be surprised to see new DRTV campaigns unwrapped this coming holiday season.

Rob Schmidt is an Account Supervisor at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

Now, what can we as DRTV marketing strategists learn from this? First, avoid being fingered for 19 murders and becoming a despised government turncoat. Oh, wait, this is a marketing blog.

Shotgun Media, Rifle Shot Creative Message

Blame “Whitey” for the firearm analogy — nevertheless it is appropriate.

Several years ago, Eicoff was approached by a company called Liberty Medical that was in the diabetic testing supply business — this was pre-Wilford Brimley. The company explained to us that TV had shown limited success for them and that their target market was Adults 65+, who are insulin dependent, and on Medicare. Unless callers answer yes to all three questions, they are not a worthwhile lead. While I would like to tell you that we all had a vision and jumped on board, the reality was that we were a bit skeptical that TV would be the right strategy.

We developed a very straightforward DRTV spot that was extremely direct –  a strong opening that called out the target, “If you are 65….”, supers calling out the benefits of Liberty Medical, and actors the target demo could relate to.

Long story short — the strategy was a huge success, eventually leading us to introduce Wilford Brimley as their spokesperson.

The lesson — while TV is a shotgun medium, a laser-focused commercial can help pinpoint hard-to reach audiences.

Al Eicoff told me many times that DRTV could be an effective way to sell an airplane. I used to laugh to humor him, but then I started to think “you really wouldn’t have to sell many ….”  Boeing hasn’t returned my call yet.

PR of a Campaign Can Be as Impactful as the Campaign Itself

According to the FBI, their commercial targeting Whitey’s girlfriend was scheduled to start airing in 14 markets on June 21. Interesting to note that Santa Monica/LA where Whitey was found, was not one of the scheduled markets. It appears the tip came in the night of June 21 from a woman in Iceland who saw the ad featured on a news story on CNN — she apparently had visited LA recently and recognized the wanted couple.

So, after working 16 years and spending God knows how much money trying to find Whitey, the FBI turns to our bastion of marketing and closes the sale in less than 24 hours. Better yet, the PR piece airing on CNN cost them nothing!  (Note to DRTV media buyers: I don’t know whether or not they were able to cancel the rest of the schedule — you’ll have to find that out on your own).

I think it goes without saying that you can never publicize your marketing campaigns enough. One more reason it’s critical to integrate your DRTV strategy into your overall marketing strategy.

As far as I know, there is no truth to the rumor that the Charlie Sheen Foundation is working on a campaign to locate the whereabouts of his career. Will keep you posted.

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

The following release gives you some insight into DRTV’s role in CIGNA’s business strategy in Thailand.

CIGNA Insurance Announces 2011’s Key Business Strategies

and Launches New DRTV to sell “1 Care 2” Policy Plan

Posted by on March 3, 2011

Bangkok–3 Mar–CIGNA Insurance

Management, and Direct-to-Consumers Channels integration. The Company sets to launch new Direct Response TV Commercial to offer “1 Care 2” policy aiming to tap the family generation for the 2 consecutive year. CIGNA Thailand targets Y2011 Sales from all channels to exceed THB 1.5 Billion.

Mr. Gary Wayne Denson, Chief Executive Officer & Country Manager, CIGNA Insurance Public Company Limited, an expert in affinity-based telemarketing and direct distribution business specializing in Personal Accident and Health insurance products in Thailand said that the Company has again been successful in its sales mission which has grown over 300% during Y2008-2010, owing to its continued successful implementation of the first three-year strategic road map since Y2008. To continue its success in Y2011, the Company focuses its key strategies on 3 initiatives which are:

1)  Affinity Business Partnerships: to increase the numbers of major Business Partners (BPs) and to expand a horizontal penetration within existing BPs. The Company aims to bring the Insurance more closer to Thai people through various marketing campaigns with BPs such as the campaign that CIGNA has partnered with GSM advance to offer Personal Accidental Insurance for GSM advance customers free of charge for 3 months.

“Our core business model is based on the affinity partnerships. Therefore, the growth of our business partner numbers is very important to the growth of our business. We’re proud to say that our business partner numbers have tripled over the last 3 years, most of which are the country’s leading financial institutions, plus major companies in the telecom, retail, automotive, and IT sectors” Mr. Denson added.

