Dec 21

Response December: Another Year Done … from A to zulily

The December issue of Response hit the web and mailboxes beginning late last week. And in a random bout of timeliness — plus the fact that I’m out of the office this evening through Jan. 2 — I’m here to recap it for you. This issue’s features include a cover story on zulily, a piece on the expanding consumer electronics market, our fourth Response Advisory Board roundtable of the year, and a web exclusive on the DR radio space. For more on how we built 2016’s last issue, read on:

  • zulily (and, yes, the folks there are all about that lower-case “z,” y’all) has made a name for itself in the e-retail segment in recent years. Reaching a coveted demographic — mothers between 25-44 — helps. Quality marketers running the business don’t hurt, either. The company first came to my attention when a long-time industry colleague and friend, Chris Johns, took a gig in the company’s strategic partnerships division in 2015. After a couple of meetings (ahem, cocktails) and a couple of calls to the right people, Chris put me in touch with Lindsay Powers in the company’s PR department. Lindsay did a splendid job wrangling this story with me, from helping select the right executive — Kevin Saliba, the company’s vice president of strategic partnerships and business development —to providing contact with zulily partner Crayola to help flesh out the story. With more than 15,000 brands selling products on zulily, it’s an intriguing case study on today’s expanding e-retail environment. If you missed the link to the story above, here it is once again: Giving Moms What They Want
  • Consumer electronics technology is not only a burgeoning vertical for marketers — it’s also crucial to the delivery of every marketer’s message. Freelancer Pat Cauley did a nice job of walking this line in his update on the CE space. From AR to VR and AI to IoT (Confused? Read the story to find out what those abbreviations mean) marketers of products that use those technologies are finding fertile ground, while marketers in other verticals want to maximize those technologies as outlets for their messages. In case you skipped the link above: A Space Odyssey
  • In preparation for our final quarterly Advisors Forum feature, I spent a couple of days digging through researchers’ many (and varied) predictions for marketing — digital, TV, and beyond — for 2017. After culling those down to some of the more interesting projections, I provided the members of our Advisory Board a series of questions on the topics raised. This useful year-end exercise provided a some surprising — and conflicting — responses. As always, the online version of the Advisors Forum presents our board members’ complete and unabridged answers. Here’s that story link again: Parsing the Projections
  • Our Doug McPherson spoke with media leaders in the DR radio space for a web exclusive feature. After a downturn earlier this decade, media billings research has shown DR radio expanding healthily in recent years. What’s driving this growth in a medium that’s often scoffed at? If you missed the link above, click here: DR Radio Rocks the Reach
  • Speaking of DR radio media billings, our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings return to the space for second-quarter 2016 results. Growth remains the buzzword, as an 11.7-percent increase over 2Q 2015 results led to radio’s best second quarter since 2007. For a full look at 2Q 2016 DR radio media billings, click here: DR Radio Billings Drive Forward in 2Q 2016
  • Other key items in this month’s issue include:
  • My Editor’s Note column leads with the big news: Response moved its offices — two whole miles — in late November (if you still need that new address: 2600 Michelson Drive, Suite, 1700, Irvine, CA 92612). From there, I riff a little about fresh starts, Response Expo, and reader feedback. It’s all very exciting! If you missed the link above, here it is: We’re Movin’ on Up!

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response throughout 2016! I wish you a happy holiday season and all the best in 2017.

Dec 04

Response November: Doing Well by Doing Good

Response November 2016Response’s November issue hit the web and mailboxes during the past two weeks. Here’s something to consider: in our four feature stories, we cover the housewares market, the medical equipment space, the travel marketing world, and home shopping/e-retail. Even for our team, that’s some impressive breadth. That’s not to mention this month’s research and opinion pages. Suffice it to say, we packed a lot into a tight 52 pages. If you want to hear more about how it came together, read on:

  • If you are in the habit of listening to your car radio, there’s a high likelihood you’ve heard a Boll & Branch ad. I can’t remember the last time I was in my car heading to our Orange County office on a Monday morning and didn’t hear a B&B ad on one of Howard Stern’s SiriusXM channels. So when I went to the IRCE show in Chicago in June, I made sure to head to the educational session featuring Scott Tannen, co-founder and CEO of the company. In the days thereafter, I reached out to Tannen’s team to see if they would have any interest in a cover feature on their performance-based marketing efforts. Very quickly, the PR liaison for the company, Dillan Arrick, was on the job. Timing was the issue, which is how many of our cover stories — this one included — take five or more months from genesis to print. Scott, his wife Missy, the company’s co-founder and president, and Dillan could not have been easier to work with. And this story is not only a great testament to performance-based metrics building a huge housewares e-retailer, it’s also a feel-good piece about a company that does things the right way. If you missed the link to the story above, here it is once again: Balancing More Than Sheets
  • Think of your own needs and desires when you travel. Are they more about convenience or comfort? Service or luxury? Now, multiply those by the choices of billions of others and you’ll understand the challenges travel marketers face in today’s consumer-controlled marketing world. Make promises … at your own peril. Our Nicole Urso Reed dove into the space for this feature, chatting with marketers from across the travel spectrum to find out what’s working — and what isn’t. In case you skipped the link above: Total Immersion
  • Another key member of our team of contributors, Bridget McCrea delved into the rapidly changing world of home shopping. With the expansion of Amazon, long-time home shopping leaders like HSN and QVC have had to nimbly adjust their business plans. And, just as they’re gaining comfort as multichannel e-retailers, along comes Amazon again — now with its own online “home shopping” programming. What’s next in the home shopping world? Here’s that story link again: The ‘Amazon-ing’ of Home Shopping
  • Our Doug McPherson‘s outstanding case study on the truly intriguing birth and success of the HurryCane, is not your average “bring a hot new product to market” story. From the why and the when to the how and the who, the success of this medical equipment legend took many hands. If you missed the link above, click here: How a HurryCane Forms
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings return to the short-form DRTV space for second-quarter 2016 results. And though those results show the least-steep decline in more than a year, short-form DRTV — at least according to how Kantar Media measures it — continues to flounder. Is it an issue of what Kantar’s measuring — to wit, are its parameters for a direct response spot too narrow in today’s performance-based marketplace? We’ve heard rumblings from readers about this, and we’re not wholly unconvinced. For a full look at 2Q 2016 short-form DRTV media billings, click here: Short-Form DRTV Media Billings Continue to Fade
  • Other key items in this month’s issue include:
  • Finally, in my Editor’s Note column, I ask marketers and other leaders in our space to look ahead — at 2017 and beyond — after spending months spellbound by the most memorable and most embarrassing election cycle in modern U.S. history. We, as an industry, have plenty of challenges — and opportunities — to focus upon in the coming months and years. Let’s get to them! If you missed the link above, here it is: Now That That’s Over …

