Aug 22

Response August: Made in the Shade, Short-Form DRTV Billings and Olympian Examples

Here’s a look at some of the key pieces of Response‘s August issue.

Jonathan Hershberg and SunSetter headline this month’s issue.

  • Our cover story on SunSetter Products and its co-founder Jonathan Hershberg came to us via the team at DRM Partners and Pro Media Group. Fortunately, it came together much more quickly than planned, as we were looking at a late fall timeframe for this piece originally. But if you’ve spent any time in the media business, you know just how often things can fall through at the last minute. That happened to us with this issue, as our original cover bailed just before deadline. However, credit to the DRMP team and Hershberg for jumping at the opportunity with an intriguing story about a product not many would have thought would work in DRTV. Not only did SunSetter create a brand, it basically created its own home product category: retractable awnings. If you missed the link to the story above, here it is again: DR Shines Bright for SunSetter
  • With some staff shake-ups, it’s once again my full responsibility on the magazine to handle analysis of our quarterly media billings results. In the August issue, that means dissecting 1Q 2012 short-form DRTV results, courtesy of Kantar Media. Coming off a fantastic 2011 (especially in the second half, where year-on-year results were up nearly 10 percent on 2010), it was great to see that 1Q 2012 held strong, losing a microscopic 0.8 percent. For a full look at all the categorical and outlet results, here’s the link: 1Q SF DRTV Billings Hold Steady
  • Finally, the London Olympics, NBC’s coverage and a powerful Twitter presence inspired my August Editor’s Note. NBC’s tape-delayed and heavily slanted coverage of the games roiled many early on, as the Twitter hashtag #NBCfail enjoyed a solid multi-day run trending worldwide. However, Twitter was also abuzz with overall Olympic discussion, and mobile usage of the social media tool was a key driver to NBC’s eventual ratings haul that broke viewership and ad sales records. Is this combination of TV, social and mobile something that DRTV marketers can learn a lesson from? If you missed the link above, here’s my take: Controversy Over NBC Olympics Coverage Gives Marketers a Golden Message

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Aug 06

Monotonous and witless … it’s Joe Buck

Dear Joe Buck,

Just because you have your job(s) because your father was one of the best and most legendary announcers ever doesn’t mean you carry so much weight into your job. You’re not half as witty as you think you are, you’re twice as arrogant as you’d hope to be and the whole monotonous announcer act doesn’t mean you “take your job seriously.” It means you sound like you’re talking while on the verge of falling asleep or while trying to pinch out an extra-difficult deuce in the men’s room. Get over yourself. It’s ok if a baseball game is exciting and amusing and fun. It’s a sporting event. You’re not announcing the onset of World War III.

I will not speak in anything other than this dour tone, even if the Martians land a spaceship on the mound during the sixth inning.

Finally, stop dropping your voice another octave or six every time something bad happens to the Yankees. Outside of New York and the nation’s best front runners, no one seems as unhappy as you when Sabathia gives up a three-run bomb to Ellsbury.

You are your father’s son in name only. Don’t believe it? Good luck ever matching up to this:

Jack Buck Calls Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series HR

Best,

Tom