2.) Customer Value Management (CVM) which is the unique strength of CIGNA around the globe that is used to help CIGNA’s Business Partners to drive effectiveness through targeting relevant and meaningful offers to their customer segments — and where CIGNA’s products meet a buying need. Over time, CIGNA is migrating to a model where its approach integrates the customer, product and channel dynamics. This also enables CIGNA to optimize the customer contact management strategy on behalf of its Business Partners. CIGNA Thailand is striving to utilize this unique selling point with every BP to produce greater customer satisfaction & superior financial results for both CIGNA and BPs.

3.) Synergy of all sales channels, especially Direct—to-Consumer Channels, the channel that creates a direct demand from the consumers which has been another strategic initiative of The Company since early 2008. Being happy with last year’s Direct Response TV (DRTV)’s success, the campaign earned overwhelming response from the Thai consumers, which resulted higher than planned sales value. Thereby, CIGNA Thailand will aggressively pursue the DRTV channel again this year.

“Last year we’ve overwhelmed with about 100,000 incoming calls from airing the DRTV and also achieved THB 100 million sales target (DRTV and Internet); we are extremely satisfied and assume in being the pioneer in Thailand that we have created a movement to the market in this channel significantly. There are number of insurance companies that now play in this channel but focus on a different target groups. For CIGNA Thailand, we are still focusing on the target group of the family generation as last year and we launch “1 Care 2” policy plan to the market today”. said Mr. Denson.

The new DRTV campaign will promote the “1 Care 2” insurance policy, which covers both yourself (a prime insured) and another loved one who is either the prime insured’s father, mother, spouse or son/daughter. The prime insured, aging from 15-59 years old, will be covered with both Personal Accident Insurance Plan and also 5 critical illnesses: Invasive Cancers, Heart Attack, Stroke, Kidney Failure, and Coma ranging from THB 200,000 to THB 800,000, plus reimbursement on medical expenses from an accident, with maximum coverage of 30,000 baht per accident (motorcycling included), with no limit on the number of accidents within the protection period. In addition, CIGNA Care Card will be provided to the insured to allow them to enjoy cash-free payment for medical expenses in case of an accident if the insured receives medical treatment in any of the hospitals under the CIGNA agreed partner network. Moreover, Global Emergency Services 24 hours a day will be provided to the insured, allowing them to have a peace of mind when they travel, anywhere in Thailand and across the globe.

Also, the loved one of the prime insured will be provided the maximum coverage of THB 300,000 lump sum benefit when they suffers loss of life, dismemberment or total permanent disability due to an accident, plus reimbursement on medical expenses from an accident with maximum coverage of 10,000 baht per accident (motorcycling included), with no limit on the number of accidents within the protection period. CIGNA Care Card also provided for 1 year coverage (for those who buy plan 3-5 only). The benefit of covering the loved one will go only to the prime insured who pay the premium by credit card, without any additional cost. The loved one could be the prime insured’s either father, mother, spouse or a child whose age between 1-70 years old. The premium of “1 Care 2” plan starts from 7 baht per day (for the prime insured with age between 15-25 years old and buy the Plan 2.)

In addition to DRTV channel, CIGNA also offers “1 Care 2” plan through the online channel via CIGNA Thailand’s website. It aims to serve the new generation of consumers, who love to purchase products via the online channel. For those who interested in the product can leave their name and phone number on the website, for next step follow up from CIGNA’s telesales specialists who will provide information in detail and complete the sales process.

“CIGNA Thailand will synergize our all sales channel as much as possible whether on telemarketing, internet and other channels which will be launched in the near future to maximize the benefit from every channel to ensure a convenient, easy and enjoyable consumer experience. CIGNA Thailand sets the sales target (ANP) of DRTV and internet in Y2011 to exceed THB 140 Million, which means 40% growth from last year.” concluded Mr. Denson.

For Y2010 overall business performance, CIGNA Insurance Public Company Limited recorded Net Written Premiums as of December 2010 of THB 717 Million, jumping 122 percent from THB 322 Million of Net Written Premiums as of December 2009. Number of Policy in-force is about 570,000 policies as of the end of Y2010. The Company has set the Y2011 sales target (ANP) of all channels of THB 1.5 Billion, 50% growth from Y2010 sales results.

