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WHAT IS AN INFOMERCIAL ?

The term infomercial refers to a very specific form of TV

advertising. Let's break apart the pieces and identify the

parameters and ingredients of an infomercial.

1. An infomercial is an advertisement.

2. An infomercial must be program-long.

3. An infomercial must solicit a specific

direct response from the viewer.

IT IS AN AD. First and foremost, an infomercial is simply another

form of advertisement. It is a commercial message, and as such

represents the viewpoints and serves the interest of the sponsor.

It is a "paid program."

IT IS LONG FORM. Unlike conventional 30 and 60 second TV ads, an

infomercial runs at least a half hour. The reason: a half hour is

the smallest block of airtime a TV station will sell without

interrupting its programming schedules. (NO program on TV is

shorter than 30 minutes.)

IT SOLICITS A "DIRECT" RESPONSE. An infomercial must solicit a

response which is specific and quantifiable. The solicitation and

the delivery of the response must be direct between the advertiser

and the viewer.

Unfortunately, the term infomercial is not universally understood

in the industry, and infomercials may be called different things by

different people.

The list of official sounding names, from "documercials" to

"long-form advertising" is "paid programming," is endless and can

be confusing: some term do not adequately define the scope of this

new form of advertising.

For example, the term long-form advertising seems to be a favorite

among media people. Unfortunately, the term describes only the time

aspect, disregarding purpose and content. Of course, it does reflect

the focus of those in TV circles, as opposed to the broader

perspective of those in the marketing community. What will become

of the term long-form advertising when paid advertising program

extend to an hour or longer? Will we upgrade the term to longer-form

advertising and then longest-form advertising?

By contrast, the term direct response advertising is obviously of

a marketing heritage. But like the former, the term is incomplete

because it does not qualify the medium being used. Mail order is

also a form of direct response advertising.

Finally, there are those who feel uncomfortable with the term infomercial

because it sounds too gimmicky or colloquial.

We think otherwise. More and more companies re accepting and using

the term infomercial, and because of that we feel it will stand the

test of time.

WHAT ARE DRTV SPOTS?

The term DRTV spot as used in this report refers to standard length

direct response advertisements that are aired within or between

regularly scheduled programs.

Like infomercials, DRTV spots are designed to solicit a specific

direct response from the TV viewers. Unlike infomercials, however,

they are not program-length ads. Although standard length is usually

one or two minutes, spots may run anywhere from ten seconds to

three minutes.

You product and the type of response you are trying to generate will

dictate when DRTV spots may be more cost-effective than infomercials,

and vice versa.

SOLICITING A RESPONSE: Infomercials and DRTV spots are both designed

to solicit a specific response directly from TV viewers. What do you

want the viewers to do? What do you want to get? These are the two

fundamental questions you infomercial or DRTV spot must answer

effectively.

Regardless of which form of advertising you use,

certain rules always apply:

Be Explicit: Tell the viewers exactly what you want them to do.

Some advertisers get so engrossed highlighting the fantastic features

of their product, they bury their solicitation message and fail to

stress what they want the TV viewers to do.

Be Direct: Solicit a response that is direct - and measurable.

If your objective is to get the consumers to visit their nearest

shopping center to look for your product, this is not direct response

advertising/. Infomercials and DRTV spots require the viewer to

respond directly to you (the advertiser).

Must Be Measurable: The response must be quantifiable. Even if

you're running a simple opinion poll, the response must be something

that can be measured in a way that defines the success or failure of

either the advertisement itself or of the product being advertised.

LEADS OR SALES:

Infomercials and DRTV spots commonly solicit either a direct purchase

or an inquiry about a product. Again, be explicit. don't give the

viewer an option. If you do, your response mix will be inaccurate,

confusing, and counterproductive.

LEAD GENERATION:

A lead generation infomercial or DRTV spot asks the viewers to call

your toll-free 800 number and to leave their name and address to

receive additional sales information about you product or service.

SALES GENERATION:

A sales generation infomercial or DRTV spot prompts the viewer to

call your toll-free 800 number to place an order for you product

or service, paying by credit card or COD.

STICK WITH A SINGLE RESPONSE OBJECTIVE;

ANYTHING ELSE IS PURE WINDFALL.

Your infomercial that solicits viewers to make a direct purchase

may also generate calls requesting additional information.

