Tag Archives: DRMetrix

May 21

Response April: An Exercise in Synergy

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Landing online just prior to last month’s MTC Expo, Response‘s April issue was chock full of the kind of editorial tie-ins that we’re happy to feature at that event. The cover story — an interview with the Safelite Group‘s Renee Cacchillo — was backed in San Diego with an appearance by Bruce Millard, Safelite’s VP of digital and customer innovation. A media spotlight feature on TV’s advancing technology includes thoughts from three more Expo speakers: Nutrisystem‘s Lauren Mitchell, DISH Media Sales‘ Scott Berger, and Hulu‘s Michaela Giovengo. THOR Associates‘ Fern Lee — who took the Expo stage twice in San Diego, once as a moderator and once as an inductee to the DR Hall of Fame — and Koeppel Direct‘s Peter Koeppel (who helmed a sponsored DRMA Learning Annex session) serve as sources for our story on the financial services marketing space. And, speaking of the Hall of Fame induction, which took place on April 26 in San Diego, our fourth feature in this issue is a roundtable featuring all seven 2018 inductees. Looking for more information on how this issue came together? Read on!

  • The genesis of what became the cover story on Safelite — c’mon, sing the jingle with me … “Safelite repair, Safelite replace!” — was an email conversation with the company’s PR contact in the run-up to Response Expo 2017. Yes, sometimes the process takes a bit. After letting the contact go cold until last fall, I reached out to a new Safelite contact, Katie Salvator. Prior to her departure from the company earlier this year, not only did Katie work hard to get me squared away for this interview with Renee, but also got the ball rolling on bringing Millard in to speak at the Expo. As we went through the process, the company’s director of communications, Keriake Lucas, also jumped in to lend a helping hand. The whole team at Safelite was outstanding to work with and Cacchillo provided incredible depth to her comments during the interview. All in all, it’s one of my favorite pieces of the past year. If you missed the link above, click here: A Clear View
  • Freelancer Bridget McCrea handled our 2Q media spotlight feature, which dives into the expanding world of TV and how consumers’ demands on marketers — and those delivering content — are driving technological change. With thoughts from marketers, media agencies, technology providers, and media outlets, the piece gives a decent snapshot of some of the options out there for marketers today — and what’s coming in the near future. That link, once again: Expanding Technology, Demanding Viewers
  • New to our freelancer team, but not the industry, Ian Murphy was a natural for our look at performance marketing in the financial services space. Banks, insurance, and other FS marketers have been long-time leaders in using the full array of performance media, and as technology accelerates change, these marketers remain at the forefront. Here’s that link again: Everything, All the Time

  • Dick Wechsler, Cathy Mitchell, Fern Lee, Keith Mirchandani, Steve Netzley, Colleen Szot, and Hal Altman celebrate their Hall of Fame induction on April 26.

    Freelancer Doug McPherson connected with all seven members of the 2018 DR Hall of Fame induction class for a special roundtable discussion. The stellar group includes Hal Altman, Fern Lee, Keith Mirchandani, Cathy Mitchell, Steve Netzley, Colleen Szot, and Dick Wechsler. The event on April 26 in San Diego featured an hour-long roundtable similar in vein to this story, as well as the sun-dappled induction event — the first time all living members of an induction class actually made it to the induction ceremony! Want to hear from these legends, but missed the link above? Here you go: A Scintillating Septet