For the original article, please visit http://www.tivarati.com/news/106222

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

Like everyone else, it is fascinating for me as a marketer to watch the evolution of new technology available to reach consumers (mobile, i-Pads, gaming, 3D, e-books, online video, to name just a few). It’s particularly intriguing to us here at Eicoff because a day doesn’t go by in which we don’t see a new application for all the DRTV campaigns we currently air.

And yet, we continue to remind ourselves to keep our eye on the ball. It’s not that the new technologies won’t continue to grow in importance — they will (and, frankly, become a larger source of revenue for us). The larger message sometimes gets lost in the numbers however. For example, let’s take a look at the most recent Neilsen numbers for the week of February 21:

Source: The Nielsen Company. Viewing estimates on this page include Live viewing and DVR playback on the Same Day, defined as 3am-3am. Ratings are the percentage of TV homes in the U.S. tuned into television.

It’s one thing to look at the large viewership numbers – pretty substantial. However, we’ve found that it’s just as important to look at the types of programming generating the large viewership.

American Idol, CSI, Royal Pains, WWE Raw, SpongeBob. Now I am sure that there is a certain percentage of these viewers that own an i-Pad, watch video online or via mobile. However, I am equally sure that the vast majority of these viewers don’t.

The point is not that we shouldn’t target audiences via the new technology – that’s a no-brainer. The important thing to remember is that what may be cool to us marketing guys may be much slower to take hold with a much larger audience.

Don’t believe me, the next time you go to the DMV to get your license renewed, count how many i-Pads you see. In 10 years i-Pads will most likely be ubiquitous, but until then we have to remember what any comedian already knows: know your audience.

The impact the new technology is having on DRTV is both exciting and complex. The DRTV messages have to continue to appeal to mass audiences, but must be served up in a myriad of ways to allow the consumer to digest it the way they feel most comfortable (ie online, traditional TV, etc…).

As we continue to layer on new technology to traditional DRTV, it is critical that we continue to analyze who our audience is in addition to how we are reaching them.

For more information on Nielsen Ratings, please visit http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/top10s/television.html

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

The author of the article points out some pretty startling facts re: the TV industry vs. the growing online video/mobile ad market: “In the first quarter of this year the average American spent 158 hours per month in front of the box, according to Nielsen, a research firm. That was two hours more than a year earlier. By comparison, he spent just three hours watching video online and three-and-a-half hours watching it on his mobile phone.” While 6 1/2 hours of viewing online/mobile video represents a great opportunity to reach a highly valued consumer, it is somewhat surprising that this only represents 4% of total consumer viewing for the month.

The article surmises why, “As Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham & Company, an investment bank, observes, the internet now competes fiercely for the kind of advertising that is carried on the radio, in newspapers and in many magazines. Campaigns to persuade people to consider one product over another, or actually to go out and buy something, are well-suited to digital outfits, with their superior ability to track and segment audiences.” It would appear that while radio, newspaper and magazines (the media that has relinquished control of most of their own content for free) appear to be taking the brunt of the advertising falloff, TV (the medium continuing to protect its content) continues to grow –  a good sign for DRTV marketers.

Those companies that rely heavily on DRTV for qualified lead generation campaigns are increasingly finding that online lead aggregators, while delivering an extremely efficient ROI, can only generate so many leads. The big players are finding that DRTV is much more scalable. There are no signs on the immediate horizon that this will change.

All of us in the DRTV industry are excited about DRTV’s role with online/mobile video; and it appears its growth will continue to augment, not cannibalize, DRTV marketing.

Article:  http://www.economist.com/node/17149050?story_id=17149050

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

A recent article by Jack Neff in Advertising Age questions the shift toward 15-second commercials and their effectiveness.  He believes pharmaceutical companies are using 15-second commercials as a means of cutting costs, but sacrificing brand building and effectiveness.  The following are a few excerpts from the article:

We’ve all heard it: The 30-second spot is dying, with penny-pinching procurement practices driving the final nail in its coffin… While it may be a prescription for cost cutting, the shift to 15s is having nasty side effects.

