Aug 12

Response July: Weary Legs and Entertaining Experiences

Response July 2015Last October, what eventually became the cover story for the July issue of Response had a simple genesis — I wanted to rest my weary legs. For more of that story and additional background on other key parts of the issue that hit mailboxes and the Web a few weeks back, read on!

  • Weary legs? Well, yes. I was attending the annual DMA conference in San Diego, and it’d been a long day of walking from show floor to session and back (and forth, and back again). During one afternoon time frame, I’d noted two possible educational sessions to pop into, in order to listen to and meet the marketers who were speaking on stage — and those weary legs told me, “Just go to the closest one.” It was there that I saw Alessandra Souers, brand director for JibJab, as part of a group discussing the future of online marketing. For those of you familiar with Response Expo, you know that Souers eventually sat on a panel at our event this past April. She’s one of the brighter young minds in marketing — and pretty darned amusing on Twitter, I might add. After her appearance at the Expo, I tossed out the idea of a cover story on JibJab’s marketing efforts — long focused online, but in recent holiday seasons, also dipping a toe into the pool of direct response TV. Not only did she help bring this cover to life, she actually got me all the way to the top — an interview with the company’s co-founder and CEO, Gregg Spiridellis. Among the many “online-to-offline” marketers we’ve covered of late, JibJab’s story of going from viral-video groundbreaker to monetized marketing leader may be the most interesting. If you missed the link above, here it is again: More Than Just Talking Heads
  • As one who prefers the value of finding and enjoying great experiences over the concept of buying “things,” I enjoyed the angle our writer Nicole Urso Reed — a one-time staffer at both Response and JibJab, and one of my most versatile and talented long-time freelancers — took for our annual look at marketing in the entertainment space. The idea that a consumer is looking for a great experience from not only events, but actual hard products, shouldn’t be news today. This evolving consumer is ever-more-picky about what he or she desires from time, money — and gadgets. If you didn’t already click the link above — here it is: Selling the Good Vibes
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings recap takes a look at the first long-form DRTV results of 2015 — and they continue what’s now a 2.5-year downward trend. Total spending in 1Q 2015 long-form billings was the lowest recorded in any first quarter by Response since 2001. If there is to be a rebound in the infomercial media space in the final nine months of 2015, it’s likely to be led by the market’s two biggest categories: beauty and fitness. However, while fitness had a strong first quarter, beauty remained mired in a slump that kicked in last year. For a more in-depth look at 1Q 2015 long-form DRTV media billings, click here: Stabilization, No Rebound, for 1Q Long-Form DRTV Billings
  • One steamy day of meetings in New York City in late June is the jumping off point for my July Editor’s Note column. As we reached the halfway point of what’s been a year of transition for the direct, digital and data-driven marketing world — and our role in it — listening to the comments from the many agency and network leaders we met with during that visit prompted some reflection on the first six months, as well as an opportunity to look ahead to closing out 2015 strong. Here’s that link once again: The Summer Heat Provides Its Own Time for Reflection

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Jul 07

Response June: Viviscal and Visions of a Growing Market

Response June 2015The June issue of Response actually started coming together at a poolside bar in Miami Beach in January. For more of that anecdote — and on the issue as a whole, which went live online a couple of weeks back — keep on reading below.

  • Yes, a poolside bar in Miami Beach. That’s where I was introduced to Mark Holland, North American CEO for Lifes2good, the Ireland-based marketer of hair-growth supplement Viviscal. During an industry event, I was called over to the bar after wrapping another meeting, where Holland was meeting with one of his vendors. A quick introduction turned into a conversation about new campaign success metrics that Response was digging into more deeply — something of great interest to Holland, as you’ll read in the story. From there, after some further conversation, we’d slated Holland to sit on a panel at Response Expo and decided that Viviscal’s story — a long-term retail success that was now being promoted with long-form DRTV — would be an outstanding fit for our pharma/nutraceutical issue. If you missed the link above, here it is again: A Vivid Plan for Growth
  • Trends in the long-form and short-form DRTV space, as well as hot new categories like digital goods and online-to-offline marketers, form the basis for our second quarterly Response Advisors Forum of 2015. In the story, five of our esteemed Advisory Board members kick around the struggling long-form space, growth opportunities in new marketing spaces, and the outlook for direct response marketing in the coming months. If you didn’t already click the link above — here it is: Change Agents.
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings recap takes one last look at 2014 DR radio results. Though the astronomical rise in 4Q 2014 likely can be attributed to an unreported error in fourth-quarter 2013 results from Kantar Media, there’s no doubt that the DR radio market enjoyed its strongest year in some time — seven years, as a matter of fact. Can the radio space continue to ride the wave in 2015? We’ll find out — but for a more in-depth look at 4Q 2014 DR radio media billings, click here: Turn It Up! DR Radio Wraps Best Year Since 2007
  • As noted in recent issues — and again in the note above on our Advisors Forum story this month — more and more online marketers are finding extensive success by taking their marketing efforts offline. My June Editor’s Note column touches on this idea and more. The pool of marketers utilizing direct, digital and data-driven marketing methods across all media is growing — and that’s great news for the agencies and vendors serving the space. Here’s that link once again: Entry Points Into Direct and Digital Marketing Continue to Expand

