Feb 25

Response February: A Beauty Mask, E-Commerce Vision and Exciting New Research

Response February 2015The February issue of Response went live online early last week and started hitting mailboxes later in the week. Aside from an intriguing cover story on a new beauty product that’s running the DR-to-retail race in reverse, there are a number of other notable pieces in the latest issue. Let’s take a look!

  • My cover feature on illuMask and its founder Jay Tapper came to us from one of the most reliable sources on our Advisory Board — someone who has actually been a part of that group longer than the nearly 14 years I’ve been editor of the publication. R2C Group’s David Savage always seems to come through for us when we’re in an editorial pinch, but this time he actually pitched me the illuMask story well in advance — and it’s a good one. Tapper’s brainchild, the product gained big-time retail traction when it debuted about a year ago with a Facebook-driven campaign in conjunction with major retailers as its only real marketing effort. To expand on that success Tapper’s team at La Lumiere decided to create a short-form DRTV campaign around the product. It’s initial success and the DRTV concept drew a $20 million investment from the VC arm of Johnson & Johnson. It’s one heck of a story, and one that will continue to be told as part of a panel at Response Expo in April. If you missed the link above, here it is again: Behind the Mask
  • As the omnichannel universe continues to make marketing a near-constant effort, our coverage continues to expand and encompass more and more facets of the direct and digital world. This month, that means a feature story that looks at some recent e-commerce campaigns that have used old-school direct marketing tenets mixed with newfangled technology to maximize reach and ROI. These are marketers who are becoming more familiar to those who’ve grown up in the direct response space — Squarespace, MailChimp, Warby Parker and Bonobos — as well as one, Weight Watchers, that’s been a staple but has made some recent tweaks. Old ideas are new again — and new ideas find a home more easily in today’s marketing environment. If you didn’t click the link above, here’s another chance to read the story: The Art of E-Commerce
  • DRMetrix LogoThe February issue is also the debut issue for our new exclusive research page provided via a partnership with DRMetrix. Based in Southern California, DRMetrix is attempting not only to fill a void in direct response television research but also to bring TV media research more closely in line with the digital research available in the market. Conversations about what the DRMetrix team was trying to accomplish and how Response could team with it began early last year, and we were intrigued by the possibilities of its technologies. With this introductory piece and DRMetrix’s first snapshot of its research, this month’s debut promises great things to come. Once again, if you missed the link above, click here: Introducing DRMetrix: The Next Generation in Direct Response Research
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings update focuses on third-quarter 2014 short-form DRTV results. While third-quarter’s 4-percent increase was a bit of a disappointment after the year’s first half — and with how dismal 3Q 2013 results were — it does mean that total 2014 results are up more than 8 percent over the first nine months of the previous year.. This is the second consecutive year of losses for the long-form space — unless fourth-quarter results are shockingly good. Additionally, marketers seemed more willing to expand spending on mid-level hits during 3Q 2014 than they have recently, a positive sign for confidence in the industry and the economy. To take a deeper look at 3Q 2014 short-form DRTV media billings, click here: Short-Form DRTV Billings Rise 4 Percent in 3Q 2014
  • As part of my other role in the Response Group — content director of Response Expo — I take notes every time I travel to other trade shows and/or networking events. There are times where events are so disappointingly and poorly conceived in comparison to the needs and desires of their targeted audiences that it truly boggles the mind. That’s the genesis of my Editor’s Note column this month. In it, I ask for reader/attendee feedback on what you’ve seen at Response Expo and other trade shows that works — and that doesn’t work. I’ll also ask the same here: let me know what you want out of an event. If we’re not listening to our customers, we’re not doing our job. In case you missed the link to the piece, here it is once again: Building Better Events Starts With Keeping Attendees Top of Mind

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Feb 07

Response January: Brandman U., College Sports Marketing and Another Buzzword

RES0115_CV1A day after finalizing our February issue and sending it off to print, I finally have a free moment to take a look back at the January issue of Response. The issue went live online a couple of weeks back, but just in case you haven’t flipped it — either in print or online — I’m back with my regular look at some of the issue’s key stories.