“People are making decisions on going from 30s to 15s recently, I think, purely driven by cost vs. is that absolutely the right thing?” said Lakish Hatalkar, head of integrated marketing communications, package design and innovation for Novartis.

“The companies that live and die by their advertising are stretching their budgets with 15s, and frankly there’s a lot for them to learn,” said Ameritest CEO Charles Young. “It’s an awfully short form for creatives to work with. If it devolves into simply reminder advertising, you’re not building brands. You need to bring emotion and news value to those brands.”

Compared to general 15-second commercials, DRTV 2-minute and 60-second commercials build brands, convey more information and often receive lower rates than station rate cards.  DRTV commercials also use a unique 800 phone number and/or a unique URL, in order to track the effectiveness and accountability of a campaign.

Companies large and small, Fortune 500 to pharmaceutical companies, have realized the effectiveness of DRTV and the numbers back it up.  Short-form DRTV campaigns increased 21.9% from 1^st quarter 2009 to 1^st quarter 2010 and the pharmaceutical industry remains the largest player in DRTV with almost $400 million spent in 1^st quarter 2010.  The following charts from Response Magazine shows the increased use of short-form DRTV campaigns in recent quarters, as well as the largest users of DRTV by industry:

Quotes and graphs from:

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=145852

http://www.responsemagazine.com/research/short-form-drtv/research-1q-short-form-drtv-media-billings-fall-below-1-bill-2856

Adam Poll is an Assistant Account Executive at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

Upon reading the article below about ESPN’s expansion into 3-D (in addition to mobile, online, iPads, etc…) the line that jumped out of the article was, “New second and third screens, online, iPad, mobile, are not cannibalizing traditional media. ” Said another way, it would appear that most of the new technology is adding to, not taking from, traditional media.

ESPN Pushes 3-Screen Approach, But TV Still King

Wayne Friedman, Jun 15, 2010

Las Vegas, NV — ESPN isn’t just about all screens all the time; it’s about content producers all working together, which can be rare in media. It’s also about moving fast with new technologies.

“Digital producers sit next to online producers [who] sit next to TV producers,” says George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN Inc. and co-chair of Disney Media Networks, speaking at the Nielsen Consumer 360 conference.

“I don’t believe in silos,” he says. “I hate hearing about silos.”

ESPN recently built the biggest digital-TV facility in Bristol, Conn., which the company believes is the largest facility of its kind in the U.S.

ESPN has been pushing its three-screen approach for some time now — whether it’s traditional TV, online, mobile or the iPad. These businesses are still growing, although the latter is small. “Nearly 10% of the people who watch the World Cup, and who enjoyed, weren’t watching on TV,” he says.

Television remains the big gun for ESPN. “Television is the Mac truck of media usage,” he says. Eighty percent of the sports network viewership comes from TV. New second and third screens, online, iPad, mobile, are not cannibalizing traditional media.

Bodenheimer says 75% of ESPN’s traditional TV usage comes from male viewers, with 85% of ESPN’s new digital video products also consumed by men. But he adds that the network has women users; it’s just that the cumulative usage of men versus women is much higher.

ESPN’s rapid deployment of new technology is necessary — even with doubters. “It’s very easy to throw your hands up [about 3D],” says Bodenheimer. “How big? How fast? What about the glasses? The answer is: We don’t know… [but] if we are going to continue to be leaders, then we must launch [these products].”

Why is this good for DRTV marketers? First, traditional TV media will continue to grow in the near future as the population increases. One only has to count the increasing number of cable/digital networks to bear this out. As we all know, more air time means lower rates, etc…

What’s even more intriguing is the opportunity new media presents for DRTV marketers. While much of the new media is still over-priced on a CPM basis, just imagine the day when those costs come back to reality. Combine these more rational media costs with DRTV’s ability to both utilize video content to drive a response, and track every single spot aired. Based on our experience in new media, that day is fast-approaching.

So get your 3D glasses on, grab your iPad and hold on, it’s going to be a fun ride!

Original article here:  ESPN Pushes 3-Screen Approach, But TV Still King

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

But virtually all of them currently focus the super-short :30s and :15s length creative.  Where are the opportunities for DRTV marketers who use longer length spots?

The answer may surprise you: Hulu.