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Jun 04

Response May: Beyond the Rack, the Media Pack and an Expo FAQ

Response May 2015The May issue of Response went live online just before Memorial Day weekend. With a full recap of late April’s Response Expo a key facet of the issue, we’ve pushed back our print and mail dates closer to mid-month, keeping content slightly more fresh for our readers. After some recent Response travel to San Francisco and Las Vegas, as well as tying up loose ends on the coming June issue, I finally have some time to glance back at how the pieces fit into our May issue puzzle.

  • Shortly after the calendar flipped to 2015, I was reading a different trade pub on a flight and came across a small blurb about Beyond the Rack, an online private shopping club based in Montreal. Digging deeper, I found that its vice president of marketing, Richard Cohene, was a regular on the speaking circuit and popped up often as a source in various stories online. Intrigued by the direct and digital aspects of operating a business like BTR’s, I dropped a line to the company. After a couple of stops and starts, due mainly to conflicting travel schedules, I got on the line with Cohene — who was not only personable, but extremely knowledgeable about today’s “direct response marketing,” as he repeatedly called it. Within a couple of calls, he’d agreed for the company to be featured in our May issue — and, just last week after the issue debuted, he agreed to be the first slated speaker for Response Expo 2016. If you missed the link above, here it is again: Where Marketing’s Always in Fashion
  • The May issue is home to our first Media Buying & Planning Guide for the year. With the mag’s history based in DRTV, it’s always great to dig deeper on the state of media, and in the spring we usually seek out the perspective of TV/cable network sales leaders. Hence, it’s a natural fit to publish the annual Cable Network Directory in that same issue. One of the relationships I’m most proud of helping build in my 14 years at Response is the relationship we have — and have helped leaders of other sectors of the industry gain — with TV sales leaders. During the past decade, I’m happy to say that Response has done unprecedented things in bringing together the sales and buying sides of the DRTV media business thanks to an investment in our relationships with the network groups. If you didn’t already click the links above — here they are: Connecting With All Screens and the 2015 Cable Network Directory.
  • The news pages of our May Field Reports section focus heavily on a recap of Response Expo 2015. From Peter Guber’s stellar keynote through the Closing Night Party, if you missed any of Response Expo in April, these stories will help you feel like you were there and let you know what you missed! Here’s that link again: Field Reports — Response Expo Recap
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings recap takes one last look at 2014 short-form DRTV results. And while the sector ended the full year with a minor 2.8-percent rise, struggles in the second half of the year prevented what could have been a full return to form after a dismal 2013. Fourth-quarter results — the focus in this month’s story — were particularly concerning, as overall spending in the final three months of the year hasn’t been this lackluster since 2005. For a deeper dive into 4Q 2014 short-form DRTV media billings, click here: Total 2014 Short-Form DRTV Billings Rise 2.8 Percent
  • My May Editor’s Note column starts by referring to my interview with Cohene for this month’s cover story and his repeated references to BTR’s use of “direct response marketing.” As you can imagine, with the magazine’s — and my — stated goal in recent years being to foster the combination of direct, digital and data-driven marketing, this gave me plenty of food for thought considering BTR’s almost-100-percent digital marketing budget. Want to read on? Here’s that link once again: Direct Response Is Today’s Marketing … and Tomorrow’s

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!