  • Not only is Cannella Media‘s Tony Besasie a veteran Response Advisory Board member, but he’s also one of the more thoughtful media executives out there. In his company’s latest DRMA Spotlight story, Besasie riffs on “video everywhere,” attribution, data science, and the expansion of opportunity to sell products and services directly to consumers. Want more? Here you go: Leading the Evolution
  • Fourth-quarter 2017 long-form DRTV media billings are highlighted in our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings research. The quarter’s $6.6 million decrease left total-year 2017 results $67 million (or 7.9 percent) short of 2016’s long-form spend. That percentage decrease is the worst since a 9.5-percent drop in 2014 — and the loss means that long-form DRTV’s market has decreased in 10 of the past 11 years. For a full look at 4Q 2017 long-form DRTV media billings, click here: Long-Form Billings Wrap Another Tough Year
  • The April issue also includes three contributed columns:
  • Finally, my Editor’s Note column was written for the folks who joined us in San Diego, and leads with last summer’s conception of “MTC Expo.” Nine months in the making, the event ended up being as seamless from our perspective as any we’ve run during the past dozen years. And, by and large, the attendee feedback has been outstanding. If you were on hand and we haven’t chatted since the show, don’t hesitate to drop a line with your thoughts — good, bad, or otherwise. We always love hearing from our attendees. It’s the only way we can keep improving. Here’s that link to the column one more time: See You in San Diego … at the Intersection of Media, Technology, and Commerce

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Apr 13

Response March: Vistaprint’s Vision, Housewares Galore and a New Spotlight

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Forgive me for my tardiness, but the March issue of ResponseResponse Digital March went live less than a week before my wedding and 2-week honeymoon to Fiji — so, honestly, getting this post up took a pretty deep back seat to all of that. When I returned to work a little more than a week ago, it was right into the teeth of planning for next week’s Response Expo. However, late this afternoon, I had a chance to dig into the issue for my regular look at some of the back story behind some key pieces in the issue.

  • This month’s cover feature on Vistaprint, the now well-known online business services provider, came to us via our link with media agency Havas Edge. For years, the presenting sponsor of Response Expo‘s keynote address, Edge and its leader, Steve Netzley (a member of Response‘s Advisory Board), are not only key partners for us but also one of the leading media agencies in the direct, digital and data-driven world. Netzley connected me directly with Peter Tardif, Vistaprint’s director of North American channels and markets, in fall 2014. His company’s story of utilizing offline media to drive response to Vistaprint’s website is one that’s becoming more and more familiar to readers of Response. Next week, Expo attendees interested in hearing more about Tardif’s work at Vistaprint will have the opportunity to see him as part of a panel discussion on Wednesday, April 22 at 3 p.m. If you missed the link above, here it is again: Getting Down to Business
  • As usual, our March issue was timed out to take part in bonus distribution opportunities at the International Home+Housewares Show in Chicago — as well as our very own DRMA reception during the event. With housewares continuing to be a crucial category for marketers and service providers in our world, we took our annual look at what’s hot and happening in the space — from both a product and a method standpoint. Not surprisingly, digital continues to expand its influence among housewares marketers big and small. If you didn’t click the link above, here’s another chance to read the story: Moving Housewares
  • The March issue also marks the return of our DRMA Spotlight section after a few months off, as DRMA member Swipe Payment Solutions joined us for a Spotlight Update Q&A. Now chief operations officer for the payment processing company, Curtis Kleinman is well-known in the direct response space for his tireless networking efforts. If you missed the link above and want to catch up with what’s new at Swipe, click here: DRMA Spotlight: Processing the Right Answers for Clients
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings update focuses on third-quarter 2014 DR radio results, which were shockingly good. With a 50-percent jump over 2013’s 3Q numbers — pushed mainly by the network radio outlet and the “Drug and Toiletry” category — these third-quarter results were the best in the DR radio market since the middle of the past decade. For a deeper dive into 3Q 2014 DR radio media billings, click here: 3Q 2014 DR Radio Media Billings Spike 50.3 Percent
  • As noted in last month’s blog post, February marked the debut of for our new exclusive research page provided via a partnership with DRMetrix. I’m of such a strong opinion on the power of this new research that I decided to cover it once again in my Editor’s Note column this month. For years, research in direct response television has been hampered by a number of blind spots and a lack of technology. DRMetrix truly takes some major strides in shining a light on some of those long-term dark spaces. In case you missed the link to the piece, here it is once again: Introducing the ‘Metrix’ System: New Research for All Marketers Using DR

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Feb 25

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

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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!