About a year and a half ago, Hulu ran an experiment where consumers were given a choice: they could view their online content with a longer-length :120 ad at the start, or with multiple 30 second ads during the program.  The results were astonishing – nearly 90% of Hulu viewers opted for the longer, two-minute ad.

What’s more, the overwhelming opt-in rate for the longer length ads strongly suggests a greater engagement level, as well.  A longer spot with a higher opt-in, greater engagement and more options for messaging than my :30s?  Marketers took quick notice, and blue chip companies from American Express to Sprint all used longer length creative on the site.

The takeaways are pretty clear to Eicoff: short copy may rule the roost now, but it would appear clear that :120s and :60s will eventually find their rightful place online, just as they have on TV.

Original article here: Why Long-Form Ads Are the Wave of the Future

Scott Ballew is Account Supervisor at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

“What does this product mean to me?”

“Why should I choose this product over that one?”

“And why should I pay that much?”

As a marketer, you’d better have convincing answers to all these questions.  But telling your product’s whole story and overcoming barriers to purchase, all within the confines of a fleeting, 30-second commercial, is a tall order.

Enter, DRTV.

DRTV’s longer format – 60 seconds to a full two minutes – allows you to build value, which, not surprisingly, has to happen before a sale is going to occur.  A longer format commercial is perfect for effective storytelling.  It strikes up a longer conversation, and it engages the target with more compelling illustrations.  It educates consumers about your product or service.  It can identify problems, and pose solutions.  These spots don’t just allude to product features, they can explain and even demonstrate the benefits and advantages the target will experience.  All this builds value with every passing second.

More compelling stories build greater value.  As value increases, the issue of price decreases.  When you reach critical value, the barriers to purchase crumble.  And a sale is made.

Lest you conclude that DRTV is the realm of the slicers and dicers and kitchen magicians, none other than David Ogilvy has proclaimed that direct response was his first love, and later it became his secret weapon.  See for yourself.

Jim Madsen is a Copywriter at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

Awareness of what these myths are can help prevent the damage they do. Here are the most common myths we’ve observed and the realities they obscure:

You can’t sell and build a brand in the same DRTV spot.

This myth is rooted in the early days of DRTV, when the common belief was that every second of the spot must be devoted to motivating viewers to respond. For hard-selling DRTV pioneers, building brand or anything that didn’t focus directly on the offer benefits was wasted time. Over the years, however, we’ve found that brand-building and selling aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, delivering the brand message at the right time in the right way can actually increase response rates.

Late night and weekend slots are always the best times to run DRTV commercials.

Not always. Obviously, these are effective periods because they usually offer lower rates and the type of programming that DRTV thrives upon. But it may be that for certain offers, other slots are as effective or even more effective. We’ve found that there are instances when primetime can be effective for some direct response spots.

The most effective DRTV spots are ALWAYS two minutes in length.

For a long time, two minutes was the gold standard for DRTV. For many clients it still is. However, because of the diversity of offers on the air and the well-known brands using DRTV, even 30-second spots can work well. We’ve learned that the length of the spot should be shaped by the offer, by testing and by availabilities. The more flexible advertisers are when it comes to commercial length, the more likely they’ll produce an effective spot

You can’t sell products or services over a certain price point using DRTV.

Years ago, there was some validity to this myth. At one time, $19.95 was the cutoff. As viewers became more accustomed to buying via DRTV, as Fortune 500 advertisers helped legitimize many spots and as credit card usage for purchases became the norm, the old pricing limits became irrelevant. Nonetheless, some people in our industry still believe that it’s tough to sell high end offers, even though there’s a great deal of evidence to the contrary.

DRTV advertising has no impact on retail sales.

In some ways, this is the most persistent myth of all. For years, many people in our business believed that if people didn’t respond to a DRTV spot by calling the toll free number, they would never buy that product in a store; that DRTV commercials contributed nothing to creating awareness for and a predisposition to buy advertised products in stores. We’ve had clients who have run what are known as “dark tests” where they pull DRTV advertising for a period of time and measure how retail sales are impacted. They’ve found that store sales of their products decreased when the DRTV commercials were off the air and increased when they went back on. Clearly, direct response commercials have a positive, spillover effect on store sales.

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.