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Oct 02

Response September: Renker Cover a Big Get for Our Team

Response September 2014Trying to make the most of my dwindling time at home before yet another extended trip east, let’s follow Wednesday morning’s breakdown of Response’s August issue with this quick backgrounder of our jam-packed September issue. The issue hit first about two weeks ago, right around the time of our huge DRMA Marketer of the Year event in Las Vegas on Sept. 17. Let’s take a quick look at the issue, including a very special cover interview with Guthy-Renker co-founder Greg Renker.

  • There’s no way to sugar coat this: after years of trying to work our way up the ladder inside the current iteration of Guthy-Renker — and Response has solid relationships with a number of the company’s leaders, including Elliott Segal, Dirk van de Bunt and Kendra Elliott — to secure a cover feature on the company, we’d simply hit one wall after another. So when we first spoke with Brian Kurtz of Boardroom Inc., who was organizing last month’s Titans of Direct Response event in Connecticut, I was wary of the idea that we could find a way to speak directly with Renker himself. But, the newsworthiness of Kurtz’s event — a true who’s who of DR leaders and top creatives — made it an easy call to write a news story about it for our August issue. So I asked Kurtz for the “big get” — could we interview Renker about the event for this news story and, if so, would he be interested in doing a more wide-ranging (and exclusive) interview about the past, present and future of both Guthy-Renker and the direct, digital and data-driven marketing world? Kurtz said he’d give it a shot, and later that afternoon, I received a calendar request from Renker’s executive assistant for a call at 10 a.m. the next morning. The call couldn’t have gone better — Renker was a fantastic interview, as you’d expect, and so gracious about both speaking with Response, as well as his induction into the Direct Response Hall of Fame last year. Most importantly, you want to read his insights. Trust me. If you missed the link to the story above, here it is once again: Personable, Proactive, Powerful
  • For the 14th consecutive year, it was my honor and pleasure to put together our annual State of the Industry report, featuring the thoughts and insights of the members of our Response Advisory Board. Over the years, the topics have changed — and, crucially, expanded — as our focus has grown from DRTV to direct response marketing and now, as we all tackle this omnichannel universe, the behemoth we call “direct, digital and data-driven” marketing. While the story that appears in the print magazine is always solid thanks to our experts, the online version — featuring the complete and unabridged answers from each member of our Board that responded — provides one interesting take after another. If you didn’t click the link above, here’s another chance: 19th Annual State of the Industry Report
  • This month’s DRMA Spotlight takes a look at O2 Media and its subsidiary, Incredible Discoveries. For the multi-faceted piece, I was able to speak with the business’ president and CEO, Dr. Thomas C. Deters, as well as George Bayer, vice president of direct response for Incredible Discoveries, and George O’Neill, director of studio operations for O2. The new team behind the business is keen on maximizing its production expertise, product experience and access to programming on various cable networks to create a new kind of direct response opportunity. For more on O2 Media, click here: O2 Media Seeks a New Level of Excellence
  • In our monthly look at direct response TV and radio media billings, we focus on Kantar Media’s 1Q 2014 DR radio results, which were extremely positive. Pushed by a return to form from the local radio market and marketers’ expansion of the number of campaigns aired, DR radio enjoyed its best first quarter in three years, topping the $14 million mark. Led by two products — Guthy-Renker’s Proactiv Solution and the Rosetta Stone language line, each of which posted more than $2M in DR radio spending for the quarter — the DR radio market set a great tone for the year. To take a deeper look at 1Q 2014 DR radio billings, click here: 1Q 2014 DR Radio Billings Jump 28.5 Percent
  • Finally, we return to Renker for my Editor’s Note column this month. Suffice it to say that interviewing Renker felt like a bit of a “full circle” moment for me. Additionally, you get a couple extra pearls of Renker’s wisdom. To read the column, here’s the link once again: Renker’s Message Resonates, Whether It’s 2001 or 2014

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!