Articles

Infomercials 101
By Michael Conkle, Sandcastle Interactive
This article will look at a couple of options and then break the process into three components, Program & Product Development, TV Production & Media Buying, and Operational Support, (i.e., merchant banking, telemarketing, and product fulfillment/customer service). We'll then take a look at how each works, and fits in with the other two.
Creating HOT Spots
By Bridget McCree, Response Magazine
Overall, the real key to success in spot production still boils down to one thing: the product. “Many products just can't live up to the financial expectations held by people coming into the industry, so be realistic,” says Garnett. “Remember: most spots fail. Know that if you don't do your homework, your product could fail too.”
The Most Innovative People in Direct Marketing
by Bridget McCrea, Response Magazine
1998 was the Year of Golf for Colleen Szot. “It started out with the Orlimar Trimetal, and then I was flooded with requests to write for golf gloves, trainers, putters, books and videos,” says the Minneapolis-based writer. Success for Szot means that now, after nine years of writing direct response and 22 years in the advertising business, she gets to pick and choose her projects.
The Pro of Prose
Szot didn't wait for a healthy cash flow before she began to market. “The very first year I was in business, when I thought I was going to have a struggle finanacially, I ran ads in very prominent publications—and they weren't little ads. I ran a $900 ad in the Informercial Sourcebook which is the bible for the industry, and have grown the ad every year.
Is it the Product, or the Producer?
By Bridget McCrea, Response Magazine
While not every infomercial these days is neatly cloaked in an information-packed wrapper, marketers and producers are taking new and different tacks to get through to a world full of consumers who are becoming more and more immune to advertising by the day.
Tip 1: Eight Steps to Successful, Affordable Infomercial Production!
Response Magazine
“If you're not familiar with DRTV, my best advice would be to align yourself with a production company that knows the business,” says Colleen Szot, head of Colleen Szot—Wonderful Writer, Inc., Minneapolis.
Tip 2: Utilizing the “WOW” Factor
The most important aspect of a great script is the demonstration of the product, aka the “wow” factor. Of course, the advantage television has over most other media is that a marketer can show what their product does.