Dec 07

Response November: ICTV’s Rebirth, Mobile’s Expansion and Giving Back

Response November 2014Response’s November issue has been available online since the week before Thanksgiving. Based on some feedback we’ve received, many folks have already taken a good, hard look at the issue. Nonetheless, let’s take a quick look behind the scenes of the book — from the cover story on ICTV Brands and Rich Ransom to a key piece on the expansion of the mobile marketplace, my Thanksgiving thoughts and more!

  • During the summer, I had a conversation with Lindsey Carnett and Elizabeth Maxim of Southern California-based Marketing Maven PR, about their client base and hot topics in the industry. They mentioned the success story of ICTV Brands — a rare publicly traded marketer in the DR business best known for its DermaWand product — and talked about the company’s re-branding and plans to release a series of new products designed for a DR-to-retail rollout. I knew that the DermaWand folks had been through some ups and downs in recent years, but my interest was piqued. So we set a time for me to meet with Rich Ransom, ICTV’s president, for lunch in Santa Monica. What came of that meal you can read in these pages. Both Ransom’s personal history and that of ICTV Brands reads like a real underdog success story. The company’s willingness to push through the hard times, honestly tackle its problems and re-engage consumers is a great one. If you missed the link above, here it is again: Smoothing Out a Few Wrinkles
  • I’m sure anyone involved in direct, digital and data-driven marketing — and even those who aren’t — have heard plenty about “mobile marketing” in recent years. Yes, as consumers rely more and more on their smartphones to keep them connected to the fast-moving world, marketers are finding it more important to figure out how to connect with them there. But, perhaps while marketers were trying to figure out how to connect, consumers’ growing desire to buy via their phones may have solved the riddle. Consumers want to buy via phones — and tech leaders are coming up with simplified ways for those consumers to pay for marketers products. This may be the real “mobile revolution.” If you didn’t click the link above, here’s another chance: Buying — and Paying — in 1 Touch
  • This month’s DRMA Spotlight revisits OpenJar Concepts. The media and technology agency, located in Temecula, Calif., is celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2014. Co-founders Adam Warren and Reno Renaldo sat down to catch up with me regarding the company’s growth since first being featured in the DRMA Spotlight in January 2013 — including intriguing moves in technology, brand development and lead generation. To read the Spotlight story, click here: Technology and Teamwork.
  • In our monthly look at direct response TV and radio media billings, we turn the spotlight on second-quarter 2014 short-form DRTV results. After an incredibly sluggish 2013, the space continues to bounce back strong in 2014, as the “Drug and Toiletry” category and the U.S. Hispanic market drove a 12.4-percent increase during the April-June period. Average spending per campaign not only leaped higher in the top 40, but also down the food chain as well, with smaller campaigns averaging a 5.1-percent average increase in spending. To take a deeper look at 2Q 2014 short-form DRTV media billings, click here: Short-Form DRTV Billings Continue 2014 Rebound
  • Finally, my Editor’s Note column this month discusses my own personal efforts to provide leadership and expertise to the college students who will eventually take the mantle of this business. Between regular stops to lecture marketing students at San Diego State and my annual involvement in mentoring USC journalism students, perhaps the most rewarding part of gaining knowledge in my career has been the opportunity to share any bit of wisdom I can with the generations behind ours. To read the column, here’s the link once again: Giving Back Is the Best Way to Give Thanks

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Jan 17

Response January: Creative Genius, Media Matters and DRMA Leaders

Response January 2013The January issue of Response is now available online. It was a pleasure to kick off the new year with a lot of positive stories and great news for the DR industry  Let’s take a look at some of the key pieces to the issue!

  • Our cover feature on the extremely successful Baby Genius brand of children’s music and video (and more) products started percolating during a meeting with Response Advisory Board member Denise Kovac in September. A line of products that’s had fantastic retail success for well over a decade jumping into DRTV is always of interest to us, and this story came with a bonus — the eventual cover subject became Larry Balaban, the creative mind behind Baby Genius since its beginnings. Balaban is one of those folks that is easy to interview because he so genuinely believes in his products, loves what he does and feels that he’s making a difference for his audience: parents and their young children. When you’ve done as many cover interviews as I have, it’s always a wonderful breath of fresh air to pick up the phone and find a guy like Larry on the other end of the line. Hopefully, it comes across in the story. Here’s the link again, if you missed it above: Hitting a Marketing High Note
  • Our first quarterly Response Advisors Forum touches on the continuing expansion of the DR media market since the second half of 2011 and what to expect as 2013 gets underway. The topic drew out a big number of advisors who bounced back and forth on the reasons why the market is thriving, what the biggest challenges are for 2013, and how TV technology like DVRs, VOD and OTT are going to continue to affect the business. Best of all, the version of this story online is a vast expansion of the piece that appears in the print magazine, allowing each answer from each respondent to appear. Check it out now: The Future’s So Bright?
  • On Dec. 11 in New York, we were happy to announce that Nancy Lazkani of Icon Media Direct in Van Nuys, Calif., had won an industry-wide vote of her peers to earn the 2012 Direct Response Marketing Alliance (DRMA) Member of the Year award. Lazkani’s long history in the DRTV space is a well-known story to Response‘s readers, and her continuing commitment to bettering not only Icon’s fortunes but also that of the entire business does not go unnoticed. We caught up with the second winner of this prestigious honor for an exclusive interview. Don’t miss it: Lazkani Earns DRMA Member of the Year Honors
  • In other DRMA news, Temecula, Calif.-based OpenJar Concepts is the subject of this month’s DRMA Spotlight feature. We’ve known Adam Warren and Reno Renaldo, the team behind the three-year old company, for a number of years, and you’re not likely to meet a better duo — both as businessmen and people. Working with them on this story, especially while filming the video interview, was a complete pleasure, because not only are they good guys, but they have a damned good story to tell about a biz that’s crucial in our space. To watch the video interview, click this link: DRMA Spotlight Video on OpenJar Concepts or check out the print story here: They’re All the Buzz
  • Our latest analysis of the DR industry’s quarterly media billings results circles back to long-form DRTV billings’ 3Q results. While third-quarter was by far the weakest quarter of 2012 so far, the results — which were essentially flat when compared with 3Q 2011 — remained promising for the year as a whole. 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. Instead, should fourth-quarter results match 2011, the full-year 2012 will likely be long-form’s biggest since pre-crash 2008. For a full look at all the categorical and outlet results, here’s the link: Long-Form Media Billings Stay Flat in 3Q 2012
  • Finally, my Editor’s Note turns the idea of outlandish New Year’s resolutions on its head a bit by talking about setting reachable goals and how that can actually help make those resolutions stick. Before I share the link again, I want to thank those of you (and there were many more than normal) who responded to my December column about the new greed of Thanksgiving weekend. The feedback is much appreciated. If you missed the link to my January piece above, here’s my take: Making Resolutions That Stick

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!