  • My cover feature on Brandman University and Ramendra (Ram) Singh had an interesting genesis. Most refer to it as “seventh grade.” That’s right, a friend I met during junior high school — Steve Quis — pitched the story idea to me last summer in his role as PR director for the non-profit university. He’s since moved on to a similar role at Miramar College (in addition to his sports play-by-play career). The introduction to Ram was a fortuitous one. Ram is one of the most intelligent and thoughtful people I’ve interviewed during my 14 years at Response. His thoughts on omnichannel (yep, that word — and it’ll come up again later in this post) marketing in the education sector are ones that any marketer should consider. I’m very pleased to note that Ram will be part of an educational panel at Response Expo. If you’re one of our attendees, you shouldn’t miss it. So, thanks Steve. Who knew our time back at LVJHS and FUHS would evolve into this story! If you missed the link above, here it is again: Educating at Brandman University
  • Keeping the college theme going, our annual look at marketing in the sports & fitness category takes a deep dive into how major college athletics programs are finding new ways to commune with fans and sell game tickets and merchandise. The passion of sports fans makes them the perfect consumer to target via various direct response marketing methods, especially digital and social media. From coast to coast — quite literally from Oregon to Miami — what are the best marketers doing to reach those fans and make them consumers? If you didn’t click the link above, here’s your chance to find out: Inside the College Playbook
  • The January issue buzzword of the month: omnichannel. After touching on the “programmatic” frenzy in December, we took our questions about “omnichannel” marketing to the Response Advisory Board (RAB) for 2015’s first advisors roundtable feature. Seven of our board members took part in the conversation and — as usual — the online version carries the complete and unabridged answers from each leader (compared to the edited version that runs in the print magazine). Once again, if you missed the link above, click here: Response Advisors Forum: Entering the Omnichannel Era
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings update focuses on third-quarter 2014 long-form DRTV results. Once again, media billings in the half-hour advertising space stumbled, losing $20.3 million compared to the prior third quarter and leaving the total for the first nine months of the year off by more than $61 million. This is the second consecutive year of losses for the long-form space — unless fourth-quarter results are shockingly good. But there is some hope that long-form marketers are starting to understand the trends and restructuring how best to take advantage of long-form DRTV. To take a deeper look at 3Q 2014 long-form DRTV media billings, click here: Long-Form Media Billings Dip $20M … Again
  • A line I removed from January’s Editor’s Note column read (so far as I can recall): “And I am sure my fiancée rues the day she urged me to join Twitter.” If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram or are a Facebook friend, you may agree … wholeheartedly. Nonetheless, to read my take on using social media outlets — both personally and professionally — here’s the link once again: Finding — and Growing — Your Social Voice

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Dec 31

Response December: Subaru’s ‘Love,’ Programmatic Pragmatism, and TV Media Highlights

Response December Issue On the last day of 2014, I have some free time to pull together one last Response issue recap post. Our December issue went live online the weekend before Christmas and features a cover story on a major automotive marketer using direct, digital and data-driven tactics, as well as our new 2015 Media Timeline. While most of you are rightfully celebrating the holiday season (as I’ve been for most of the past week) and haven’t had the chance — or even the inkling — to check out the issue, here’s some of the back story on what’s inside!

  • Late in the summer I received an outreach from Diane Anton, corporate communications manager for New Jersey-based Subaru of America. The note was about the debut of the new Outback and the marketing campaign surrounding it, including a pair of new TV ads. Anytime a marketer as big as Subaru directs outreach to Response I know two things: 1) our message really is getting out to the right marketers; and 2) I will respond to that note ASAP. After a couple of calls with Diane — who was just a great pleasure to work with throughout the process — we were set for a cover feature with the automaker’s vice president of marketing Alan Bethke. With an interview and cover photo shoot that came together during the fall, the Subaru team was on top of everything we needed and was rather open about how crucial the digital and data-driven aspects have become in their successful “Love” campaign. If you missed the link above, here it is again: The Greatest ‘Love’ of All
  • Programmatic. If you work in marketing and advertising, 2014 was the year that you suddenly could not escape that word. And while it’s become a huge factor in digital media, there is still a lot of speculation on how programmatic media buying will affect the television industry. Heck, there is still a lot of speculation about what the word (and the concept) “programmatic means. We pulled together four experts from various sides of the television media world to give their insight on what to expect in 2015 and beyond. If you didn’t click the link above, here’s another chance: Programmatic Proliferation
  • During a breakfast in New York City in June, Dick Wechsler, leader of DR industry media buying agency Lockard & Wechsler Direct, first planted the seeds of a possible 2015 Media Timeline in the pages of Response. His thoughts — and those of Eddie Wilders, the LWD vice president who eventually worked on the piece with us — about the annual TV events that affect the average media buyer’s day-to-day efforts eventually evolved into the 4-page spread you see in this month’s issue. We’d love feedback on this piece, as we are considering making some version of it an annual occurrence in our pages. If you missed the link (to the opening spread in our digital edition — the best way to display the feature online), click here: 2015 Media Timeline: Following the TV Trends
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings update focuses on second-quarter 2014 DR radio results. After an outstanding second-quarter one year ago, DR radio’s 2Q 2014 results took a step back, more closely mirroring results in other recent April-June stretches. The network radio outlet faltered heavily during the quarter, leaving it almost wholly responsible for the $2 million total loss during the measured timeframe. To take a deeper look at 2Q 2014 DR radio media billings, click here: 2Q 2014 DR Radio Media Billings Slip $2 Million
  • Using January’s huge CES show (and our annual December feature on the consumer electronics space) as a jumping-off point, my Editor’s Note column talks about the divide between supporters of traditional — and even older forms of digital — media and the true believers in mobile media outreach. As usual, in any black-and-white debate, the truth about what will work best for marketers lies between. To read the column, here’s the link once again: Finding the Grey Areas Where Successful Campaigns Reside

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response! Happy New Year and all the best in 2015!