Jun 29

Response June: Vivarin Revived, Web Exclusive Content and More

RES0613_CV1_0The June issue of Response has been available online since early last week. Hopefully, if you’re one of our readers, you’ve taken a look at it, but — if not — here’s some back story on the cover feature on Meda Consumer Healthcare and Blake Hawley, as well as a number of the other key pieces in the issue:

  • June marks the third consecutive issue that our cover feature subject harkens from the pharmaceutical/supplements business — and also the third consecutive issue featuring a speaker from Response Expo 2013, as Blake Hawley and the team at Meda Consumer Healthcare are in the spotlight. Hawley spoke on a panel (with our May cover boy, Vitaquest’s Charles Mooney) at our event in early April, following an introduction from long-time Response Advisory Board member Mike Medico of E+M Advertising in New York. Her efforts in bringing legacy supplement brand Vivarin back into the market spotlight via a DRTV drive-to-Web and drive-to-retail couponing campaign are a great example of the power direct response can have in this vertical category. And Meda’s trusting Hawley to do much the same this summer for a brand that any TV viewer from the 1950s-1980s remembers well: Geritol. Here’s the link again, if you missed it above: Wake Up!
  • June also marks the return of an annual feature: our look at the home shopping space. As technology grows, the leaders in the space, such as QVC and HSN, are seeing their business become much more of a Web-based, data-driven, customer relationship model. At the same time, the success of the medium has drawn a new level of marketer to these networks in recent years, including Disney and Coca-Cola. It’s an intriguing read on a business that’s bursting at the seams. If you missed the link above, here it is: Home Shopping Comes of Age
  • The online edition of the June issue features a pair of Web Exclusive columns that did not appear in the print edition: Peter Koeppel of Koeppel Direct muses on second-screen research and the possibilities presented by the expansion of smartphone and tablet use, while Dial800‘s Scott Richards writes about the challenges — and some solutions — of the ever-expanding field of legal services advertisers in the local short-form DR space.
  • Our latest analysis of the DR industry’s quarterly media billings results circles back to DR radio billings’ 4Q 2012 results. Unlike both long-form and short-form DRTV results, both of which celebrated banner years, DR radio essentially broke even with 2011 when all was said and done. The fourth quarter’s 3.1 percent drop left total billings for the year off by less than 1 percent total. For a full look at all the categorical and outlet results, here’s the link: DR Radio Media Billings Slide 3.1 Percent in 4Q 2012
  • Finally, my Editor’s Note reflects on the growing power of direct, digital and data-driven marketing in the pharmaceutical and supplement space. With June marking our third consecutive month featuring a marketer from this space on the cover, it’s worth considering how the powerful combination of direct response, online and retail is pushing the vertical to new heights. If you missed the link to my the column above, here it is once again: Pharma/Supplement Marketers Provide Incredible Response Solutions

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Feb 22

Response February: Eyes on the Prize, Party Time in Chicago, and HOF Inductees

RES0213_CV1The February issue of Response is now available online. From an intriguing look at an old-school direct marketer that’s transitioned with the digital times to the announcement of the inaugural class of the DR Hall of Fame, let’s take a look at some of the key pieces to the issue!

  • Our cover feature on one of direct marketing’s longest running success stories — Publishers Clearing House — saw its genesis from a meeting request at last October’s DMA show in Las Vegas. Let this be a lesson, vendors and agencies (or PR reps of vendors and agencies): if your clients are willing to powerful success stories, Response is interested in helping tell them! Of course, most everyone knows PCH today from their legendary “Prize Patrol” TV spots, where a giant check and some crazy balloons are presented to an unsuspecting sweepstakes winner at his or her front door. What you may not know is that PCH has ridden its history in direct mail and DRTV to massive heights in the digital direct response space, thanks to the work of Josh Glantz and his team. Here’s the link again, if you missed it above: PCH Wins All Day Long
  • There are two items of note in our Field Reports (aka, news) section this month. One is an exclusive Q&A with Mercury Media CEO John Barnes about his company’s recent addition of iMarketing, a full-service digital agency, under the Mercury umbrella. The other is the announcement of our annual DRMA Chicago Reception, during next month’s International Home + Housewares show. The event is slated for Monday, March 4, at the Vertigo Sky Lounge, and, yes, contrary to the printed information, there’s still time to RSVP. Check out these stories and more DR news here: Field Reports February
  • In other DRMA news, Los Angeles-based Dial800 is the subject of this month’s DRMA Spotlight feature. We’ve been working with Scott Richards and James Diorio, the powerful duo behind this DR technology leader, for a few years now. They combine wisdom, work ethic and passionate belief in the services they’re providing professionals in the DR industry. To watch the video Dial800 has provided to go along with the Spotlight story, click this link: DRMA Spotlight Video on Dial800 or check out the print story here: Cracking the Code
  • Our latest analysis of the DR industry’s quarterly media billings results circles back to short-form DRTV billings’ 3Q results. Mirroring its long-form counterpart, while third-quarter was by far the weakest quarter of 2012 so far, the real story is that results stayed even with the same quarter of 2011, helping the overall outlook for 2012 remain solid. Since DRTV media in 3Q faced a huge Summer Olympics, as well as a building presidential campaign, there was some fear of a big drop. With a decent fourth-quarter performance, 2012 should end up as a second consecutive year of growth for direct response television media. For a full look at all the categorical and outlet results, here’s the link: Short-Form DRTV Billings Battle to Break Even
  • Finally, my Editor’s Note breaks the story of our newest addition to the Response family: the Direct Response Hall of Fame. With nine inductees in the initial class selected by the Response Advisory Board, myself and our publisher, John Yarrington, the group represents the best of the past, present and future of direct response marketing. You will have the chance to salute these industry greats on the afternoon of Thursday, April 4, at the Induction Ceremony on the Expo Hall Floor at Response Expo. Don’t miss it! And, if you missed the link to my the column above, here it is once again: Welcome to the Inaugural Inductees of the DR Hall of Fame

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!