Although these unsolicited calls must be treated as highly qualified

leads, they cannot be used to measure the actual success of you

infomercial. Since you principal objective is to generate direct

dollar sales, all the calls that generated leads must be treated

as windfall.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CUSTOMERS TO GO THE SHOPPING

CENTER LOOKING FOR YOUR PRODUCT ?

As a rule of thumb, infomercials and DRTV spots are never designed

to encourage retail sales. However, some consumers want to look and

see a product before they purchase it. Others don't have a credit

card or fail to note the ordering information provided in you

infomercial.

This large contingent of potential customers can provide you with

extra profits from retail sales generated by your infomercial or

DRTV spot. An increase in retail sales of a number of products has

been directly attributed to infomercials or DRTV spots.

For example, exercise machines like the ThighMaster and certain

types of sunglasses, like BluBlockers, have enjoyed increased retail

sales due to direct response advertising by the aggressive marketers

of those products.

CREATING A TREND.

Direct response pioneers like The JuiceMan and

The Juice Tiger sold truckloads of juice extractors with their

infomercials. These two competing brands, however, did more than

sell juice machines on television - they convinced consumers that

juice was important and showed them how juice machines can help

them lead healthier, happier lives.

Consequently, these infomercials helped the retail sales of almost

every brand of juice maker. With their new awareness, consumers

became receptive to the idea of owning a juice machine.

Suddenly a product line that once collected dust on department

store shelves became a top seller. Stores began merchandising

juice machines, allocating prime store footage to display different

brands. Without any new advertising effort, juice-making machine

manufacturers now enjoy additional retail sales that were generated

by The JuiceMan and The Juice Tiger infomercials.

This example proves that an infomercial may effectively sell

directly to a specific TV audience while simultaneously producing

retail sales. You can see how retail sales can be generated without

any additional advertising expense - since the infomercial or DRTV

spot which prompted the retail sales actually paid for itself through

direct sales to TV viewers.

OUTPERFORMING RETAIL SALES

Moving consumers from conventional retail buying to direct response

television buying is another triumph that demonstrates the power of

infomercial marketer.

Until recently, women bought cosmetics from department stores or

their Avon lady. Victoria Jackson began to sell complete systems

exclusively through television infomercials. The only way customers

could buy her products was by responding to her paid TV programming.

Prior to her infomercial, 3 out of every 4 Victoria Jackson customers

bought cosmetics exclusively from department stores. In response to

Jackson's success, Avon is designing an infomercial campaign of their

own.

A NEW FORM OF TV ADVERTISING Today's infomercials are a far cry

from the "long-form" televised sales pitches (5 and 10 minute

commercials) of the early '60s. This was when half-hour shows

sponsored by soap manufacturers gave birth to the term soap opera.

TV advertising three decades ago was largely confined to promotions

which: (1) told viewers that a particular product with certain

features existed, and (2) motivated viewers to go to the nearest

retail outlet to buy the product. Television then, in the strict

sense of the word, was nothing but an advertising medium.

Today television has evolved from a mere advertising medium into a

dominant distribution vehicle. Today's infomercials and direct

response TV commercials go beyond product promotion. They actually

give the consumer a means to directly purchase the merchandise being

advertised. Conventional TV advertising presents a product that

is available through retail outlets or a distribution network.

Direct response TV ads actually sell products direct to the TV

viewers. Direct response marketing remained the domain of mail order

and other print forms of direct marketing until television matured,

and advertisers began to recognize its direct marketing potential.

In fact, the terms infomercial and DRTV spots came into being because

television gives the advertisers a platform conducive to direct

marketing.

Coverage 98% of all U. S. households have at least one television

set. In this Electronic Age, TV has surpassed all other media as

our primary source of information and entertainment.

Cable TV 60% of all TV households in the U. S. have cable service,

providing a wide variety of channel selections in comparison to an

all broadcast environment.

Longer Hours Since we've evolved away from being a 9 to 5 society,

television executives recognized the profitable viewership base

found in late night hours. Remember when TV stations signed off

at midnight?

Airtime Availability With thousands of national, regional and local

TV stations, and with extended programming hours, airtime is readily

available. The growth of Cable TV, satellites, and superstitions has

brought television a long way since the time when we only had CBS,

NBC, and ABC.