Dec 17

Response November: Holly Madison and eDiets; Second-Screen Challenges and Media’s Continuing Struggle

The November issue of Response has been available online since just prior to Thanksgiving. 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 highlighting As Seen on TV Inc. CEO Ronald C. Pruett, Jr., and eDiets entrepreneur Holly Madison, as well as a number of the other key pieces in the issue:

  • The November cover story is a great combination of old friends and new relationships. Pruett was first featured on the cover of Response during his stint with Liberty Medical. He then went on to serve on our Advisory Board during his time at the helm of Mercury Media Holdings. Now, at ASTV, parent of online marketer eDiets, Pruett returns to the cover spotlight with former “Girls Next Door” star Madison, whose post-pregnancy diet plan is part of a new direction for eDiets. With the help of eDiets’ PR firm and some more social chats with Pruett, it feels as if I was able to wrangle this story at the perfect moment. Pruett’s vision for where eDiets is headed in the crowded online/TV diet space is intriguing. And how eDiets structured its deal and relationship with Madison is a new step in the world of celebrity “endorsers.” If you missed the link above, here it is once again: For eDiets, Mobile and Social Are No Fad
  • The multi-screen universe continues to play a bigger role in marketing plans, and with the holiday season upon us, we took the time to look deeper into strategies to best take advantage of consumers’ continuing use of second and third screens. One of Response’s most veteran freelancers, Bridget McCrea, spoke with some leading media agency insiders (representing Havas Edge, Cannella Response Television and Icon Media Direct) about how to make campaigns work in this new media environment. If you missed the link to their thoughts above, here it is: Screens, Screens … Everywhere Screens
  • The InterMedia Group of Companies returns to the DRMA Spotlight in this update. Company leader Bob Yallen was featured in the May issue DRMA Spotlight, and we doubled back with him to find out how 2013 has been for InterMedia and the rest of the DR industry. If you missed the link above to this special update, click here: Staying a Step Ahead. If you’d like to watch the original video interview from the May issue with Yallen, click here: DRMA Spotlight Video — InterMedia
  • The lowlights kept on coming in this month’s quarterly media billings results, as the short-form DRTV market’s 2Q 2013 billings continued the year’s horror show. A massive 25-percent free fall sucked nearly $300 million away from the total’s registered in second-quarter 2012. When will the bad news end for 2013 DR media billings? For a full look at all the categorical and outlet results, here’s the link: Short-Form DRTV Media Billings’ 2013 Tumble Continues
  • Speaking of media market issues, my Editor’s Note this month asks for answers to 2013’s media malaise? A year ago, in the same space, I raved about the power of the DR media marketplace. Well, what an unwelcome difference a year makes. How can the market get back on track as we head into 2014? Here’s the link: Media Malaise Presents Big Challenges

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Aug 23

Response August: Annuity.com, the ‘Super Feature’ and Short-Form Struggles

Response August 2013The August issue of Response has been available online for a couple of weeks now. 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 Annuity.com and Bill Broich, as well as a number of the other key pieces in the issue:

  • August’s cover feature on Annuity.com returns the magazine to one of the evergreen spaces in the new world of direct, digital and data-driven marketing: the financial services sector. Thanks to the team at Karlin+Pimsler — the creative agency that built Annuity.com’s short-form TV campaign — and its PR agent, Lauren de la Fuente, I was able to connect with Annuity.com’s co-founder Bill Broich. The company’s story of educating consumers about annuities and driving responses to the right agents is an intriguing one for any marketer interested in using direct response. Here’s the link again, if you missed it above: A Safe Boom
  • Every August, we include a feature that, way back when, we used to refer to in-house as the “Support Services Super Feature.” Today, this compendium of information about the goings-on in the teleservices, fulfillment and payment processing corners of the marketing world is known as the “Annual Support Services Update.” I know, I think “Super Feature” sounds kind of awesome in retrospect, too! In any case, we canvassed some of the leaders in this space about what’s hot and new in 2013. As usual, for these oft-forgotten services, there is much to learn for marketers and front-end agencies alike. If you missed the link above, here it is: Powerful Triad Helps Create Successful Direct Campaigns
  • The bad news continued in our latest analysis of the DR industry’s quarterly media billings results. Taking a look at short-form DRTV billings’ 1Q 2013 results, a $185 million loss (17.5 percent) from the same quarter a year previous is obviously not the way the market wanted to kick off the new year. Falling below $900 million in total billings, the short-form market finds itself in a spot it hasn’t since 2006. For a full look at all the categorical and outlet results, here’s the link: Short-Form DRTV Billings Crash in the First Quarter
  • My Editor’s Note circles back to the power financial services marketers are wielding in the direct, digital and data driven space. Beyond the Annuity.com cover story and the financial services market feature in this issue, Response has featured financial services marketers — like this one and this one and this one — on its cover time and again in recent years. What does it all mean? If you missed the link to my the column above, here it is once again: Financial Services Marketers Lead the Way Into New Era

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!