Dec 01

Response October: Better Late Than Never

Response October 2016Considering that Response’s November issue hit the web and mailboxes in the past two weeks, you’d be right in thinking, “Why’s he recapping the October issue now?” I’ll tell you this: it isn’t for lack of effort. Things have been crazy around the Response offices of late: our new DRMA Committees are in full swing, planning for Response Expo 2017 is underway in earnest, and preparation of our annual Preferred Partner Directory for its December debut was, as always, time-consuming. Today, though, I finally found some wiggle room to dig into an October issue that featured the winner of the eighth annual DRMA Marketer of the Year Award, the second part of our biannual media buying and planning guide, a look at the automotive marketing scene, and more. Read on to look back:

  • In one of the closer races in the eight-year history of the competition, Nutrisystem was announced as the winner of the 2016 DRMA Marketer of the Year Award on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas. Vistaprint finished second in the voting, with Adore Me, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and AIG finishing behind them in that order. Stacie Mullen, Nutrisystem’s vice president of celebrity management, was on hand to accept the award — and could not have been more personable and thankful. And she was outstanding to all involved while posing for the cover story photography with Vistaprint’s Peter Tardif and others while overlooking the Vegas Strip from Drai’s Rooftop Nightclub at The Cromwell. For more on the competition — and the victors — and if you missed the link to the story above, here it is once again: A Big Victory — by the Slimmest of Margins
  • Freelancer Doug McPherson took on our annual look at the automotive market. And while high-tech, performance-based tools like augmented reality (AR) and interactive games are taking hold — which makes sense as an intriguing adjunct to the traditional test drive —a number of those in the space, from car manufacturers to car dealers and aftermarket goods marketers — are still finding success with more traditional media. Even print! Here’s that story link again: Fueling Sales
  • Expanding TV technology. Video content everywhere. Second-screen messaging. Expanding mobile response. In the second media buying and planning guide feature of 2016, long-time contributor Nicole Urso Reed queried leaders from the agency side of the business about key 2016 topics, such as the effects of political and Olympic advertising, and what’s coming in 2017 and beyond. Technological shifts that impact the empowered consumer’s journey to purchase lead both the challenge and the opportunity lines. Just in case you skipped the link above: Rolling With the Changes
  • In the third of our series of features on the back-end vendor services space (in August, we touched on payment processing, with teleservices covered in September), our Doug McPherson spoke with a trio of leaders in the fulfillment space. Talk about a business that’s changed — especially thanks to consumers’ Amazon-driven expectations for immediate delivery, constant communication, and easy returns. Read more about the current state of fulfillment here: Providing Product
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings return to the long-form DRTV space for second-quarter 2016 results. For the first time in a year, long-form suffered a (minor) setback, dropping $11.4 million from 2Q 2015 results. However, much of that decrease can be attributed to a continuing decline in cable outlet pricing — and who, on the agency side, is complaining about that? In fact, total time slots purchased were up 8.4 percent, while spending in the top-30 DMAs also jumped. For a full look at 2Q 2016 long-form DRTV media billings, click here: Long-Form DRTV Billings Send Mixed Messages in 2Q 2016
  • Other key items in this month’s issue include:
    • A DRMA Spotlight story on Z Living, and its expanded slate of new programming designed to reach key demos across an array of platforms.
    • The But Wait, There’s More page features a bevy of photos from the packed DRMA Marketer of the Year event in Las Vegas.
  • Finally, the topic for my Editor’s Note column was a no-brainer: the October issue is the first of Response‘s 25th year in business. And while I was a junior in college when that first issue published in 1992, it almost feels like I’ve been here the whole damned time. Mostly, though, it felt like a time to reflect on that history, my role in it, and my goals each day. If you missed the link above, here it is: Happy Anniversary to Us!

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Nov 11

Response October: Marketer of the Year, Media Feedback and Much More

Response October 2014It’s been about three weeks since Response’s October issue hit the website. While many of you have likely taken a gander at the issue, whether online or in print, let’s take a quick look at how it all came together — from the cover story on our DRMA Marketer of the Year finalists and winner to some of the other key ingredients.

  • For the sixth consecutive year, Response and the Direct Response Marketing Alliance hosted a massive networking event in Las Vegas to announce the winner of the annual Marketer of the Year award, decided in an industry-wide vote. The party, on Sept. 17 at Drai’s in Las Vegas, was the biggest and best yet — with nearly 1,000 attendees enjoying the Strip’s hottest new club of 2014. Prior to the big announcement, we debuted the annual DRMA video, which included dozens of industry leaders donning their “superhero” best during filming at Response Expo this past spring. Through all the pomp ad circumstance — and not a few cocktails — the finalists and winner of the 2014 honor were announced, with Tristar Products taking home the big award and 2013 winner Euro-Pro tying Zumba Fitness for second place in the competition’s closest voting ever. If you’d like to read more about the winner (and finalists) and the campaigns that earned them the industry’s recognition, here’s the link: The Stars Align!
  • Twice a year, we take a hard, feature-length look at the media buying and planning space. In our fall version, we hear more clearly from the buyers’ perspective (in the spring, we usually focus on the perspective of the cable and broadcast media outlets). In this month’s edition, talk of the omnichannel marketing world dominates, with media buyers and sellers going in depth on how to reach consumers in a fragmenting TV universe. While opportunities abound thanks to technology, attribution in campaigns has become more and more difficult. Where did that sale come from, anyway? However, these experts do know one thing — all of those fancy metrics you hear digital media experts kicking around these days got their start with the advent of direct response TV. If you didn’t click the link above, here’s another chance: A Brighter Outlook
  • This month’s DRMA Spotlight revisits Cannella Response Television. The media agency, with locations in Los Angeles and Burlington, Wis., continues to grow from its leadership role in the long-form DRTV space. President Tony Besasie and CEO Rob Medved sat down for a video interview with me in the company’s Wisconsin offices in August to discuss a number of topics, including growth into the short-form buying space and some surprising results from a DRTV consumer study the company worked on with California-based Script to Screen and M2 Marketing. To read the Spotlight story, click here: Keeping an Edge. To view the video interview with Besasie and Medved, click here: DRMA Spotlight Video: Cannella Response Television
  • In our monthly look at direct response TV and radio media billings, we turn the spotlight on second-quarter 2014 long-form DRTV results, which continued to struggle, losing 6.4 percent from results during the same time period in 2013. However, there were some positive signs — lower costs meant the number of half-hour time slots purchased actually rose, and the U.S. Hispanic marketplace continued to show steady growth across the board. To take a deeper look at 2Q 2014 long-form DRTV media billings, click here: Long-Form Media Billings Fall 6.4 Percent in 2Q 2014
  • Finally, my Editor’s Note column this month takes on some of the topics bandied about in the media buying and planning guide feature mentioned above. In the competitive landscape for marketing dollars today, it’s not enough for media leaders who are well schooled in the direct response space to sit on those laurels. DR media leaders have a significant strategic advantage over both traditional media agencies and digital media agencies — they’ve understood the metrics of attribution for a much longer time than both. To read the column, here’s the link once again: It’s Not Your Father’s MER

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!